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49353

Insights from President Nelson Every Parent Should Read

Russell M. Nelson, excerpted from "Teachings of Russell M. Nelson" - Throughout his service in the Church, President Nelson has taught through word and example how to build a strong family. Here are a few of his teachings on the topic, excerpted from the new book   Teachings of Russell M. Nelson. This is part of an ongoing series where we highlight the teachings of our prophet weekly. When our youngest daughter was about four years of age, I came home from hospital duties quite late one evening. I found my dear wife to be very weary. I don’t know why. She only had nine children underfoot all day. So I offered...

49522

One Vital Thing to Remember When Promised Blessings Don't Seem to Come

John H. Groberg, excerpted from "Refuge and Reality: The Blessings of the Temple" - This is an excerpt from the book  Refuge and Reality: The Blessings of the Temple by John H. Groberg.  After a stake conference at which I spoke on the blessings of regular temple attendance, a young woman named Linda asked if she could visit me in my office. When we later met, she said she was confused because she believed everything I had said at the conference but so far none of the promised blessings had come to her and she wondered why. She explained that she had grown up in the Church, served a full-time mission, graduated from college, and...

49526

Watch: Latter-day Saint Author Cameron Wright Helps "Random Acts" with a Christmas Surprise That Just Might Make You Cry

LDS Living Staff - Who would give $50 to a stranger? Random Acts hosts William Rubio and Emilie Starr and Latter-day Saint author Cameron Wright decided to find out.   Wright, posing as himself, offered free autographed books at a Shopko. As he was handing out the books to customers, Rubio gave an interesting Christmas proposition: take $25 or give away $50 to a stranger.  What happened next just might make you tear up a little. Watch the video below to see what happens.  Lead image screenshot from Youtube Carter is an insurance adjuster whose longing for creative expression spills over sometimes into his accident...

49517

5 Fascinating Facts About the Menorah + How Its Symbolism Relates to the Gospel

LDS.org - The original menorah was made for the tabernacle in the wilderness. It was made of solid gold and placed opposite the table of shewbread (see Exodus 25:31–37 ; 37:17–24 ). It had seven oil lamps that were level with each other—a central stem with three branches curving upward on either side. It burned only pure olive oil (see Exodus 27:20 ). The wicks had to be saturated with oil and regularly trimmed in order to burn brightly. An almond motif was used in its design, including almond-shaped bowls with almond blossoms. Bible Facts In Jewish tradition, the menorah, with its treelike...

49505

5 Unique Object Lessons That Will Get Your Class's Attention

LDS Living Staff - Editor's note: the following responses have been edited for length and clarity.  Planning object lessons can be intimidating. You don't want to pick a lesson that has been used over and over again. You don't want to pick a lesson that will fall flat. And above all, you don't want to pick a lesson that will miss the gospel topic entirely or send an unintended message.  So where do you find the perfect object lesson? We asked our LDS Living readers what their favorite object lessons were, and we got some excellent answers. Here are a few of our favorite unique...

49523

Marie Osmond Shares Touching Testimony of the Savior After Her Nephew's Unexpected Death

LDS Living - Troy Osmond, Marie and Donny Osmond's 33-year-old nephew, passed away in his sleep at his parents' home in Utah on Nov. 9.   There were no signs of foul play, and Troy's death was believed to be "medical or health-related." As Marie shared in her Facebook post, Troy "had struggled with illness since he was nine years old and those trials caused him a great deal of pain his whole life."  After his son unexpectedly passed away, Merrill Osmond, Troy's father, shared a touching Facebook post about his son and the testimony that he would see his son again one day.  "It...

49482

When You Get Revelation to Marry—but Your S.O. Doesn’t

Third Hour - So it’s clear that there is no “perfect” person for us, and there’s comfort in that. If you’re broken up with (or even if you’re the one to end things), you can rest assured knowing that there is someone with whom you can be eternally happy. It’s crazy how much heartbreak can feel like physical, tangible pain. At least, that was my experience when I went through my first breakup. I was the one who was broken up with , and I wondered if I’d ever find anyone better, if I’d ever be more attracted to someone, if I would ever truly...

49516

How Elder Holland Blessed My Family 24 Years After My Dad Died on Christmas Eve

Church News - As my father’s colon cancer was killing him during the 1994 Christmas season, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles unexpectedly visited my parents’ home in Bountiful, Utah, and gave him a blessing before he died. Nearly a quarter century later, I sat in stunned silence last month in an overwhelmingly beautiful little Anglican chapel in Oxford, England, as Elder Holland delivered a Christmas message about his own father’s massive heart attack just before Christmas in 1976. ► Also:  Elder Holland Shares the Powerful Rebuke He Received While with His Dying Father on Christmas Morning Until then,...

49457

How Our Biggest Strengths Can Change into Glaring Weaknesses

Nate Bagley - As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we enjoy the benefits of the fullness of the restored gospel of Christ. We invite others to bring with them all the good they have and “let us add to it.” Believing ourselves to be the stewards of the fullness of God’s gospel provides our church community with a sense of confidence, commitment, loyalty, and certainty in our convictions. We are committed to our covenants, to each other, and to the Savior. We find great comfort and pride knowing that we are an eternal family and will go to great...

49510

How a Scripture Read in the Temple Led One Latter-day Saint to Become a Church Cartoonist

Church News - After his nationally syndicated cartoon was canceled, Val Chadwick Bagley wondered if his cartooning career was over. That is until he stumbled across a scripture while in the temple. Unable to find another job cartooning, Bagley went to work designing cheese labels and hot dog packages for seven years. As a missionary in Virginia, Val Chadwick Bagley kept four different cartoon journals (as well as two “regular” journals).  It was a scripture that brought Bagley back to cartooning. “While waiting in the temple, I randomly was turning the pages of the Book of Mormon, and out of the 6,604 verses, one...

49515

Latter-day Saint Therapist: After an Affair, How Betrayal Trauma Impacts Marriage (+ How to Find Healing)

Jonathan Decker, LMFT - This is part of an ongoing series on healing from infidelity. To reserve a spot in my free online class of the same name for  LDS Living  readers, click here .  Can a spouse’s affair lead to post-traumatic stress disorder? For some, the question seems overly dramatic. “Surely it’s heartbreaking,” they say, “but PTSD is for cops, assault victims, firefighters, and war veterans.” However, as Dr. Shirley Glass explains in her seminal book Not Just Friends: Rebuilding Trust and Recovering Your Sanity After Infidelity , victims of affairs often meet criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. After all, their sense of security,...

49514

Elder Holland: "God Is Taking Us on a Soul-Stirring Journey We Can Scarcely Imagine"

LDS.org - What a thrilling time it is to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! When I think about recent developments in the Lord’s kingdom, it seems obvious that God is taking us on a soul-stirring journey with hills and vales and vistas so stunning we can scarcely imagine them until we climb a little higher and there they are before us. In the past year alone, we’ve bid farewell to a beloved prophet and lovingly sustained a new one. We’ve taken a new approach to Relief Society and Melchizedek Priesthood quorum meetings, with greater emphasis on...

49506

Why I No Longer Ask "Why?" After My Brother Died While Serving a Mission

LDS.org - When I received the news that my brother, Sergio, had died, I was in my room studying and Mom was reading emails he had written us just the day before. He told us that he was happy to be serving a mission in Chiclayo, Peru, and to be a representative of Jesus Christ. He told us of his love with so much enthusiasm that our smiles were inevitable. Moments before receiving the call from his mission president who gave us the devastating news, my mother and I listened to a song my brother loved. Suddenly a strong feeling of peace flooded...

48681

The Surprising Truth I Learned Taking President Nelson's Challenge to Read the Book of Mormon (+ the Miracles It Brought into My Life)

Carmen Rasmusen Herbert, for LDS Living - A few years ago, a dear friend challenged me to read the Book of Mormon in 28 days, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it changed my life. I only had one baby at that time, and was able to read while he napped during the afternoons. I would make myself a little lunch, sit down on the couch with a comfy blanket, and read for around an hour every day in the quiet family room of our tiny third-story condo. The act of diving headfirst into the scriptures, of truly feasting and pondering and studying increased my faith and...

49501

Watch: BYU Vocal Point Releases Hauntingly Beautiful "What Child Is This?"

LDS Living Staff - BYU's Vocal Point is known for decking the halls and going all-out for their holiday music videos, and this year is no different. Check out their gorgeous rendition of "What Child Is This?" For more from BYU Vocal Point, check out their compilation of beautiful hymns,  Lead Thou Me On , or a CD of their biggest music video hits . ...

49500

Watch: Church Releases Animated Christmas Video About Samuel the Lamanite

LDS Living Staff - There's one story in the Book of Mormon that shows that Christ's birth was prophesied among the Nephites and Lamanites. One story that shows Christ's birth was recognized on both sides of the world—the story of Samuel the Lamanite. Recently, the Church released "Samuel and the Star," a 3-minute video recounting this story of tremendous faith to celebrate Christmas.  ...

49492

President Oaks Dedicates the 161st Temple in Barranquilla Colombia

Newsroom - The Barranquilla Colombia Temple was formally dedicated Sunday, December 9, 2018, in three sessions by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The dedicatory sessions were broadcast to congregations of the Church within the temple district. Before the first dedicatory session, President Oaks, Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and members of the local Church leadership participated in the cornerstone ceremony. President Oaks explained placing mortar around the cornerstone block is symbolic that the temple is complete. He invited Church leaders as well as a...

49442

How a Palestinian Woman Found the Church and Risked Her Life to Live the Gospel

Danielle B. Wagner - Though born in Jerusalem a short distance from where the Savior—already whipped, bruised, and tortured—was executed on a cross, Sahar Qumsiyeh grew up in Bethlehem—the land of Jesus Christ's birth. But the sunbaked streets that Qumsiyeh knew held little reminiscence of biblical starlit skies and angelic choirs. Instead, Qumsiyeh remembers the echo of bullets, the sting of teargas, and fear. In fifth grade, Qumsiyeh recalls, she heard the familiar sharp clang of rubber bullets outside as soldiers opened fire on children demonstrating at her school. A tear gas bomb rolled into her classroom as a fellow classmate curled up screaming. “We...

49250

The Prayer That Saved One Boy on Christmas (+the Dreams That Warned Him of Danger)

Jerry Borrowman, excerpted from "Remembering the Joy of Christmas" - The Dream The dream was always the same. I’d find myself lying in the middle of the street in front of our house on Hawthorne Avenue in Pocatello, Idaho. It’s as vivid in my mind today as it was a half century ago when the dream repeated itself on multiple occasions. I was lying facedown, looking up the street (we lived on a hill), while feeling the pavement pressing against my body and hands. At first it was not unpleasant; in fact, the pavement was warm and supportive. But then something alerted me, and I looked to see a car coming...

49331

How a Kidnapped Child Soldier Found Freedom and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Meridian Magazine - Leonard Bagalwa watched as the rebel officers who had captured him and forced him to train as a child soldier walked away to drink at a shop. With his captors’ backs turned, he heard a voice in his mind repeat, “You need to run.” Though unfamiliar with this part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 17-year-old Leonard told his friends of his feeling. The officers at the shop had guns and were known for their merciless lack of feeling for life, especially towards the child soldiers they had taken and trained on the island of Idwji. Leonard had seen...

49218

3 Reasons It Can Be Dangerous to Believe God's Love Is the Only Thing That Matters

Jon Cooper - I saw a post a while ago that has stuck with me for months. This post referenced a choice someone had made—a choice contrary to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which they claim membership. After explaining their choice and their feelings surrounding it, they shared that they found peace in their choice by focusing on Heavenly Father’s love for them. They had determined that God’s love and their own happiness was the most important part of this situation. While I respect that everyone has different circumstances and are doing their best to make decisions...

49221

The Prompting That Saved a Girl from Abuse and Shows How God Loves Us Individually

Brad Wilcox, excerpted from "Because of the Messiah in a Manger" - Christ cares for us individually. The inverted five-point stars found on the Nauvoo Temple are symbols of Christ, the “bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16), reaching down to earth and inviting us to reach up to Him. . . . Years ago I was teaching at a session of Especially for Youth at BYU. I finished my final class and was packing up my scriptures and papers when I discovered an anonymous note that had been placed with them: “Dear Brother Wilcox, I am a young woman dealing with a difficult situation in my home. Some things are happening that shouldn’t...

18641

5 Christ-Centered Twists on Traditional Christmas Symbols

Rachelle Pace Castor - Like many of us I’m intrigued by symbols—perhaps because I’m active in a church that honors symbolism, or maybe because of a poet heart or that I like to think about things deeply, especially things that make me feel deeply. Most likely it has something to do with all of the above working in collaboration to teach me, or at least remind me of, what is significant. Like many seekers I appreciate having a little background or history on a symbol. Check out these five common Christmas symbols and the meaning behind them. 1. Christmas Trees One of my favorite symbols...

49386

The Heartwarming Reason a Young Girl Gave Away Her Christmas Presents to Her Fellow Orphans

Timothy Ballard, excerpted from "Slave Stealers: True Accounts of Slave Rescues Then and Now" - In the following excerpt, Timothy Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad, reflects on a heartwarming experience with "Mia" and "Marky"—two young children he formed a special bond with during a rescue in Haiti and whom he and his wife, Katherine, were finally able to adopt in 2018. The photos of Mia and Marky in my office include one taken by one of my undercover operators while the kids sat with me in the van, driving from the false orphanage to the hotel to execute the sting operation that would liberate them and their 26 little companions. Before, I had somewhat selfishly...

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