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Thoughts on Gospel Doctrine Lesson 21

LDS Living - MOSIAH 29 MOSIAH 29:7-36 What are the advantages of democracy over monarchy? "A monarchy is a good system of government if the people can be assured they will always have good and righteous kings. (Mosiah 23:8.) However, the weakness of a monarchy is that 'ye cannot dethrone an iniquitous king save it be through much contention, and the shedding of much blood.' (Mosiah 29:21.) ". . . The value of this system of democratic government is that 'it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right.' (Mosiah 29:26)" (Daniel H. Ludlow, Companion,...

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Choosing to Make Your Marriage Work

Bridget Rees - For many of you, your "big day" probably happened long ago and the nostalgia of those moments is blurred much of the time by crying children, rebellious teens, impending bills, a difficult work environment, and burning chicken strips in the oven. It’s not always easy to remember the tears of joy on your wedding day when the realities of life can bring on so many tears of stress. The decision to get married takes listening to the Spirit – but it also takes guts. There’s no way of knowing as you start your marital journey of the trials you’ll go through,...

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The Magic of Daddy Daughter Dates

Dana Alan Koch, co-authored by Kristyn, McKinsey, and Rebecca Koch - That response would quickly be followed with, “Whose turn is it next?” While Monday night is set aside for family home evening at our house, Thursday night is set aside for dad to have some special one-on-one time with one of his daughters. Daddy-daughter dates can positively influence a young girl’s emotional and spiritual life. President Ezra Taft Benson taught us that daddy-daughter dates are one of the ways “fathers can give spiritual leadership to their children.” A young girl’s sense of self worth, sense of acceptance, and understanding of how males and females interact, are all significantly influenced by the...

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Raising Financially Fit Kids

Joline Godfrey - As parents, we're sometimes a bit torn between letting our kids play sports and protecting them from injury. Similarly, the instinct to protect our kids from life's economic realities sometimes gets in the way of giving them the financial education they need. How can we teach money management to our kids without overwhelming them or fostering a fixation of dollars and cents? Here are suggestions divided into age-appropriate stages according to children's natural development. Stage 1 (5-8 years) Most 5-8 year olds have fairly short attention spans, lots of energy, and are beginning to see that fairness is important. During stage...

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The Magnificent Blessing of Priesthood Power (Teachings for Our Time Lesson 5)

Sheri Dew: Chapter 9 of No Doubt About It - W hen President Gordon B. Hinckley is interviewed by the press, it is not at all uncommon for him to be asked questions about the women of the Church, with those questions often posed in a manner insinuating that Latter-day Saint women are second-class citizens in the Church, that they have no voice, and that they are generally not valued. President Hinckley, of course, has his own unique way of handling these kinds of questions, as he did at the National Press Club in the spring of 2000 when he said about the sisters of the Church, "People wonder what we...

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Thoughts on Gospel Doctrine Lesson 20

Richard Rust on the parallels between Alma's conversion and the Exodus - The relationship between community redemption and individual redemption is dramatically suggested in the account of the conversion of Alma the Younger, who like Paul had persecuted the church. Notice the oblique allusions to Exodus: An angel appears "as it were in a cloud," his voice causing the earth to tremble (Mosiah 27:11; italics added). He commands Alma to "go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers . . . and remember how great things [the Lord] has done for them; for they were in bondage, and he has delivered them" (Mosiah 27:16). Struck dumb, Alma lies in a trance for "three...

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Thoughts on Gospel Doctrine Lesson 19

Kent S. Brown compares the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls to Alma and his followers<p><dropcap>W</dropcap>e need to turn now to features of the [Dead Sea Scrolls] - W e need to turn now to features of the [Dead Sea Scrolls] scrolls which are articularly striking to Latter-day Saints. . . . A major theme of the scrolls concerns the congregation, or the "church," awaiting the Messiah. It is said that the exiled congregation must wait in the desert where persecution has driven its members. A similar notion, of course, appears in Rev. 12:1-6, where a celestial woman (the true church) gives birth to a male child who is immediately caught up to heaven in order to be preserved; she then flees to the desert for protection during a...

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The Power of Example (Heber J. Grant Lesson 10)

LDS Living - A CITY SET UPON A HILL I n the fall of 1974, for the better part of a week I stood in the entrance to the Washington Temple as a host to special guests. These included the wife of the president of the United States, justices of the Supreme Court, senators and congressmen, ambassadors from various nations, clergymen, educators, and business leaders. Other visitors, more than 700,000 of them, came to see this sacred edifice. A vast amount of newspaper and magazine space was given the temple, and radio and television carried its story far and wide. It is doubtful that...

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June Sharing Time: Building a Strong Family

LDS Living - T his sharing time will help the children visualize a strong family and learn some ways they can help strengthen theirs. Preparation: Gather or borrow four to seven sets (depending on the number of groups you will divide your children into) of blocks of various kinds such as Lego, Lincoln Logs, Duplo, wood blocks, dominoes, sugar cubes, etc. Also, obtain a flat surface such as a piece of cardboard or cookie sheet for each group. Create some paper "bricks" by writing the attributes needed to strengthen a family on pieces of colored paper (see discussion below). Leave some papers blank for...

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The Joy of Missionary Work (Heber J. Grant Lesson 9)

LDS Living - I recall very vividly how the spirit of missionary work came into my life. I was about thirteen years of age when my father received a call to go on a mission. It was during an epidemic in the Whitney community. Parents were encouraged to go to sacrament meeting, but the children were to remain home. Father and Mother went to sacrament meeting in a one-horse buggy. At the close of the meeting, the storekeeper opened the store just long enough for the farmers to get their mail, since the post office was in the store. There were no purchases, but...