Is God’s love ‘unconditional’? What the scriptures teach about feeling His presence

If you have the time and the inclination, review the following scriptures: Exodus 14:1–4; 16:2–3; 17:1–4; Numbers 11:4–6, 18–20; 14:1–4; 20:3–5;21:5. In each of these verses, Israel longs for the good things of Egypt, for an opportunity to return her slime pits. You with young children might have experienced something like this. I know I made life miserable for my parents on a couple of occasions when they took me to visit distant relatives and I did not want to go. My constant complaining and incessant review of the things I was missing at home must have filled them with indignation. The Lord seems to have had some of those same feelings about the children of Israel during their backward-looking journey to the Promised Land.

Mormon artists David Archuleta and Madilyn Paige were recently featured on variety.com for their stunning new music video "Seasons."

Author’s Note: This lesson will not follow precisely the format of the lesson in the manual for Gospel Doctrine. I want to provide some insights and background to the excellent material contained in the Church’s publication. Please do not teach this lesson at the expense of that one. The manual provided by the Church is your main and most important non-scriptural resource. This lesson is clearly of lesser value and inspiration, but I hope it will help you in understanding what happened to Israel in the wilderness and at Mount Sinai.

What an intriguing perspective on how much God and Satan both use change as a means of furthering their work. In those moments of change, will we allow God to shape our lives or other forces?

"Can't believe this just happened," Elizabeth Smart writes on her Instagram post announcing her Emmy nomination.

Imagine you are trying to drive to a place that you have never been. Fortunately, you have modern technology and a trusty GPS to give you turn-by-turn instructions. You input the address and commence your journey with confidence. A pleasant and familiar voice says, “Turn right in one quarter mile.” Then unexpectedly, a different but also pleasant voice says, “That’s not right. Stay straight in one quarter mile.” As you get closer to the turn, the competing voices speak again. “Right turn in 500 feet,” says the familiar voice. The other voice speaks, “Don’t listen to her. She is running outdated software. You need to go straight. Besides, who is she to tell you what to do?”

Elder Holland quoted George Q. Cannon as he taught a great lesson on the character of God:

This month’s visiting teaching principle and First Presidency message remind us that in our quest to better ourselves, we need to remember to prayerfully minister to others with love and to rely on the Atonement when we mess up.

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