3 spiritual keys to discerning truth in a noisy world

When my pre-teen son asked for a phone, I wondered if President David O. McKay had imagined the small devices we all carry around each day when he prophesied of scientific “discoveries latent with such potent power, either for the blessing or the destruction of human beings, as to make man’s responsibility in controlling them the most gigantic ever placed in human hands” (in Conference Report, Oct., 1966, 4). Could I hand my innocent son a little phone with more power than the first supercomputer, with all the knowledge of millions of books and world-class entertainment to put in his pocket? Would this bless him? It could. But it could also destroy him.

As a former food editor and stylist with Martha Stewart and food director of Ladies' Home Journal magazine, Tara Bench—more commonly known as Tara Teaspoon—knows how to create and showcase gorgeously themed meals for every lifestyle and occasion.

This morning, in a deal that shocked the sports world, the Miller family agreed to sell the Utah Jazz to Qualtrics founder and CEO Ryan Smith for $1.6 billion. Smith already has experience working with the Jazz, as he co-founded “5 For the Fight,” the non-profit organization that sponsors the patch on the Jazz uniforms and encourages everyone to give just $5 in the fight against cancer.

Updated: November 7, 2020

Parley P. Pratt once taught, “The gift of the Holy Ghost ... quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections. ... It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.”1

It’s the time of year when families and friends gather together to celebrate the holidays with food and gifts. For some of us, it’s also when we think about the “less fortunate” and extend a helping hand with a blanket or a bag of food.

Brett Phillips had every reason to feel the weight of the world as he stepped up to the plate on Saturday night. Down by one, bottom of the ninth in Game 4 of the World Series with a chance to tie or win the game, he knew he was not the guy the Tampa Bay Rays wanted at bat. Phillips found his way onto the Rays’ roster for his defense and pinch running rather than his batting, and after going hitless in two previous at-bats during the team’s playoff rounds, it was without a doubt the most significant moment of the young player’s career. As the New York Times put it, “There was no logical reason for Phillips to succeed, yet he swore he was confident.”

Speaking at the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University, President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, renewed Church leaders’ pleas to Latter-day Saints to “root out racism.”

Editor's note: “Resources to follow Him” curates study resources, teachings, and thoughts to deepen your study of this week's Come, Follow Me.