Why I’m so grateful someone pushed through awkwardness to serve

More than 5,000 questions were submitted to the general Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary presidencies by women around the world in preparation for the upcoming Sister-to-Sister Event on Friday, May 3. While many will be answered during this event and more will be discussed by Church leaders in councils to help provide better clarity and understanding, one was answered by the general Relief Society presidency at BYU Women’s Conference. The question read:

Nearly a decade ago, one Latter-day Saint sister endured the unthinkable for a mother—the loss of her son to suicide. After years of heartache and struggling with tremendous guilt, suffering, and "what ifs," this sister found a sweet peace in the temple.

Despite the infinite variety of life experiences given to us as human beings, there is one commonality that ties us together: we all go through trials. These challenges may shake faith, challenge relationships, and frustrate life plans. But they may also become beautiful opportunities. This month, we welcome you to join the LDS Living Book Club as we read a book that not only discusses but also testifies of how these trials can turn into triumphs.

“Please help us to unite as one nation under God,” said Sister Joy D. Jones, Primary general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, during a prayer at the White House in Washington, D.C., Thursday, May 2, 2019.

At the opening of the 2019 BYU Women's Conference, Sister Reyna I. Aburto, second counselor in the general Relief Society presidency, stood to quote Ether 12:16, “and even all they who wrought miracles wrought them by faith.”

The landscape of education and the workplace is changing rapidly, making skills-based education and real-world experience more important than ever before.

As Temple Square begins a four-year-long renovation at the end of this year, across the street, the Deseret Book flagship store at City Creek Center has just finished a renovation of its own.

There are many kinds of pain associated with learning what God would have us learn here. There are the growing pains that come from learning through our mistakes. Learning from our own errors requires that we honestly acknowledge them, something that is always painful for those who strive for competence. It is also painful to become as independent as we must be and to learn not to expect others to solve our every problem and meet our every need. It sometimes hurts to be realistic or to wait when patience is required.

Pride is often referred to as the universal sin. From the perspective of Latter-day Saint theology, this seems pretty accurate; pride caused Satan to rebel against heaven, pride led to the downfall of ancient civilizations, pride is the driving factor that has caused evil individuals throughout history to come to power, and anyone who has studied the Book of Mormon has probably heard of the pride cycle. However, for this discussion, I’d like to move away from the archetypal, “big picture” idea of pride to focus on the perspective of it as an individual characteristic, that is, of personal pride.