Finding the joy in Good Friday’s sorrow

Lexi Walker's latest original song, "Tiny Voice," inspires listeners to share their unique voices and talents, even if they are not perfect. The lyrics of the song also speak of a "tiny" and "humble" voice that can easily be drowned out by the chaos of the world if we don't take time to listen—a powerful lesson we can apply to our understanding of the Holy Ghost.

Just before the 40th anniversary of the priesthood revelation, Elder Neil L. Andersen and Elder Ulisses Soares visited Latter-day Saints in West Africa. “The Church is growing and becoming a great people of faith and righteousness because of the good people there,” Elder Andersen said. Learn more about how the Church in Africa has grown to 300,000 members in 40 years.

“What bravery! They died with their boots on,” remarked one of the Zapatista executioners [1]. He was reflecting almost respectfully on the surreal way that Mormon leaders Rafael Monroy and Vicente Morales had stood to receive the fusillade that pierced their bodies on the evening of 17 July 1915. The terror of facing an execution squad notwithstanding, no cowering, no begging, and no hysterics marred their calm and stalwart resolution to not repudiate their faith. The Zapatista commander had given them that option. The men responded by affirming their religious convictions, emphasizing that the only arms they possessed were not the clandestine military weapons they were accused of hiding in the Monroy family store but rather their sacred texts—the Bible and the Book of Mormon—which Monroy carried with him nearly all the time. Monroy was president of the San Marcos Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Vincente Morales, Monroy’s employee, was also his first counselor.

Several months ago, I received one of those phone calls most parents hope they never receive. This phone call arrived at three in the morning and began with, “Mom, I need to tell you something, and I need you to promise me you won’t get mad.” To such a statement I grabbed hold of the bed, said a quick prayer, and said, “Okay . . . what do you need to tell me?” My son then proceeded to tell me the mistake he had made.

Many people assume that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints never uses stained glass windows in their meetinghouses, reserving them instead for temples. In reality, hundreds of stained glass windows continue to filter colored light into Latter-day Saint chapels and provide a beautiful experience for Saints who worship there. Here are some examples of the most beautiful stained glass windows found in Latter-day Saint meetinghouses.

Everything feels cleaner and fresher after rain. The same is true for temple grounds. The water on the pavement reflects the image of the temple and the sky reveals the quietness after the storm. Each temple radiates a sense of peace which is magnified after storms. Photographer Robert A. Boyd created the Covenant Path Temple Series to capture these moments that can help us appreciate the beauty of the temples in a different way.

Understand that we are mere mortal “babysitters” who can appeal directly to the real Parent. There is no more effectual and answer-deserving prayer than this: “Father, help me to understand and to do what is best for this, thy child.”

Sitting in Sunday School a few weeks ago, we were talking about scripture study and how we needed to be reading with our families. While I’m sure that most of us could be doing better at this, it can be difficult to find motivation and creativity every day. This can easily lead to us skipping the reading and missing out on the spirit. These are a few ideas to help your scripture reading be a joy!

The end of the third chapter is the most quoted part of the Book of Abraham. In these few verses, Abraham is told about the preexistence. More than half of all citations of the Book of Abraham in the general conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a third of all citations of the Book of Abraham in the Church’s manuals are from the Book of Abraham’s discussion of the preexistence. For Later-day Saints, this is the most important part of the book.