Danielle B. Wagner

What the Church has said about Halloween

By Danielle B. Wagner

October 13, 2021 08:39 AM MDT

Halloween—that confusing mix of eeriness, morbidity, candy, trick-or-treating, and family fun. But the mixed reception of this holiday got us wondering, what has the Church officially said about Halloween?

5 Min Read

Powerful stories of military service from the First Presidency

By Danielle B. Wagner

November 11, 2020 01:00 PM MST

This story was originally published by LDS Living in May 2018 and has been updated in honor of Veterans Day.

2 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

3 compliments that hurt women more than help them

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 13, 2020 11:00 AM MDT

This article originally ran on LDS Living in November 2014.

8 Min Read

Fun

14 Latter-day Saints stirring things up in the culinary world

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 03, 2020 09:00 AM MDT

“One of the reasons that food is so interesting to me intellectually is [that] you see people prioritizing their values when you see the way people prepare food and the way they eat,” says Kate Holbrook, managing historian of women’s history in the Church History Department and researcher of Latter-day Saint food traditions.

16 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

President Nelson Pleads with Parents and Teachers to Teach Children These 6 Things

By Danielle B. Wagner

March 20, 2020 09:00 PM MDT

This story was originally published on LDS Living in October 2018.

2 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

How We Misinterpret "Black" and "Curse" in the Scriptures: Insights from an African American Convert

By Danielle B. Wagner

February 03, 2020 05:59 PM MST

This story was originally published by LDS Living in May 2018.

15 Min Read

How a Christ-Centered Gift Is Bringing Together a Community Torn Apart by Fire

By Daedan Olander

August 31, 2019 08:00 AM MDT

The wildfire that burned through Paradise, California, in 2018 was the most violent in the state's history. With the containment taking nearly two weeks, the blaze destroyed nearly 15,000 homes and took 86 lives.

8 Min Read

How This Latter-day Saint Became a Knight—and Why It Took Him Totally by Surprise

By Danielle B. Wagner

August 10, 2019 12:00 PM MDT

When world-renowned vocalist Sissel, best known for her stunning vocals in Titanic, stepped on the Conference Center stage for the 2019 Pioneer Day concert, her ethereal performance with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on Temple Square could be linked back to the efforts of one man: Erlend D. Peterson.

5 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

Watch: Parents of Girl Killed in Sandy Hook Shooting Share Miracles They Experienced After Her Death

By Danielle B. Wagner

July 18, 2019 04:21 PM MDT

On December 14, 2012, Alissa and Robbie Parker received a heartwrenching phone call—a shooting had happened at their daughter's elementary school, Sandy Hook. The nightmare of that day's events is still fresh in the Parkers's minds, but along with the horrors, the two recall many miracles that came into their lives the months and years after.

3 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

What Newspapers Are Saying About the Historic, "Bittersweet" End of the Hill Cumorah Pageant

By Danielle B. Wagner

July 17, 2019 03:19 PM MDT

In 2020, the Hill Cumorah Pageant will celebrate its 83rd and final year. This iconic religious event has attracted the attention of media outlets across the nation, from the New York Times to USA Today.

2 Min Read

Videos

Choir Goes Viral for Singing "I Believe in Christ" During NY Blackout

By Danielle B. Wagner

July 14, 2019 10:14 PM MDT

A major power outage in New York darkened Times Square and led to the cancellation of dozens of Broadway shows, but while locals and tourists filed from performance halls into the blackened streets, those outside Carnegie Hall experienced something Yahoo! News characterized as "celestial."

1 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

Profound Gospel Lessons from "The Lion King"

By Lucy Stevenson

July 12, 2019 02:38 PM MDT

As Disney fans around the world prepare for The Lion King to hit theaters, we wanted to share some of the gospel lessons that make this story great.

2 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

President Ballard to Women: "We Should Not Question Each Other’s Choices or Inspiration"

By Danielle B. Wagner

July 12, 2019 01:29 PM MDT

"Women have remarkable influence," President M. Russell Ballard recently posted on Instagram. "You sisters have been divinely endowed with a unique kind of discernment and strength that differs in some ways from the gifts our Heavenly Father gave His sons. These differences are intentional and eternal. They don’t make you better than a man, nor do they make you inferior to him. They just make you different—wonderfully, deliberately, everlastingly so."

1 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

One Beautiful Aspect of Paul's Conversion I Overlooked for 20+ Years

By Danielle B. Wagner

July 11, 2019 04:00 PM MDT

The heavens filled with streaming light, angelic visitors appearing at critical moments, divine beings stripping away the veil between us and the celestial in the most dramatic fashion—who wouldn't want a conversion story like Paul?

6 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

Advice from a Temple Sealer That Changed My Experience in the Temple

By Danielle B. Wagner

July 11, 2019 11:31 AM MDT

One evening while performing proxy sealings in the temple, the sealer interrupted the flow of names and ordinances in beautifully unexpected ways.

4 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

How This Man with ALS Made History and Deepened His Faith Crossing the Atlantic

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 29, 2019 02:54 PM MDT

In December 2018, Alan Alderman could see nothing ahead except expansive, endless water. More than 2,000 miles from his destination, a seasick Alderman steered a 28-foot-long boat crammed with five men. While Alderman had initially compared his epic journey across an ocean to those of scriptural giants like Nephi, Noah, and the Jaredites, at that moment Alderman felt more like Laman or Lemuel.

15 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

The Bednars' Powerful Marriage Advice: You Do Not Find a Good Marriage, You Create It

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 24, 2019 01:05 PM MDT

"I often emphasize the truth that you do not simply 'find' the marriage you hope to have. Rather, you create it," Elder David A. Bednar recently posted on Instagram. He continues:

2 Min Read

Fun

Quiz: How Well Do You Know the Miracles of Jesus?

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 18, 2019 09:22 AM MDT

The following content previously ran on LDS Living in 2017.

1 Min Read

What to Say to Church Members in Awkward or Difficult Situations (+ What to Avoid)

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 15, 2019 09:00 AM MDT

Note: I am not a mental health professional, I am not a PhD in anything, and I do not pretend to be an expert in the fields of communication or psychology. All I am is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who has the privilege of hearing many of your insights, voices, and stories. I am grateful to all of those who have opened up to me through the years and confided their insights. It is these experiences I draw on for this article.

8 Min Read

Fun

Incredible Miracles Behind the Mormon Miracle Pageant as It Comes to a Close After 52 Years

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 14, 2019 09:00 AM MDT

The following story originally ran on LDS Living in June 2016 but has been updated to celebrate the last year of the Mormon Miracle Pageant.

6 Min Read

Fun

24 "Napoleon Dynamite" GIFs Every Latter-day Saint Can Relate To

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 11, 2019 01:08 PM MDT

It's been 15 years since Napoleon Dynamite hit the big screen on June 11, 2004. While the moon-boot wearing, tater-tot loving Napoleon became a national sensation, he has a special place in the hearts of many Latter-day Saints. As BYU Magazine relates, Napoleon Dynamite's production team was "made up almost entirely of BYU students and alumni." The movie was only made possible by an "angel investor" who put up $400,000 for the indie film that "sold to Fox Searchlight Studios for $4.75 million and grossed more than $46 million in the first year it was released. It remains one of the most profitable low-budget films of all time and a leader among Fox’s all-time bestselling home-video titles."

1 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

How a WWII Pilot Saved 90 Men by Following an Unexpected Spiritual Prompting

By Danielle B. Wagner

June 06, 2019 09:28 AM MDT

During WWII, one American bomber pilot single-handedly saved the lives of 90 men by listening to the promptings of the Spirit. That pilot was my grandfather, Ronald S Beckstrom.

11 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

President Nelson Makes Surprise Visit to Latter-day Saint Teen with Cancer

By Danielle B. Wagner

May 31, 2019 03:35 PM MDT

Thanks to Third Hour for making us aware of this story.

1 Min Read

Famous Latter-day Saints

"Good Morning America" Features How Glenn Beck's Latter-day Saint Faith Saved His Life

By Danielle B. Wagner

May 30, 2019 04:20 PM MDT

Glenn Beck was a teenager when his mother died by suicide. Having experienced depression as a boy, Beck recalls the oppressive grief and the feeling of inevitability that he would follow in his mother's footsteps. "You get to a place to where you think, 'Well, that's just in our blood. That's the way it works in our family, and I am going to repeat her mistakes,'" Beck says in the Good Morning America podcast Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris.

5 Min Read