Joy

How about scripture study by candlelight? Simple ideas for how to help your gospel rituals feel special, maybe even a little magical.

Has the promise of prospering in the land led us to believe that if we keep the commandments, life will be easy?

Meet Emeobong (Eme) Martin whose “peachy disposition” has blossomed into a life of sweet and significant service.

“How often do we miss the joy all around us because we have a fear, duty, or disappointment facing us and we can’t see past it?”

At age 102 and 101, respectively, Allen and Evelyn Frandsen of Centerfield, Utah, just celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary.

In talking with friends who are wrestling with their testimonies, I’ve noticed a common concern: They’re not feeling the joy of the gospel.

Former NBA player Shawn Bradley isn’t letting his new life as a quadriplegic keep him from finding joy.

We all have difficult, challenging, painful experiences in life. Though never pleasant, these experiences can teach us perspective, love, humility, endurance, patience, and ultimately how to be more like God.

Throughout the countless hours of hearing the music and lyrics repeated in the background of my day, there are important lessons that I am grateful my son is (hopefully) learning.

Lehi taught Jacob there must be “opposition in all things”. Fourteen verses later, he taught his son that “men are, that they might have joy”. How do we reconcile those two concepts?

Throughout his service in the Church, President Nelson has helped us to find joy and gratitude in every circumstance.

The Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) presidents told me two things: 1. Our son was being sent home from the MTC. 2. We needed to get on a plane as soon as possible to come get him. My heart was flooded with simultaneous emotions of bewilderment, anxiety, and sadness.

When I was about 13 years of age, a new family moved into our ward. They had a 12-year-old son. He and I had some things in common. He was the oldest in his family; I was the oldest in my family. He had an alpha male personality; I had an alpha male personality. But perhaps the thing we had most in common was a very strong dislike for one another. I don’t know why—we didn’t even know each other well enough to be enemies. Yet it was true that we did not get along at all.

If you met the prophet on the street, how would you react? This is a question that popped into my head as I watched the newest Book of Mormon video about the well-known story of Alma and Amulek.

This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading of Galatians. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Livingfor additional resources and suggestions.

After explaining the concept of FOMO (fear of missing out) to my dad, he laughed and said, “Yeah, at my age, I’m pretty much over that.” Then he paused for a minute and said, “Or am I?”

I like to ask people the question, “What does joy look like in your life?” Sometimes they think I’m asking for a definition of joy and they’ll parrot back something like “Joy is a feeling of happiness” or “Joy is a state of being successful and knowing all is well in your life.” But when I press a little further—when I emphasize that I want to know how they, personally, experience joy in their own life— that’s when the answers get interesting.

In case you haven't heard the exciting news, the prophet and apostles are now using Instagram to share Christ's lightand reach members of the Church in new ways.

When the prophets said the gospel would go to the ends of the earth, they meant it. Guiuan, Samar, a small town in the Philippines, was the farthest away from anywhere that I had ever been. I was approaching the last five months of my mission when I was told that I was transferring to Guiuan, a nine-hour trip by bus and jeep from the mission home. This area was generally known throughout the mission as “outer darkness” because it was so far away from anything. I came to learn that the name held true for a lot of things about Guiuan. I also learned some of the greatest lessons of my life while I was there.

Amy Willoughby-Burle is a devout Christian mother and a writer. Check out her new book, The Lemonade Year, at Deseret Book stores or on deseretbook.com.

Tiana Swank shares how she learned that even amidst life's greatest trials, we are meant to have joy, and that happiness is something we have to choose.

"I have to say, one of the most surprising things about last year was that there were elements of joy," Piano Guys' Jon Schmidt says in a video on Facebook. "You would never guess that when you go through hard times."

Life is rarely easy. And usually, right when we feel we finally have reached a point of comfort, we have to move onto the next, unfamiliar stage of life. However, even if life can be unpredictable, we know there is also a promised joy that comes with living life the best we can.

Even amid the day-to-day struggles of being a mother, there are ways we as members of the Church can find joy always.

When the Church released the Christmas video "A Savior is Born" in December 2015, LDS teen Annie Weight noticed it repeated the word "rejoice" several times. She was touched by its hopeful message and felt inspired to live a more positive lifestyle. "Throughout the Christmas season and the beginning of the new year, I thought a lot about joy, what it meant to others, and what it meant to me," said Weight. "After a lot of thought, I decided that I wanted to be happier with my life and I decided to start keeping a list of all the things in my life that made me happy."

I remember the day quite clearly. I had had a rough week caring for my four little boys. It was Saturday. And my sweet husband said to me, "Why don't you go have fun? I'll take care of the kids." I thought that was a stellar idea. I got in the van (which I lovingly call "The Mother Ship") and sat.

I learned to hold dear my covenants after experiencing their loss through excommunication.

Sharing the words of Elder Richard G. Scott, Elder Soares said enduring happiness comes from “what you are, not what you have.”

When we face difficult trials and try to overcome them, sometimes the last thing that comes to mind is focusing on joy. But in a recent Facebook post, President Russell M. Nelson gave the perfect example of how focusing on joy can help us.

One late August afternoon years ago when I lived in Connecticut, I was driving on one of the innumerable semi-rural roads flanked by endless trees. The summer light accented the trees, creating highlights of green so vivid that my eyes could scarcely take in the view.

While Christmas time can be the "happiest season of all," it can also be a solemn reminder of loved ones who have passed on, lost employment opportunities, or many other challenges and heartaches.

If you're a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, chances are you've at least heard about the lights on Temple Square each Christmas season. Surrounding the glowing temple, trees light up in red, green, and orange, and Christmas cheer fills the cold winter air.

Anyone could use a good dose of hope, and children are our perfect example. In his book Look Up, My Soul, Gerald N. Lund shares a story he heard in sacrament meeting of how God bolstered a child's faith and hope over something as "trivial" as popcorn.

Here are four tips Elder Holland shared to build a happier life now in the September issue of the Ensign. Number four definitely surprised me:

Here are six simple reminders that might help you find a little more happiness even in trying times.

For those of you looking for a short pick-me-up, something to remind you to stand strong and smile even in your struggles, you need to read this message from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

After suffering from a bipolar disorder so severe she couldn't get out of bed some mornings, Josie Thompson set out on a task, to ask 444 people what motivated them to get out of bed every morning. Her story soon traveled around the world, allowing her to travel to different countries asking people "what brings you joy?"

As members of the Church, it can be hard to remember all of the things we are supposed to do in our callings and with our families. But this one simple truth is easy to remember, "Men are that they might have joy!"

Conference Talk: For more information on this topic read "Have We Not Reason to Rejoice?" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Ensign, Nov. 2007, 18-21)

In a newly renovated Marriott Center on the Brigham Young University campus, more than 2,000 graduates and their supporters gathered for commencement exercises on Thursday afternoon.

MR says: Are there ways we could be sabotaging our own happiness without even realizing it?