Peace

Families are inherently unruly things, but we can create peace as we get comfortable with conflict and recommit to love.

Melaney Tagg is helping people with seemingly polarizing views come together to recognize that as children of God, we have more in common than we realize.

“The spirit immediately entered the room. We were all amazed at the collaboration, and at how special the arrangement really was.”

My complete avoidance of conflict was becoming a problem. I was grateful to realize the Savior showed a better way.

Peace can come to all who earnestly seek the Prince of Peace. His is the sweet and saving message our missionaries take throughout the world.

A Church video ponders a question weighing on the hearts and minds of many people today: “Where can I turn for peace?”

A wise therapist once told me that life isn’t really about being happy. It’s about finding peace. This lesson struck me with renewed force when I learned the story behind our beloved Latter-day Saint hymn “Where Can I Turn for Peace?”

How can the gospel of Jesus Christ help heal our fallen world and provide answers in an age characterized by “wars and rumors of wars” when “the love of men shall wax cold”?

As we remember our eternal purpose and identity, we can find hope and put our troubles into perspective.

What do scriptures teach about living in an age of conflict? How are Latter-day Saints called to be peacemakers?

In LDS Living’s latest 5-minute Fireside, two musicians take the floor to share a message about the Savior in both word and song. Chad and Ben Truman, singer-songwriters known as the Truman Brothers, tell how difficult it was for their family when their aunt passed away from brain cancer, just two months before the birth of her first granddaughter, and amid a worldwide pandemic that prevented many traditional forms grieving. Chad says that experience and other trials in the past year, have brought a line from Doctrine and Covenants 122:7 to his mind often:

Editor’s note: In the following story, one Latter-day Saint woman (name withheld) shares how she relied on her faith and sought guidance from the Spirit in the wake of her husband having an affair. This account, as told by Brooke Romney, is written in first person to more accurately portray the interviewee’s personal experience, however, the content reflects the emotional, psychological, and spiritual impact of an affair and may not be appropriate for all audiences. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this column are solely those of one woman's experience. Readers should consider each unique situation. This content is not meant to be a substitute for individual, professional advice.

If you’ve followed LDS Living content through the pandemic, chances are you’ve heard of “Deseret Book Live!” These short videos feature Deseret Book authors and artists with the goal of bringing you uplifting content during these times.

Elder Richard G. Scott once shared: “Many voices from the world in which we live tell us we should live at a frantic pace. There is always more to do and more to accomplish. Yet deep inside each of us is a need to have a place of refuge where peace and serenity prevail, a place where we can reset, regroup, and reenergize to prepare for future pressures.”

Sometimes as Latter-day Saints and human beings, we have so much to do that we forget to take time to be. Elder Holland has said, "As King Benjamin cautioned his people, it is not intended that we run faster than we have strength and all things should be done in order (see Mosiah 4:27).” But despite that, I know that many of you run very fast and that your energy and emotional supply sometimes registers close to empty."

The earliest story recorded in the Book of Mormon is about a prophet named Mahonri, better known as the brother of Jared. As told in the book of Ether, he was directed by God to gather his family and friends and set sail towards a new land, leaving wicked Babel behind. But rather than teaching the brother of Jared how to build a ship like fellow Book of Mormon prophet Nephi built, Heavenly Father taught the brother of Jared and his people (the Jaredites) how to build barges. These barges were round, sightless, steerless, and rudderless. Nevertheless, with some special help from the Lord, the Jaredites built them and headed out to sea.

“Whenever I think of giving thanks, I think of what in this life makes me whole, and I think of all the people I’m unable to properly thank.”

Editor's note: The following story is about the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999, and unavoidably discusses the events that occurred that day. Please read with discretion.

January 23, 2019—the day Kyle Dory of Laramie, Wyoming, eagerly looked forward to entering the missionary training center.

As part of the Church's Special Witnesses of Christ series, Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Ulisses S. Soares share their testimonies of God's love, covenant belonging, loving one another, temples, and peace.

"I invite you to watch this video of the experience I once shared about how the Christlike love of a friend helped one man overcome overwhelming grief in the wake of the death of his son," Elder Holland shared on Facebook.

This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading in Matthew 10-12, Mark 2, and Luke 7 and 11. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Living for additional resources and suggestions.

Thanks to Meridian Magazine for making us aware of this video.

Conference Talk

Though born in Jerusalem a short distance from where the Savior—already whipped, bruised, and tortured—was executed on a cross, Sahar Qumsiyeh grew up in Bethlehem—the land of Jesus Christ's birth. But the sunbaked streets that Qumsiyeh knew held little reminiscence of biblical starlit skies and angelic choirs.

Latter-day Saint musicians The Bonner Family and Working with Lemons recently partnered to create the perfect music video "Peace in Christ," and it's impacting lives.

This article is the second in a series about Alan Alderman. To read more about how Alderman found hope after his diagnosis and his plans to row across the Atlantic to raise money for ALS research, check out this article.

If you knew that there was a possibility you would die in a year, what would you do?

We are taught from primary that with faith, miracles can happen.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell was a beloved disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for 23 years, from 1981 to 2004. The spiritual power of his teachings and his example of faithful discipleship blessed and continue to bless in marvelous ways the members of the Savior’s restored Church and the people of the world.

From the day my first child was born I loved and treasured being a mother. I felt great joy in nurturing, teaching, and loving God’s precious children, and I was grateful to be able to stay at home to care for my children.

Working with a collaboration of Christan artists, Paul Cardall released music videos for a new Stone Angel album, Worth of Souls: Songs to Rescue & Restore Faith in Jesus Christ. Performed by over 10 contemporary Christian artists, the album features 13 beautiful songs to uplift and restore peace to troubled hearts.

Let me share one example of a divine signature that has special significance for me personally. This was a tender mercy in the fullest sense of the word tender. My father, typical of many other men from his generation, did not express emotion openly very often. In all my growing-up years, I can never remember him telling me or any of my brothers and sisters that he loved us. We knew that he did, because he was a good father. He read stories to us almost every night. He taught us to work and how to be responsible.

In the Bible, there is a story of two disciples who were discouraged and grieved. Their leader and exemplar and friend Jesus Christ had died and they thought he was gone forever. They were walking to a town called Emmaus when a stranger came up to them and they conversed and walked together. The stranger asked what troubled them, and they told them all about the horrific death of their beloved Jesus. The stranger quoted scripture and told them to not worry, that Jesus Christ would rise again. That stranger was Jesus Christ, but as it says in Luke 24:16, "Their eyes were holden that they should not know him."

The SPARK Singers—which includes Noelle Bybee, a contestant from season 8 of The Voice—recently created a gorgeous song about the love and peace of the Savior, "Sinking Deep." Featuring images from "Reflections of Christ," this music video is one that will inspire and uplift.

LDS YouTube phenom Claire Ryann Crosby is known for her appearances on Ellen and The Voice, but she is also known for sharing her faith through her music. On her YouTube channel, the family posted, "Happy Easter to all!! We’re so grateful that Christ could overcome death, sin, and afflictions of every kind so that we can find peace in this life no matter the challenges we face." Check out this beautiful video of Claire and her father, Dave, singing "Peace in Christ."

Some of us devote our lives to doing everything the instruction book outlines and then consider good feelings our right. And then we are angry when peace does not accompany our accomplishment. We may become exhausted from the effort, and still we do not have a feeling of well-being. We feel we have done our part and have been cheated.

Written for the 2018 Mutual theme, "Peace in Christ" (D&C 19:23), this new music video by Wayne Burton features the voice of Seli Miller from the LDS group Elenyi. This song has been translated into seven different languages to be more accessible to Church members the world over.

Sometimes in an attempt to prove our faithfulness to the gospel, Latter-day Saints create standards that require even more than what the Lord is asking of us. So before we expend too much energy trying to live these "higher" standards, we should ask ourselves, "Are we living the cultural gospel or the Lord's gospel?"

After the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015, LDS artist Camille Nelson felt inspired to create a beautiful lullaby as a way to offer peace. "Any lullaby we hear always comforts. It always offers peace," Nelson says in a video below. "It was a way to offer peace not only to Paris but to all those affected by acts of terrorism throughout the world."

We often try to spiritually ground ourselves with daily prayer and scripture study. However, our commitment to these practices is sometimes irregular at best. During prayer, it’s natural for our minds to wander; when reading the scriptures, our attention often drifts to what we’re going to do next. Not surprisingly, it’s easy to feel spiritually empty and apathetic.

“Go home! You can’t enter Jerusalem! Go back!” the soldier at the checkpoint screamed at me. This soldier who had invaded my country was now telling me that I was denied access to the city of my birth. I tried to form angry words to respond to his unjust act but was halted by the words of the Savior echoing in my ear: “Love your enemies.”

"Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me" (D&C 19:23). What an amazing scripture to choose as the new Mutual theme for 2018.

There's no doubt that the world is being plunged into dark, troubling, and chaotic times. With shootings, terrorist attacks, death, crime, negativity, and political uncertainty the focus of the media, it can feel at times as though there is no place to turn to find hope, that there is no place to find peace.

The temple is a sacred place where even in the most chaotic and illogical times in our lives, we can find peace in doing the Lord's work on earth.