Brightening My Light

photo from lds.org I recently wrote an article entitled "Five Myths About Female Modesty" for a liberal feminist site. It addressed harmful ways we tell women why they should dress modestly. Since I wrote it for a broad, worldly audience and not an LDS one, some people misunderstood it. I thought this blog would be a better place to express my view from a gospel perspective and share better ways we can teach modesty. [Please remember that as much as I always try to back up my opinions with scriptural references, authoritative quotes, and other legitimate Church resources, these are still only my interpretations and should not be taken as official doctrine.] The first point I made was that we shouldn't teach women that the purpose of dressing modestly is so men won't have inappropriate thoughts. We are only responsible for our own thoughts and actions, not other people's. We are counseled in the Book of Mormon to watch our thoughts ( Mosiah 4:30 ) or they...

Mormon [Adapted from my sacrament talk given June 15, 2014. Read the second part here .] The Lord told Lehi in a vision to take his family out of Jerusalem and into the wilderness. After they left, the Lord commanded that Lehi’s sons return to get the brass plates, which contained their genealogy, the Law of Moses and other commandments, prophecies, and Jewish history. They could not continue their journey into the wilderness until they had the scriptures of their times. When Nephi obtained the brass plates, he “searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children. Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journeyed in the wilderness towards the land of promise” (1 Nephi 5:21–22). Nephi read the scriptures to his family and “did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning” (1 Nephi 19:23).  ...

lds.org I think I have a pretty good understanding of the plan of salvation, as far as my mortal mind and level of spirituality allow. However, one thing escaped me: I knew why there had to be the Fall in the garden of Eden ( 2 Nephi 2:22-23 ), but I didn't understand why there was a garden of Eden to begin with, as opposed to just sending Adam and Eve straight to a telestial world. Then a couple months ago as I was reading 2 Nephi 2 , which I've read a thousand times, I finally understood. It all centered on agency. Every aspect of the plan of salvation revolves around agency. Agency has always existed; we had it long before our testing on earth. We know this from the war in heaven. When Heavenly Father presented His plan, Satan used his agency and presented another one, in which there was no agency, and Jesus used His agency to volunteer to be the Savior and glorify the Father. We then exercised our agency to choose between following Heavenly Father's plan or follow...

We hear the sacrament prayers every week, but do we listen to the words and know the purpose of the prayers? I have broken down the blessing on the bread to help us better understand the sacrament, something I was advised to do in my patriarchal blessing. O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy son, Jesus Christ, First, we address Heavenly Father. Then w e ask Him in humility and verify that we are doing so in Jesus's name, as we are commanded to do all things in His name ( 3 Nephi 27:7, 9 ). to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, The Guide to the Scriptures on lds.org defines the words bless and sanctify as follows: Bless: To confer divine favor upon someone. Anything contributing to true happiness, well-being, or prosperity is a blessing. All blessings are based on eternal laws ( D&C 130:20–21 ). Because God wants his children to find joy in life ( 2 Ne. 2:25 ), he grants blessings to them as a result...

With summer trips coming, it's important we prepare for the Sabbath while on vacation. Just because we rest from our worldly cares does not mean we should forget about Sunday! It is very easy to keep the Sabbath Day holy while on vacation: If possible, try not to travel on Sunday so you can attend church and not have to buy food or gas. Find a church building and meeting times on lds.org . If you must travel on Sunday, try to arrange your travel plans so that you can still attend an early sacrament meeting if possible. If you cannot attend church because you have to travel or there are no meetinghouses nearby, hold your own devotional services at your hotel. Sing songs, pray, and read the scriptures or General Conference talks. Then spend time together playing games or watching LDS movies. Listen to the scriptures, LDS music, or General Conference talks in the car or on the plane. If you are visiting family, go to church with them--even if they are of a different faith. ...

The top of a tithing slip reads "Tithing and Other Offerings." Most of us are good tithe payers, but we usually forget about the "other offerings" besides fast offerings. The other funds listed on a tithing slip are: Ward missionary : helps young men in your ward serving missions elsewhere General missionary : helps missionaries all over the world, including their training at MTCs Book of Mormon : pays for printing and other costs Humanitarian aid : helps people in need worldwide, especially after natural disasters Temple construction : pays for building temples and buying the lands upon which they are built Perpetual education : helps people escape poverty by loaning them funds to get an education Other (specify) : for example, a newly established one is the general temple patron assistance fund , which helps people who are poor or far away get to the temple so they can receive their ordinances Of course regular tithes go to these funds and much more ...

It is no secret our country suffers from severe ingratitude. We are always wanting something more, newer, or better. We raise our children to be materialistic and high maintenance. We are deep in debt or bankrupt. We consider ourselves poor if we only have one car and a regular cell phone instead of a smartphone. We celebrate Christmas--the season of buying and getting--before Thanksgiving is even in sight. And the only time we momentarily wake up from our selfish lives to be reminded of gratitide is when something tragic occurs: death, natural disasters, crime, and the like. This quickly passes and we go on with our lives, complaining bitterly or wishing wistfully about what we don't have. But the kind of gratitude we show matters too. There are different degrees of gratitude: there is the obvious gesture of saying thank you, the nicer gesture of doing something in return, and the heavenly attitude of constantly living a thankful life. As President Monson stated in General Confe...

My favorite day of the week is Sunday. It is the one day I get to forget about worldly cares and just enjoy being with my family, focus on my spirituality, and participate in uplifting activities. I love how different the Sabbath Day feels from the rest of the week. On the Sabbath I dress up and put on makeup and stay that way all day. On the Sabbath I learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. On the Sabbath I relax and rest. On the Sabbath I play with my husband and baby. On the Sabbath I read the scriptures and the Ensign . On the Sabbath I listen to beautiful music and feel the Spirit. I feel deep sorrow whenever I hear people say they dislike Sunday. I think their negative attitudes come from their misunderstanding of the purpose of the Sabbath. The Lord did not give us the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy to punish us or to benefit Himself. Jesus said, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" ( Mark 2:27 ). This scripture means, as one of my BY...

photo by Steve Goodwin Instead of posting all the responses I got to my article on why Mormons oppose gay marriage , I decided to write a follow-up discussion answering some of the questions people asked. When reading the comments, I was extremely disappointed in the immaturity others displayed. There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to voice our opinions. Only a couple people shared their views with maturity. My favorite comment labeled my blog a "bigoted hate site." Tell me if that doesn't shout hypocrisy! We should all be respectful of other beliefs. I know most people disagree with me and that is fine. I do not expect them to convert to my way of thinking; I simply want them to understand my point of view. And I am willing to hear yours too if you do so respectfully. Thank you. Older or infertile couples We are all supposed to strive for marriage, yet for some it does not happen until later in life when childbearing years are far behind. Other couples may...

photo by Matt Cook It is known news that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) contributed much to stop gay marriage from becoming legal in California. However, most people do not understand fully why we are against it. I will address common questions concerning Mormons and their opposition to gay marriage. Are Mormons against gay people? No. As the expression goes, we "hate the sin, not the sinner." That creed applies to any person struggling with sin, not just gay people. What we disapprove of is the homosexual lifestyle. There are members of our Church who are homosexual yet as worthy as heterosexual members because they do not participate in that lifestyle. Elder Holland said , "Let me make it clear that attractions alone, troublesome as they may be, do not make one unworthy. The First Presidency has stated, 'There is a distinction between immoral thoughts and feelings and participating in either immoral heterosexual or any homosexual...

The fourth commandment is to keep the Sabbath day holy. In order to do so, we must first examine our motivation for doing certain activities. Are we reading our biology textbook because we love to study about God's creations or because we procrastinated our homework all weekend? We must be sure that the reason we do something we normally wouldn't do on Sunday is that it is necessary or unavoidable. President Kimball wrote in an Ensign article , "The Savior knew that the ox falls in the mire, and one must pull the ox from the mire when necessary. But no one deliberately puts the ox in the mire every week, or lets him get in the mire with no effort to keep him out." This may seem hard when we want to play all weekend. President Kimball noted, "Sometimes Sabbath observance is characterized as a matter of sacrifice and self-denial, but it is not so. It is merely a matter of scheduling and choosing seasons. There is time enough, particularly in our era of the world’s ...