Brightening My Light

Teach your children how to use modern media in righteous ways by incorporating them in Family Home Evening: Have everyone share their favorite Mormon Message. Download hymns and Primary songs to iTunes, iPods, or iPhones. Make playlists for certain activities, such as "On our way to church" or "Wiggle songs." Take photos or make videos to submit to the media library on lds.org. Make profiles on mormon.org. Read an Ensign (or other Church magazine) article, General Conference talk, or the scriptures and have everyone follow along on their laptop/tablet, phone, or iPod touch. Or have each person read or watch a talk of their choice and then share what they learned with the rest of the family. Work on Personal Progress or Duty to God online. Listen to the LDS radio . Work on scripture mastery or memorizing the Articles of Faith together. Play games from The Friend online. Have Family Home Evening with family members elsewhere via Skype. For more ide...

My Relief Society president shared that her biggest fear is her sons viewing pornography. It is sad she has to fear this, especially since her sons are only four and five. But my former bishop shared--to my shock and dismay--that nowadays it is at this young and innocent age that many boys get trapped into the sticky web of pornography. Knowing the lifestyle of this woman and her family, I am confident she will succeed in raising young men who do not actively search for X-rated material. However, pornography is not always directly labeled so. It comes in many forms and levels; thus, it is important to learn to recognize and avoid all of them. "Pornography is any entertainment that uses immodest or indecent images to stimulate sexual feelings," explains a New Era article featured on the new Church Web site . "So even a mainstream television program or advertisement can be pornographic. If images trigger sexual feelings in you, you should avoid them." The Chu...

I love watching movies! At home on the couch, at the theater, with friends, with family, in sickness or in health--it's all fun! But risky as well. Risky, that is, to my spirituality if I am not careful with what I choose to view. During high school, I used my best friend and a newspaper column as movie screeners. Then a former seminary teacher introduced me to a great Web site and a friend showed me another one. Both are free with a list of movies from about 15 years ago to current releases. [Click on the name for the link to the site.] Screenit : This Web site gives a short and full summary of the movie plot and the content, divided into categories. I like this site because it is very explicit: I know what language is in the movie and how many times it occurs. Note: In order to review movies before the release date, you must become a member. Kids in Mind : This site is similar to screenit, but somewhat less extensive (especially in the movie summary and language departmen...

In Doctrine and Covenants 88: 118, the Lord advises us to “seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom.” Besides the scriptures and doctrinal Church books, there are so many good books out there to enjoy. But finding them can be difficult. Often the bestsellers are overflowing with profanity and promiscuity. And other books are unheard of and hidden on library shelves. I wish there were edited books or a website that screens books like movies (if you are aware of one, let me know!). The best I can do for now is to recommend some very uplifting books and inspirational authors. Richard Paul Evans —Most famous for his book The Christmas Box , Evans writes inspiring stories about change and growth. His characters are realistic and relatable. Although his books are not written for only an LDS audience, you can sense the influence of the gospel in his writing. Josi S. Kilpack —Her books focus on serious trials LDS families experience, such as infidelity, the pressure of perfection,...