Brightening My Light

photo by Lenda Sar I found some notes to a baptism talk I forgot I gave back in May for one of my Primary girls. (In fact, it was my first baptism talk, as the rest have all been about the Holy Ghost.) She really loves the song "When I Am Baptized," so I found scripture stories and symbolism related to the lyrics. As the notes were minimal and it was months ago, I did my best to reconstruct the talk here. "I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain" [I briefly reviewed the story of Noah and the ark]. The rain washed away all the wickedness from the earth so it could start anew. After the water dried up, God put a rainbow in the sky to represent the covenant He made to never flood the earth again, and the beauty that results from being clean. Just as a rainbow appears after every rain to remind us of this promise, repenting and taking the sacrament every week renews the covenants we made at baptism and reminds us of God's promise to always forgive...

ldsclipart.com The children chose their themes and wrote their speaking parts, with some help from the Sharing Time manual and their parents. Aiyana (6yo): October Prayer is reverent communication between God and Me. I can pray to God, and he hears me. When I get scared I pray to God to keep me safe. At night I say my bedtime prayers. From reading scriptures, they have taught me how to pray. I have learned that God may not answer my prayers right away, but He does when the time is right. Through my prayers I have developed a strong bond with God. I love going to church whenever I can. Cameron (10yo): June The theme for the month of June was “The first principles and ordinances of the gospel make it possible for me to live with God again.” We talked about faith in Jesus Christ leads us to love Him, trust Him, and keep His commandments. The next week we learned that repentance brings forgiveness. On the third week, we talked about when we are baptized we make...

photo by Jean Scheijen Based on the testimony I gave Sunday. Because I only wear my glasses shortly in the morning and before bed, I don't put effort into taking care of them properly. I wipe them clean with just my shirt and only use water if they're really dirty. I've never had any issues with this method. When we first moved here, I went to a community event showcasing local businesses and received eyeglass cleaner and a cleaning cloth from an optometrist. They sat in a drawer for the last two years. A couple weeks ago, out of nowhere, I finally decided to use them. The difference was unbelievable! I was astonished by the enhanced clarity. I couldn't believe not only that I had been missing out all these years on even better vision, but also that I didn't even know I was missing out! I thought my glasses had been perfectly clean, when in fact they had the potential to be even clearer had I used the proper materials specifically made for the job. I ...

I recently read the parable of the Prodigal Son ( Luke 15:11-32 ) during my scripture study, and it reminded me of this talk from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland , in which he discusses the older brother. The Mormon Message video below shares excerpts from it. This talk by Elder Brent H. Nielson  from last April discusses the point of view of the waiting father. Both of these general conference talks remind us there is more to the story than just the wayward son and his return. Parables are often multifaceted, and the more we study all their facets, the better we understand the deeper meanings and applications. Discussion: How does studying the perspectives of the faithful brother and the father help us better understand the parable and its application in our lives?

Earlier this month, I was working in the office while the boys were playing in the bathtub. I heard suspicious activity, but unwisely decided not to check right away. When I finally went in, I saw foam and bubbles all over the boys, bathtub, and shower walls! It took me a second to realize what they had done: they used their baby body wash to make a bubble bath. Not a big deal, right? Easy clean up. But they had used the entire bottle that I had just bought! That soap ain't cheap, let me tell you. In fact, when we bought more last week, it had gone up in price, and I kicked myself for not getting it online when it was on sale. I reminded my son at the store not to use the soap for bubbles. Tonight's setting was the same. I was in the office while the boys played innocently--or so I thought. When I went in to wash them up, lo and behold, another bubble bath. The good news is that is was nowhere near as big as the first and the soap bottle was still full. My first instinct ...

lds.org I have heard and read many explanations on the relationship between grace and works, yet I never fully understood until I read today the Ensign article " Salvation: By Grace or by Works ?" by Gerald N. Lund. Now I can tell my mainstream Christian friends we do believe we are saved by grace. If they ask how works is involved, this passage explains it well: Paul said we are justified through and by faith (see Gal. 2:16 ; Rom. 3:28 ), which is the first principle of the gospel. In other words, faith is the principle that activates the power of the Atonement in our lives, and we are put back into a proper relationship with God (justification) as faith activates that power. . . . [A]nother analogy can help us see more clearly the role faith and works play in achieving salvation: We are like a powerhouse on a mighty river. The powerhouse has no power residing in itself; the potential power rests in the energy of the river. When that source of power flow...

I have written many articles about why we experience trials and tragedies on this earth , and still I have found yet another reason. My last post talked about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies--the Lamanites converted by the sons of Mosiah--and how they buried their weapons. The Nephite dissenters stirred up the rest of the Lamanites to fight against them, and when faced with death, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies still refused to fight and were slain. Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and perish, and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword-- Now when the Lamanites saw this they did forbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done. And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they wo...

lds.org The Lamanites to whom the sons of Mosiah preached embraced the gospel and became known as the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. "For they became a righteous people; they did lay down their weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren" ( Alma 23:7 ). We are familiar with the story of these Lamanites burying their weapons and refusing to defend themselves, leading to their slaughter and later to the two thousand stripling warriors. But I think the above verse highlights a more important aspect of their conversion. It mentions first that they stopped fighting against God, then against the Nephites. While fighting righteous Nephites is also fighting God, I believe it was referring to all rebellion against God; that is, sin. The weapons of their rebellion were not just physical weapons but also everything that fights against righteousness. Their burying their weapons was a symbolic act of their complete repentance a...

The following is adapted from the devotional I gave at my Relief Society's Christmas party. “At Christmastime we talk a lot about giving, and we know—we all know—that it is more blessed to give than to receive. But I wonder if sometimes we disregard or disparate the importance of being a good receiver,” said President Uchtdorf at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. He continued, “I hope that this Christmas and every day of the year we will consider in particular the many gifts we have been given by our loving Heavenly Father.” At Christmastime, we celebrate God’s greatest gift He has given us: His Son. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King!” exclaims the joyous hymn. But what does it mean to receive Him?  To receive something requires action: we must accept the gift being given to us. First we “prepare [our] hearts” ( Alma 16:16 ). In fact, the next line in “Joy to the World” is “Let every heart prepare Him room.” We do that ...

I loved the whole talk, so I posted the video for you to watch. Read Elder Christofferson's talk from April 2011 General Conference here. Sharing Time: What stuck out to you in this talk?

lds.org Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-44 says, "No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; "By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile— "Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; "That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death." Most people interpret betimes as sometimes , but that is incorrect. The Institute manual explains , "Many people assume the word betimes means “occasionally” or “sometimes,” but this is not its primary meaning. To reprove betimes means to do so “at an early time, . . . in good time, in due time; while there is yet time, before it is too...

In my Doctrine and Covenants class at BYU, my professor gave us the following talk by Elder Ballard to read when we got to section 102: " A Chance to Start Over: Church Disciplinary Councils and the Restoration of Blessings ." Not having ever been in an disciplinary hearing, I did not know much about them, and this address really enlightened me. Church disciplinary councils seemed scary, but not anymore (though the idea of confessing something to that many people is still scary). Having had to talk to bishops, though, I can imagine that the love and encouragment a truly repentant person may feel in a hearing is hundredfold. Elder Ballard shared the following analogy in his talk: I remember as a child occasionally coming unkempt to the dinner table. My mother wisely sent me to clean up and then return. My parents would have been pained if I had taken offense and had run off—and I would have been foolish to do so. In the same way, the servants of the Lord occasionally ...

A poem I wrote for my BYU creative writing class. My professor loved it, but the New Era didn't. I hope you appreciate it. photo by Pam Roth It’s about time the bathtub was cleaned. A detailed history of sweaty workouts, first dates, bad hair days, And all-night cramming stains the puky plastic. I snow the tub with Comet and let the dam loose, Warm water crashing down. I start to scrub. And scrub. The tub frowns back at me the same. I think I’m going to need a bigger brush. Scritcha, scritcha, scritcha . One layer gone. Scritcha, scritcha, scritcha . Two. Three. My wrist is as limp as a doggy ear. More Comet. More water. More slaving away like Cinderella. I think I can even hear my evil step-sisters laughing. If only, if only I had not waited until the grime came, saw, and conquered! The clock tick-tocks in rhythm with the scrub brush, but it doesn’t harmonize. Red knees, cramping arms, everywhere wet, wet, wet, Forehead and faucet drippi...