Brightening My Light

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 ...

lds.org Mary the mother of Jesus is revered in Christianity, particularly in Catholicism. She was "highly favoured" and "blessed . . . among women" ( Luke 1:28, 30 ). But we seldom talk about her husband, Joseph. He too must have been highly favored and blessed among men to have been given the honor of raising Jesus. Joseph was a "just man" and not spiteful: when he learned of Mary's pregnancy, he did not publicize it, but wished to divorce her privately ( Matthew 1:19 footnote b ). He was also very unselfish toward Mary during her pregnancy ( Matthew 1:25 ). Joseph was obedient to the Lord, as shown when he followed angels' commands to still marry Mary ( Matthew 1:20-24 ) and flee to Nazareth to protect little Jesus from King Herod ( Matthew 2:13-15 ). Joseph served as young Jesus's example of a righteous husband and father. The Bible Dictionary states, "Joseph was naturally regarded in Nazareth as [Jesus's] father, and the ho...

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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...

A story Elder Cornish shared in General Conference October 2011. When I was a young resident physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, I worked long hours and traveled between the hospital and our home in Watertown, Massachusetts, mostly by bicycle since my wife and young family needed our car. One evening I was riding home after a long period in the hospital, feeling tired and hungry and at least a bit discouraged. I knew I needed to give my wife and four small children not only my time and energy when I got home but also a cheery attitude. I was, frankly, finding it hard to just keep pedaling. My route would take me past a fried chicken shop, and I felt like I would be a lot less hungry and tired if I could pause for a piece of chicken on my way home. I knew they were running a sale on thighs or drumsticks for 29 cents each, but when I checked my wallet, all I had was one nickel. As I rode along, I told the Lord my situation and asked if, in His mercy, He could let me find a q...

Today we had a regional stake conference, in which Elder Holland spoke. He ended his talk with what lowering the missionary ages really means and how missionary work affects all of us: 1. The change had nothing to do with convenience for young adults and everything to do with the large labor before us. The world needs more missionaries! 2. Time spent at the MTC has been cut down a third. The real MTC is the home, and preparation must start earlier. (I feel strongly about this, as I wrote in my post " This Is My Sacred Duty .") 3. Just as we want our children to have successful missions wherever they go, so do the parents of the missionaries sent to our area. We need to help them. 4. Tracting is no longer a reality today. We have to be the finders. Missionaries are simply the teachers. Discussion: What can we do to make missionaries successful, both ones we send out and ones we receive?

Elder Teixeria One of today’s great challenges is learning to conquer fear and despair in order to overcome trials and temptations. It takes only a few moments for us to open a newspaper, scroll the web, or hear a news broadcast on radio or television to be confronted with distressing accounts of crime and natural calamities that happen every day. Understanding the promises in scripture concerning how the Lord will conquer evil and how truth will conquer error can help us face the future with hope and optimism. In today’s world we see war, natural calamities, and economic crises. At times these events are not just things we observe from a distance but are things that affect us personally. . . . We should all face the future with hope because we know that the forces of evil will be overcome. We should all maintain a positive outlook as we face challenges because today we have the scriptures, the teachings of living prophets, priesthood authority, temples, and the...