Brightening My Light

lds.org My patriarchal blessing states, "You will have the opportunity to be a missionary and to bear witness of Jesus Christ and of Joseph Smith and of the Church. You will have the opportunity to sit down and discuss gospel principles with many." Regretfully, I did not serve a mission. I knew everything in blessings does not come to pass in the way we think, so once I married, I assumed this passage pertained to senior missionary service. Then just the other day when I was explaining to my neighbor what a patriarchal blessing is, I suddenly realized it had already started being fulfilled. The last few months I have had the opportunities to testify of and teach the gospel, and both my neighbor and her son have now been baptized ( read about their story here ). The ramifications of their conversions I know will be magnificent, which is humbling indeed. I have been able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in a very special way, different than how I wanted and ...

graphic by Ivan Prole Because we hear the modesty talk at church and related activities, we are well aware of the spiritual blessings of being modest. But there are other subtle ways in which the Lord blesses us for keeping this commandment. Better Skin When you get older you won’t have sun-damaged skin on your chest, shoulders, back, and thighs. Your skin is better protected from the sun’s rays and therefore will not show signs of aging as quickly or as severely as it would if exposed. More Flattering Figure Women who dress to their body types modestly look more flattering. Wearing clothes that fit and cover allows your body to look its best (just watch What Not to Wear for examples). More Outfits With all the t-shirts, camisoles, cardigans, and other layering devices in your wardrobe, you can mix and match to make numerous outfits and easily dress up or down an outfit as well. More Comfort You won’t experience the pain and discomfort from super ...

model of sister-missionary wear on lds.org Some girls take modesty to the extreme and wear circus tents as clothes. Although that is not necessarily bad, they don’t look their best and take pride (the good kind) in the glorious gift of their bodies. Do you make these mistakes as you try to look modest? Dressing like a Nun It is a fact that humans are visual creatures. In the Church we tend to focus on how that can be a bad quality, especially for men. But there is opposition in all things ( 2 Nephi 2:11 ), meaning the quality is good too. We are supposed to appreciate beauty, and hiding it under a tent will make it harder for you to attract a guy, even a righteous one. A man wants to be attracted to his wife, and a woman wants to know her husband finds her beautiful. You can show your beauty and still be modest. Dressing like a Man My patriarchal blessing specifically advises me to dress in a feminine manner. It is important that we look and dress like women. That doe...

Zion --lds.org Moses 7:18 describes a Zion people as being of "one heart and one mind." And Mosiah 18:21 shares that when organizing the church, Alma commanded the people to "look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism." All this talk of oneness leads some people to believe that we are all supposed to be the same in thought and personality. That belief can scare away people from accepting the gospel. President Uchtdorf set the record straight in his talk during the priesthood session of the April 2013 General Conference: But while the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold—that each one...

We all know that modest dress helps men respect us, but they are not the only ones whose respect we receive. Girls : We girls tend to be haters, especially against immodest women. When you dress modestly, girls will respect you too. Parents : Your parents, and your date's parents, most likely will trust you more when you are modest, because modest dress positively influences behavior. Wives & Mothers : You are more likely to get babysitting jobs when you are dressed modestly. Wives and mothers will trust you because you are dressed for the job, not for their husbands or sons. Teachers : Showing up to class dressed modestly shows that you are there to gain knowledge, and your teachers--both male and female--will take you more seriously and appreciate you not distracting them or other classmates. Employers : In a professional setting, your boss will appreciate your sophisticated modesty as you represent the company, including at casual workplaces. I used to...

From the talk "Was It Worth It?" by Elder David F. Evans in April 2012 General Conference.  Dave Orchard grew up in Salt Lake City, where most of his friends were members of the Church. They were a great influence on him. In addition, Church leaders in his neighborhood constantly invited him to activities. His friends did the same. Even though he didn’t join the Church at that time, his growing-up years were blessed by the influence of good LDS friends and Church-sponsored activities. After he entered college, he moved away from his home, and most of his friends left on missions. He missed their influence in his life. One of Dave’s high school friends was still home. This friend was meeting every week with his bishop in an effort to put his life in order and be able to serve as a missionary. He and Dave became roommates, and as would be both natural and normal, they talked about why he wasn’t then serving as a missionary and why he was meeting...

Continued story about missionary work with our neighbors : Our neighbors returned to church again on Sunday, and the boy wanted to stay the third hour instead of going to his church to go to Sharing/Singing Time with me. He enjoyed it and asked if he could stay again next time. That evening the missionaries and another member stopped by for a surprise visit to talk to our neighbors at our place. They talked for a couple hours and asked her if she would be baptized. She said yes! She shared how she almost got baptized in her own church, but was saved by a very strong and sudden urge to use the bathroom, which had a very long line. She also felt that the Gospel Essentials lesson on baptism earlier that day and something Justin said during their discussion prepared her for this moment. After they left, she talked more to Justin about some concerns she had. Later I admitted to Justin that I felt very out of place the whole evening since the other members there had been or currently w...