Brightening My Light

Discussion: What else can we do because of Him?

fanpop.com My mom told me that at a Young Women's workshop a year or two ago, a leader contrasted Snow White to Tiana from The Princess and the Frog to reveal that Snow White was more in line with Church standards. As a huge fan of  The Princess and the Frog , I was shocked. After reviewing the facts, the only thing Snow White has over Tiana is a more modest princess dress. Otherwise, The Princess and the Frog portrays just as many Church values, as illustrated below: Good Work Ethic Tiana is an honest and hard worker and she saves her money for a purpose. She is very goal driven. Although it is shown mostly through her career, it is evident throughout the whole movie as she tries to become human again. Furthermore, her dream was one shared by her father to bring people together through food, not to climb the social, corporate, or financial ladder, as is usually associated with career-minded individuals. When she does open the restaurant, she and her husband work...

lds.org A few years ago, I wrote a post on how to prepare for general conference . Now that I have two kids, and after seeing great ideas online, I think it's time to share how to prepare your kids for general conference too! 1. Explain what general conference is. Tell your kids the week before that instead of going to church the next Sunday, you will be staying home and watching the prophet and other church leaders speak to us about the gospel starting Saturday morning. Show them pictures of the First Presidency and other church leaders in the Friend or conference issue of the Ensign . 2. Put together activities for the kids. Thanks to blogs and Pinterest, there is a plethora of activities for your children to do during conference, and most require little preparation. Here is a link-up to some great ideas . There are also activities on the Church website . Be sure to match the activity to your children's ages and likes and any goals you have in mind (ex: listening ...

My friend posted on her blog an article about being a single LDS woman . Both ladies made many good points I will not reiterate here. Instead, I would like to discuss the motivation behind these posts: judgment. And judgment applies to all situations, not just to being single. In fact, once one of these women gets married, the judgment won't stop. The next nosy question she will be asked is, "When are you going to have children?" Then, "When are you going to have another child?" Then either, "Why aren't you going to have more?" or "Don't you think you have enough?" Then there will be comments and questions about her parenting choices and so on. Elder Neil L. Andersen shared this example in his October 2011 general conference talk : President J. Scott Dorius of the Peru Lima West Mission told me their story. He said: “Becky and I were married for 25 years without being able to have [or adopt] children. We moved several times...

In a birth book I've been reading, the author mentions the belief some have in the curse of Eve; that is, experiencing pain in childbirth as punishment for eating the forbidden fruit: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" ( Genesis 3:16 , see also Moses 4:22 ). While it is true we women experience pain in labor, this verse has been misinterpreted. The above belief implies that had Eve not eaten the fruit, she would have had no pain in childbirth. However, we learn from the Book of Mormon that she would have had no childbirth at all: And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would ...

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...