I Usually Don’t Know it’s Revelation…

Personal revelation is a tricky thing. Too much of it and our agency may be infringed upon. Too little of it and we’re literally on our own, rudderless in a sense. Receiving direction from the heavens when needed in quite a blessing–a miracle in any sense of the word. The problem is, I’m not expert,

When You List Your Personal Strengths, Are You Remembering This One?

We really, really look forward to Mondays. That’s “Email Day” around here. Each week I update our missionary-son, Landon, on our lives and share a short gospel principle that’s, hopefully, encouraging. I also ask him three to five questions about himself and his mission experience. Last week one of my questions invited him to list

The 25th Anniversary of Starting My Mormon Mission…

It has been 25 years, today. July 3, 1991…I was 19 years old and my parents and brothers and I were at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah, saying our goodbyes. They were going to drive off and leave me there… I had never lived away from home up to that point since

What is Happening When God Doesn’t Answer…

Typically, when I text someone with a question and I don’t get a response, I assume that either they didn’t see the text or they’re dodging me. I sometimes feel a bit impatient and I suppose there have been moments when I’ve felt a little offended. Same with a voice message. Or a Facebook message.

She Wasn’t the Only One Who Touched the Savior’s Robe…

Notice how narrow the streets of Jerusalem are in the older parts of the city. And since many of the streets in the ancient parts of town haven’t shrunk, it makes sense that the streets in the Savior’s time would’ve been quite narrow as well. My guess is, walking up and down these streets would’ve been

Why I’m Not So Ready to Give Up My Anxiety Quite Yet…

Let me start by saying that I don’t think my anxiety is like anyone else’s. Therefore, my experience isn’t meant to be a pattern for anyone. If the following is helpful, wonderful… But it may not be. I remember thinking that I’d give almost anything to get rid of the anxiety. I would see people

Thomas S. Monson, Maddox Restaurant, and Dinner….

Since my grandmother passed away a few weeks ago I’ve been stopping in to see my grandfather each week on my way home from work. I love the visits. I ask him a bunch of questions and he tells stories to answer. I’m learning a lot… For example: Years ago Grandma and Grandpa were enjoying

From the Other Side of the Veil: “Please Try and Help Us…”

I had an interesting, though not-as-dramatic-as-it-is-going-to-sound, experience on Saturday… I had spent a week and a half planning to do family history work. But projects got in the way, and nothing came of it. Finally, on Saturday, I determined to sit down and just do something. Anything, really. So I spent about three hours browsing

Why “Tithing” isn’t So Boring After all…

Tithing is a boring topic. I know. I get it. But there are two not-so-boring principles associated with tithing that have had an effect on my attitude about giving it… In the last few months of study, I’ve come across numerous people who have quite a problem with tithing in the LDS Church. That seems natural.

“Challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously…”

I have new practice of filling my extra time with interesting reading and then grabbing the highlights and organizing them in a way that helps me retrieve them when needed. I’ll go into this new habit soon enough. Today, I want to focus on one of the gems of some recent study. I always thought