Hands

"The divinely created human body, with its truly marvelous powers and intricate parts, acquired new meaning when the Lord spoke of eyes that were not blinded but did really see, ears that were not stopped but did truly hear, and hearts that were not hardened but did know and feel. In his teachings he referred to the foot, the nose, the face, the side, the back. Significant are those occasions when he spoke of yet another part—even the human hand. Considered by artists and sculptors the most difficult member of the human body to capture on canvas or form in clay, the hand is a wonder to behold. Neither color, size, shape, nor age distorts this miracle of creation.

Finally, may we speak of yet another hand—even the hand of the Lord. This was the determined hand which drove from the temple the money changers. This was the loving hand that blessed little children. This was the strong hand that opened deaf ears and restored vision to sightless eyes. By this hand was the leper cleansed, the lame man healed—even the dead Lazarus raised to life. With the finger of this hand there was written in the sand that message which the winds did erase but which honest hearts did retain. The hand of the carpenter. The hand of the teacher. The hand of the Christ. One called Pontius Pilate washed his hands of this man called King of the Jews. Oh foolish, spineless Pilate! Did you really believe that water could cleanse such guilt?

“I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!

Such mercy, such love, and devotion can I forget? …

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!”

—Hymns, no. 80

Pitied is the hand that sins. Envied is the hand that paints. Honored is the hand that builds. Appreciated is the hand that helps. Respected is the hand that serves. Adored is the hand that saves—even the hand of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of all mankind. With that hand he knocks upon the door of our understanding."

-Thomas S. Monson
"Hands"
Oct 1972

The Master Builder

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

-C.S. Lewis
"Mere Christianity"

What you have to offer is more than enough

"Remember the loaves and the fishes? Each of the Gospel writers tells how Jesus miraculously fed the thousands who followed Him. But the story begins with the disciples’ recognition of their lack; they realized they had only “five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” The disciples were right: they didn’t have enough food, but they gave what they had to Jesus, and then He provided the miracle.

Have you ever felt your talents and gifts were too small for the task ahead? I have. But you and I can give what we have to Christ, and He will multiply our efforts. What you have to offer is more than enough—even with your human frailties and weaknesses—if you rely on the grace of God."

-Michelle D. Craig
"Divine Discontent"
OCTOBER 2018

In His Strength

“I am certain our Heavenly Father is displeased when we refer to ourselves as “nobody.” How fair are we when we classify ourselves a “nobody”? How fair are we to our families? How fair are we to our God?

We do ourselves a great injustice when we allow ourselves, through tragedy, misfortune, challenge, discouragement, or whatever the earthly situation, to so identify ourselves. No matter how or where we find ourselves, we cannot with any justification label ourselves “nobody.”

As children of God we are somebody. He will build us, mold us, and magnify us if we will but hold our heads up, our arms out, and walk with him. What a great blessing to be created in his image and know of our true potential in and through him! What a great blessing to know that in his strength we can do all things!”

-Marvin J Ashton
“In His Strength”
April 1973

The religion of Christ is not just an idea; it is an activity

"The religion of Christ is not just an idea; it is an activity. It is not just something for us to think about; it is something for us to do. These words also constitute the world’s most powerful success formula. The best way to be a good doctor or a good lawyer or a good teacher is to be a good man. These words serve as the shortest, the most pleasant, the most direct, and the only road to the celestial kingdom."

-Sterling W. Sill
Keep the Commandments
Oct 1972

Soft answers remove anger, Rough words raise rage.

One night a snake... while it was looking for food, entered a carpenter’s workshop.
The carpenter, who was a rather untidy man, had left several of his tools lying on the floor.

One of them was a saw. As the snake went round and round the shop, he climbed over the saw, which gave him a little cut.

At once, thinking that the saw was attacking him, he turned around and bit it so hard that his mouth started to bleed. This made him very angry. He attacked again and again until the saw was covered with blood.

Dying from his own wounds, the snake decided to wrap itself around the saw and began to squeeze with all its strength but it ended up killing itself.

Sometimes we react with anger not realizing we are only hurting ourselves. In life, sometimes it's better to ignore situations, ignore people and their behavior. People say and do things but it's your decision to react in a positive way.

Soft answers remove anger, Rough words raise rage. Proverbs 15:1

Our direction is set by the little day-to-day choices

“The course of our lives is not determined by great, awesome decisions. Our direction is set by the little day-to-day choices which chart the track on which we run.

Many years ago I worked in the head office of one of our railroads. One day I received a telephone call from my counterpart in Newark, New Jersey, who said that a passenger train had arrived without its baggage car. The patrons were angry.

We discovered that the train had been properly made up in Oakland, California, and properly delivered to St. Louis, from which station it was to be carried to its destination on the east coast. But in the St. Louis yards, a thoughtless switchman had moved a piece of steel just three inches.

That piece of steel was a switch point, and the car that should have been in Newark, New Jersey, was in New Orleans, Louisiana, thirteen hundred miles away.”

-Gordon B. Hinkley
“Watch the Switches in your Life”
Oct 1972

Life's Questions

“The soul of man reaches heavenward, seeking a divine response to life’s greatest questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go after we leave this life?

Answers to these questions are not discovered within the covers of academia’s textbooks, by dialing Information, in tossing a coin, or through random selection of multiple-choice responses. These questions transcend mortality. They embrace eternity.”

-Thomas S Monson
“An Invitation to Exaltation”
Apri 1988

This Life is no Mistake

"We are privileged to live in a beautiful world. As we admire its majesties and beauties, with man as its final and crowning creation, we are filled with wonderment and awe. Surely these developments did not come about by mere chance, but must be the result of the handiwork of a divine and inspired architect and creator.

An illustrious biologist, after many years of study and meditation, concluded that "the probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the Unabridged Dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing office." (Professor Edwin Conklin, as quoted in Reader's Digest. April 1956.)

We are torn on every hand by man made intellectual theories and doctrines. And among us we have "doubting Thomases," who lack faith and who do not recognize a Heavenly Being as the creator of all these wonders. They cry out, "There is no God," or "God is dead."

We bear solemn witness that God does live and that the first principle of the gospel is to have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and in God, our Heavenly Father. We further declare to the world and bear witness that we are the spiritual offspring of heavenly parents.

Our true genesis, we declare, is that we did not come here by chance or by a whim of nature, but we came here by divine right, which we earned because of our faithfulness in a previous estate. Our eternal spirits are clothed in mortal bodies made in the image of our Father. We do not remember what happened in that former estate, as a veil has been drawn that obscures our memory. We don't have all the answers

-Henry D Taylor
September 1970

There is no joy without struggle

"One of my esteemed colleagues told me of his efforts to aid a young college student who was feeling sorry for himself, who was lacking motivation and had no sense of responsibility. My friend made an attractive proposal to this young man. In a conversation that went something like this, he said, “Son, I’m going to take over full responsibility of your affairs from now on and relieve you of your worries. I’ll pay your tuition at college, buy your clothes, furnish you an automobile and a credit card for gasoline. When you get ready to marry, don’t worry about it; I’ll look for a wife for you, and I will supply you with a house that is furnished. I’ll support you and your family thereafter without any effort on your part. What do you think of my offer?”

After a moment of sobered thinking the young man replied, “Well, if you did that, what would there be for me to live for?”

Then my friend replied, “That is what I’m trying to make you see, my boy. That is the purpose of life—there is no joy without struggle and the exercise of one’s own natural abilities.”"

-Harold B. Lee
"A Time of Decision"
APRIL 1972

Man Can Change Their Spots

"If you treat a man as he is he will stay as he is, but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be, and could be, he will be that bigger and better man.

During the past year I have watched one of society's outcasts, an ex-convict, rise from the depths of a prison cell to become a responsible citizen, a worthy Latter-day Saint. This man's life was changed because two of our missionaries brought him a message of hope and of salvation. He had thought because of his past all was lost and his chance had passed. But these two young elders brought him the gospel and a new way of life.

Unfortunately there are some in this world who continue to ignore or invalidate the principle of true repentance and say, "Once a thief, always a thief," or "Leopards don't change their spots." Need I remind you who say such things that we don't work with leopards; we work with men, and men change every day."

-Paul H. Dunn
Oct 1970

Finishers Wanted

Judge Not, That Ye Be Not Judged

"There is a little story about Sister McKay, the wife of President David O. McKay, when she began teaching school. As the principal introduced her to the class, he pointed to a certain boy and said he was a troublemaker. She sensed the boy’s embarrassment and feared he would live up to his reputation, so she wrote a note and slipped it to him as she passed his desk. It said, “Earl, I think the principal was mistaken about your being a bad boy. I trust you, and know that you are going to help me make this room the best in the school.” Earl not only became a paragon of scholastic virtue but also one of the town’s most important people.

Let me give you another example or two of what I would call unrighteous judgment. First, a bishop who needs additional officers sees a member of his ward who, though not active, seems to have ability, but he says to himself, “Oh, he wouldn’t be interested. He wouldn’t want to accept a position.” So he does not approach him, and the man remains inactive for years.

A new bishop is called to the ward, asks the man if he would be willing to accept a position, and finds that he is really ready and anxious to work.

Don’t prejudge, but give the person an opportunity. Let him decide for himself to accept or decline.


When we try to judge people, which we should not do, we have a great tendency to look for and take pride in finding weaknesses and faults, such as vanity, dishonesty, immorality, and intrigue. As a result, we see only the worst side of those being judged.

If there be one place in life where the attitude of the agnostic is acceptable, it is in this matter of judging. It is the courage to say, “I don’t know. I am waiting for further evidence. I must hear both sides of the question.”

Only by suspending judgment do we exhibit real charity. It is hard to understand why we are ready to condemn our neighbors and our friends on circumstantial evidence while we are all so determined to see that every criminal has a fair and open trial. Surely we can try to eliminate pride, passion, personal feeling, prejudice, and pettiness from our minds, and show charity to those around us.

Let us look for the good rather than try to discover any hidden evil. We can easily find fault in others if that is what we are looking for. Even in families, divorce has resulted and families have been broken up because the husband or wife was looking for and emphasizing the faults rather than loving and extolling the virtues of the other.

Gossip is the worst form of judging. The tongue is the most dangerous, destructive, and deadly weapon available to man. A vicious tongue can ruin the reputation and even the future of the one attacked. Insidious attacks against one’s reputation, loathsome innuendoes, half-lies about an individual are as deadly as those insect parasites that kill the heart and life of a mighty oak. They are so stealthy and cowardly that one cannot guard against them. As someone has said, “It is easier to dodge an elephant than a microbe.”

-N. Eldon Tanner
"Judge Not, That Ye Be Not Judged"
APRIL 1972

It Is All about People

Small and Simple Things

"We are taught many small and simple things in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to be reminded that in total and over a significant period of time, these seemingly small things bring to pass great things.

I was reminded of the power of small and simple things over time by something I saw on a morning walk. Here is the picture I took. The thick and strong concrete sidewalk is cracking. Is this the result of some large and powerful thrust? No, this cracking is caused by the slow, small growth of one of the roots reaching out from the adjoining tree.

The thrusting power that cracked these heavy concrete sidewalks was too small to measure on a daily or even a monthly basis, but its effect over time was incredibly powerful.

So is the powerful effect over time of the small and simple things we are taught in the scriptures and by living prophets. Consider the scripture study we’ve been taught to incorporate into our daily lives. Or consider the personal prayers and the kneeling family prayers that are regular practices for faithful Latter-day Saints. Consider attendance at seminary for youth or institute classes for young adults. Though each of these practices may seem to be small and simple, over time they result in powerful spiritual uplift and growth. This occurs because each of these small and simple things invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost, the Testifier who enlightens us and guides us into truth, as President Eyring has explained.

Another source of spiritual uplift and growth is an ongoing practice of repenting, even of seemingly small transgressions. Our own inspired self-evaluations can help us see how we have fallen short and how we can do better. Such repentance should precede our weekly partaking of the sacrament.

President Howard W. Hunter taught that “frequently it is the commonplace tasks … that have the greatest positive effect on the lives of others, as compared with the things that the world so often relates to greatness.”

We are surrounded by media influences and cultural deteriorations that will carry us downstream in our values if we are not continually resisting. To move upstream toward our eternal goal, we must constantly keep paddling. It helps if we are part of a team that is paddling together, like a rowing crew in action. To extend that example even further, the cultural currents are so strong that if we ever stop paddling, we will be carried downstream toward a destination we do not seek but which becomes inevitable if we do not constantly try to move forward.

Many years ago, President M. Russell Ballard described to a general conference audience “how small and simple things can be negative and destructive to a person’s salvation.” He taught: “Like weak fibers that form a yarn, then a strand, and finally a rope, these small things combined together can become too strong to be broken. We must ever be aware of the power that the small and simple things can have in building spirituality,” he said. “At the same time, we must be aware that Satan will use small and simple things to lead us into despair and misery.”7

President Wheelwright gave a similar caution to his BYU–Hawaii audience: “It is in failing to do the small and simple things that faith wavers, miracles cease, and progress towards the Lord and His kingdom is first put on hold and then begins to unravel as seeking after the kingdom of God is replaced with more temporal pursuits and worldly ambitions.”"

-Dallin H. Oaks
"Small and Simple Things"
Apr 2018

With One Accord

"Monarch butterflies are master navigators. They use the sun’s position to find the direction they need to go. Every spring, they travel thousands of miles from Mexico to Canada, and every fall, they return to the same sacred fir forests in Mexico. They do this year after year, one tiny wing flap at a time. During their journey, they cluster together at night on trees to protect themselves from the cold and from predators.

Like the monarch butterflies, we are on a journey back to our heavenly home, where we will reunite with our Heavenly Parents. Like the butterflies, we have been given divine attributes that allow us to navigate through life, in order to “[fill] the measure of [our] creation.” Like them, if we knit our hearts together, the Lord will protect us “as a hen [gathers] her chickens under her wings” and will make us into a beautiful kaleidoscope.

Girls and boys, young women and young men, sisters and brothers, we are on this journey together. In order to reach our sublime destiny, we need each other, and we need to be unified. The Lord has commanded us, “Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine."

-Reyna I. Aburto
"With One Accord"
APRIL 2018

Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing

When God directs us to do one thing, He often has many purposes in mind. Family history and temple work is not only for the dead but blesses the living as well.

But as we participate in family history and temple work today, we also lay claim to “healing” blessings promised by prophets and apostles.6 These blessings are also breathtakingly amazing because of their scope, specificity, and consequence in mortality. This long list includes these blessings:

Increased understanding of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice;

Increased influence of the Holy Ghost7 to feel strength and direction for our own lives;

Increased faith, so that conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding;

Increased ability and motivation to learn and repent8 because of an understanding of who we are, where we come from, and a clearer vision of where we are going;

Increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating influences in our hearts;

Increased joy through an increased ability to feel the love of the Lord;

Increased family blessings, no matter our current, past, or future family situation or how imperfect our family tree may be;

Increased love and appreciation for ancestors and living relatives, so we no longer feel alone;

Increased power to discern that which needs healing and thus, with the Lord’s help, serve others;

Increased protection from temptations and the intensifying influence of the adversary; and

Increased assistance to mend troubled, broken, or anxious hearts and make the wounded whole.9

If you have prayed for any of these blessings, participate in family history and temple work.


-Dale G. Renlund
"Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing"
APRIL 2018

Saving Ordinances Will Bring Us Marvelous Light

"The sacrament is an ordinance that helps us stay on the path, and worthily partaking is evidence that we are keeping the covenants associated with all the other ordinances. A few years ago, while my wife, Anita, and I were serving in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission, I went out to teach with two young missionaries. During the lesson, the good brother we were teaching said, “I have been to your church; why do you have to eat bread and drink water every Sunday? In our church, we do it twice a year, on Easter and Christmas, and that is very meaningful.”

We shared with him that we are commanded to “meet together oft to partake of bread and wine” (Moroni 6:6; see also D&C 20:75). We read out loud Matthew 26 and 3 Nephi 18. He responded that he still did not see the necessity.

We then shared the following comparison: “Imagine you are involved in a very serious car accident. You have been injured and are unconscious. Someone runs by, seeing that you are unconscious, and dials the emergency number, 911. You are attended to and regain consciousness.”

We asked this brother, “When you are able to recognize your surroundings, what questions will you have?”

He said, “I will want to know how I got there and who found me. I will want to thank him every day because he saved my life.”

We shared with this good brother how the Savior saved our lives and how we need to thank Him every day, every day, every day!

We then asked, “Knowing that He gave His life for you and us, how often do you want to eat the bread and drink the water as emblems of His body and blood?”

-Taniela B. Wakolo
"Saving Ordinances Will Bring Us Marvelous Light"
APRIL 2018

Until Seventy Times Seven

"Presumably, Peter thought seven was a sufficiently high number to emphasize the folly of forgiving too many times and that benevolence should have its limits. In response, the Savior essentially told Peter to not even count—to not establish limits on forgiveness.

“Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

Obviously, the Savior was not establishing an upper limit of 490. That would be analogous to saying that partaking of the sacrament has a limit of 490, and then on the 491st time, a heavenly auditor intercedes and says, “I’m so sorry, but your repentance card just expired—from this point forward, you’re on your own.”

The Lord used the math of seventy times seven as a metaphor of His infinite Atonement, His boundless love, and His limitless grace. “Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.”

That doesn’t mean that the sacrament becomes a license to sin. That’s one reason this phrase was included in the book of Moroni: “But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven.”

Real intent implies with real effort and real change. “Change” is the principal word the Guide to the Scriptures uses to define repentance: “A change of mind and heart that brings a fresh attitude toward God, oneself, and life in general.” That kind of change results in spiritual growth. Our success, then, isn’t going from failure to failure, but growing from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm.

Concerning change, consider this simple insight: “Things that don’t change remain the same.” This obvious truth isn’t meant to insult your intelligence but is the profound wisdom of President Boyd K. Packer, who then added, “And when we are through changing—we’re through.”"

-Lynn G. Robbins
"Until Seventy Times Seven"
APRIL 2018

This Glorious Easter Morn

"This is Easter morning. This is the Lord’s day, when we celebrate the greatest victory of all time, the victory over death.

Those who hated Jesus thought they had put an end to Him forever when the cruel spikes pierced His quivering flesh and the cross was raised on Calvary. But this was the Son of God, with whose power they did not reckon. Through His death came the Resurrection and the assurance of eternal life. None of us can fully understand the pain He bore as He prayed in Gethsemane and subsequently hung in ignominy between two thieves while those who looked at Him taunted Him and said, “He saved others; himself he cannot save” (Matt. 27:42; Mark 15:31).

Whenever the cold hand of death strikes, there shines through the gloom and the darkness of that hour the triumphant figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, He, the Son of God, who by his matchless and eternal power overcame death. He is the Redeemer of the world. He gave His life for each of us. He took it up again and became the firstfruits of them that slept. He, as King of Kings, stands triumphant above all other kings. He, as the Omnipotent One, stands above all rulers. He is our comfort, our only true comfort, when the dark shroud of earthly night closes about us as the spirit departs the human form."

-Gordon B. Hinkley
"This Glorious Easter Morn"
APRIL 1996

"Three Goals to Guide You"

"Do not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, but pray for abilities equal to your tasks. Then the accomplishment of your tasks will be no miracle, but you will be the miracle."

-Thomas S Monson
"Three Goals to Guide You"
Oct 2007

How to Worship

There is no other thing as important as knowing who and how we should worship.

There is no salvation in worshiping a false god. It does not matter one particle how sincerely someone may believe that God is a golden calf, or that he is an immaterial, uncreated power that is in all things; the worship of such a being or concept has no saving power. Men may believe with all their souls that images or powers or laws are God, but no amount of devotion to these concepts will ever give the power that leads to immortality and eternal life.

If a man worships a cow or a crocodile, he can gain any reward that cows and crocodiles happen to be passing out this season.

If he worships the laws of the universe or the forces of nature, no doubt the earth will continue to spin, the sun to shine, and the rains to fall on the just and on the unjust.

With this principle before us, may I now illustrate some of the specifics of that divine worship which is pleasing to him whose we are?

To worship the Lord is to follow after him, to seek his face, to believe his doctrine, and to think his thoughts.

It is to walk in his paths, to be baptized as Christ was, to preach that gospel of the kingdom which fell from his lips, and to heal the sick and raise the dead as he did.

To worship the Lord is to put first in our lives the things of his kingdom, to live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God, to center our whole hearts upon Christ and that salvation which comes because of him.

It is to walk in the light as he is in the light, to do the things that he wants done, to do what he would do under similar circumstances, to be as he is.

To worship the Lord is to walk in the Spirit, to rise above carnal things, to bridle our passions, and to overcome the world.

It is to pay our tithes and offerings, to act as wise stewards in caring for those things which have been entrusted to our care, and to use our talents and means for the spreading of truth and the building up of his kingdom.

-Bruce R. McConkie

"How to Worship"

OCT 1971 

With Hand and Heart

When we treat people merely as they are, they will remain as they are. When we treat them as if they were what they should be, they will become what they should be.

Prison warden Kenyon J. Scudder has related this experience: A friend of his happened to be sitting in a railroad coach next to a young man who was obviously depressed. Finally the man revealed that he was a paroled convict returning from a distant prison. His imprisonment had brought shame to his family, and they had neither visited him nor written often. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too uneducated to write. He hoped, despite the evidence, that they had forgiven him.

To make it easy for them, however, he had written them to put up a signal for him when the train passed their little farm on the outskirts of town. If his family had forgiven him, they were to put a white ribbon in the big apple tree which stood near the tracks. If they didn’t want him to return, they were to do nothing, and he would remain on the train as it traveled west.

As the train neared his home town, the suspense became so great he couldn’t bear to look out of his window. He exclaimed, “In just five minutes the engineer will sound the whistle, indicating our approach to the long bend which opens into the valley I know as home. Will you watch for the apple tree at the side of the track?” His companion changed places with him and said he would. The minutes seemed like hours, but then there came the shrill sound of the train whistle. The young man asked, “Can you see the tree? Is there a white ribbon?”

Came the reply: “I see the tree. I see not one white ribbon, but many. There must be a white ribbon on every branch. Son, someone surely does love you.”

In that instant he stood cleansed by Christ.

His friend said, “I felt as if I had witnessed a miracle.”

Indeed, he had witnessed a miracle appropriately described by the third verse of a favorite Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”:

“How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of his heaven.

“No ear may hear his coming; But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him still, The dear Christ enters in.”

—Hymns, no. 165

We, too, can experience this same miracle when we, with hand and heart, as did the Savior, lift and love our neighbor to a newness of life.

-Thomas S. Monson
"With Hand and Heart"
OCT 1971

Lord, Wilt Thou Cause That My Eyes May Be Opened

The Lion King is a classic animated film about the African savanna. When the lion king dies while saving his son, the young lion prince is forced into exile while a despot ruler destroys the balance of the savanna. The lion prince reclaims the kingdom through the help of a mentor. His eyes are opened to the necessity of balance in the great circle of life on the savanna. Claiming his rightful place as king, the young lion followed counsel to “look beyond what you see.”1

As we learn to become inheritors of all our Father has, the gospel mentors us to look beyond what we see. To look beyond what we see, we must look at others through the eyes of our Savior. The gospel net is filled with people in all their variety. We can’t fully understand the choices and psychological backgrounds of people in our world, Church congregations, and even in our families, because we rarely have the whole picture of who they are. We must look past the easy assumptions and stereotypes and widen the tiny lens of our own experience.

A young elder arrived with apprehension in his eyes. As we met in an interview, he said dejectedly, “I want to go home.” I thought to myself, “Well, we can fix this.” I counseled him to work hard and to pray about it for a week and then call me. A week later, almost to the minute, he called. He still wanted to go home. I again counseled him to pray, to work hard, and to call me in a week. In our next interview, things had not changed. He insisted on going home.

I just wasn’t going to let that happen. I began teaching him about the sacred nature of his call. I encouraged him to “forget [himself] and go to work.”2 But no matter what formula I offered, his mind did not change. It finally occurred to me that I might not have the whole picture. It was then that I felt a prompting to ask him the question: “Elder, what is hard for you?” What he said pierced my heart: “President, I can’t read.”

The wise counsel which I thought was so important for him to hear was not at all relevant to his needs. What he needed most was for me to look beyond my hasty assessment and allow the Spirit to help me understand what was really on this elder’s mind. He needed me to see him correctly and offer a reason to hope. Instead, I acted like a giant demolition wrecking ball. This valiant elder did learn to read and became a very pure disciple of Jesus Christ. He opened my eyes to the Lord’s words: “For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

What a blessing it is when the Spirit of the Lord widens our view.


-W. Craig Zwick
"Lord, Wilt Thou Cause That My Eyes May Be Opened"
OCTOBER 2017

Has the Day of Miracles Ceased?

"Do good people and their loved ones have reason to ask the question posed by Mormon: “Has the day of miracles ceased?”

My limited knowledge cannot explain why sometimes there is divine intervention and other times there is not. But perhaps we lack an understanding of what constitutes a miracle.

A critical question to ponder is “Where do we place our faith?” Is our faith focused on simply wanting to be relieved of pain and suffering, or is it firmly centered on God the Father and His holy plan and in Jesus the Christ and His Atonement? Faith in the Father and the Son allows us to understand and accept Their will as we prepare for eternity.

While it is good to pray for and work for physical protection and healing during our mortal existence, our supreme focus should be on the spiritual miracles that are available to all of God’s children. No matter our ethnicity, no matter our nationality, no matter what we have done if we repent, no matter what may have been done to us—all of us have equal access to these miracles."

-Donald L. Hallstrom
"Has the Day of Miracles Ceased?"
Oct 2017

Glass of Water

A lady went to the Bishop and said, "I won't be attending church anymore."

He said, "May I ask why?"

She said, " I see people on their cell phones texting and typing during the service, some are gossiping, some just aren't living right, some are sleeping, some are staring at me, they are all just hypocrites."

The bishop was silent. Then he said, "Can I ask you to do something for me before you make your final decision?"

She said, "Sure, whats that?"

He said, "Take a glass of water and walk around the church two times and don't let any water fall out of the glass." She said, "Yes, I can do that!" She went and got a glass of water and walked around the church two times. She came back and proudly said, "It's done."

The bishop asked her, "Did you see anybody on their phone?; Did you see anyone gossiping?; Was anybody living wrong?; Did you see anyone sleeping?" She said, "I didn't see anything because I was so focused on this glass, so the water didn't spill out."

He told her, "When you come to church, you should just focus on the Savior, so that you don't fall. That's why Jesus said, "Come follow me, He did not say follow Mormons."

Don't let your relationship with God be determined by how others relate with God. Let it be determined by how focused you are with God.