[A]ll are under the directive to become like Him, just as Jesus Christ became like the Father. As we progress, we become more complete, finished, and fully developed. Such teaching is not based on any one sect’s doctrines but comes directly from the Master Himself. It is through this lens that lives should be lived, communications considered, and relationships fostered.

Becoming Like Him

For me, one of the most evocative scriptures is 1 John 3:2-3.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Jesus Christ will appear again.  When He appears will I be like Him?

Doctrine and Covenants 76:94 describes the people who see Jesus as He is.

They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;

These are the saints who shall be like Him when He appears! I want to be one of them!

Elder Whiting suggested reviewing the Christlike Attribute activity in Preach My Gospel to gauge where we are in our efforts to become like the Savior.  It’s been several years since I’ve done this specific activity and thought I’d follow Elder Whiting’s counsel to determine what I can work on now to help me to become like Him, to “see and be seen” like Jesus.

Read each item below carefully. Decide how true that statement is about you, and choose the most appropriate response from the response key. Write your response to each item in your study journal. Spiritual growth is a gradual process, and no one is perfect, so you should expect to rate yourself better on some items than on others.

Delisa Hargrove

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have moved 64 times and have not tired of experiencing this beautiful earth! I love the people, languages, histories/anthropologies, & especially religious cultures of the world. My life long passion is the study & searching out of religious symbolism, specifically related to ancient & modern temples. My husband Anthony and I love our bulldog Stig, adventures, traveling, movies, motorcycling, and time with friends and family.

I’m not a young woman anymore. But I have decided to memorize the new theme because being able to say “I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents with a divine nature and eternal destiny” brings me strength and courage.

I wish I had grown up with this theme. It makes me want to go out and improve the lives of all around me. It also reminds me gently that I have work to do, and I’m eager to do it.

There is so much power in words. The power of saying “I will” is a personal vow. Whether you realize it or not your subconscious is listening. And saying these powerful words will give you strength when you need it.

I have found many times that the Lord whispers the words to primary songs or hymns to me. And it’s when I finally pay attention to the music I’ve been singing in my mind that I get the message, and the strength, that He has been trying to give me.

Power in words

I also realize, reading this theme, that I need to work harder as a mom and wife to keep the Spirit in our home. I feel I have been distracted, and that my family needs my spiritual power and my voice to keep them strong.

Our prophets have cautioned that there are difficult times ahead. But family is the strongest unit in society, and together we can face anything. I feel the Lord is strengthening all of us with the new theme.

I sense that this new theme is just the beginning of great things. For those who have not heard yet, here is the new Young Women’s theme. I love it and commend those who worked so hard to word it so powerfully. May we all live up to this new ideal, whether we are teenagers or many years past.

New Young Women’s Theme

To read more of Patty’s articles, click here.

Patty Sampson

Patty thrives on all things creative. You’ll often find her in the garden pretending she is a suburban farmer. She loves meeting new people, and is devoted to her friends and family. In her heart she is a Midwesterner even though life has moved her all over the country. She believes in “blooming where you’re planted” and has found purpose in every place she has been. She has a deep and abiding love for the Savior and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And she loves editing LDS Blogs because it is a constant spiritual uplift. Not many people can say their job builds their witness of the Savior.

John Taylor, the third prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

O give me back my Prophet dear,
And Patriarch, O give them back;
The Saints of latter days to cheer,
And lead them in the gospel track.
But ah! they’re gone from my embrace,
From earthly scenes their spirits fled;
Those two, the best of Adam’s race,
Now lie entombed among the dead.

 

Ye men of wisdom tell me why,
When guilt nor crime in them were found,
Why now their blood doth loudly cry,
From prison walls, and Carthage ground
Your tongues are mute, but pray attend,
The secret I will now relate,
Why those whom God to earth did lend,
Have met the suffering martyr’s fate.

 

It is because they strove to gain,
Beyond the grave a heaven of bliss;
Because they made the gospel plain,
And led the Saints in righteousness.
It is because God called them forth,
And led them by his own right hand
Christ’s coming to proclaim on earth,
And gather Israel to their land.

 

It is because the priests of Baal
Were desperate their craft to save;
And when they saw it doomed to fail,
They sent the Prophets to the grave.
Like scenes the ancient Prophets saw,
Like these, the ancient Prophets fell;
And till the resurrection dawn,
Prophet and Patriarch-Fare thee well.

 

“O give me back my Prophet dear” by John Taylor, Times and Seasons, 1 August 1845

John Taylor’s love and devotion to the Prophet are palpable. Joseph’s words and guidance mattered in John Taylor’s life.

Filled From the Crowns of Their Heads to the Soles of Their Feet

I’ve imagined what it must have been like to sit in a conference where Joseph taught doctrine new to me. How truth shattered traditions and expanded minds!

Apostle Orson Pratt described the conference Joseph presided over during the Kirtland Temple’s dedication.

God was there [in the Kirtland Temple], his angels were there, the Holy Ghost was in the midst of the people . . . and they were filled from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet with the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and uttered forth prophecies in the midst of that congregation, which have been fulfilling from that day to the present time.

Open Your Ears, Hearts, and Minds to Receive during General Conference

Another prophet leader, King Benjamin, convened a conference, too. As he began, he admonished his people to open their hearts and minds so that they could understand the things of God.

My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.

King Benjamin’s people received his counsel and became sanctified during that conference! They opened their souls so completely that they entered a new covenant becoming the sons and daughters of Christ!

And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them.

 

And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.

 

And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things.

The Lord follows a pattern of calling prophets to guide and direct His church. Prophets help prepare people to stay on the covenant path in preparing to enter into the Lord’s presence.

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Increase Your Spiritual Capacity to Receive Revelation During General Conference

A prophet lives and guides the Lord’s church today!  Like prophets of old, President Russell M. Nelson calls us to a general conference to be instructed and sanctified.

Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.

 

My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.

In his closing remarks during April 2019’s General Conference, President Nelson again challenged us to renovate our lives.

May each of us signify by our actions that we are true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we renovate our lives through our faith and trust in Him. May we access the power of His Atonement by our repentance each day. And may we dedicate and rededicate our lives to serving God and His children—on both sides of the veil.

 

I leave my love and blessing with you, assuring you that revelation continues in this, the Lord’s Church. It will continue until “the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

What Are You Experiencing During General Conference?

President Nelson’s inviting us to experience the outpouring of the Spirit we’ve read about, the manifestations that occur when the people of God gather worldwide in a conference. He’s taught that our spiritual preparation precedes revelation.

To read more of Delisa’s articles, click here.

He promised that we can see miraculous manifestations of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Have we done the spiritual work required? Are we ready? Are we looking? Are we having the experiences our predecessors claimed?

What are you experiencing during General Conference?

The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!
The latter-day glory begins to come forth;
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
And angels are coming to visit the earth.
We’ll sing and we’ll shout with the armies of heaven,
Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!
Let glory to them in the highest be given,
Henceforth and forever, Amen and amen!

 

The Lord is extending the Saints’ understanding,
Restoring their judges and all as at first.
The knowledge and power of God are expanding;
The veil o’er the earth is beginning to burst.

We’ll call in our solemn assemblies in spirit,
To spread forth the kingdom of heaven abroad,
That we through our faith may begin to inherit
The visions and blessings and glories of God.

 

How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion
Shall lie down together without any ire,
And Ephraim be crowned with his blessing in Zion,
As Jesus descends with his chariot of fire!

“The Spirit of God” by William W. Phelps

Delisa Hargrove

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have moved 64 times and have not tired of experiencing this beautiful earth! I love the people, languages, histories/anthropologies, & especially religious cultures of the world. My life long passion is the study & searching out of religious symbolism, specifically related to ancient & modern temples. My husband Anthony and I love our bulldog Stig, adventures, traveling, movies, motorcycling, and time with friends and family.

The time of General Conference has arrived! You can find on BYU-TV, some local channels, and on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. It is always held the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October, and we are treated with four two-hour sessions over two days; additionally, in April, their is a fifth meeting specifically for the men of the Church, and in October, a fifth meeting for the women. Speakers prepare their inspiring words weeks in advance, as there are no specific topics assigned.

How many times have I sat and listened to the words of these inspired men and women with a troubled heart in the hope of finding some peace when these messages of love spoke to my soul and gave me the motivation to be faithful? How many times have I heard compassion and tenderness in examples of Christlike love for others—even if those others do not return the same affection? There are many messages of easing our burdens and keeping sacred covenants.

Messages of kind and loving encouragement gave me the peace I needed as a parent to teach my children correct principals, always attend church meetings, and continue reading my scriptures. This renewed strength keeps me going until the next general conference comes around. It is spiritual nourishment at its best, and the quiet whisperings of the Spirit of the Lord come through loud and clear as we listen to each session.

It was at General Conference where President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the building of smaller temples all over the world, which resulted in a total of 144 temples in operation today. It was during General Conference that “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” was read as well as the Relief Society Declaration, The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles. It was where, more recently, the change of age for the youth to serve missions was announced.

In times past, there have been votes for added sacred words as scripture to our Doctrine and Covenants. We are updated on membership numbers, the count of congregations, and what temples are to be constructed.

Modern revelation through our church leaders is a great blessing, as we can use these resources to keep our faith strong. As Joseph Fielding Smith said in the General Conference of April 1972:

“All of our Church conferences are occasions to teach one another the doctrines of the gospel; to testify of the truth and divinity of those things which have come to us by the opening of the heavens; and to counsel together, and with the Lord, as to the things we should all do to fill the full measure of our creation.”

So this weekend, you shall find me planted in front of the TV, watching and listening for those inspiring words which give me peace — a peace in these troubling times which is soothing to my soul.

This article was originally published in 2015. Minor changes have been made.

Valerie Steimle

Valerie Steimle has been writing as a family advocate for over 25 years. As a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she promotes Christian living in her writings and is the mother of nine children and grandmother to twelve. Mrs. Steimle authored six books and is a contributing writer to several online websites. To her, time is the most precious commodity we have and knows we should spend it wisely.
To read more of Valerie’s work, visit her at her website, The Blessings of Family Life.

President Oaks and President Nelson, our Prophet, sustain church officers.

At every general conference, we get a chance to sustain each other in our various church jobs. We do this by raising our hands to show support. That is called sustaining. It is a personal commitment to do what we can for the individuals filling those jobs, and demonstrates that we agree to them holding that position.

It isn’t something we take lightly. It’s both a spiritual and physical commitment since there may be times you are asked to assist that person in their church volunteer service.

I have had a lot of church jobs (often referred to as a “calling“) over the years. I have served in the nursery, Primary, Relief Society, Young Women, ward mission, Sunday School, temple, as a Ward Mom in a young single adult (YSA) congregation, and even on an institute council.

Each time I am asked to meet with the bishop about a new church calling, I am nervous and worried that I won’t be up for the task. I seriously sit there and sweat in near panic till I hear what he wants me to do.

There have been a few times I have had to leave a church job before the bishop was ready to release me. I will never forget working in the Nursery with 12 active and noisy toddlers. I loved it and I hated it. And then it started to give me panic attacks because of the chaos. I had to be released early from that one, and I still feel bad about it.

Called by God

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know that every church job is serving the Lord in whatever capacity they are asked.

The bishop may be the one asking us to serve, but it is a request from the Lord to better His kingdom. That is why looking at that picture of the Prophet with his hand raised touched my heart. I know that the prophet is the Lord’s mouthpiece on earth, and seeing him sustain, or support, everyone in the church in their individual church jobs reinforced that God does, too.

I am not there to serve just the people I work with at church, but also to serve God. This has been a huge comfort because my most recent church job has had a HUGE learning curve. I am now the assistant leader for the Webelos in the Scouting program, and I’ve never been more lost. My brothers did Scouts growing up, but what teenage sister pays attention to what her younger brothers are doing? Honestly, the only time it registered was when it meant I got to see other teenage boys my age. I was kind of boy crazy back then.

So, you can imagine how out of my depth I’ve been feeling. I love the boys in our group, and I love working with them. But often I am confused about what is expected of me and the proper way to do things. Thankfully, I have an experienced Webelos leader that I work with. I think she could run the program in her sleep! But I just haven’t felt that useful to her, aside from crowd control, cracking jokes, and bringing snacks.

I Can Do This!

Despite my misgivings, when I saw the prophet’s hand in the air, I knew that I could do this. I knew then that God knows I am completely out of my element, and that is OK. He is asking me to grow and learn a new set of skills. He knows that this will prepare me for future assignments or for another time when I am in too deep with something totally new.

To read more of Patty’s articles, click here.

I am grateful for church programs that teach us though service. I am so grateful to know my Heavenly Father has confidence in His children and their abilities. And I am grateful for that moment of inspiration when the Lord whispered to me as I saw the prophet sustaining the members of the Church. What a powerful moment that was for me.

Now I feel better prepared to go face the world of Scouting and any other challenges that may come my way. This is God’s Church. We are His children, and He wants us to succeed and to keep trying.

Patty Sampson

Patty thrives on all things creative. You’ll often find her in the garden pretending she is a suburban farmer. She loves meeting new people, and is devoted to her friends and family. In her heart she is a Midwesterner even though life has moved her all over the country. She believes in “blooming where you’re planted” and has found purpose in every place she has been. She has a deep and abiding love for the Savior and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And she loves editing LDS Blogs because it is a constant spiritual uplift. Not many people can say their job builds their witness of the Savior.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, President Russell M Nelson, and President James E Faust are just a few of the men that have counseled and encouraged me throughout my life. Definitely three of the most inspirational people I have ever come across.

That is pretty high praise, but accurate. Perhaps just as amazing is that you too and everyone else on this planet have access to these leaders and dozens of others. Their guidance is essentially at your beck and call if you seek it. How can that be?

President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Wendy Nelson

Well, if you share my religious faith, you probably recognized that of the three names I mentioned, only two of these great men are still living. But even that doesn’t prevent us from continuing to learn from our leaders and enjoy their counsel.

At the beginning of this month, tens of thousands of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered for eight to ten hours (if you participated in the Women’s Session) of instruction and counsel from Church leaders. We learned more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, adopted organizational changes, and heard announcements of 12 new temples to be built at locations all around the world (which brings the total number of temples operating, announced, or under construction to 201). We heard these messages from general leaders of the Church, apostles, and our dear prophet. These semi-annual conferences have been going on for dozens of years (and a yearly general conference has occurred since 1830), and those since 1976 have been recorded and posted on the Internet for our review and benefit.

But it doesn’t stop there.

The figure from those 97 conferences alone is well into the thousands of discourses from an incredible 494 speakers currently covering 303 topics. Many of those that guide and counsel us have spoken multiple times on the issues that are most important to us at the time. Just think of that.

Which speakers do you particularly connect with? Dozens of speakers and hundreds of topics are available. A few speakers I particularly enjoy include Gordon B. Hinckley (232), Boyd K Packer (90), James E Faust (108), and Jeffrey Holland (52), for starters. And new favorite talks are emerging all the time, including those covering today’s hottest issues.

The late prophet Joseph Fielding Smith

My father once told me of an experience he had while doing some business in Salt Lake City. He found himself hurrying to his appointment on an upper floor in Hotel Utah. As he approached the elevator, he noticed an older man with white hair who was also heading in the direction of the elevator. When my father looked closer, he realized it was President Joseph Fielding Smith. My father slowed his pace appropriately and gestured respectfully to this spiritual giant of a man, saying “After you, President,” allowing him to enter the elevator first.

My father told me about this experience when I was just a small boy, but remembering this incident has stayed with me my whole life. I realize the act itself may seem tiny, almost inconsequential to others. Most would not even remember this occasion, let alone share it. But back in those days, it was less common to see Church leaders frequently. Youth conferences, EFY, Education Week, devotionals and women’s conferences were just getting started in many cases and recordings of these events did not exist; they were not available everywhere like they are now. We didn’t have the Internet, videos, and YouTube where we can watch, listen, and regularly enjoy the messages from notable men and women in and out of the Church and particularly those from our prophet.

But we have all these things today. They are ubiquitous. Are you taking advantage of them?

Sources of this information include lds.org, the Mormon Channel, the gospel library app, Church curriculum, dozens more websites, videos, and streaming. You can listen to these resources on your morning walk, in the car, at the office, or on the go—literally anywhere.

It is easy to take for granted the bounty of valuable gospel resources that we have today, but don’t let that happen to you.

“Why should I care? I already have enough on my plate,” one could say.

When Jesus Christ was on the earth, on one occasion he engaged with ten lepers. Let’s read below what happened next:

“And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

 

“And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

 

“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

 

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

 

“And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

 

“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

 

“There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

 

“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:11–19)

Now I do not mean to judge the lepers. I have never been in their shoes, but I believe that we will be held accountable if we do not recognize and take advantage of these amazing resources if we are able—a literal flood of information that is pervasive, ever-present, and available if we will just take a few minutes to engage.

To read more articles by Walter Penning, click here.

There is something beyond being healed that made the grateful leper whole. Gratitude had the power to heal him internally. How does that apply to us?

I have seen many instances where gratitude healed people and relationships.

My family has always enjoyed Fall like many others. In good fun, we have celebrated Halloween as a playful and memorable occasion for our children. Occasionally, the older children will indulge in a horror movie to help ignite their passion for fear. I get it. But to me what is really scary is ignoring the bounty that has been specifically prepared to help you and me and our families through life.

When we have been handed this blessing of protection, guidance, and help on a silver platter, would we really just ignore it?

That is a really terrifying consideration. Yet if we choose not to ignore it, our lives will be blessed and we will have greater joy. And who wouldn’t want that?

Walter Penning

In 1989, Walter Penning formed a consultancy based in Salt Lake City and empowered his clients by streamlining processes and building a loyal, lifetime customer base with great customer service. His true passion is found in his family. He says the best decision he ever made was to marry his sweetheart and have children. The wonderful family she has given him and her constant love, support, and patience amid life’s challenges is his panacea.

In January 2019, our 3-hour block of church will become a 2-hour block. We have been admonished to make our homes a place of study and Sunday worship. Isn’t it appropriate that the family should be the main source of gospel learning? Our meetings on Sunday should be focused on 1) the sacrament, and 2) supplementing and reinforcing the gospel study we are doing in our homes.

Like every principle the Lord teaches us, we have agency. We can choose to make this change simply about getting out of church an hour early or we can choose to make a significant difference in the spirituality of our families. In a time when our families need it the most, we still have agency to totally disregard the warnings of the times and discard the opportunity to strengthen our families against the evil all around them.

For many years, Church leaders have been working on an integrated curriculum to strengthen families and individuals through a home-centered and Church-supported plan to learn doctrine, strengthen faith, and foster greater personal worship. Our efforts over these recent years to hallow the Sabbath—to make it a delight and a personal sign to God of our love for Him—will be augmented by the adjustments we will now introduce.

 

… We are each responsible for our individual spiritual growth. And scriptures make it clear that parents have the primary responsibility to teach the doctrine to their children. It is the responsibility of the Church to assist each member in the divinely defined goal of increasing his or her gospel knowledge (President Russell M. Nelson, “Opening Remarks, Oct. 2018 General Conference).

Strengthening our families is what this change is all about. Is there any doubt that we need to take every opportunity to gather our children together and teach them in these times?

“The purposes and blessings associated with this adjustment and other recent changes include the following:

• Deepening conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthening faith in Them.
• Strengthening individuals and families through home-centered, Church-supported curriculum that contributes to joyful gospel living.
• Honoring the Sabbath day, with a focus on the ordinance of the sacrament.
• Helping all of Heavenly Father’s children on both sides of the veil through missionary work and receiving ordinances and covenants and blessings of the temple (Elder Quentin L. Cook, Deep and Lasting Conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Oct. 2018 General Conference).”

I’ve been thinking a lot about choice and accountability. Agency is such a two-edged sword. We often confuse agency with freedom. I have studied and pondered the two words. I’ve found these partial definitions from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary very helpful.

Freedom:  the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action

Agency:  the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power; a person or thing through which power is exerted or an end is achieved

Do you see the difference? Freedom is the absence of tyranny. Agency is the power to achieve something.

To read more of Tudie’s articles, click here.

We’ve been given an opportunity to achieve something grand, strengthen our families, prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and eternally bond with those we love. We have the power or agency to make certain our family bond extends through eternity. Yes, we have freedom to choose, but more importantly, we have agency to make it happen. Heavenly Father has reached down from His eternal courts on high to extend His power to us—if we will only reach out and grab the brass ring.

If you are a regular reader of my articles, you know that keeping the Sabbath day holy has been an ongoing struggle for me. This is something I work on constantly—with varying degrees of success. It has gotten better, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. It has become quite clear over the last few years, however, that keeping the Sabbath day holy is the key to strengthening families. If I wasn’t convinced before, the October 2018 General Conference has left me no doubt.

Heavenly Father’s plan is for our families to be together forever. It is all about the family. We have agency/power to make that happen. It is a matter of choice and accountability.

Tudie Rose

Tudie Rose is a mother of four and grandmother of ten in Sacramento, California. You can find her on Twitter as @TudieRose. She blogs as Tudie Rose at http://potrackrose.wordpress.com. She has written articles for Familius. You will find a Tudie Rose essay in Lessons from My Parents, Michele Robbins, Familius 2013, at http://www.familius.com/lessons-from-my-parents.

Wild turkeys on the Sacramento temple grounds.

However, turkeys are not known for their great intelligence, and they may be about to ruin the good thing they’ve got going for them there. They have developed a new game. They fly up into the small trees in the parking lot near the entrance of the temple and jump or bounce from one small branch to another breaking or knocking off many small limbs in the process.

As I watched them playing this new game, it occurred to me that those people responsible for caring for the temple grounds and keeping them gorgeously manicured are not going to take this sitting down. Some turkeys may be about to lose their happy home.

I thought about the many ways we can lose our happy eternal home by our inability to see the whole picture.

Every six months we hear from prophets and apostles during General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We listen, smile, and come away on a spiritual high. We hear words of counsel on how we should be living our lives to prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Like a New Year’s resolution, we promise ourselves and Heavenly Father that we will do better—but Monday morning comes. We want to get out of bed and read our scriptures, but somehow—just like the small branches entice the wild turkeys—we are tempted to pull the covers over our head and sleep an extra 30 minutes.

Perhaps those who suffer from chemical addictions and pornography find their way back to the same addictions at the close of General Conference rather than seeking out the help they need. Some of us promise to really “minister” to the needs of our fellow travelers on this planet but slide back into the pattern of saying, “If you need anything, call me.” We promise ourselves to do our family history and take family names to the temple, but it never seems to happen. We make plans to go to the temple more often, but we don’t get there.

Unfortunately, the procrastination of eternal matters has much bigger consequences than the procrastination of the January diet and exercise program in our New Year’s resolution. Over the past few years, it seems to me that prophets, seers, and revelators have become very blunt about our times and the situation in the world than they ever have before—at least in my lifetime. We listen, but do we really hear? If we are hearing, we are not procrastinating.

President Russell M. Nelson has been very open about the fact that we have offended the Savior over the last 150 years by neglecting to correct people when they call us Mormons, and even following suit by calling ourselves Mormons. Interestingly enough, we’ve been hearing about this for a long time from our leaders, but it has fallen on deaf ears. I think we are finally beginning to hear. I was struck by the calm, firm voice of President Nelson, as he explained the importance of taking on the Savior’s name.

Thus, the name of the Church is not negotiable. When the Savior clearly states what the name of His Church should be and even precedes His declaration with, “Thus shall my church be called,” He is serious. And if we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended.

 

What’s in a name or, in this case, a nickname? When it comes to nicknames of the Church, such as the “LDS Church,” the “Mormon Church,” or the “Church of the Latter-day Saints,” the most important thing in those names is the absence of the Savior’s name. To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan. When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us—even His Atonement (President Russell M. Nelson, “The Correct Name of the Church,” Oct. 2018 General Conference).

President Nelson, President Oaks, President Eyring, and 12 apostles are giving us clear instruction on a lot of things. They don’t tell us these things lightly. It would be much easier for them if they could “retire” from giving us counsel—but what they have to say is the will of our Heavenly Father through His son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost testifies to the truth of all things.

To read more of Tudie’s articles, click here.

Hearing prophets, seers, and revelators is easy—with practice. It’s a matter of agency. We all want to be obedient, but we sometimes choose the easy way out. With practice, we learn to control our thoughts and actions to come into line with the Savior.

My children had a kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Robinson, who used to say, “Get your ears out of your pockets.” She would reach into her pocket, pull out an imaginary ear, and pretend to screw it onto the side of her head. As prophets and apostles speak to us, as they did recently in General Conference, we need to take our ears out of our pockets and really hear their messages instead of just listening to forget later.

Tudie Rose

Tudie Rose is a mother of four and grandmother of ten in Sacramento, California. You can find her on Twitter as @TudieRose. She blogs as Tudie Rose at http://potrackrose.wordpress.com. She has written articles for Familius. You will find a Tudie Rose essay in Lessons from My Parents, Michele Robbins, Familius 2013, at http://www.familius.com/lessons-from-my-parents.

In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.

This past General Conference, I listened to our newly sustained prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, exhort each of us “to stretch beyond [our] current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation.”

Like most of us, I have many personal experiences with the Spirit guiding my life. However, I also have had a few experiences when I thought I was heeding the Spirit, but, in retrospect, I think I may have been simply following my own inclinations.

The question for me is HOW? How do I receive personal revelation? How do I know that it is revelation and not just my own desires?

You don’t have to wonder what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust.

Like most of us, I have experienced betrayal—it would be so freeing if I could know who I can safely trust! To no longer be constrained in conversation when I want to freely share the burdens I struggle with. I need to know who I can trust. I need to know where I can turn for strength. Of course, Heavenly Father is always there when I pray and I depend completely upon Him; however, human nurturing is sometimes needed. So, how to prevent another betrayal? Personal revelation.

One of the things the Spirit has repeatedly impressed upon my mind since my new calling as President of the Church is how willing the Lord is to reveal His mind and will. The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children.

God wants to guide me. Again, I hit the wall of myself. How do I get out of the way of personal revelation? How do I receive revelation that is from God and not just my own subconscious trying to satisfy my own selfish wants?

I asked my husband and oldest daughter how the Lord speaks to them. My husband shared that it’s different for different people. For him, he receives revelation while serving others or sometimes during a quiet walk. He’s received thoughts and guidance when he’s turned off the music in his car and just sat quietly. Sometimes he’s received personal revelation through conversations with other people or during a sacrament talk.

Our oldest daughter is an artist and will often sit in her room, listening to classical music while she is creating art. She shared that she often receives personal revelation during these quiet moments of creation. My daughter has sought the Lord’s help in prayer, specifically asking for help in loving others. When she has done this, she has been overcome with feelings of love for the specific person she is praying for. When I pressed her for a specific example, she shared:

“Last year, I fasted about whether or not to take honors versus academic chem. Personally, I wanted to take honors chem. When I fasted and prayed, I didn’t get a feeling really, it was more of a thought that academic was better. I wasn’t really happy about it, but it just felt right … I didn’t want to do it, but Heavenly Father knew what was best.”

I remember this experience! As her mother, I was praying right along with my daughter—this caused her so much stress and anxiety! She has very high goals for herself and taking a regular academic class is not how she defines herself. After she received this revelation, she came to me in tears, she was so unhappy about the answer. I reminded her that if she asked the Lord for guidance, she had a responsibility to act upon His answer. (She was a bit miffed with that response.)

However, after a very challenging junior year in high school, she was extremely grateful she followed this personal revelation. Unexpectedly, one of her best friends was also in the academic class! This class is not one she needs to excel in for her future goals; with the stresses of her many other activities and classes, it was a huge blessing to my daughter that she did not take the honors chem class.

For myself, I have experienced these same personal revelatory experiences, yet I still want more. After all, Nephi received such specific revelation that he built a sea-worthy ship to take his entire family to the promised land. I’m pretty sure at my current level of revelation receiving, my ship would resemble a graham cracker.

The Prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us to follow in resolving our questions. Drawn to the promise of James that if we lack wisdom we may ask of God, the boy Joseph took his question directly to Heavenly Father. He sought personal revelation, and his seeking opened this last dispensation.

 

 

In like manner, what will your seeking open for you? What wisdom do you lack? What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand? Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph. Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.

 

 

Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.”

 

 

Does God really want to speak to you? Yes!

I want to receive personal revelation. I need to know what the Lord wants me to do as His daughter, as a mother, as a wife, and in every other stewardship I have in life. I am committed to stretching myself beyond my current spiritual ability!

Writing out the list of President’s Nelson’s above counsel, it looks like this:

1. Find a quiet place I can regularly go.
2. Pray about my concerns, fears, weaknesses, and the very longings of my heart
3. Write the thoughts received; record my feelings.
4. Follow through with the actions I am prompted to take.

As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.”

To read more of Emlee Taylor’s Missionary Mom moments, click here.

Okay, I’ll take that challenge. This list is not so very daunting that I can’t make space in my life to do these five steps. I’ll begin today and see where the Lord can take me.

Emlee Taylor

Growing up all over the world gave Emlee Taylor an opportunity to see the incredible differences the Lord created in humanity; and even better, the passions we all share as members of the human race: love for family, faith, & a desire to make a difference.

Emlee lives life with passion—focusing her time now on raising four children and teaching them to recognize truth and to live true to that truth, regardless of others’ expectations. Emlee is passionately in love with her bestest friend and husband of more than 20 years. 

Family unity can be fostered when children are very young. Some families have created a family motto, and others have designed a family crest to help children learn to be cohesive. I think most families develop traditions which unite the family. My own family did a lot of talking around the dinner table. No subject was taboo. Those discussions, coupled with family traditions and other things, helped us to work together and serve each other. We bonded through these things, and became bound together.

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. … Miracles happen when the children of God work together guided by the Spirit to reach out to others in need.

(Sister Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, “With One Accord,” Apr. 2018 General Conference).

Sometimes reaching out to others in need doesn’t even require reaching very far — the person in need might be as close as our own family table. As a child, and later as a teenager, I wasn’t comfortable sharing certain portions of my life with my friends at school, in the neighborhood, or at church. I found, however, that I felt pretty comfortable sharing almost everything with my family.

Looking back, I think the only things I didn’t share were things that I thought might hurt a member of my family. My dad was ill when I was in high school, and I was very protective of him. If there were things I didn’t share, it was because I didn’t want to upset him. Other than that, I freely shared my life with my family. Those things that I thought might upset Dad, I shared with Mom or my siblings. I have always been grateful to have had that place to vent when I was growing up. My family was always there for me, working with me, teaching me, and reaching out to me.

I hope my children felt the same way when they were growing up. They were all pretty close. They would fight like cats and dogs, but when someone else outside the family caused hurt or pain, they always banded together to protect each other. They were unified and protective of each other.

As children grow up, move out, begin their own lives and their own families, and spread out over several states, the challenge to be unified becomes more difficult. Time and miles can get in the way if we aren’t careful. Technology is helpful to keep extended family in touch, but for daily life challenges, it’s pretty normal to turn inward to those immediate family members who live in our own household.

It’s certainly not wrong to want your own life without extended family looking over your shoulder all the time. I’m a firm believer that we each need to learn to stand on our own two feet. Independence and agency are critical gospel principles. On the other hand, there are times when reaching out to extended family members can be helpful in solving problems, as well as allowing the extended family opportunities for service and to mourn for those who mourn and comfort those in need of comfort. Sometimes we find similarities in our challenges with those of extended family members.

For instance, raising children always presents life challenges. While each child is different, and you never know from one minute to another what challenge your children will present you with, there are often very similar situations from one family to the next. Reaching out to extended family to vent about specific parenting issues can present solutions you had never considered. Moreover, each of these conversations brings a chance to bond more closely with extended family.

Families are forever. Eternal families are the core of LDS beliefs. We are human, and we all have issues from time to time with other family members. We need to do our best to resolve those issues as quickly as possible if we are to remain eternal families. I think we all understand that. What we sometimes forget, however, is that we also need to be sharing our lives with our extended family members in order to remain close.

The occasional family reunion or family get together is fine, but we need to go beyond that. Social media is great, but we need to go beyond that, too. Texting is wonderful, but we need to do better than that sometimes. There is nothing like an actual phone call to chat about our lives with family. There is also great benefit in pouring out your soul in an actual written letter to a family member—and that is quite the lost art. I have precious letters from family members written in days long gone. Those letters helped me grow as a person, and they sustained me through difficult moments in my life.

To read more of Tudie’s articles, click here.

Family unity is more than just being civil to one another. Family unity is more than getting together every couple of years, or even once a year. Family unity is learning and growing together. Family unity is a perfect understanding of the eternal family unit. As I strive to get better at this, I hope you will as well. I just need a reminder once in a while. Maybe this article will serve as that reminder as I reread it in the future.

Because if we aren’t working on our family, then we are avoiding the core of our entire belief system.

Tudie Rose

Tudie Rose is a mother of four and grandmother of ten in Sacramento, California. You can find her on Twitter as @TudieRose. She blogs as Tudie Rose at http://potrackrose.wordpress.com. She has written articles for Familius. You will find a Tudie Rose essay in Lessons from My Parents, Michele Robbins, Familius 2013, at http://www.familius.com/lessons-from-my-parents.