Tag: the book of mormon

Without the Book of Mormon – Who am I?
The following is the text that I used in a talk that I gave in our church services. If you are unfamiliar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the things that make us unique is that we don’t have a paid preacher to give the sermon each week. Our sermons are given by members of the congregation who are assigned by our local leaders – who are also unpaid members of the congregation. While it can be stressful when you’re the one who is giving the talk (what we call these assigned sermons), it is also a really great way to get fresh perspectives on gospel principles each week.

In this post I talk a lot about some of the unique teachings and practices of our church compared to other Christian denominations. If you want to learn more I always welcome questions, or I can help connect you with local missionaries, or great resources that can help you understand more about our beliefs.

I also want to make sure that I say up front that I hold faithful followers of other religions in the highest regard. While this post focuses on some of the unique things that I love about the gospel that I cherish, it is not meant in any way to put down anyone else’s beliefs. I believe that all faithful people, regardless of religious tradition, are given inspiration and light from God and that all are beloved children of Heavenly Parents. I don’t think I’ve said anything in here that those who believe differently would find antagonistic, but if I’m wrong and any of this feels attacking to your own beliefs, please know that was not my intention and I apologize if that is the case. This message was written in the context of being shared with those who share my beliefs, but it might feel different to those who don’t.

A few years back I considered converting to Catholicism when I discovered that my Catholic friends can decide to go to mass at 7pm on Saturday nights and then they can sleep in on Sunday mornings. I am not a morning person and that option was really appealing! My Catholic friends are some of the most Christlike people I know and I’ve drawn closer to my Savior through my association with them, so I would still have a good faith community and I could sleep in on Sundays – it was sounding like a pretty good plan!

Unfortunately, I really like having the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine & Covenants, and living prophets, and temples, and continuing revelation, and eternal families, and the Plan of Salvation, and degrees of glory, and eternal progression, and a Heavenly Mother, and ordinances for the dead, and Relief Society, and the priesthood in my home, and ministering, and callings, and missionaries, and self-reliance, and General Conference, and Come Follow Me, and the word of Wisdom, and patriarchal blessings, and personal revelation, and physical resurrection, and our understanding of the Godhead.

So… I decided against Catholic conversion. But, if you want to know whether or not I have a testimony of the church just remember this – it’s the first day of daylight saving time, my 1 year old is a lousy sleeper, we have 9am church… and I’m here. That should tell you pretty much all you need to know about my testimony of the gospel.

When I was asked to speak I was given a couple of scriptures to speak on. However the bishopric also offered me an out that I could speak on whatever was in my heart right now. I tried at first to stick with the scriptures that had been given me, but there was a challenge that had been something that I wanted to write out, and the further I got into writing my talk… the less my talk had to do with the scriptures given. So I finally let the bishopric know that my actual topic was going to be President Nelson’s talk from October 2017 General Conference.

I had thought his talk was given recently recently, so I was surprised to find that it was almost 8 years ago, back when President Nelson was still Elder Nelson. He issued a challenge that had struck me and I had pondered on it over the years, but never taken the time to write out my ponderings.

As I wrote my talk I looked up the quote that I remembered, pasted it in, but I didn’t actually re-listen to the talk 🤦‍♀️ This morning, after I’d finished printing out my talk I finally listened to it while curling my hair and found so much in it that I wished I had incorporated into what I was going to share! I had spent all week trying to cut bulk out of my talk because I was worried that I would go over, and it was really too late to change things so I was just mad at my own lack of preparation.

However, when I got to church the returning missionary who was speaking with me mentioned that she didn’t have a lot to share. Aw man! I’d just spent all this time cutting parts of my talk out and now I was going to be short instead of long!

Luckily I was able to pull President Nelson’s talk up and add in some of the things that had impressed me while listening to his previous address. I think it was a little tender mercy because if I hadn’t cut down what I’d originally written I wouldn’t have had time to share President Nelson’s words directly – it’s interesting how the Lord works with us.

President Nelson shared this in his talk –

My brothers and sisters, how precious is the Book of Mormon to you? If you were offered diamonds or rubies or the Book of Mormon, which would you choose? Honestly, which is of greater worth to you?

Remember in the Sunday morning session of the April 2017 general conference, President Thomas S. Monson pleaded with “each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day.” Many have responded to our prophet’s plea. […]

Something powerful happens when a child of God seeks to know more about Him and His Beloved Son. Nowhere are those truths taught more clearly and powerfully than in the Book of Mormon. Since President Monson’s challenge six months ago, I have tried to follow his counsel. Among other things, I’ve made lists of what the Book of Mormon is, what it affirms, what it refutes, what it fulfills, what it clarifies, and what it reveals. Looking at the Book of Mormon through these lenses has been an insightful and inspiring exercise! I recommend it to each of you.

I was impressed when I heard this talk to hear that Elder Nelson took the time to take the prophets challenge at the time. Somehow I had always thought of those challenges as being for regular members of the church. The apostles were in their own league and beyond having to do what the rest of us do, right? That really strengthened my testimony of how important it is for us to follow the direction of the prophet – even the apostles take it seriously.

President Nelson posed these questions –

“First, what would your life be like without the Book of Mormon? Second, what would you not know? And third, what would you not have?”
I tried to take his challenge. But I found it difficult to imagine my life without the Book of Mormon in it. I was raised in the church. Every single ancestor on my dad’s side of the family was baptized into the church during their own life time as far back as the church was restored, and my mom was raised in the gospel too. I was even raised near Palmyra, New York until I was 10, so church history was part of my childhood. Growing up, our family was always at church activities, my parents served in leadership roles, and the gospel shaped my life.

I attended BYU, where I met Eric, and as most of you already know we got engaged within 9 days of our first date. We married in the temple and now almost 18 years later we have 5 beautiful kids that we’re busy trying to also raise in the gospel. So far, I think I’ve had a pretty good life, and every single good thing in my life – I can tie back to the gospel.

I don’t say that with the intention to brag. Actually, somewhat the opposite. Because my life has been so entrenched in the gospel I can’t even fathom who I would be without it. When President Nelson asked about what my life would be like without the Book of Mormon I couldn’t even come up with a reasonable answer. Without the Book of Mormon does my Australian mom come to Utah – where my dad’s family only lived because of the restoration of the church – so that they find each other, get married and decide to have me? Who am I without the Book of Mormon?

This has caused me to stop at times and question – do I believe the gospel because it’s the only thing I know, or is it actually something that I know to be true for myself? Had I been raised in a different family would I have been just as firmly convinced of Catholicism, or Judaism, or Islam, or even Atheism? How much of what I believe is just because of my surroundings rather than my own personal search for objective truth?

I have a bit of what I’ve heard termed ‘holy envy’ for converts to the church. Not that I would trade my upbringing or the privilege that it has been to have that light in my life all along. I just wish I could better appreciate and value the truth and light that I have been given.

However, even without that experience, I can identify the good things in my life that have come as a result of the Book of Mormon. While I was being a little bit flippant in my list of reasons to not swap 9am church for 7pm mass – I’m also 100% serious.

There were over 20 things on that list that I identified as being unique teachings, programs or practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – and I wouldn’t trade anything to have to give up a single one of them. They might not all be directly from the Book of Mormon, but the restoration of the church was spurred by the Book of Mormon so I’m counting them all as byproducts.

As I tried to define what the restored gospel has given me, I grouped those truths into five categories that have shaped my life and testimony. I want to talk to you a little bit about the things that I would not know or have without the Book of Mormon. (as a side note, if you go to President Nelson’s original talk he includes his own list that he shared outside of his talk that I think would be a great study topic)

The first is Continuing Revelation – The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, living prophets, General Conference. I can’t understand a context of a loving God who would give direction to some children at one place and time, but not care about others. The restored gospel teaches us that the heavens are open and have been open to people regardless of where they live or when they live. God spoke to the peoples in the Americas, He speaks today, and He has spoken to many people throughout time.

God loves all people everywhere, everywhen. That to me is exactly what a loving God should look like.

Second – Organization and Authority entrusted to regular people. Relief Society, the priesthood, church callings , missionaries, ministering, self-reliance, patriarchal blessings, and personal revelation. The restored gospel uniquely empowers ordinary people to serve in extraordinary ways. Even my own 2 young sons have been given the priesthood to serve in our community. Where else do 14 & 16 year olds get that kind of authority?

From Relief Society presidencies to young missionaries, each of us has a role to play in God’s work. You don’t need a fancy degree or special training – God needs YOU and me. We are all called upon to serve God in our regular lives – you don’t have to live in a convent and give up everything to qualify. We’re taught in D&C 4:3 that “if ye have desires to serve God, then ye are called to the work.”

As Elder Holland pointed out, “imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with.” and I’m so grateful that He is willing to work with us.

Third – A knowledge of who we are, why we’re here, where we’re going. The Plan of Salvation, degrees of glory, and eternal progression. I can’t even understand how people get through life without this knowledge. These truths give life so much purpose and hope. Knowing that our loving Heavenly Parents desire the greatest possible happiness for us—even to progress eternally—fills me with hope and purpose.

Fourth – The rites of the gospel being offered to all. Temples, eternal families, ordinances for the dead, a physical resurrection. In many Christian traditions, the importance of baptism and sacraments is widely accepted, but what about those who never had the chance?

Would a just and loving God deny salvation simply because of when or where someone was born? The restored gospel is finally able to bridge the gap between the necessity of baptism and the impossibility of all to receive it in this life.

The reality of temple ordinances reassures me that God is truly no respecter of persons—every soul has an equal opportunity for exaltation.

Fifth – A better understanding of the Godhead. Their physical reality, their origin and the fact that we have a Heavenly Mother.

We don’t talk a lot about our Heavenly Mother, in large part because as a church we don’t really know a lot about Her beyond the fact that She exists and that we as women were created in Her image and can grow up to be like Her. I will be honest, this frequently causes me a lot of frustration to not know more about Her. BUT…. I have a Heavenly Mother. And because of the restored gospel, I know that. Of course I want to know more, but I know I have a Heavenly Mother. There’s a version of deity that looks like me, and I have someone who I can look up to and become like. I don’t know that I can properly express what that truth means to me in my life.

Testimony

I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon in my life. I may not know what my life would be like without it, but I do know that my life is immeasurably better with it.

I want to bear my testimony that I know that the Book of Mormon and the gospel truths that we have gained as a result of it are true. I’m so grateful for the organization of our church and that I can be a part of it. If you don’t have a testimony of the Book of Mormon I would encourage you to take President Nelson’s challenge as well. Consider the light and truth that is in your life because of its teachings.

I don’t just believe this because it’s the way I was raised—I believe the gospel because I’ve seen the power of the Book of Mormon in my life. I’ve tested it, and it has strengthened me. As the Savior taught in Matthew 7:16, “Ye shall know them by their fruits” The fruits of the Book of Mormon WILL bless your life. I testify that the Book of Mormon is true.

I know that we have Heavenly Parents who know and love each of you. If you don’t know that for yourself, ask Them, I know they are waiting and desperate to show you how much they care about you. I’m so grateful for our Savior and that through Him we can live and grow through eternity. I share these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
9 March 2025
Am I Worth a Kidney Stone?

In March last year I found myself 8 months pregnant with a kidney stone. If you’ve never had a kidney stone I would strongly recommend against it. They are no fun. I’ve gone through childbirth 5 times without an epidural and the kidney stones are worse than childbirth – and instead of a cute baby you just get a stupid piece of gravel out of the ordeal.

The kidney stone was the icing on the cake after a long hard pregnancy. Nothing earth shatteringly bad, but a lot of normal pregnancy stuff. My back is terrible when I’m pregnant so I’d hardly been able to walk the whole time. I had pregnancy induced tachycardia – which meant that my heart would race for long stretches of time for no good reason. Think of the way that your heart feels after you finish running a race, except you are just sitting around doing nothing, and it won’t go back down with rest. Heartburn was a given constant regardless of how bland I kept my diet – you have to really watch out for that spicy oatmeal! My morning sickness wasn’t terrible but not fun either. I had Braxton Hicks contractions pretty constantly as well – which aren’t really painful but they are exhausting. It’s kind of like having an involuntary ab workout – even if the muscles are strong, they get tired after awhile.

On top of all of that, pregnancy means that at least twice I’m going to have to deal with needles – which I hate. I think I’m pretty tough when it comes to pain but I deal with vasovagal syncope which means that my body freaks out with needles and I tend to pass out HARD. I used to say that I was afraid of needles, but it’s less of a fear than almost an allergic reaction. I dread those needles more than I dread labor.

My postpartum recovery was actually pretty straightforward this time around – however that kidney stone never made its way out as far as I could tell. I assumed that it had just seen its way out undramatically while my attention was more focused on all the other unpleasantries of post partum recovery. Until…

The day after Christmas I found myself in downtown Salt Lake City, with just my 6 year old and 8 month old when that kidney stone reared its ugly head again. I drove myself to a place where I could charge our car and sat there writhing in pain. At one point I handed my 8 month old to my 6 year old so that I could find an empty grocery bag to throw up in. It was certainly a low point to feel surrounded by people in the middle of a city, but so very very alone at the same time and in agony, needing help. Fortunately my amazing husband raced back down the mountain to rescue me and spent that evening in the ER with me while they loaded me up with meds and fluids.

One round of Flomax and antibiotics later and… I still seem to have that kidney stone. It hasn’t been bothering me but every so often I’ll get a little stab of pain and I can tell – it’s still there just biding its time. It’s been another couple months and I’m realizing that I never got a call from the imaging department at the hospital about the CT scan the urologist ordered. I’m sure that I have surgery in my future which is not my idea of a good time. But I know that if I leave that stupid tiny piece of gravel in its place then its likely to cause an infection and I’ll be back to inordinate amounts of pain.

One night shortly after my ER adventure my husband was walking around with our son and pretending to talk on his behalf. He was being a little silly and voiced for the baby, “Mom, look how cute I am, aren’t I the cutest? I’m worth having a kidney stone for, right?” I matched the silly mood and immediately replied, “Of course you are, you’re adorable!”

He was being silly but the exchange stopped me a little abruptly. A lot of what happens to me as a result of pregnancy isn’t fun – but at the same time, I knew what was likely to happen and this baby was not a surprise. I had chosen to go through all of that for a baby that I didn’t even know yet. Pregnancy amnesia is real and there were definitely points along the way where I felt like “why did I choose to do this again?? This is the worst!”

But now my husband was asking me if I would go through all of that again for this baby that I *do* know. Only a little bit, I’ve only had him for 10 months, but knowing him like I do now, would I go through all the struggles of pregnancy, childbirth AND even kidney stones again to have him?

Photo Credit: Mad Marie Photo & Video

The answer was unequivocally – YES! Of course! There isn’t even a question in my mind that all that I endured for him was worth it. I cannot express emphatically enough how I would go through all of those things again for this cute baby. He really is the cutest, but more importantly, he’s mine and I love him beyond words.

Which then got me thinking – was there anything that I wouldn’t go through for him? I tried to think of a single thing that I would not suffer through for my baby. Cancer, loss of limbs, torture – none of it seemed worse than the idea of not having my baby. He is precious to me beyond anything I can count. While my love for him has never been (and hopefully never will be) tested to the limits, at least in the hypothetical I can’t think of a situation where I wouldn’t be willing to suffer through anything in order for him to have his life.

As I thought about that my mind turned to our Savior. I have often wondered and marveled at His sacrifice for each of us. Not just in giving up His life, but at the idea of Him suffering through all of the pains of each individual person’s life to save us. How could He possibly bear to go through all of that?

But then in my mind I pictured my Heavenly Father taking me in his arms, showing me to Christ and speaking on my behalf. “Jesus, look how cute I am, aren’t I the cutest? I’m worth atoning for, right?” I can see Jesus, who has known me for a lot longer than 10 months and who has love beyond that of a mortal mother, looking at me, smiling and saying, “Of course you are Brittny, you’re adorable.”

And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.
(2 Nephi 9:21)

Clearly I’m nowhere near the Savior, but for a moment I could understand in some small way how Jesus could do what He did. I can imagine each one of us being presented to Him and having the same question asked of Him – “What about me? Am I worth atoning for?” If the answer was no He would not have to suffer for us, but He also would have an eternity ahead without us. As a mother I can think of nothing that would be worse than facing an eternity without my children and knowing that I could have done something that would have saved them. Perhaps that’s the way Jesus feels about us too.

In Isaiah 49:15-16 Christ says, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;” As a mother the idea of being able to forget one of my children and not care about them seems so ludicrous. But Jesus says that even as remote as that possibility may seem, it could happen to us. But not to Him. Whenever He sees His hands He remembers us.

There’s a book by Max Lucado that I haven’t read yet but I’ve seen this quote from it as a meme and it struck me to my core – “He knew the price of those sins was death. He knew the source of those sins was you, and since he couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without you, he chose the nails.” Somehow it just hits different when you think of the atonement as being that personal. Not just some cosmic collective moment, but a sacrifice that was indescribably individual. Not something that happened to Jesus, but a choice that he made deliberately. A choice that He made for YOU.

I want to bear testimony that YOU were worth it. You are worth it. Every day Jesus is reaching out to you, trying to remind you of His love for you. You are valuable to Him beyond price, and hopefully you never forget it.

27 February 2024
Leaving Bountiful

It’s been fascinating this year to study The Book of Mormon that I am SO familiar with… and find out that there is SO much that I’ve never seen it in before. How is it that I’ve read these stories so many times and there’s still more to unpack? I’m so grateful for the Come Follow Me program and how it helps me to dive into the scriptures in more meaningful ways.

This last week we studied about Nephi’s family preparing to leave Bountiful. If you’re unfamiliar with the story I’ll give a brief recap (or you can read 1 Nephi 1-18 for all the details). Nephi’s family was called to leave Jerusalem, their home filled with comforts and riches prior to the Babylonian captivity (as recorded in the Old Testament books of Daniel, Jeremiah and others). Despite the challenges, they obediently followed the Lord’s command, embarking on a journey into the wilderness that lasted eight long years. Finally, they reached the land Bountiful, a place of abundance and prosperity.

At first glance, Bountiful seemed like the promised land they had longed for—a place flowing with milk and honey, where their family could thrive. FINALLY, they had made it! They had escaped the perils of remaining in Jerusalem and being subject to captivity, and they had survived the long years in the desert where they had suffered hunger and privations. I can only imagine their gratitude to reach this beautiful place as their reward for enduring through nearly a decade of trials. Yet, even in this seemingly idyllic setting, they were not meant to stay. The Lord had greater things in store for them, beyond the comforts of Bountiful.

As part of my Come Follow Me study last week I listened to the Follow Him podcast where they had Dr. Tyler Griffin on the show. This part of their conversation keeps replaying in my head –

Hank Smith: We’ve made it through the wilderness. We’re to Bountiful and you would think we made it. We could stay here forever, yet there’s a lot more to come.
Dr. Tyler Griffin: This is a beautiful reminder to us that if we’re not careful, we will mistake these byways or these incredible locations like Bountiful. It’s oceanfront property. It’s got all the fruits we could want. Why not just set up our civilization here? […] From an earthly perspective you could say, “Hey, it’s Bountiful. This is the perfect place,” but the reality is God has so much more in store to give this group. They don’t even know the extent of the lands and the fruit and the flowers and all of the amazing things that they’re going to get to experience in the promised land after having given up all of their gold, silver, precious things in their house and their land of inheritance in Jerusalem. It’s like what they sacrificed is nothing compared to what he has in store for them and what he has in store for them is not Bountiful. It’s just a staging area for that next phase which involves crossing the ocean. […]
John Bytheway: I’ve never thought of that before, but we all understand what the Lord means when he says, “Leave Babylon,” but leaving your Bountiful. Ooh, that’s tough. And it was as Michael Wilcox who talks about the Lord sometimes calls us when the nets are full. That’s when it’s tough. I know people in my own ward, they just bought a house and got called on a mission, and asking you to leave when the nets are full. Maybe they got comfortable here in Bountiful and, nope, you’ve got to leave your Bountifuls too.

Leaving behind Jerusalem would have been very difficult. Lehi’s family seems to have been in a position of wealth and comfort. They knew that there were bad influences around them though. That sacrifice would have been hard but it feels like the kind of sacrifice you expect to make as someone trying to follow God. Leaving behind something that looks and feels good but is bad for you. Like when you’re comfy binging Netflix but you know it’s time to get your lazy butt off the couch and start exercising. You might be happy on the couch, but you know you could do better.

Going through the wilderness was obviously difficult. Lack of food, broken bows, living in tents – none of that sounds fun. But it was necessary. If they were to leave behind Jerusalem and escape the judgements that were coming there was a desert standing in their way. It feels acceptable to have challenges that come after making a sacrifice of something that is bad for us. It’s like the daily grind of waking up each morning to go to the gym after leaving the couch. it’s not fun, but the results are worth it. Plus, on the other end of it you can justify eating chocolate cake!

When they reached Bountiful – they had made it! All of that misery in the desert was over and now they were being rewarded. It might have been so hard, but looking around them I would imagine they thought it was worth it. They didn’t have to worry about being captured by Babylonians, they weren’t starving in the desert – clearly this is what the Lord had in mind for them. They had gotten in shape and THIS was the chocolate cake that they had earned by putting in all that time at the gym.

But instead they were told to leave that beautiful, rewarding place as well. In order to get into the really amazing shape that you want to get into, you also have to give up that chocolate cake that you feel like you’ve earned. For Lehi’s family to get to America – a land that was teeming with natural resources, space and so much more than they could have ever dreamed of – they had to give up Bountiful. It was the best they had seen so far – but they had no idea what was in store.

Nephi’s story must have been very comforting to Latter-day Saint Pioneers. As they were driven from Palmyra to Kirtland to Missouri to Nauvoo and ultimately to Utah. How hard it must have been to give up homes, businesses and lands in Illinois for the deserts of the Mountain West. But what would they have given up if they had stayed? Would the church have had the space it needed to grow and thrive if they hadn’t been willing to give up what they already had?

I keep asking myself, what about me? Would I be willing to give up Bountiful for the Promised Land? What are the good things that I might have to give up for something that would be even better?

One example that came to mind from my own life happened about a year and a half ago. I had 4 children and my youngest had just made it into preschool. Things were clicking along with my business and my kids were starting to be able to handle their schooling on their own – I was actually getting to a point where I had something resembling free time in my day! We were getting out of diapers and carseats, no one needed to be back at home for naptime. My oldest had finally reached 13 too so I had a legitimate babysitter built in when I wanted to leave the house. I had done the baby/toddler/little kid thing for so long and I’d finally made it to having big kids. This was the life!

Then… the prompting came. It was time to have another baby. What?! Didn’t the Lord know? I already had 4 kids – which is maybe not a LOT of kids – but it is certainly still a lot of kids. I was past 35, which meant that I now qualify as a “geriatric pregnancy” (lots of feelings about that terminology, but that’s another topic). Plus, my 4th pregnancy had been ROUGH – gestational diabetes, kidney stones, back problems – and when it was over I got a difficult baby who was always mad, didn’t sleep and required a lot of attention. Was I really being sent back to the wilderness of newborns and toddlers? Hadn’t I earned my Bountiful?

I would be lying if I said that I jumped right in with Nephi’s “I will go, I will do!” personality. It took some time for me to warm up to the idea, to discuss it with my husband, and to clear it with my midwife. But eventually I allowed myself to be “led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” (1 Nephi 4:6) Within a few months I was pregnant again – being tossed about on the seas of morning sickness, kidney stones and tachycardia. It was a pretty rough go of things, and there was a lot of misery through those nine months of pregnancy. But at the end of it…

I got this sweet baby! He is sweet tempered, loving and adorable. He even sleeps through the night! He only sleeps in my bed next to me – but to be honest, that’s par for the course and he actually *sleeps* so he’s ahead of his siblings. The word most often used to describe him is “delightful” and it is certainly fitting.

Before his arrival our kids had pretty well decided that babies were ROUGH. They weren’t really sure about having a baby again after how much their youngest brother had cried and been miserable to be around. But this baby has completely changed their tune. They carry him around like he is their own. He has been so good for the big kids to learn some responsibility, and he’s even helped the youngest learn to regulate himself a little better. In all he has been the most wonderful blessing that we had no idea we needed in our family.

There was nothing wrong with our family before. But now that we know how wonderful our family is with this new baby – how sad it is to think how easily we could have stayed in a place of contentment and complacency and missed out on him! How sad it would have been knowing all the vastness and bounties of the Americas were given up for a few miles of oasis on the Arabian peninsula.

I don’t think that leaving Bountiful is a one time thing in our life. I’m pretty sure it’s a pattern that will happen again and again and again. Because we have no idea the treasures and blessings that God has in store for us. He will continue to lead us from good to better and better and better until He can finally lead us into Kingdoms of Glory. But we have to be willing to let go of the good that we have now, and cross the raging seas before we can get what He has in store for us.

5 February 2024
Feasting on the Tree of Life

A few years back our family was studying the Tree of Life story from 1 Nephi 8. As part of our study we watched a video representation of the story. We got to the part of the video where the people who have pressed forward to make it to the tree of life finally get a chance to partake of the fruit. My 8-year-old son suddenly asked, “If the fruit is so good, why do they only take one bite? Why don’t they eat the whole thing?”

I hadn’t been paying attention to that particular detail, but he was right. In the video it shows that the people are excited to get to the tree, they take a bite of the fruit and then just stand there with the rest of the fruit still sitting there in their hands. Although it was a brief scene that I initially overlooked, my son’s observation was astute.

Usually if you’ve eaten something that’s delicious the first thing you want to do is take another bite, and another, and another! If it’s so good, why is it not smeared all over their faces and dripping from their hands? You should be able to tell from looking at someone that they had been eating the fruit. Their hands should be so sticky that no one can touch them without getting some of the juice on them as well. You should be able to smell it on them from several feet away. You should get a contact high from the fruit just by being in their vicinity.

If the fruit of the tree of life represents the Love of God, then how would this apply to me? Am I ever guilty of just taking a single bite of that love and then leaving the rest behind? Many of us can remember the moment when we found the gospel or gained a testimony that it was true. But as Alma asks us in Alma 5:26 – “can ye feel so now?” It doesn’t do us any good to find the gospel and feel that love one time. We should take that love and apply it to every aspect of our lives until people can tell just by looking at us that we’ve felt that love.

But how do we keep partaking of the fruit? Won’t we get bored just eating the same thing over and over again? I think apples are delicious, but if I sit around just eating apples I’ll get tired of them pretty quickly. Fortunately, I don’t think that this fruit is only good one way. I’m sure it tastes great as jam or pie or in a fruit salad. If my experiences with the Love of God are any representation, it has so many different flavors that you can make it part of ANY dish – pasta, soup, ice cream, steak. Don’t think that God has any limits! I have felt His love at births, and funerals – it can be felt both in times that are joyous and those that are filled with sorrow. His love is present at the grandest of occasions and the most mundane. His love can give a better flavor to anything that you’re going through.

Maybe we just take one bite because we want to leave more for others. However, there’s no shortage or limit to the fruit – the Love of God is infinite. Limiting our consumption does not leave more for someone else, there is plenty for everyone. In fact, as we eat more of it the supply only grows and becomes more available and easier to find for others. We also learn how to prepare it better and can share those recipes with others so that they can enjoy the fruit more fully. We are all strengthened when another person is able to apply the Love of God in their life.

Have you ever listened to a talk or lesson as someone has shared how they felt God’s love in their life – either through an act of service, or a prayer, or a scripture, or any number of other ways – and then recognized that you’ve felt God’s love in that way as well, even if you hadn’t recognized it at the time? Or taken their “recipe” and tried someone else’s way of living the gospel which gave you access to God’s love in a completely different way than you’d had before? The more experience we have with the love of God, the more we can share that love with others.

I posted a few years back about a time when I was able to bless a few people in a small way through a prompting I received at stake conference. I had listened as one of the speakers had shared the way she had felt impressed to serve. When I went out and served in a similar way I was able to see how the Lord was able to bless several people through that service. I was so grateful for access to someone else’s “recipe” for sharing and feeling God’s love.

Maybe we’re really familiar with eating one part of the fruit, but there are other parts that we don’t want to eat. Do I take parts of the gospel and enjoy their sweetness while neglecting other parts – denying myself the blessings and sweetness they could also add to my life? The seeds, the skin, the flesh, the stem – all of it is delicious and can be used in so many different ways. It is THE superfood – the more of it you eat the better it is for you. It’s all there, it’s mine for the taking, why would I not eat as much of it as I can? Whether it is family history, temple attendance, scripture study, personal prayer, church meetings, ministering assignments – I’m sure there is an aspect of the gospel that we can each work on adding into our lives more fully that would give us greater experience with the love of God.

So my challenge to you is – DIG IN! Take more than one bite. Let’s all feast on the fruit of the Tree of Life and bring the Love of God more fully into our lives. Let us not merely nibble at the edges of divine love; instead, may we devour it, savoring its fullness. In doing so, we can become beacons of that love in a world that hungers for its taste.

19 January 2024
Joining the Lord’s Battalion of Women
In October 2018 General Conference President Russell M. Nelson, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints spoke to the women of the church and gave us some specific invitations to become more direct participants in the gathering of Israel. His invitations were –
1. Participate in a 10-day fast from social media and any other media that bring negative and impure thoughts to your mind.
2. Read the Book of Mormon by the end of 2018.
3. Establish a pattern of regular temple attendance.
4. Participate fully in Relief Society.
I have been working on participating in those invitations and last night I completed reading the Book of Mormon just in time to be done before the end of 2018! I felt like I ought to take some time to reflect on that experience in particular and then today President Nelson posted on Facebook and invited the sisters to leave him a comment sharing our experience with him. So I thought I might as well make it a blog post since we know that I won’t be able to keep my thoughts that short anyways, and so that I have it preserved for posterity. I’ll take each point in turn.

Participate in a 10-day fast from social media and any other media that bring negative and impure thoughts to your mind. Anyone who knows me well will not be surprised to know that this was not the easiest challenge for me to accept. I don’t think I consume much negative media – most of the music and videos that I watch and listen to are kids YouTube videos with nursery rhymes and such to keep baby David happy. The only “negative” aspect of those videos are just that they might start to make me crazy from repetitiveness but they’re not going to inspire any sort of impure thoughts. However, I’m a huge fan of social media. I’ve moved many times during my life and I don’t live particularly close to my family. Social media gives me a great way to share life experiences with people who I love who I might not be able to see in person very frequently. I can keep up with friends who live half way around the world. I love having a place where I can document things that are happening in my life and my children’s lives in little bite sized snippets. It’s how I keep up with my local community and get ideas and support for homeschooling, cub scouts and many other things that I’m involved in. The people and groups that I follow aren’t ones that I feel have a negative influence on my life – quite the contrary. So, it would be easy for me to have said, eh, this invitation isn’t really for me.

However, I do have one problem with social media. It is definitely a place that is easy for me to get sucked into and I can easily spend countless hours scrolling through my newsfeed instead of focusing on the tasks and people immediately around me. The media itself is fine but as far as a “good, better, best” determination is concerned – it sometimes is “good” and gets in the way of my doing what is “best”. It helped me a lot when my mom pointed out to me that what President Nelson asked of us wasn’t to give up social media forever, nor did he declare that it was evil and bad and we should never use it again. Clearly that was not his intention if he is now reaching out to the sisters on that same platform to get feedback! However he asked for us to “fast” from social media. Just like we would fast from food – it doesn’t mean that food is bad, but sometimes we need to step away from it and allow other things to fill in that space.

I actually ended up taking the social media fast challenge twice – once over the summer when he gave the challenge to the youth, and again in October when he issued the challenge to the women. I decided that for me it meant deleting Facebook off of my phone as well as Pokemon Go for the 10 days requested. I set some specific guidelines for myself I was allowed to look at my Facebook memories, or post to Facebook if there was something memorable that my kids did or an insight I had. Those particular functions of social media have sort of taken the place of keeping a journal for me and I don’t think the intention was for me to stop journaling. But I didn’t allow myself to check through my notifications, scroll through my newsfeed, or participate in any of the groups that I normally participate in.

The first time I took the challenge I sort of cheated and selected a week when our family was out of town and happened to be where there was poor internet anyways. There was plenty going on to keep me distracted from needing or desiring social media so it was pretty easy and I can’t say I missed it much. However, in October I took the challenge again and it was during just a normal week in my life. I was surprised to realize how many times in a day I would pick up my phone for no apparent reason. I realized that those were all times that I would normally fill in the gaps with Facebook, even if I didn’t have any particular reason to be on Facebook at that time. I always feel like I am so busy and can’t get everything done that I would like to in a day, but somehow I had all of this time where I was just biding my time on Facebook. To be fair, a lot of that time is while I’m sitting around nursing a baby, or motivating kids to clean their rooms, or waiting in preschool pick up lines – but it was still a lot of time.

I tried to channel some of that time into opening up my scriptures app instead, although I found that frequently I was still doing something that required too much of my attention for scripture study. I did find that I could use that time to message people individually that I might not have reached out to otherwise, or complete other tasks that could be accomplished with my phone. I heard some people say that they spent a lot less money while on their social media fast because they didn’t see advertisements for things that they wanted but didn’t need… I had the opposite experience. While I was sitting there I would think of the Sunday shoes that I needed to order for Danny or some blankets that I wanted for our newly completed basement… Amazon greatly benefitted from my ability to focus on the tasks I had at hand 😛 That might seem like a negative thing, but it actually really was a blessing because I got those things done during time that was otherwise wasted and was able to make better use of my other time.

From this experience I was able to go in and adjust what groups I follow and actually unfollowed some groups that – while very positive – were taking up too much of my time. I’ve also been more aware of how frequently I pick up my phone just to kill time. I’m thinking I will make social media fasts a regular part of things I do – just to take a few days or a week off every so often to clear my mind a bit and allow other things to fill in some of that space. Just to help me keep it as a more balanced part of my life rather than allowing it to take over.

Read the Book of Mormon by the end of 2018. As I mentioned earlier in my post, I finished the Book of Mormon last night. One of the things that stuck out to me with President Nelson’s challenge was his invitation to “mark each verse that speaks of or refers to the Savior.” I have been a member of the church for my entire life. I cannot even tell you how many dozens of times I have read the Book of Mormon, studied it in church/seminary/institute, watched the Hill Cumorah pageant, watched the Living Scriptures videos, read the simplified versions, taken BYU courses on it… this wasn’t my first exposure to the Book of Mormon by any means. But I started reading with that challenge in mind and marked any verse that referred to the Savior. I made it about 3 chapters. It was seriously just about every. single. verse.

Friends, I knew that the Book of Mormon was another testament of Jesus Christ. I’ve seen the cover, it says it right there. I know that the climax of the book is when He appears to the Nephites in 3 Nephi and there’s a lot of talk about missionary work and visions and stuff. But did you know that the WHOLE book is ALL about Jesus Christ? Yes, even those chapters in Alma where it seems like all they talk about is war strategies. The WHOLE book. I kind of knew that, but reading through the book and looking for all the mentions of Christ it blew me away that He truly is the center of all of it. The book isn’t about slaying Laban, or building a boat, or burning prophets, or cutting off arms, or stripling warriors, or wars upon wars upon wars. It is about Christ. It is about how He talks to and leads His people. It’s about the love that He has for them. It’s about the changes that people can make when they turn their lives over to Him. I don’t know how I had never seen it that clearly before, I think I’m so familiar with the book that it’s a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees. If you haven’t had a chance to read the Book of Mormon, or if you have read it and think it’s a story about the Nephites and the Lamanites, I urge you to take President Nelson’s challenge. Read the book. Look for Christ. He is everywhere in it.

I know this post is already too long, but I wanted to share some of the other more tangential thoughts that I had in some of the stories of the Book of Mormon. Feel free to skip the next little bit if you only want to read about the challenge itself (I’ve bolded the next part of the challenge so you can skim to there or click here), I just wanted to record these other thoughts while I was thinking of them.

One thing that struck me as I was reading in Helaman about the Nephites that were awaiting the sign of Christ’s birth was just the timing of everything. If you haven’t read the Book of Mormon here’s a quick recap – a prophet comes and tells the people that in 5 years there will be a sign of a day, a night and a day where the sun will not go down which will indicate that Christ was born in Jerusalem. The time goes by and when about 5 years is up some of the people still believe and are waiting for that sign but the people in power have decided the time is up and that they’re going to kill all of the believers the next day unless the sign appears. The leader of the believers prays and is told that the sign will come the next day and that Christ will be born – and so it happens. This got me thinking about what was happening at the same time in Jerusalem – Joseph is taking his wife Mary to Bethlehem even though she is great with child and they don’t have a place to stay. This is 100% speculation, but I thought – what if it really wasn’t time for Mary to be having the baby yet? Would Joseph have really taken her on a long journey if he thought she was likely to have the baby during that time or would she have more likely been left at home in the care of her mother or whoever else? Perhaps Mary was only 36 weeks along in her pregnancy and they thought they still had time. What if the whole reason we have the nativity story we have – with a baby in a manger, no room in the inn, and Mary laboring on the back of a donkey while travelling long miles – is because Jesus knew that he needed to make an early entrance into the world to save those who believed in Him, even though they were a world away from where He would be born. Perhaps not only was his death an act of salvation, but the very event of his birth was timed just so to save the lives of those who believed? Again, I really don’t know if that was the case or not, but knowing the mercies of God and how he cares for his people, I could believe that it might be.

I also thought a lot this time through about Mormon abridging these records after everything that he had seen with the Nephites right down to their destruction. When I was reading Helaman 2:13-14 I thought about how Mormon must have felt writing about the Gadianton robbers who would prove to be the overthrow of the whole Nephite civilization. The very destruction of the Nephites that he was witnessing he attributed to the secret combinations and evil doings of these Gadianton robbers. I could just imagine him abridging these records and wanting to reach back through time and wring Gadianton’s stupid neck. To know that the actions of someone who had lived nearly 400 years earlier was the cause of so much wickedness and suffering among your own people must have been just maddening.

I thought of it again as I read through Moroni’s abridgment of the records of Ether and how secret combinations had overthrown that civilization. One of the things that stuck out to me was that the book covers a time span of around 2000 years but only takes up about 30 pages of the book – as opposed to the rest of the Book of Mormon which spans about half that time and takes nearly 500 pages. I know Moroni says he didn’t have ore, but as I read it this was sort of what I imagined him thinking, “This guy takes power, these guys were ok, these guys were pretty good… and then they sucked again, and then got a little better, and then worse. Then we killed all the people and everyone was in prison, and then we broke out, then back in prison… bad guys, good guys… yaknow what, I just don’t care anymore! People just don’t seem to learn. The more things change the more they just stay the same. AAAAHHHRGGGGHHHH!!! We just did that whole stupid game over again! My people are idiots! We even had their history and we could see it didn’t turn out well, but did we change things? Noooooo, we just did the whole stupid play over again!” I can only imagine his sheer frustration that all of the good things that his people had done and all the miracles, had once again come to naught because the people refused to learn from history. They say those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. It struck me that this is a very important part of why we study the scriptures – so we can see the same patterns setting up in our own societies and try to stop it. It has made me more conscientious of seeing similar patterns in our own governments and societies. Are we propping up Gadianton’s robbers or are we rooting them out? Are we seeking out leaders who have the Spirit of the Lord to guide them? Do we value our liberty and peace above all else, to the point where we are willing to fight for it?

One last thing that I read that I’d never noticed before was in Ether 4:5-6 it says that the records of the Jaredites will not come forth in the latter days until the Gentiles (us) become clean before the Lord. I always knew those records existed and were sealed. I don’t know how I’d missed before that we will get those records but that we haven’t yet proved ourselves worthy of them. I’m not sure exactly what we need to be doing to prove ourselves ready for those records, but I think it’s a goal that we should probably be putting some effort towards figuring out how we do that. I wonder if we have gotten too complacent as a people and we are as guilty as those who ignore the Book of Mormon because they say “A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.” The Lord has been pretty clear with us that there are records of his people from all around the world. Shouldn’t we be doing more to seek out those records that they might become one in our hands? I love the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price – but wouldn’t it be great if we were able to have the perspective of even more societies and their dealings with God throughout time?

Alright, enough tangents… let’s get back to the invitations from President Nelson –

Establish a pattern of regular temple attendance. I will admit that I have not yet done as well with this as I would like. I have made it to the temple twice since this challenge was made with the help of my mom (thanks Mom! You’re the best!), which is more than I had been making it. But those were both more of one off attendances rather than a “pattern”. I know that what I need to do is set a recurring temple date and stick to it. I’ve been meaning to ask my in-laws if there might be a particular day/time that would work for them to watch our kiddos so that we can have it set on our calendar as a preset time that we go. I know once something is on the calendar it’s harder to take it off than it is to shoehorn something in during the month when things already feel so busy. I love going to the temple. I’m always touched by the love that our Savior has for us and the feeling of connectedness to all the people who have come before me and put me exactly where I am today. I want to do more to pay back all of their sacrifices. I just need to get out of my own way and do it.

Participate fully in Relief Society. President Nelson gave us two specific tasks for this invitation, to read the current Relief Society purpose statement as well as the Relief Society declaration. I will admit that before President Nelson’s talk I didn’t really know that those two things existed, let alone had read them before. Also, I’ve been caught up in the other tasks that we were given and hadn’t taken the time to read these two documents before now. So I did so this afternoon (no time like the present, right?).

I can’t say that I learned anything new as I read through those two documents, however I was given a very strong confirmation of the things I already knew about Relief Society. I am so proud to be part of such an amazing organization. I think that too often we have dismissed the work of Relief Society as being “just making casseroles and centerpieces”. If that’s what Relief Society is then we are shortchanging ourselves! We as women have a vital role within the church and not only is there a place for women in the church but the church cannot be whole without us!

I think too often we look to the priesthood as being the power of the Lord on the earth. However, it’s really only half of the way the power of the Lord is manifest on the earth. Our unique womanhood is not only the power to create and care for babies – that is an important but very small part of what we do as women. We must not let anyone make the work of women seem small because it is not. We have been called to become learned in the scriptures, and have a personal relationship with the Spirit. We build homes and are to celebrate the unique joys of womanhood – not just motherhood, but those things that make us different than men. We are different from men and it is that difference that makes us so crucial to this work. It’s not that one is better than the other but the very play between our differences allows both of us to see things through varied lenses and offer altered perspectives. We sustain the priesthood – but they also sustain us. We need BOTH men and women in this church! We are called to do good works and love life & learning. We are critical in standing for truth and righteousness. Women build communities that are strong and it is our duty to build those communities on righteous principles to lift where we stand. Everything we do as women is to strive for exaltation – not only for ourselves but for those around us. How blessed I am to be a part of Relief Society.

Unsurprisingly, my thoughts on President Nelson’s challenge are long. I just want to say how grateful I am for the invitation to raise myself to a higher standard and put myself out as a part of the Lord’s army. I embrace the opportunity to volunteer myself as one who is willing to be a part of His great work. I want to share my testimony that I know that President Nelson is a true prophet of the Lord. It is clear that it is a calling that he has given himself to fully and I am so grateful for his willingness to guide us in our day and listen to the Spirit and challenge us to be better. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that He loves each of us beyond measure. If you haven’t felt of that love or know this for yourself, I would invite you to “come and see”. His promises are there for you every bit as much as they are there for me. He loves you and wants for you to come closer to Him. Thank you President Nelson for inviting us to be a part of this work.
30 December 2018
The Old Testament vs The Book of Mormon

The featured image on this post is of my son when he was a baby “feasting” on the words of Christ 😂

About a year ago I found a list of books on Facebook. There were 100 books in the list and it had some attention catching phrase like “The BBC thinks you’ll only have read 4 of these books”. I consider myself fairly well read, or at least someone who loves to read, so I decided to go through the list and see how I compared. I had out-read whatever their low-ball estimate was, and there were quite a few books on the list that I had no desire to read. However, there was one book that I felt ashamed that I couldn’t quite check off – The Bible. I’ve read *from* the Bible my entire life. I’ve attended Sunday School since I was 3, all 4 years of seminary, taken institute and religion classes at BYU – you would think I’d be able to check that book off without a problem. However, although I’ve read the New Testament front-to-back over and over and read a lot of things from the Old Testament, I’ve never actually read the Old Testament cover-to-cover. I didn’t feel good about checking off the book without having actually read every individual page of the Old Testament. So I challenged myself to read the Old Testament. I decided to read along with the CES Institute manual to help me really get something out of it but my main goal was just to start at Genesis and end with Malachi.

Well after reading the Old Testament for over a year I’ve finally made it through… Deuteronomy. As I finished that section of the Old Testament I felt like I’d reached a milestone -after all, those first 5 books of Moses are the Torah right? So completing that much should count for something! As I looked at my reading chart, and my Bible with the intention of moving on to plow through Joshua I felt exhausted. Now, it’s not like I’ve been pushing through the Old Testament at a rapid pace – in over a year I barely made it through the first 5 books – But as I considered moving on the idea was just wearying.

That’s the best way I can describe it, the Old Testament is wearying to get through. It’s written for a different time and in a language and style that isn’t exactly native for me. The culture surrounding all the stories and events is foreign to me. The Law of Moses has many correlations to the laws of the gospel that we live today, but they aren’t always clearly stated and all the symbolism just takes a lot to muddle through. It’s interesting, I’m always fascinated to see how different peoples think and process the world around them. It’s so interesting to think of the gospel as it was practiced back then and think of what the differences are to today’s world and why they did things one way, we do them another, but we’re all working to achieve the same ends. But it still takes a lot of work to get from point A to point B.

So I decided tonight that I was going to go back to reading the Book of Mormon. Our stake leaders recently challenged the members in our stake to read the Book of Mormon again. I had ignored the challenge for the time being because I really wanted to make it through the Old Testament. I felt that was a worthy goal and since I’m in the Primary and can’t attend Sunday School (where I think the current curriculum is the Book of Mormon this year) I didn’t feel bad about postponing. However, as I opened up my scriptures (ok, really just pulled them up on my phone) and just started reading the title page of the Book of Mormon I felt – peaceful. Like I was home again. I can’t exactly describe the feeling that came over me but it just felt so right to be back in this particular book of scripture.

I once had a friend pick up a copy of the Book of Mormon that we had in our car and she started to read it a little bit. She made the comment that it was so easy to read, and that’s how I felt. Just natural and easy, peaceful and good. I wish I had adequate words to describe the feeling, but really the feeling was “this is true.” I already knew that, I’ve known that the Book of Mormon was true for many years, based not so much on any one particular experience but many different confirmations of its truthfulness through the years. As I try and live its precepts I can feel the power that is given from so doing. I’ve taken Alma’s challenge to try an experiment upon the words, and the experiment works! As I live the gospel, I am happy, I know that the things I am doing are right and I feel at peace. When I act contrary to these teachings I can feel that state of happiness and peace taken away from me. The gospel makes everything in my life make sense and taking the gospel out makes it so nothing makes sense. But the feeling at this moment was powerful – peaceful and quiet, but powerful. I’ll make it back to the Old Testament and make my way through the rest of it, but I’m so glad to be back in the Book of Mormon again.

I just want to share my testimony that I know that the Book of Mormon is true. That, as the Prophet Joseph Smith declared,” the Book of Mormon [is] the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man [or woman will] get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” There is no way a boy of as little education as Joseph Smith had could have come up with this book of his own accord. The truths it teaches are not of man, but of God. I testify this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

If you haven’t read the Book of Mormon I would encourage you to do so. You can get a free copy by going to Mormon.org, and either get a physical copy from the local missionaries, or you can listen to it or read it online from that site as well. I promise it will change your life for the better.

8 May 2012