Mormon Bloggers

Hear how forgiveness and the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ helped a man to move forward after losing his wife and some of his children in a tragic car accident. See how his willingness to forgive enabled the driver to move forward as well. AKPC_IDS += "235725,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the gospel. Gospel is a word one hears tossed loosely about in our modern world, but its meaning is defined in numerous ways. One fact remains — the word is linked with scriptures and churches.  The Hebrew definition is simple.  It is usually translated as ”glad tidings of great joy.” The Greek translation is “good news.” So what is the “good news” all about?  It’s the redeeming blood of our Savior Jesus Christ as the integral centerpiece of a “plan” given to us by Heavenly Father.  The plan involves creation, birth, the fall, the atonement, redemption from the fall and our eventual return to Him.  Principles and ordinances of the gospel are involved.  We are invited again and again to enlist our full participation and involvement in the plan. Many of these principles and ordinances are called “saving principles and... Read the rest of this entry »

Matt. 6: 14-1514 For if ye aforgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:    15 But if ye aforgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. This post answers the question, “Why must I forgive others their trespasses in order to secure God’s forgiveness of my trespasses?” One answer could be merely because God says so.  I don’t know that this answer is wrong.  However, it may be wrong or, at the least, incomplete.  The answer I give involves the resolution of a fundamental tension in the mechanism underlying application of the atonement.  We are taught that Christ is “standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon ahimself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and bsatisfied the demands of justice” and that ” God himself aatoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of bmercy,... Read the rest of this entry »

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I read this post on my friend’s blog and asked her if I could repost it here. Note, it has been edited for length and clarity. One Sunday an adorable 12-year-old boy was passing the sacrament for the first time, and I happened to be sitting in his line of duty. I have long since forgotten exactly what happened (and which new, adorable deacon it was), but that new, adorable deacon made some silly mistake, some noticeable breach of “protocol,” in passing the sacrament to me. My heart went out to him in complete and immediate forgiveness. I instantly excused his mistake, thinking, “It’s okay. He’s never done this before.” As my heart turned back to its repentant self-reflection, I realized that perhaps the Savior looks on us that way sometimes. “It’s okay. You’ve never done this before.” Never tried to get through sacrament meeting (or life) with three little kids while pregnant before. Never had this or that calling before. Never tried to x while also dealing with... Read the rest of this entry »

So we are supposed to become perfect? Well, it’s going to be a long project, and we need patience. But peace can be with us all the way, the peace that the Savior promised to give to his followers. AKPC_IDS += "203236,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

This question is especially strange when one realizes that there are others in the Scriptures (particularly the Old Testament) who are called “son[s] of man” (Jeremiah 49:18, Ezekiel 4:16, Psalms 8:4).  Elder James E. Talmage, a Biblical scholar, sheds light on the answer much more eloquently than I can in his much-recommended book, Jesus the [...] AKPC_IDS += "184916,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

Welcome to the Neighborhood News! As we reflect on the events that happened 2,000 years ago, and look within ourselves to find and strengthen our testimonies on the Divinity of our Savior, and the reality of the Atonement, let’s make an effort to live His gospel the best way we can. Annette Lyon took a trip to the Holy Land some time ago, and visited a few special places. In her article “The Real Message of Easter” she tells us how she felt while being there, and what we should treasure in our hearts. While you’re reading her account, you can almost see the places that she saw, and wish you could go and see them yourself. Who hasn’t felt deeply touched by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk “None Were with Him”? He says: “I speak of the Savior’s solitary task of shouldering alone the burden of our salvation.” Please enjoy a short version of this talk, given in the video provided by Mormon Messages. The Spirit will testify to you that Elder Holland’s testimony... Read the rest of this entry »

Warm weather, beautiful birdsongs, fragrant flowers–spring is here! Spring is a happy season, full of life and beauty and hope. It is no wonder that so many significant events have happened during spring. Passover and Easter: Both of these holidays–one Jewish, the other Christian–celebrate Christ’s Atonement and Resurrection, the most important parts of the plan of salvation. Also, it was on Passover that Christ instituted the sacrament before His death. [For more information on the relation of these two holidays, read this talk by then Elder Howard W. Hunter.] Joseph Smith’s First Vision: Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son amid Their wondrous creations in the spring of 1820, during the country’s Second Great Awakening (a religious revival). The Restoration of the Church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially organized and established on April 6, 1830. The timing also coincides with Easter, and for symbolic reasons: Christ’s... Read the rest of this entry »

Often after being around people who have been righteous and valiant their entire lives, I feel like scum and I wonder how in the world Heavenly Father loves me just as much as He loves them. My justice-oriented mind doesn’t understand the mercy of the Atonement and the unconditional love of the Savior. It’s unbelievable that someone who has sinned so greatly can repent and receive eternal life. I know such thoughts are from Satan (see the post “Love Thyself” and this Ensign article), but I still allow myself to believe them. Then I try to remember this New Testament parable: Matthew 20:1-16. What matters is not when I began to work in the vineyard, but that I am there working. Whether I have been like Nephi or like Alma the Younger, I will still receive the same celestial reward. That knowledge gives me comfort and the courage to strive for exaltation. Sharing Time: What scripture story or passage inspires you to aim for a heavenly goal? AKPC_IDS += "166639,";Popularity:... Read the rest of this entry »

Being pregnant has made me ponder the creation of life. It’s a little mind-boggling to think that another human being is growing inside my body, that somehow my body and the baby’s body know how to do this. I wonder which spirit from heaven I will give birth to and raise. My endless thinking about this baby has helped me discover much symbolism in the creation of life: Pregnancy involves the “magic numbers” of the gospel: 40 weeks (40 days/nights of the flood, 40 days of Jesus fasting in the desert, 40 years of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness), 3 trimesters (Christ’s resurrection on the third day, 3 members of the Godhead and thus 3 members in all auxiliary presidencies, Moroni’s 3 visits to Joseph Smith in one night, Peter’s 3 denials of Christ, etc.). As shared in a seminary video, new life requires blood, water, and a spirit. Also, new spiritual life requires blood (the Atonement), water (baptism), and a spirit (the Holy Ghost). Furthermore,... Read the rest of this entry »

“Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Where had I heard that phrase before? I don’t remember, but I was thinking hard about it yesterday. A week earlier I had asked a friend of mine, Jeff, a question about justice when I ran into him over by the Jamba Juice on BYU campus, perplexed about a problem I couldn’t get quite straight in my mind- I problem I will introduce you to in a minute. First, let’s see if we’re on the same page about what justice is. Robert comes up to a stranger on the street, Trevor, and punches him hard in the arm, after which he runs off in the crowd. What does justice require in this case? Most friends I ask this question to respond that Robert should get punched in the arm too. If Robert gets punched in the arm, then justice is served. Now let’s think about that punch in a mathematical way. I’ll use the French word, “tort,” meaning a twist or injury. We could say that Trevor, who started out with 0 “tort... Read the rest of this entry »