Mormon Bloggers

The LDS comedy The Singles Ward plays up the oft-used missionary joke of being called to serve in Boise, Idaho. After a young man opens his mission call, his friends say something polite and quickly come up with excuses to leave, commenting privately how awful his call is. When the young man shares his call at a store, the employee smiles politely and says, “How nice.” Other mission calls viewed as awful include a missionary’s home country, a place only a few hours away, or a place where they speak the missionary’s native language. Why do we have this attitude about mission calls? The purpose of a mission is not to go on a vacation, study abroad, or collect stories for bragging rights (as played up in The RM). It’s not about us! The purpose of a mission is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Heavenly Father wants all His children to return to Him and He loves them all the same, regardless of where they live... Read the rest of this entry »

Harrah!!! I’ve finally got the piano solo arrangement of We’ll Bring the World His Truth available for sheet music purchase. I had to get permissions from Janice Kapp Perry, so it took a little longer than usual. But now it’s here! To see the real store, go to chashathaway.com, but to save you a step, I’ve pasted all the links so you can buy it right from this page if you want: Purchase Sheet music for $3.95 Download Sample Page AKPC_IDS += "243568,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

This video will give you a taste of missionary work in the Warsaw Poland Mission. My brother, Elder Michael Smith, is serving there now. His companion’s uncle, Randy Guthrie, filmed this video. Enjoy! Warsaw Poland Mission Video is a post from: Mormon Mission Prep Related posts: Video Update: Story on Power of the Book of Mormon I have added a video to my previous post: The Power of the Book of… Arriving in Your Mission After your time in the MTC is up, generally 3 or 9 weeks, you… Free Mission Prep Book Giveaway For those of you who overlooked it at the bottom of my previous post, which… AKPC_IDS += "237295,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

On this Pioneer day, I decided to answer all the personal questions that you are asked when you fill out the profile on Mormon.org.  There are a whole lot more under the FAQ section (about 80) but that will have to wait for another day when I have more time.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process of answering these questions and felt like I was being interviewed, thus the title of this blog post. 01. Please explain the part prayer plays in your life? Having grown up with daily prayer, I can’t imagine a day go by in which I don’t communicate with my Heavenly Father in prayer.  We start the day in prayer as a family asking for the Lord’s blessing upon us as we work.  We end the day in prayer the same way, usually kneeling by the bed, reporting our activities to God and thanking him for his help.  We give thanks for the food we eat at mealtimes and participate in public prayers in our weekly worship service.  It is through prayer and reading scriptures that I feel close to God and directed... Read the rest of this entry »

June 27 marks the 166th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s death. I found this amazing video in honor of him (click here for another good one). I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and restored His church to the earth. I know that he loved the Saints and the Lord and that he sacrificed so much to bring us the blessings of the gospel. Praise to the man! Challenge: May we continue to share his story and our testimony of him with all the world so that he did not die in vain. AKPC_IDS += "218849,";Popularity: 1% [?] Read More →

Christ commanded us to be the salt of the earth (3 Nephi 12:13, Matthew 5:13). What is so special about salt? The Israelites had to use salt in their sacrifices to symbolize the Lord’s preserving them just as salt preserves food (Leviticus 2:13, Numbers 18:19). Christ fulfilled the law of Moses and did away with sacrifices, but He still used salt symbolically when He called us the salt of the earth. Salt is obtained by evaporation, the removal of moisture by sunlight. We become the salt of the earth by allowing Christ, the source of all light, to remove our sins. Salt is white, the color of purity. We too must be pure. Salt preserves food, drying out moisture that allows it to spoil. We can preserve souls by bringing them to Christ and showing them how to repent of all soul-spoiling sin. Salt draws out and intensifies the natural flavor of food. Likewise, we can draw out and intensify the natural goodness in others by being an example of good. Salt adds flavor to bland food.... Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favorite missionary hymns was written by a good woman, who was not a Latter-day Saint, who’s words express the faithful commitment of followers of Christ in all ages: I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go. It may not be on the mountain height Or over the stormy sea, It may not be at the battle’s front My Lord will have need of me. But if, by a still, small voice he calls To paths that I do not know, I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine: I’ll go where you want me to go. I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, Over mountain or plain or sea; I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I’ll be what you want me to be. (“I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go,” Hymns, no. 270) Ammon and the other sons of Mosiah in their mission to the Lamanites… Alma and Amulek crying repentance unto the people of Ammonihah… Nephi and his brother Lehi preaching throughout the land of Nephi… Samuel the Lamanite high on the Zarahemla... Read the rest of this entry »

~by Candace I know this is the true Church of our Savior Jesus Christ and that we are led by a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. My story: My life challenges started at a very early age. I was eight years old when I was first molested. He was a friend of the family and I had a child’s love for him. He broke my heart and severely injured my spirit. Unable to tell my parents, my trust of people around me was shaken. I became very insecure and frightened of life. When I reached my teens, my insecurities and lack of participation in school activities became evident and a concerned counselor started drawing me out and I felt comforted by his concern. But, once again my life was jolted when he betrayed my trust. One day he offered me a ride home. I accepted his kind gesture. I soon realized he had other intentions. We took a ride into the hills near our town and the unspeakable happened. Once again I was shaken to the core and afraid to go to my parents. I had no idea how to deal with any... Read the rest of this entry »

On the Church Web site, at the bottom of the home page and on the right sidebar, are featured videos called Mormon Messages. They are short clips from General Conference talks with music, photos, and background videos added to them. My favorite is the one entitled “Prayer.” Mormon Messages is a great way to share short and uplifting stories, testimonies, and counsel with family and friends, whether they are LDS or not. Above the featured video on the Church Web site is a toolbar allowing you to post the video or link on various social networking sites, such as Facebook. Mormon Messages also has a channel on YouTube, with videos in Spanish, to which you can subscribe. Share the light! Sharing Time: Which Mormon Message is your favorite? photo from ldsmediatalk.com AKPC_IDS += "140270,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

~by Kathryn I asked my primary class to bring a family pioneer story to share.  I broadened the definition of pioneer to include any family conversion story. Twelve-year-old Paige brought her mother’s conversion story: When my mom was in college, she went on vacation with a friend to Virginia Beach, USA.  While swimming in the ocean, they lost all of their cash in a plastic cylinder.  Fortunately, my mom’s phone number was in the cylinder and it was found several miles up the coast by a 10-year-old boy who was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).  He was excited to find the 200 dollars, but he had been taught to be honest by his parents and Primary teachers, and so he returned the money after his dad contacted my mom.  Along with the money he included a copy of the Book of Mormon and a letter asking her to read it and pray about the promise in Moroni.  My mom didn’t read it at the time, but was very impressed by the honesty and integrity... Read the rest of this entry »

~by Kathryn “It seems like the more we try to live the gospel, the more trials we have. Why ?” I will never forget Beata’s question; I gave a thoughtful answer, but my words felt empty and my heart ached for her pain. Beata’s question was not original, but there aren’t easy answers in any language…. All year I prayed for Beata, her husband Cezary, and the missionaries assigned to the tiny Lublin branch in Poland. I received a brief thank-you note from Beata after Christmas, but I had no idea how they were really doing. I hoped my prayers were being answered in some small way. This summer I returned to Poland. Beata stood to bear her testimony. A young missionary leaned back  and whispered, “Beata asked me to translate for you. She doesn’t want you to miss a single word.” Beata told us that last year was horrible. Every month their trials would just get worse. Her husband lost his job and ended up in the hospital. She tried to have faith, but by December she... Read the rest of this entry »

Hey! It’s been a while since I posted anything, so I figured I’d post something today. Since my last post, I’ve moved from Alberta to Provo, because I’m going to BYU this year. Overall, the experience has been everything I’d hoped for. It’s amazing! Anyway, for my main post today I decided I’d post one of the papers I wrote for my Mission Prep class, about an experience I had this past summer at the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Anyway, here we go: This past summer I was privileged to be in the cast of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. During our seventeen days at Hill Cumorah, I had many life-changing experiences, both socially and spiritually. After I found out I had been accepted to Brigham Young University, I was worried. In high school, I had bad experiences with making friends. I was the only priesthood holder in my graduating class and I hated being around many of my classmates because they were largely interested only in where the next party was. Also,... Read the rest of this entry »