An Example of Compassion
Heidi, the woman spotlighted in the following video, is a friend of mine. Just last night I was thinking about her superb example to me of compassion. Heidi has a son with a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart. Despite that hardship she spends most of her day helping others. She is full of offers to watch others’ children or make unexpected visits to the sick or lonely. Her current calling in her congregation is as the compassionate service leader on the Relief Society...
Read MoreAn Afternoon at the Temple
~by Cheryl Grateful for the reprieve, I drive carefully; no radio. The thermostat in the van reads 48 degrees outside. Warm! I wonder if it will snow before Christmas. I feel the temple before I see it, dozens of people coming and going. Because of the timing of day, I find a parking space easily. I slip out of the car, leaving my cell phone behind. I walk up the sidewalk and notice, with grateful alarm, the large life-size statues of the Nativity. I make a mental note to stop on the way...
Read MoreForward with Faith: Forgiveness Invites Christ’s Healing Power
This is a powerful video about Chris Williams who lost his wife, an unborn child, an 11-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter in a car accident. They were killed by a drunk driver. Chris talks about the power of prayer, of brotherly love, of letting go of anger and forgiving. He beautifully expresses how God has listened to his prayers, and how choosing not to direct anger and grief at the person who caused the pain has made all the difference…how letting the Savior take that pain has...
Read MoreMormon Motherhood: Lessons Learned at a Pottery Wheel
Even though my hands never touched the clay, I learned an important lesson watching someone learn to work on a pottery wheel. In the beginning, the instructor explained that, in order to get it situated, the student needed to shape it into a ball, slam it onto the wheel, and keep it centered. Then she demonstrated the process with her own clay and wheel. When the student’s clay wouldn’t stay on, she re-demonstrated the procedure with her clay. After three more tries didn’t work, the...
Read MoreThe LDS Church and Politics
The LDS Newsroom notes that a recent decision by Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. to resign as U.S. ambassador to China has people speculating about whether Huntsman, a Mormon, will run for United States president in 2012. There are many who think Mitt Romney, also a Mormon, may be giving a presidential run another try. We agree with what Karl Rove (George W. Bush’s senior adviser) recently said in a brief interview — that undo focus on a candidate’s church or religious beliefs is...
Read MoreThe Spirit’s Influence in the Process of Self-Improvement
~by Jeanette Green You can read a bit more about Jeanette, the mother of a daughter with microcephaly and another daughter who is adopted, here. Now that it’s February, perhaps many of us are, sadly, done talking about our resolutions. Perhaps our ideas and plans for the year, our goals for self-improvement and personal progression, have faded — or are beginning to, anyway. I have always been goal-oriented, so for me, I enjoy the New Year’s tradition of setting resolutions...
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