Feast on the Word: A Forum

Mosiah 29: 20
But behold, [the Lord] did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him.

We've been reading a lot of scriptures about trusting God in our family of late and they fill us with hope! We memorized this one at the beginning of the month. Lucy loved marking it up in her scriptures and correcting us when we'd tease her with phrases like "because they cried lazily unto him he did deliver them" or "and thus doth the Lord work with his power in some cases"

Helaman 5:12
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Lucy learned How Firm A Foundation in primary last year and has been singing it non-stop lately. We suspected, however, that she didn't have any idea what it meant. So this week for FHE we started to memorize Helaman 5:12 and experimented with "firm foundations." We built block towers on top of various bases (a sturdy, heavy wooden box, a cardboard box, and a pillow) to see which foundation was the most secure. Songs included Lucy's "Firm a Foundation," and The Wise Man and the Foolish Man. We labeled our strongest foundation with a picture of Christ and then "built our life" on him with blocks labeled with Lucy's ideas about "following Jesus"(learn, obey, love, share, help, etc).

We have Gene R. Cook's Teaching by the Spirit book on tape in our car and it has been the source of much discussion lately. Anyone read it? We keep talking and talking about various sections...

Finally:

For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave each of her grandchildren one of these darling framed temple pictures. Such a simple idea - such a treasure! My kids love them and want to sing "I Love to See the Temple" every time they spot their picture on the dresser.

OK! That's plenty for one day!
Look forward to your thoughts/questions/ideas!

Fifth Sundays

Fifth Sundays are somewhat of an anomaly. We thought we'd utilize them for a unique kind of post that will serve two purposes:

1) A place to keep track of scriptures that are meaningful to our family - just various verses, without particular connection to each other. We may share scriptures we've chosen to memorize together, maybe scriptures we've encountered in our personal study, maybe scriptures that have motivated fun family night activities or good discussions. We may include talks or books or music or art. Whatever.

It will just be a fun little smorgasbord!

2) We love what Whittier says, "Thee lift me and I'll lift thee and we'll both ascend together." We love the insight that comes from spiritual sharing. So we thought...for our Fifth Sunday smorgasbords...why not open the comments and invite your participation? There's no obligation to write, we just thought we'd give it a trial run. Commenting will be available throughout the week. If you come across a great scripture or idea in your personal reading, come back and share it! If you attend a great class, or you have a fun FHE discussion, tell us about it! If you see an inspiring painting or hear a beautiful song, post the link! Maybe you wrote about something gospel related/uplifting on your blog, or you found a treasure on someone else's - we'd love those links too!

If no one has desire/time to do any of the above, we're not offended! Heaven knows none of us need another blog to comment on! If this doesn't fly, then we'll reassess. But sometimes my own heart aches to share a newly discovered spiritual gem - with anyone who will listen! Reminds me of a few months ago when I was reading a fabulous account in the New Testament and I excitedly poked my four year old daughter who was playing beside me:
"Do you want to hear what I was reading about???!!" I asked with great enthusiasm.
"No," she said to me without missing a beat.
*Sigh*

Well, we do want to hear! So: anything is welcome! Including questions (plenty of those come up in our study, right?)! It'll just be a pot luck of sorts- you can bring whatever you want to the table! And then we can all "let [our souls] delight in fatness."
2 Nephi 9:51, Isaiah 55: 2

With that drum roll, here's our first fifth Sunday attempt:
Feast on the Word: A Forum.

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

“Testimony isn’t something that you have today and you keep always. Testimony is either going to grow and grow to the brightness of certainty, or it is going to diminish to nothingness, depending upon what we do about it. I say, the testimony that we recapture day by day is the thing that saves us from the pitfalls of the adversary.”
President Harold B. Lee, quoted in "Hold on a Little Longer," January 2010

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"I am confident it is the intention of each member of the Church to serve and to help those in need. At baptism we covenanted to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.”  How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often has day-to-day living interfered...We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the “thick of thin things.” In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes."

President Thomas S. Monson, "What Have I Done for Someone Today?" October 2009

A Journey

As the 9-10 year old members of my Primary class journeyed (semi-reverently) around the halls of our church one Sunday, searching for clues that would help them piece together the coming-forth-of-the-Book-of-Mormon story, I couldn't help reflecting on my own, personal, Book of Mormon "journey."

This is a re-post of thoughts I have already shared on our personal blog, but I wanted them to be filed here as well.

I grew up in a family of faithful Latter-day Saints. Books of Mormon dotted our shelves.

I remember laying on my front porch one summer afternoon when I was about eight, opening the book to page one and determining to read until I reached the familiar words of Nephi's faithful declaration: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded." (page six). It felt like I laid there for hours!!

I remember looking at pages of our illustrated Book of Mormon during lazy summer afternoons in Lake Powell.

I remember how excited I was as an older child to realize, on my own, without the help of a chapter heading (we had a lot of old Books of Mormon in my house), that many of the prophesies in 1 Nephi 13 detail events in early American history. "HOW COOL!," I thought. And how SMART I felt!

I remember the pink, rainbow handled scripture case that carried my first personal copies of the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

I remember the Big Hunk candy bar I received from our Primary presidency when I finished the book.

I remember that the pages and promises of the Book of Mormon were familiar to me as a child, it's characters and concepts, friendly.

And then, when I was thirteen, I saw five minutes of a movie that displayed Joseph Smith and Brigham Young in a totally unfamiliar (and I now realize, completely unhistorical) light. Just five minutes, and my heart and mind were reeling with feelings of doubt and discomfort, feelings that were completely foreign and completely terrifying to my young self.

What if that movie was right? What if my parents were wrong? What if the church....What if the Book of Mormon...What if the Prophet...

What if...
What if...
What if...

I did what any reasonable teenager would do: I silently secluded myself in my bedroom.

For a long time.

I laid down, but the softness of my lacy, light-blue bedspread didn't halt the train of turmoil that was crashing around inside of me. I couldn't keep the tears of doubt and disappointment from squeezing out of my closed eyes. I felt so much unsureness. For the first time in my life.

And so I finally did what I had, all my life, been taught to do in case of problems or questions:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that givith to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5

"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Luke 11:9

I prayed.

I remember that my prayer was terribly un-eloquent and choppy. I didn't know what to say. This was no blessing on the food, folks. I mumbled phrases like, "Heavenly Father, I feel awful." and "I don't know what's really true." and "I don't want to feel this way." and "I just want to believe in what's right."

I finished my prayer. And nothing happened. I still had tear-stained cheeks. I still had a furrowed brow. I still had questions and doubts and uncomfortable uncertainties surging inside of me.

A few hours later I put my distraught self to bed. As I reached for the lamp on the night stand next to me, I saw a bookmark I had been given at a church fireside some weeks previous. I picked it up, turned it over, and read words that still blaze in my mind's eye, words that were like an uttered answer to my cry for help, words that still induce the sting of tears, words from the Book of Mormon:

"Behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." Alma 32:27

And so began the great experiment of my life. I started immediately. Instead of carrying a reading book to school in my backpack, I took a copy of the Book of Mormon. I read the whole thing through, seriously and thoughtfully. At the end of the experiment came a subtle, un-glorious but undeniable conviction of the book's divinity. Evidence. Fruit. Tangible, although difficult to explain. "O then, is not this real?"

The official experiment ended, but the journey had only just begun.

I continued, and still continue, to find so much of my life in the pages of the Book of Mormon:

An adoration for and increased closeness to the Savior,
A cherished, clarified understanding of the doctrine of Christ,
A testimony of and greater appreciation for Joseph Smith's prophetic mission,
A sweet love for and deepened understanding of the Holy Bible.
And a treasured, though still fledgling relationship with personal revelation.

The light of The Book of Mormon has shown through every era of my life.

During my enthusiastic high school days in Brother Morgan's Seminary class, the Book of Mormon was excitement. I looked forward to every class and my testimony grew every time my teacher asked with sincerity "what could be better than studying the gospel of Jesus Christ?!"

During my days of college life and constant change, the Book of Mormon was familiarity.

During my days of newly-wedded bliss, it was a bond. It was discussion and togetherness.

A few years ago, at the side of my husband's hospital bed, when I had sucked my own optimism dry and fear was a constant, threatening companion, it was everything. A conduit of comfort, a life preserver that I clung to.

And now, daily, as a mother of small children, the Book of Mormon is motivation. A clarian call to teach my little ones about the life and mission of the Messiah.

It is, truly, Another Testiment of Jesus Christ. It is a purveyer of the Savior's doctrine and peace.

If you've never read it, please do!

A Note About the Quotes

You've noticed we're filing quotes. The goal is to gather at least one thought from each apostle's conference address, following each semi-annual conference session. Once we've finished with the previous conference (which, you'll observe, is taking us a while!), we'll include various other favorite quotes that we currently have filed away in other places. You can search quotes by topic or apostle on the sidebar.

These quote posts will show up randomly! Whenever we can snatch time!

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"Revelation from God is always compatible with His eternal law. It never contradicts His doctrine...Revelation need not all come at once. It may be incremental. 'Saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more.' Patience and perseverance are part of our eternal progression."
Elder Russell M. Nelson, "Ask, Seek, Knock," October 2009

Fruit

Wes and I had an interesting discussion after last week's post. We were talking about the reasons why it is often difficult to share our Latter-day Saint belief in apostasy and restoration with people of other faiths -why it's hard to say without equivocation or excuse:

"Following the death of Christ's authorized apostles, the doctrines of salvation became cloudy and convoluted. Over time, controversy and confusion grew, and although many pure hearted people maintained faith in Christ, the authority to act in His name was lost from the earth."

I mean, let's be honest with ourselves: to the general Christian world, that must be a hard statement to swallow! I really had to hesitate for half a second when I thought about filling our little corner of the world wide web with such a seemingly presumptuous declaration. Because, while we may not be the smartest cookies in the jar (like when I spelled "explanatory" wrong in the title of our very first post?! Right. Thanks, Jed! =), we certainly have no desire to offend (zero desire), or to be presumptuous, or unthinking.

Hence, Wes and I have been deliberating a little about why we believe what we believe. About why we feel so confidant making such a controversial statement.

The reason has to do with fruit.

When the Savior was on the earth, he prophesied that many in our day would be deceived by false prophets - "wolves" in "sheep's clothing". And He also gave the key whereby we can distinguish true prophets from their well disguised counterparts. He said:

Ye shall know them by their fruits...
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit...
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:15-20

The fruit of the restoration of Christ's church is the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is tangible evidence that can be examined. It is real fruit that can be held, studied, tasted, considered.

The Book of Mormon contains this promise (this magnificent, beautiful promise):

Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall receive these things (the Book of Mormon), if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. Moroni 10:3-5

Wes and I have both read and asked.
He has included some of his related thoughts in the post below, I'll share a few of my feelings next week (and we will periodically invite others to share their Book of Mormon experiences).
But the point is: we know the fruit (and therefore the tree) is good.

And we hope you'll examine it for yourself.

Another Testament

I imagine that I grew up with the Book of Mormon the way many Christians grow up with the Holy Bible: the book has been a constant and cherished part of my life.

I remember Dad praising my six-year-old reading ability when I took my turn to read from the Book of Mormon during family home evening. Later, I remember Mom coming into my room every night to read the Book of Mormon with me, when, as the youngest in our family, I was the only one stuck with an eight o’clock bedtime. I have to admit, I tried hard to prolong those reading sessions - not for the love of scripture, or even for the love of my mom, but because I wanted to stay awake! It’s interesting, though, how much my love for Mom and for the scriptures has grown because of those memories.

And then, who wasn’t going to continue daily reading when all their siblings were doing it? I really had an ideal upbringing when it comes to developing a love for the Book of Mormon. In fact, many people would assume that my testimony is a result of my upbringing.

However, it’s not tradition or familiarity alone that motivate me to declare the truth of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is more than a piece (even a large piece) of my family history. It has been a source of comfort, direction, assurance and strength to me personally. Truly, it has become the foundation of my understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is, to me, sure evidence of Christ’s mortal ministry and contains the promise of his second coming.

When Lori and I were just newly engaged, we used to go outside our apartments early in the morning to run and read scripture together (oh, how easy it was to do such things before children!). It was a fun time, the early summertime air was the perfect temperature, very few people were around (which is pretty rare if you think about your on-campus days), and we could just talk about our hopes and anticipations for the future. One morning, while we were talking about dreams and all that we planned on for the future, Lori shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon - one that is representative of why I love the book:

For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people. Alma 7:7.

The seven plus years since that early morning have caused me to think about Alma’s words often. Indeed "many things [have] come": the loss of loved ones, the birth of new ones, sickness, fun, happiness, hardship. And I know many more things – both good and challenging things – will come in the future.

Amid it all, the Book of Mormon helps to keep me focused. It anchors me on that “one thing which is of more importance than they all,” the reality of the Savior's life, His atonement, and His future coming into the world.

Patterns and Precedents

Our four-year-old daughter loves to sing and dance to a song called Through Heaven's Eyes from the movie Prince of Egypt. It's a high-energy, hand-clapping kind of song, and lately, as I've watched Lucy twirling round our living room like a middle eastern princess, I've had a chance to consider the song's lyrics:

A single thread in a tapestry
Though its color brightly shine
Can never see its purpose
In the pattern of the grand design

It's the word choice at the end there that catches my attention: In the pattern of the grand design.

I like that phrase because of some specific truths I believe about an eternal and truly grand pattern - a pattern of God's merciful and loving interaction with mankind that can be traced, clear and visible, from our modern day back to antiquity. Back past Moses and the princes of Egypt. Back to the beginning.

While beautiful, the pattern is not complicated. It is, simply, the picture of a loving Heavenly Father who desires the immortality and eternal life of His children. It is the picture of that loving Father reaching out time and again over the course of human history to communicate the only "way [and] means whereby mankind can be saved": the gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith, repentance, baptism, receipt of the Holy Ghost, and endurance to the end of life's trials and tests.

I believe that God revealed this plan for our salvation - the gospel of Jesus Christ - to Adam and Eve after their transgression in the Garden of Eden:

And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence.

And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.

And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.

Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.

And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will. Moses 5: 4-9

But, after much time and temptation, most of Adam's children fell into sin and forgot their chance to choose eternal salvation through the the atonement of Jesus Christ. So God found a man who was faithful and made him into a prophet.

And the Lord said unto Noah:...mine anger is kindled against the sons of men, for they will not hearken to my voice.

And it came to pass that Noah prophesied, and taught the things of God, even as it was in the beginning. Moses 8: 13, 16

And so the pattern proceeded. Each time mankind fell into general sin and abandoned God, He revealed his plan of salvation anew through another prophet. Abraham was taught of sacrifice and redemption in a vivid, personal way. Moses received God's law on Sinai.

Eventually, God the Father sent his son, Jesus Christ, to earth to teach the plan of salvation in person and to make eternally effective, by His death and resurrection, its glorious promises. During His mortal ministry, Jesus taught a parable describing the pattern of prophets that preceded him:

A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.

And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.

And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.
Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. Luke 20: 9-13

History records the sad reality that the husbandmen did not reverence the Son. Rather, he was "despised and rejected."

There were a faithful few who followed Christ during His ministry and who continued to teach His gospel with authority after His crucifixion. But eventually, as one in their ranks had prophesied, there came another general "falling away" from the pure and complete gospel of Jesus Christ. Following the death of Christ's authorized apostles, the doctrines of salvation became cloudy and convoluted. Over time, controversy and confusion grew, and although many pure hearted people maintained faith in Christ, the authority to act in His name was lost from the earth. Again.

However. In keeping with His ancient pattern, God did not allow the darkness to reign indefinitely. In 1820, He again found a faithful man - a faithful boy, really, like Samuel of old - and turned him into a prophet. Joseph Smith, born in a burgeoning country that taught a new kind of religious tolerance, was properly positioned to carry on God's pattern of revelation. Joseph was given the priesthood authority held by all previous prophets, and proceeded, under the direction of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to restore the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A long story?
Yes. Long, ancient, unchanging (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, Mormon 9:19, D&C 20: 17).

A grand design.
A tapestry woven with merciful care and consistent stitches. A predictable pattern that bears witness of an eternal, loving, and truly gracious God.

And although many of our posts will focus on individual threads of this gospel tapestry, we hope to occasionally revisit the idea of patterns and precedents. Because it is truly persistent - in all of our beliefs and practices.

The Explanatory Post

It's no secret that we're pretty intense about our religion. People who know us know that we're members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). We rarely hesitate to share our beliefs. We hope that our faith in Christ and our firm belief in the restoration of his gospel are ultimately defining of who we are and how we act.

It's all a big deal to us. It's what we constantly yearn to discuss and share with people we love. And it's what we love to discuss and share with each other.

And we hope that this blog, dedicated exclusively to our beliefs, will help us do both of those things: discuss and share faith with others and with each other.

We'll post every Sunday.

If you're curious about what Mormons believe, tune in. We don't expect our posts will be widely read. But, readers or not, we plan to write for the sake of our own study and learning. Because truth is worth our time. And because we believe it's worth sharing.

Indeed, "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ,and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26)

Now, by way of commencement, we want to say:

1. We certainly DO NOT claim to know everything. Or even very many things. But we DO believe that truth is knowable. We believe that God invites, and even requires, us to pursue truth passionately and prayerfully. We believe the repeated scriptural promise:

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9, 3 Nephi 14:7, D&C 88:63)

2. Our religious convictions have come by way of spiritual communications and confirmations that are hard to explain. Hard to put into words. A good man once compared receiving a witness of the Spirit to tasting salt. A great comparison. Tasting salt is an everyday experience, but think about it: how would you describe salt to someone who had never tasted it?? (Are you thinking? Are you trying?) It's tricky! Practically impossible!
Well, "spiritually speaking, [we] have tasted salt [and are] no more able to convey...in words how this knowledge has come than you are to [describe] what salt tastes like...The Apostle Paul said it this way: “We speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (1 Cor. 2:13–14.)
So. Please read our posts with that proverbial grain of salt.

3. It's all been said before, and it's been said better, both in the scriptures and by inspired men and women. We don't mean for our words to replace those words. If you want Mormonism from its purest source, crack your Old or New Testament, pick up a copy of The Book of Mormon, or read what modern prophets and apostles are saying today. We'll simply be highlighting some of those things.

4. We do not plan to enable a comment section on this blog. If you DO have comments, feedback, questions, bones to pick, requests for post topics, thoughts you'd like to share (we may occasionally solicit those - be forewarned!), or any other such communication, we have made our e-mail (mailto:WesandLori@gmail.com) available on the sidebar.

5. Also listed on the side bar are The Articles of Faith, penned by Joseph Smith when he was asked to outline the basic tenets of our religion. They are remarkably inclusive of our beliefs. A great starting point for studying our faith. Some of our posts (1st Sunday of the month) will follow their organizational lead. Other posts (3rd Sunday of the month) will be dedicated to teachings from the Book of Mormon. The rest of our posts will be a smorgasbord of family/teaching ideas, guest bloggers, open-comment discussions, or whatever other random, religious topics we feel like including.

Can't wait! See you Sunday!

A Reason of the Hope: Background

In the months following Wes's 2005 brain surgery, word of his cancer slowly trickled throughout our general circles of acquaintance. During that time, my mom stopped by for a brief visit and slipped a small beaded bracelet into my hands, describing how Diane Barrus, a dear teacher and friend from my old neighborhood, had taken it off her own wrist one Sunday and asked my mom to deliver it to me.

The bracelet remains a sweet reminder of the hope we've felt (and continue to feel) over the course of Wes's cancer battle. But it's even more dear to me now: several months ago, Diane Barrus died, very suddenly. She was about 55 years old. She was in seemingly perfect health. She was serving as a vivacious Primary president in my parents' ward and was the mother of 4 young adult children - her youngest son is, and was, at the time of her death, serving a mission in Kentucky.

Diane's unexpected passing was a blow to everyone who knew her, and remains, I'm sure, a source of heart-break for her husband and family. But I know that the Barruses would tell you the same thing Wes and I yearn to share with all the word: in spite of the hurt, there is so much hope. And it's not hypothetical hope. It's more than optimism and positive thinking.

I don't present this as new information. Truly, I've belabored the point. But even though you already know, and even though most of you share our feelings, Wes and I want to be direct:

If our experiences with cancer have taught us anything, it is that our faith - our religion - holds up. Trials that could have exposed its holes and limits have only certified it's strength and sufficiency. We believe more surely than ever that Jesus Christ has restored his pure and perfect gospel to the earth. And with it: peace, understanding, and above all, hope.

We constantly feel driven to share what has so successfully sustained us. Last spring, in fact, around Easter, Wes and I designed (ha! doesn't that sound fancy! What I mean is "pushed three buttons to create") this new blog for the purpose of more regularly sharing, as Peter urged, the "reason of the hope that is in [us]."

Not that we're shy about sharing our beliefs on our personal blog, but the new site will be solely, exclusively for the discussion of doctrine. And it's as much for us as for anyone. We need a place to organize our study, to categorize our favorite quotes, to grapple with difficult concepts, and to, generally, "rejoice in the message of the Lord." (See Alma 26:35, quote from D&C Explanatory Introduction.)

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion."
President Henry B. Eyring, "Our Perfect Example," October 2009

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"Our way of life, hour by hour, must be filled with the love of God and love for others...I hope you will go out today looking for opportunities to do as [the Savior] did and to love as He loves."
Henry B. Eyring, "Our Perfect Example," October 2009