Seeking Happiness and Joy

Jesus Christ is the son of God . On this earth, He was born of Mary. He lived among the people and throughout His life He taught the truths of His Father, our Father in Heaven. He suffered for our sins in Gethsemane bringing about the Atonement . Through the Atonement, all mankind can be saved. His everlasting Atonement makes it possible for me, a sinner and imperfect child, to be made whole. By means of His Atonement, I can overcome the spiritual separation from God that comes through sin and can ultimately return to live with God the Father and Jesus Christ as a perfect being. Jesus Christ hung on the cross and gave His life so that we might live. He was resurrected on the third day and manifested Himself to the apostles. In His resurrected state, He visited the people on the American continent. He allowed each to feel of the prints of the nails in His hands and feet and the wounds in His side. He taught these people, as He had done in Israel, the truths of the Father and the princip...

The inspiration for this post came partly from an address given by Thomas B. Griffith called " The Root of Christianity ". I vacationed in Peru a couple of years ago. I arrived in the middle of the night. After a short sleep, my Peruvian friend met me at my hotel. We skirted about town tending to the business of securing my accomodations for my lengthy stay. It was Sunday. I wanted to go to church. I had a list of churches and meeting times, but I wasn't sure what part of Lima we were in exactly. After the service meeting hours passed, I insisted that I be taken to any church for the opportunity to worship. Finally, almost at day's end, he took me to a Catholic service. My friend is Catholic, and I was excited to attend a service with him. We arrived late. For being the sixth service of the day in that particular chapel, it was quite full. I wondered if the other attendees had done as we had done, putting off their church attendance until after other business was comp...

I attended a baby blessing today for a family that I've only known for a couple months. The husband and wife took the opportunity to share their testimonies and also to share sincere gratitude and admiration for each other as role of husband/wife and father/mother. It was such a touching experience. I can hardly wait until I have my own beautiful family.

I absolutely love teaching Sunday School. It is such a blessing. I gain so much from reading, preparing, and leading the lesson discussion. Each week, I learn so many new things that I had overlooked in the past. Today, we were studying Helaman 13 -16. There was one phrase in one scripture where we ended up focusing most of our attention as a class. I wish I could record all the wonderful comments that were shared today. Helaman 13:11 reads, "But if ye will repent and return unto the Lord your God I will turn away mine anger, saith the Lord; yea, thus saith the Lord, blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not." "Repent and turn unto me" We talked about how repentance was more than abstaining from the sin. President Ezra Taft Benson taught: "Repentance means more than simply a reformation of behavior. Many men and women in the world demonstrate great will-power and self-discipline in overcoming bad habits and th...

This is a talk I gave at the baptism of a boy I used to babysit. He asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost . He was baptized shortly after his 8th birthday. After graduating from Dixie College, I decided to transfer to Utah State University in Logan. I was entering the real world. I didn’t know anyone attending school there and I didn’t have any relatives living there. I would be going about this alone. My mother, who faced a similar situation years before, knew this would be a challenging and sometimes troublesome process. She, by divine nature, wanted to provide for me what she could so I would be taken care of and adjust easily. She knew she couldn’t go with me, so she provided the next best thing. My mother had a dear friend who was instrumental in her conversion and growth in her early years as a member of the church. Her name was Wanda. I knew Wanda as the woman whose nostrils made me giggle. Wanda and her husband, Frank, just so happened to live in Logan. ...

If you want to change your life for the better, read the Book of Mormon . Need a copy? Request a free copy here . I was browsing a recent issue of The New Era and found this article by President Henry B. Eyring First Counselor in the First Presidency . Why the Book of Mormon? Henry B. Eyring, “Why the Book of Mormon?,” NewEra , May 2008, 6–9 When I was a young man I wondered why the Lord needed to have the Prophet Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon to begin the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I knew that God the Father and Jesus Christ had spoken with him. I knew that Peter, James, and John had restored the Melchizedek Priesthood , that prophets had brought the keys, and that Joseph had been taught by apostles and prophets from earlier dispensations. With all of that, I wondered what the place of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in all of that was. It Is a Powerful Missionary Tool Then I began missionary work. One of my early companion...