Teens & Seminary

“They did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them” (Alma 57:21). There are few sights in this world that can compare to a righteous mother humbly teaching her children in the ways of the Lord. There are few better testimonies to the love a child has for his mother than to continue in those ways even as he grows older. My absolute favorite story involving mothers occurs in the ... Read More

Changing bad behaviors isn’t going to happen overnight, no matter how eager we may be to make it happen. The further into sin we are, the more difficult it will be to turn around. It’s important to help youth understand that making significant changes to better our lives needs to be a step-by-step process. ACTIVITY Scripture: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). Learning is a step-by-step process, whether we’re learning about how to change a tire, or how to turn away from sin. To help youth understand the process a litt... Read More

Have you noticed gas prices have gone up lately? How about food? Odds are unless you pay for these necessities yourself you may only have heard general grumbling from the adult population. The truth is more and more people are struggling to make ends meet, even with two full-time jobs and cutting back here and there. You may be asking, “What can I do about it?” I’m here to tell you it’s time to start a food storage. We have a fantastic section here on the blog all about home storage and preparedness, and I highly recommend you take some time to go through it. I wanted to stop and talk today about why it’s important for you, as teens, to take an active role in starting a food storage. A... Read More

When reading through the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, two particular things seem to happen again and again. As the righteous people in the land, known as the Nephites, follow the Lord’s commandments they are blessed. Their lands produce bountiful harvests, they become rich in gold and silver and many precious things, all as a blessing for doing what is right. At times they are living so righteously there are no poor among them. Usually when things are going this well two things invariably happen. First, there are those who begin to value the gold and silver, the fine silks... Read More

I’ve been fairly weepy the last few weeks (though I heartily exclaim there is no coincidence with my kids being off-track at the same time). It feels something like being two seconds away from bursting into tears at any moment. The littlest thing, whether it’s a tender or a frustrating moment, will set me off. This happens to me several times throughout the year, in particular when I’m feeling a little lost as to my purpose in this life and what it is God truly wants for me. More often than not several new forks have been placed in my road and I simply don’t know which one to choose. Or, rather, which one God would have me choose. Does this sound at all familiar? Perhaps, as teens, you thought the choices would get easier once you ‘grew up,&... Read More

A certain movie that came out a few years ago led many teens and pre-teens to wonder this very thing. One young man was labeled the basketball guy; one young woman didn’t want to be sucked back into the world of math and science without trying to explore other options; another girl was determined to keep her own identity wrapped up tight in the world of drama and music. I immediately appreciated the message this movie portrays, that we are so much more than our obvious talents make us out to be. If this weren’t truth I would never have tried out for Pep Club my junior year of high school, as my obvious talents lay in the fields of music and writing. Yet I made it and had a wonderful time. You need to take a moment, however, and focus on who you really... Read More

We should be spending every day of our lives in various efforts to make it happen. It can be through loving our neighbor, showing kindness to those who have wronged us, or serving those we come in contact with. Our words, thoughts and deeds are supposed to reflect one particular thing. We are all trying to be more like Jesus. It sounds simple enough, yet countless numbers have spent their entire lives in an effort to do just that, and they all fall short. Of course this doesn’t mean we should stop trying. Becoming more like Jesus is a lifelong process. Perhaps those who give up too soon do so because they don’t really understand Christ. Though many of us have read the accounts of His life in the New Testament as well as the ... Read More

My children hear it from me almost every day. The teen girls I teach at church hear it from me several times in one lesson. For those who have stuck with me these last several months in reading my posts you’ve seen the words more than once. If there were a sign or phrase to be attached to my life it would be this: We always have a choice. In every situation, even those that seem to take away our physical freedoms, there is a choice to be made. This choice may not be the same for every person even in a similar experience. However the end result, that goal we are all working towards, is the same for each and every one of us and depends greatly on our choices. I am talking, of course, of eternal life. In the ... Read More

It is, for me, one of the most remarkable examples of what can happen when we are faced with the choice of following the Lord, or turning away from His ways. Though the story of Lehi’s family, which can be found in the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, lasts far longer than one post can hold, the pattern is set in just the first few chapters of 1 Nephi. 600 years before Christ was born, a humble man in Jerusalem took to heart the teachings of the Lord’s prophets concerning the wickedness of the people in his city. This man... Read More

I find it extraordinary when God takes two people, who might not have met otherwise, and places them together. My husband forgot his wallet one morning. This event alone has never happened before, so already the day seemed quite unusual. The kids and I headed downtown to deliver the wallet. Around the outskirts of Temple Square, a block that holds one of the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed the Mormons), one can... Read More

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about gifts. I hear words echoing through many mouths about how there is nothing within them anyone would consider special. This is a cry that has been heard for hundreds upon hundreds of years. “One of the great tragedies of life, it seems to me, is when a person classifies himself as someone who has no talents or gifts. When, in disgust or discouragement, we allow ourselves to reach depressive levels of despair because of our demeaning self-appraisal, it is a sad day for us and a sad day in the eyes of God. For us to conclude that we have no gifts when we judge ourselves by stature, intelligence, grade-point average, wealth, power position, or external appearance is not only unfair but unreasonable” (Marvin J. Ashto... Read More

In the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, we find a little clearer description of the purpose of the fall of Adam, and it’s done in two short statements. “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). When Adam and Eve first resided in the Garden of Eden they were given two commandments. The first was not to partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Both Adam and Eve came to know it was necessary to partake of the forbidden fr... Read More

Have you ever woken up in the morning with a song going through your head? I certainly have, probably hundreds of times over the years, and have never really thought anything about it. . . until I attended a workshop several weeks ago. In this workshop the teacher said to pay attention to the song going through your head, especially when it’s a hymn. Write the words down in your journal. Look up scripture verses that apply to the song. You never know what message God wants you to hold in your heart that day. Today was the first time it’s happened to me since the workshop. The hymn is called, “Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah.” Sounds like something heavy to wake up to, doesn’t it? Let’s take a moment to go over the words. ... Read More

Nephi, an ancient prophet whose emigration from Jerusalem to the Americas is recorded in the Book of Mormon, revered two particular Bible men: Moses and Isaiah. As we read through Nephi’s words we can see that he has taken studying his scriptures quite seriously. It is obvious how much he respects the words of the prophet Isaiah as he quotes entire passages of Isaiah’s prophecies. It is also quite obvious he considers Moses to be one of his greatest heroes, as Nephi refers to him, and the great man he became, time and time again. His purpose in doing so was to remind himself as w... Read More

I’d like to start off our study of Scripture Mastery verses by looking at the Book of Mormon. For those of you who haven’t heard of this book, or have heard a little and aren’t certain what it’s about, the Book of Mormon is an ancient record of the people who lived in the Americas back before, during, and about 400 years after the time of Christ. Those of us in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S... Read More

For those who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed the Mormon Church), the words ‘Scripture Mastery’ have a double meaning. The first thing we’ll think of is a set of 100 verses of scripture that “have been deemed especially important by church leaders” (www.mormonwiki.com/Scripture_Mastery). These verses are split up between the four standard works, which are studied in Seminary over the course of four years: ... Read More

Early in the morning on the day after the Sabbath a mighty work was at hand. We know nothing of what occurred inside the Garden Tomb, testifying of the sacredness of the actual event, only that soon afterward the earth shook and two angels rolled away the great stone from the mouth of the tomb. Two guards appointed by Pilate had been keeping watch. The chief scribes and Pharisees were so concerned with Christ’s prophecies about rising again they didn’t want to take any chances His followers would try any tricks (Matthew 27:62-64). In doing so they unintentionally gave quite a witness to the heavenly events. The two guards fainted at the sight. Around this same time a group of women, many of whom had... Read More

There are two men in particular to thank for the proper, though hurried, burial of our Savior. If it weren’t for these two men Christ’s body would have been treated the same way as any other Jewish convicted criminal: tossed into a common grave. This was not a burial meant for the one who had just redeemed all of mankind. This occurred to Joseph of Arimathaea. Joseph was a rich man and a member of the Sanhedrin, the ancient Jewish court. His relationship to Jesus is uncertain, though some non-scriptural scholars have thought he might be the brother of Anna, Christ’s grandmother. It is more likely he was simply a devoted follower. Joseph of Arimathaea went to Pilate, a ruler appointed by Rome, and asked to have the body of Jesus Christ released to him up... Read More

We don’t know for certain where Golgotha is found. Many hymns and paintings over the years depict it as being on a hill, but none of the four gospels indicate this to be true. As we learn more about the culture and the times, we come to know crucifixions were done outside city walls along main roads. This was done to further humiliate the person being crucified, as well as a warning to others what would happen if they were caught. We know Christ was crucified at nine o’clock in the morning (Mark 15:25). Spikes were driven through the palms of His hands as well as the wrists, and then into the feet, making sure no bones were broken in the process. At this point He would have been lifted up to the tree where ever... Read More

At last the verdict was in: Jesus Christ would be crucified. Already weak and exhausted from the Garden of Gethsemane, having stayed up all night being tossed here and there by evil men whose only aim was to see Him hung, by now Christ had suffered more cruelly than any other man on earth. His agony was only added upon by the Roman soldiers. Roman regulations insisted that every man condemned to crucifixion be scourged first. This act alone was so brutal, so bloody, those inflicted often died even before they could be crucified. I don’t feel it’s necessary to go into the horrors of scourging here. Just know that it was far more horrible than we can possibly imagine. After the scourging had passed, the Roman soldiers who held Christ captive here couldn’t... Read More

Jesus Christ was bound and led away by an interesting group of people. First you had the chief priests who performed the ordinances of the Aaronic Priesthood temple worship. There were also captains of the temple, who acted as security guards, so to speak. They kept order within the walls of the temple. There were also the elders of the church, who were spiritual and social leaders and teachers. Mixed in were Roman guards, thought to be included to make the entire arrest look official. These men were essentially the same group who desired to take and kill Jesus back when He removed the moneychangers from the temple (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:18). After His... Read More

Things unfolded quickly after Christ’s triumphant exit from the Garden of Gethsemane. Even as He told His friends to sleep on and take some rest (Matthew 26:45), a group of men came to take Him. This group included chief priests and elders, all men of the Jerusalem Temple who acted almost like a police force in keeping the peace. Unfortunately these men had evil in their hearts, and were determined to rid themselves of the man who claimed to be the Son of God. How delighted they must have been when one of His own devoted followers approached them. Remember, Judas left quite a while ago, even knowing Christ was aware of His coming betrayal. “And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto y... Read More

It’s a heavy concept, the thought of taking upon oneself the sins of every person who ever has, and ever will, live. Even those of us with the most incredible imaginations could never possibly hope to come close to understanding what it was the Savior took upon Himself that night in Gethsemane. All of us have sinned at least once in our lives, even if we did it in ignorance. Many children are taught incorrect truths as they grow up: swearing, hatred, intolerance, etc. I have known such sweet and innocent children, and even teens and adults, who have come to think evil things to be good, because that’s what they have been taught. Christ took every one of those sins upon Himself. But this is not all. There are those out in the world who know what the laws of Go... Read More

“And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:37-39). We read a little different account in Mark. “And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a littl... Read More

The Garden of Gethsemane was a familiar place to Jesus Christ and His Apostles. We can see it was not the first time they had visited there by looking at John 18:1-2. “WHEN Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.” Bruce R. McConkie, former latter-day ... Read More

When I decided to write a little about the Atonement my thoughts did not go directly to the Garden of Gethsemane. Instead they trailed back a little in time to the Passover Feast that had occurred just a few hours before. Why? Think about the last time you had a test. Did you merely start without studying beforehand? Well, I certainly hope not. The best course to help you succeed, to claim that perfect grade, is to prepare. The Savior knew there was a big test, or trial, about to come upon Him. Did He know just how difficult it would be? I don’t know. I do know He realized how important... Read More