Tomorrow, many of us in the United States are going to be privileged to get a few extra minutes of afternoon shade. The moon is going to pass above us in such a way that its path will cast a shadow in a large swath of the country and temporarily bathe the land in darkness. It's going to be pretty neat. Coincidentally, I have reached the point in my personal...

When is the last time you received revelation?

The other night in my studies, I came across this verse:

And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they...

I wrote about the prophet-missionary Nephi in my last two posts about unwearyingness and personal revelation. This week I want to continue to take his awesome story and highlight another important lesson for our lives. Having just returned from his mission to find his people incredibly wicked, he was understandably upset. Kneeling on his garden tower, he poured out his anguish to God:

Who were the Nephite runners?

Remember that time the Nephite chief judge was murdered? No, I'm not talking about the murder of chief judge Pahoran. Or his brother Pacumeni. Or Cezoram. Or Cezoram's son. Or Lachoneus. I'm talking about Seezoram.

Almost all my recent posts have dealt with the war chapters in Alma. The Nephites, led under Moroni, fought the Lamanites and learned lots of lessons along the way. So many years of terrible war, including 2 civil wars within the Nephites themselves. Eventually, Moroni and his armies won the day and the Nephites finally had peace. But sadly, the break was short; it was only a few years after...

We all know the story of the stripling warriors. "They had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." They bore their testimony to the prophet Helaman that "we do not doubt our mothers knew it." The story of those 2000 young men is a powerful testimony of the impact of righteous women on the rising generation. You almost definitely heard...

When I was a teenager, my household chore was the burdensome task of cleaning the "tile area" of the house. This included the entire kitchen, the dishes, the bar area, the dining room, the table, and setting/clearing meals. The rule was that my chores were to be completed to perfection every morning before I left for seminary and school. My mother would inspect them in the morning when she woke...

2 weeks ago, I intentionally took a word in the Book of Mormon out of context to illustrate an important principle. This week, I wanted to address a word that has multiple meanings: Marvel.

Usually, when I think of the word "marvel," I first think of Captain America, Agents of SHIELD, and the Avengers. But, this is not that kind of blog (although I think a Marvel edition of...

WARNING: SCRIPTURES TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT AHEAD. Do not attempt at home.

One of the obstacles missionaries run into when teaching the Gospel is the fact that the general population is largely unfamiliar with the old "King's English." Since most of all our Standard Works are written in the English of the King James Bible, this becomes a problem when trying to teach the Gospel as missionaries. Investigators often...

Today is Mother's Day. But instead of talking about the stripling warriors, Abish, or Sariah today, I want to talk about a few words I found in Helaman 1.

This year, my wife, my sweetheart, and the mother of my son is spending Mother's Day out of the country on a dream trip across Europe with her sister and some extended family members. She is having a great time,...