A little while before the birth of our first kid, a wise ward member gave me some counsel I will never forget. He said that when a first child is born, there are actually three people born that day: the child is born into mortality, the woman is born into motherhood, and the man is born into fatherhood. The whole family takes a huge collective step forward in their roles....

In chapter 6 of Moroni, we get a glimpse of what it was like to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Nephite Saints:

And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.

In the Church today, you'll see a lot of fasting (like today). You'll see a lot...

I get the feeling Nephi was a pretty patient, generous guy. Throughout all of 1 Nephi, he recounts many attempts by Laman and Lemuel to tie him up, beat him up, leave him in the wilderness to be devoured by beasts, throw him in the ocean, strap him to a flailing ship, and murder him when they arrived at the promised land. Yet through all their whining and anger and...

I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day and came across this familiar verse:

But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation...

I was sitting at a crowded airport gate a few days ago, planning out episode 9 of my podcast^*. This episode is all about the fall of Adam and Eve. As I researched, I fell on that familiar verse from the Book of Mormon:

Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Yes, Adam fell that men might be. As...

There are many things in our day to day, secular lives that we "ought" to do. Like putting the junk mail in the recycling bin instead of the trash can. Or opting for the salad over the meat lover's pizza. But we often don't do what we know we should. Why? Because we're lazy?

Maybe. But I think it's mostly because we see these "suggestions" as optional– like "extra credit"...

Years ago, I heard a Bishop say: "Brothers and sisters, the restoration was messy." I didn't think much about his wording at the time. But over the few years following (including my mission), I encountered a lot of people wanting to "educate" me about early Church history. Joseph Smith was the most common target, of course. They cited all sorts of stories about him that seemingly "proved" he was a...

Sometimes the scriptures are funny. Here's one example: Alma the Younger. He and his gang of "bishop's kids" were always causing all sorts of shenanigans and making their parents' jobs much harder. They were getting into some pretty serious transgressions: preaching false doctrines, encouraging pride, leading many away from the Church, and pretending they're not home when their ministering brothers came by.

A few weeks ago, I was called to be the ward mission leader. Since then, I have been pondering on what I need to do to magnify my calling. I have served with a lot of different ward mission leaders both on and off my mission. Some jumped in with the missionaries. Others never learned the missionaries' names. Some rarely missed an opportunity to attend teaching appointments. Others rarely attended...

I read the Book of Enos again the other night and realized something: Enos's wrestle with God in the woods doesn't seem to have told him anything he didn't already know. Let me explain.