Category: Jesus Christ

Weakness to strength

One of the things I did in 2013 was play in the stake musical production. Here I am with Tevye playing Tradition! from Fiddler on the Roof. 🔥

As I paged through a journal I wrote in 2013, I was amazed at the things I did that year. All of our children were still living at home, so beyond the things I recorded in the journal, there were so many meals, so much laundry, and so much driving. One line stands out to me from this journal,

“My favorite sin right now is haste.”

By “haste” I meant that I didn’t take enough time to be still.

In 2025, haste is no longer a favorite sin. I have been given the gift to be still. True, I have less laundry and cooking to do now, but there are a few more dominant forces during the last 12 years that taught me to slow down.

Saying goodbye to Tim, 2021

First, the years of decision arrived for our children with college, missions, marriage, and beyond. I realized that the most important thing I can do for my children is to pray for them. And when they ask for advice, I need an arsenal of inspired wisdom. I choose stillness for the sake of my children.

In the hospital, 2020

Second, I had poor health for an extended time which taught me to slow down. I was forced to stop filling my life with non-essentials. I learned to sit on the couch and listen to my family. I didn’t miss being busy, so as my health returned, I remained more present and unhurried.

The women who served with me 2019-2024

Third, I had church callings that stretched me to study deeply. We had unprecedented and perplexing issues to handle, so I had to be still so I could see the path forward. I was perplexed so often that stillness became a habit.

This exercise of looking back over 12 years of personal growth shows me that my Father in Heaven works through many means to help me to change.

The Lord’s wisdom is greater

I taught my gospel doctrine lesson on Sunday. I think the discussion was good, but I was prepared to discuss more. This calling at church requires me to let go of plans because class members are so eager to contribute ideas that we don’t have time to talk about every principle in the reading. It’s a good problem to have, right?

Here are a couple of concepts that we didn’t have time to discuss.

First, Satan’s tactics:

Cunning: the use of artifice to accomplish a purpose, rather than open, candid, or direct means; fraudulent skill or dexterity.

Flatter: to soothe by praise; to gratify self-love by praise…or by anything that exalts him in his own estimation or confirms his good opinion of himself.

Stir: to agitate, bring to debate; to instigate by inflaming passions.

-Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

And, God’s wisdom:

I really wanted to talk about the ways the Lord’s wisdom has blessed the lives of our class members. For me, His wisdom is most evident in His timing of friendships, knowledge, and experiences. How has the Lord’s wisdom been evident in your life?

My letter to Mark this week

Dear Mark,

The day that you got hurt, you were probably in shock for many hours afterwards, dulling the reality of what you experienced. Perhaps there was some pain as the anesthetic wore off, and the reality of dealing with a cast is really a challenge. I know that it is no fun to have an illness or injury away from home. I remember being alone in the hospital in 2020 for many days. During that isolating and painful time, I came to hear God’s voice better than if I had spent those days happily at home. It was worth the pain to know the Lord better.

I hope that you feel our prayers for you and that the healing process is uncomplicated. I hope that you are able to manage any pain that you have. I hope that you will know God better through this experience. I think you were protected from worse injury. I think that you are going to be just fine. Before I knew that you were hurt, I experienced a really calm feeling that morning, and I knew it was a spiritual impression. I think the Lord was preparing me. As I looked back on the day, I realized that the Lord really did “speak peace to my mind” to let me know that you were being cared for … even before I knew what happened.

Here are some things I observed about you as we interacted that day that make me proud of you.

  • Your first concern was my experience saying goodbye to the McLaughlins.
  • You were upbeat.
  • You were anxious to tell us about the baptism and confirmation. What a gift you provided through your righteous exercise of priesthood authority.
  • You are loved by the missionaries who know you.
  • You were concerned about the cost of medical care for us, and didn’t dwell on the negative part of your day. You were selfless and brave. I am proud of you.

Sending hugs,

Mom 

Posting from the heart

Our kids didn’t have social media accounts until late in high school or after high school. This post showed up this week on Facebook from Mark, written in Danish. Missionaries in Denmark are having a lot of success on Facebook, which isn’t their generation’s social media platform of choice. So, despite being new to this part of the social media world, they post their hearts.

Composer, musician, instrument

I liked studying the Restoration proclamation in my personal study. I colored the words about Heavenly Father in one color, Jesus Christ in another, angels, the Holy Ghost, Joseph Smith, etc all in their own colors. Jesus Christ had the most words about him, but the Father is the driving force, the planner, the initiator of all that Jesus does. Joseph Smith gets a very modest amount of attention, which is appropriate.

When a masterful musician plays, the instrument is important, but not as important as the musician. And there would be nothing without the composer.

I see Heavenly Father as the composer of the plan to save His children, and Jesus Christ as the masterful musician who carries out that plan. I think of Joseph Smith as an instrument who proclaimed the restored truth of Heavenly Father’s plan.

Permission

Sometimes I wait for permission to do something that would make me happy. Here is a superficial example. My favorite color is red, and I love interior design, but red has been “out of style” for a long time. So, dutifully, after Christmas, I have ushered out most of the red from my house. This year, someone gave me permission to keep some red things on the shelves in January. Four red plates and my seasonal red seat cushions are all it took to make me smile at my January kitchen.

The trends are mainly fueled by consumerism, so here is permission, if you need it, to put whatever you love on your shelves. To ignore the trends. To ignore the noise that tells us we are not stylish enough, sophisticated enough, or tidy enough.

On another level, here is permission to ignore some of the calls to listen to podcasts rather than seek our own revelation from God about life, faith, and joy. Our time is limited. Do we want a life diluted by noise?

There is a universe of possibilities within each of us. It’s a shame when we allow the world to dictate to us that we are inferior and the answer is to chase after relentlessly changing trends. Here is permission to follow the simpler and better way.

My plea to you this morning is to find rest from the intensity, uncertainty, and anguish of this world by overcoming the world through your covenants with God. Let him know through your prayers and your actions that you are serious about overcoming the world. Ask him to enlighten your mind and send the help you need. Each day, record the thoughts that come to you as you pray, and follow through diligently. Spend more time in the temple and seek to understand how the temple teaches you to rise above this fallen world.

Russell M. Nelson