Mary

Mary, the Mother of Jesus

By Gaye Strathearn

Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University

A fantastic article about Mary's response to Gabriel when she found out she would be the mother of Jesus. 

After talking about Elisabeth and Mary, I loved when it said this, 

"women of different ages and at different stages of life coming together to sustain and support each other in times of need. It is also a reminder that God does not abandon those He has called in their times of need but that He often responds by encircling them in the arms of others whom He has also called."

President Nelson's Challenge to the Sisters

Sisters’ Participation in the Gathering of Israel

By President Russell M. Nelson

No one can do what a righteous woman can do. No one can duplicate the influence of a mother....

Tonight I urge you, with all the hope of my heart, to pray to understand your spiritual gifts—to cultivate, use, and expand them, even more than you ever have. You will change the world as you do so....

So tonight I’m extending a prophetic plea to you, the women of the Church, to shape the future by helping to gather scattered Israel.

Where can you start?

May I offer four invitations:

First, I invite you to participate in a 10-day fast from social media and from any other media that bring negative and impure thoughts to your mind. Pray to know which influences to remove during your fast. The effect of your 10-day fast may surprise you. What do you notice after taking a break from perspectives of the world that have been wounding your spirit? Is there a change in where you now want to spend your time and energy? Have any of your priorities shifted—even just a little? I urge you to record and follow through with each impression.

Second, I invite you to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year. As impossible as that may seem with all you are trying to manage in your life, if you will accept this invitation with full purpose of heart, the Lord will help you find a way to achieve it. And, as you prayerfully study, I promise that the heavens will open for you. The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation.

As you read, I would encourage you to mark each verse that speaks of or refers to the Savior. Then, be intentional about talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, and preaching of Christ with your families and friends.2 You and they will be drawn closer to the Savior through this process. And changes, even miracles, will begin to happen....

Please teach those whom you love what you are learning from the scriptures. Teach them how to turn to the Savior for His healing and cleansing power when they sin. And teach them how to draw upon His strengthening power every day of their lives.

Third, establish a pattern of regular temple attendance. This may require a little more sacrifice in your life. More regular time in the temple will allow the Lord to teach you how to draw upon His priesthood power with which you have been endowed in His temple. For those of you who don’t live near a temple, I invite you to study prayerfully about temples in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. Seek to know more, to understand more, to feel more about temples than you ever have before....

My fourth invitation, for you who are of age, is to participate fully in Relief Society. I urge you to study the current Relief Society purpose statement. It is inspiring. It may guide you in developing your own purpose statement for your own life. I also entreat you to savor the truths in the Relief Society declaration published almost 20 years ago.3 A framed copy of this declaration hangs on the wall in the office of the First Presidency. I am thrilled every time I read it. It describes who you are and who the Lord needs you to be at this precise time as you do your part to help gather scattered Israel.

Cellphones and Kindness

Parents and Children

By President Dallin H. Oaks

First Counselor in the First Presidency

My first counsel concerns cell phones. A recent nationwide survey found that over half of teens in the United States said they spend too much time on their cell phones. More than 40 percent said they felt anxious when they were separated from their cell phones.6 This was more common among girls than boys. My young sisters—and adult women too—it will bless your lives if you limit your use of and dependence on cell phones.

My second counsel is even more important. Be kind to others....

we know that the adversary tempts all of us to be unkind...

Small actions of unkindness can have devastating consequences....

The youth battalion President Nelson invited you to join will not be mean to one another. They will follow the Savior’s teaching to reach out and be loving and considerate of others, even to turn the other cheek when we feel someone has wronged us....

My dear sisters, if you participate in any meanness or pettiness—individually or with a group—resolve now to change and encourage others to change. That is my counsel, and I give it to you as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ because His Spirit has prompted me to speak to you about this important subject.

#instalikes

Don't Feed Your Anger

14 Ways to Get Your Emotional Health Back on Track

By Heather J. Johnson

1. Don’t feed your anger.People are more likely to feel angry when they choose to see others as (1) threatening, (2) unfair, or (3) disrespectful. Instead, see if you can think of a more charitable explanation for their behavior. For example, perhaps they are tired, uninformed, insecure, or think they are being helpful. Make the choice not to fuel anger.
2. Resist the tendency to blame or shame others or yourself. Instead, figure out what the problem is and ask the other person for help in fixing it, regardless of whose fault it is.
3. Listen to the Spirit, not negativity. If you are having thoughts that are belittling, mocking, angry, sarcastic, murmuring, critical, or name-calling, they are not from the Lord. Shut them out. Sing a hymn, recite a scripture, or say a prayer to invite the Spirit back.

#aang

The Holy Ghost Working Through Us is a Manifestation of God's Approval

Divine Discontent

By Michelle D. Craig

First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency

Often the timing is inconvenient, and we seldom know the impact of our small acts of service. But every now and then, we will recognize that we have been instruments in the hands of God and we will be grateful to know that the Holy Ghost working through us is a manifestation of God’s approval.

#wow

Sisters, you and I can plead for the Holy Ghost to show us “all things what [we] should do,”12 even when our to-do list already looks full. When prompted, we can leave dishes in the sink or an in-box full of challenges demanding attention in order to read to a child, visit with a friend, babysit a neighbor’s children, or serve in the temple. Don’t get me wrong—I am a list maker; I love checking things off. But peace comes in knowing that being more does not necessarily equate to doing more. Responding to discontent by resolving to follow promptings changes the way I think about “my time,” and I see people not as interruptions but as the purpose of my life.

Glorify Him with Your To-Do List

For Him

By Joy D. Jones

Primary General President

Sometimes we may initially serve from a sense of duty or obligation, but even that service can lead us to draw on something higher within us, leading us to serve in “a more excellent way”7—as in President Nelson’s invitation to “a newer, holier approach to caring for and ministering to others.”...

The first of the Ten Commandments reiterates this divine wisdom: “I am the Lord thy God. … Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”11 The placement of this commandment helps us understand that if we place Him as our main priority, everything else will ultimately fall into place—even our service to others. When He takes the preeminent position in our lives by our deliberate choice, then He is able to bless our actions to our good and to the good of others....

Can you think back on a time when you lovingly reached out with sincere effort to help someone in need and felt that your efforts went unnoticed or perhaps were unappreciated or even unwanted? In that moment, did you question the value of your service? If so, may the words of King Benjamin replace your doubt and even your hurt: “Ye are only in the service of your God.”6

#wrappingpaper

Rather than building resentment, we can build, through service, a more perfect relationship with our Heavenly Father. Our love for and devotion to Him preempts the need for recognition or appreciation and allows His love to flow to and through us....

The Lord counseled, “Look unto me in every thought.”12 And each week we covenant to do just that—to “always remember him.”13 Can such a godly focus apply in everything we do? Can performing even a menial task become an opportunity to demonstrate our love and devotion to Him? I believe it can and will.

We can make each item on our to-do list become a way to glorify Him. We can see each task as a privilege and opportunity to serve Him, even when we are in the midst of deadlines, duties, or dirty diapers....

When serving our God becomes our main priority in life, we lose ourselves, and in due course, we find ourselves....

May I share with you some words of wisdom that were found on the wall of an orphanage in Calcutta, India: “If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God … anyway.”

Is It Pride that is Causing This Problem?

• DECEMBER 2018
• WIN THE BATTLE WITH THE NATURAL MAN

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Win the Battle with the Natural Man

By Elder Carl B. Cook

Of the Presidency of the Seventy

From a devotional address, “Putting Off the Natural Man and Becoming Saints,” given at Brigham Young University on October 10, 2017. For the full address, go to speeches.byu.edu.

One sign of pride is pushing back or turning away from God or from others who invite us to do God’s will. A resistant and prideful condition is described well in the Book of Mormon: “Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide” (Helaman 12:6).

In other words, pride says, “Don’t tell me what to do. Don’t try to control my life.”

When we rebel or turn our backs toward God, we are actually turning our backs on true joy and happiness. Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Only by aligning our wills with God’s is full happiness to be found.”5

Pride, that sinister, grievous, subtle, disrupting, insidious, menacing, and rotten attribute of the natural man, constantly pulls us to focus on ourselves: our looks, our talents, our desires, our goals, our passions—on me, me, me. We look inward rather than outward toward others or upward toward God. Pride causes us to focus on what we want instead of on what others want or on what God wants.

The antidote for pride is humility. It is humbling ourselves and putting God’s will above our own, seeking what He wants instead of what we want, and aligning our will with His.

It is often challenging to recognize pride in ourselves. As President Benson described, we often sin in ignorance.6 When I lose the Spirit or feel distant from God or from others, I find it helpful to ask myself, “Is it pride that is causing this problem?” Inevitably, the Spirit whispers, “Yes, it is!”

I am grateful for the Lord’s mercy and kindness in helping us overcome our weaknesses. It is not easy to ask the question “Is it pride?” or to accept the answer. But recognizing pride is the first step toward overcoming it. We can then identify what we need to work on, humble ourselves, plead for forgiveness, let our pride go, and align our will with God’s.

#carseat