See that spike right there? That’s what happens to our traffic on this website around Halloween. People really wonder if members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrate Halloween. I hope that those who wonder got a little more insight into that answer (short answer — the if, how, and how much varies for everyone, but on the whole, the answer is yes).

I hope we will have fewer people wondering about whether or not we celebrate Christmas (although some still may wonder, given the pagan connections to some of the Christmas traditions).

At the very heart of our faith is Jesus Christ, so when the birth of the Son of God is celebrated around the world, you can believe that we celebrate with the world! To us, He is the the Life and Light of the World. Once again, when it comes to how individuals and families might celebrate the Christmas season, that will vary.

But this post is about one way we as a worldwide church community celebrate the season. It’s called #LightTheWorld.

The intention is to turn the Christmas season into a month-long focus on service. This year, the #LightTheWorld effort has been expanded to say “Light the World with Love.”

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist

There’s a calendar of service ideas if you and/or you and your family would like to join in along the way. Or you can create your own service calendar. There’s also a child-friendly service calendar for those who have little ones.

And although the pandemic is still here with us, this year, the #LightTheWorld Giving Machines are back.*

If you haven’t heard of the #LightTheWorld Giving Machines, you can read more here. What started as an experiment a few years ago has expanded into a continually-collaborative effort in multiple cities across the United States, with nonprofits that serve people around the world. 100% of donations go to help the charity you choose, and the charities with which the Church collaborates all care about helping people one by one, just as Jesus did.

All credit card fees are covered by the Church of Jesus Christ to also serve the nonprofits to which you are donating.

“Imagine swiping your credit card at a vending machine—but instead of buying a candy bar for yourself, you’re buying a sheep for a family in a third-world country. Or a polio vaccine. Or a pair of shoes. Or 100 meals for your local food bank. With the #LightTheWorld Giving Machines, that’s exactly what happens. The Giving Machines provide a way for people to follow the example of Jesus to help those in need and make the Christmas season a little more meaningful for themselves and for countless others.“

You can also give online by donating to one of the charity partners working with the Church to do more good, together. Or, of course, feel free to donate to your favorite charity, with time or goods or funds or a social media share or whatever feels right for you.

“The organizations featured in the Giving Machines represent a wide variety of global and local causes—all with pressing needs and the goal of helping people one by one. If you’re wondering what you should donate, consider spending a bit of time learning about the charities before visiting the machines or donating online. You might find a cause or item that resonates with you. As you give that gift, remember that your donation is truly helping someone in need.“

#LightTheWorld starts on November 30 by encouraging people to participate in #GivingTuesday. There are so many ways to share more light and goodness and love. Although we can’t measure it here, we hope that this Christmas season, there will be a spike in service and good will as we each try to find ways to #LightTheWorld.

*As COVID is, unfortunately, still causing issues around the world, and there are those around you whose bodies may be more at-risk, please be cautious and considerate of others if you choose to use the machines and as you are out and about this Christmas season.

The post Celebrating Christmas: #LightTheWorld with Love appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

This week, invitations included spotlighting someone who shows Christlike love, going without food for at least a meal and donating what would have been spent to a food charity, and watching “The Christ Child.”

If you have participated in any of this past week’s activities, let us know in the comments what you have learned, observed, or felt.

If #LightTheWorld is something you have never heard of, we invite you to take a look and consider joining in with some of the invitations.

The heart of #LightTheWorld is about trying to live and love more as the Savior did and does, and especially about noticing the one. There are many ways to do that, ways that may not be listed on the #LightTheWorld calendar. But it does a heart good to think of Jesus as we interact with others and look for opportunities to be of service, even with — and perhaps especially because — of all the pandemic restrictions in place.

It’s interesting to see how two years ago, women were invited to fast from social media. It gives me pause that during this difficult time, we’re being asked to use it as a way to try to bring more hope and light into the world.

It struck me as I write this that social media is also a way to see others and their lives and needs. Of course, there are many downsides of these tools, but if you are using them, keep looking for ways you can use them with a prayer in your heart to be of service somehow.

And remember that the tools we have at our disposal can include private texts, emails, and other one-on-one conversations.

If you haven’t had a chance yet to watch “The Christ Child” or the behind-the-scenes video about the making of the film, both are embedded below.

You can find this week’s invitations here.

The post First week of #LightTheWorld is over. What have you learned, observed, felt? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~by Amy (not her real name)

I was studying away when I received a text from my roommate, saying that one of her friends with whom she had been in contact was just diagnosed with COVID. “I’ve been feeling symptoms,” the message said, “so I will be getting tested tomorrow.”

Feeling a slight sore throat myself, the sudden shift was a little too much for my body and brain to handle. 

Even though I kept trying to tell myself everything was going to be okay, and even though in my heart I knew it would be, I broke down. I am scheduled to receive my temple endowment in a week and a half, and that could all change if they come back positive (or if I do). 

By this time, I was no longer able to focus on my heavy load of homework, so I decided to read an email from one of my friends who is currently serving as a missionary. He wrote:

“Miracles happen. Remember that. Be on the lookout….”

I realized I needed a miracle, so I immediately prayed I could have God’s help somehow. 

Exactly thirty minutes after my first roommate texted, I received another text. This was from a number not in my contacts. She said, “I made some minestrone soup today. It’s nothing fancy just a pot of vegetables and juice. Just wondering if that is something you guys would eat. I’d love to bring some over!”

Minestrone happens to be one of my favorite soups. I could not believe that so soon after I felt so overwhelmed and alone, I got this text. I still didn’t know who it was from but I thought for sure it would be someone in the ward…maybe my ministering sisters or something? How could they choose something so perfect and healthy as minestrone and it not be for me?

Well, the longer we texted back and forth, I realized she had sent this message to the wrong number!

After all the confusion, this woman (who lives more than 20 minutes away from where I live) called me and apologized because she thought she was texting someone in her ward [congregation] who just had surgery. As we cleared up the miscommunication, she said, “Well I’ll pray that someone can bring you food!”

The call ended and I started walking home. I was still so tired and maxed out but so grateful someone reached out right when I needed it. I thought, “It’s the thought that counts here,” even though the kindness was for someone else. 

About twenty minutes later, she called back again. I think she had the realization that she needed to be the answer to her own prayer for me. She said, “Have you had dinner yet?” I told her no. She said, “Well, we are going to bring you some minestrone.” And they did! A random family from several cities over brought me dinner (a favorite food, no less) on the very night I didn’t have it in me to cook, I wanted to feel peace, and I needed a miracle.

I have no doubt in my mind that God hears our prayers. Miracles are real! I’m grateful for my missionary friend who encouraged all of us to look for them.

This experience reminded me of a story President Thomas S. Monson told years ago, “We Never Walk Alone.” Tiffany had fallen into a deep depression because of high levels of stress and was losing weight (which she couldn’t afford to lose). But she could not eat. Friends and family were trying to deliver her some of her favorite foods, but to no avail.

One day, when prodded about what might possibly sound palatable to her, Tiffany could envision eating homemade bread. “But,” President Monson shares, “There was none on hand.”

The next morning, on the other side of town Sherrie had a prompting from the Spirit to bake an extra loaf of bread that day. She felt to take that bread with her in the car when she went to have lunch with a friend. After lunch, and with a very tired toddler in the car, Sherrie had the unexpected thought to deliver the bread to Nicole, someone she barely knew, and who lived 30 minutes away.

She tried to rationalize away the thought, wanting to get her very tired daughter home and feeling sheepish about delivering a loaf of bread to people who were almost strangers. However, the impression to go to Tiffany’s home was strong, so she heeded the prompting.

When she arrived, Tiffany’s husband answered the door. Sherrie reminded him that she was [Tiffany’s sister’s friend] whom he’d met briefly [months before], handed him the loaf of bread, and left.

And so it happened that the Lord sent a virtual stranger across town to deliver not just the desired homemade bread but also a clear message of love to Tiffany. What happened to her cannot be explained in any other way. She had an urgent need to feel that she wasn’t alone—that God was aware of her and had not abandoned her. That bread—the very thing she wanted—was delivered to her by someone she barely knew, someone who had no knowledge of her need but who listened to the prompting of the Spirit and followed that prompting. It became an obvious sign to Tiffany that her Heavenly Father was aware of her needs and loved her enough to send help. He had responded to her cries for relief.

_____________

*Image from Katrin Morenz from Aachen, Deutschland, posted at Wikimedia Commons (originally found here), shared under this Creative Commons license (Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The post “Miracles happen. Be on the lookout.” appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Today’s LIGHTtheWORLD theme of giving sight to the blind is a beautiful one because it can be interpreted both literally (helping those who are visually impaired) and figuratively.

I wanted to highlight some of the thoughts and ideas I’ve seen shared for Day 3 of the #LIGHTtheWORLD challenge. (It was inspiring to see that nearly 90,000 people were talking about the challenge today on Facebook.)

• One friend talked about the blessing of friends, teachers, and others who help her see the world through a different lens.
• Another friend talked about going through her family’s closets to find used eyeglasses that could be donated.
• [Added after the original post was posted] A friend who has suffered from periods of temporary blindness called to thank people who helped her during those times.
• My cousin encouraged all on her wall to know that they are worth more than they think — that they were bought by the Savior’s sacrifice. Along those same lines, a former missionary companion talked about helping others see the good in themselves…and she shared this wonderful music video with David Archuleta.

• • A teen shared about using texts to send uplifting messages to friends.
  • Yet another post talked about friends commiserating with each other about the diminished eyesight that comes with age, and how alongside the physical impact of age comes, perhaps, a heightened sense of spiritual and emotional sight. (LOVED that.)
  • I’m not sure if this is the app someone shared about on Facebook (my Chromebook has been crashing a lot lately), but look at the kinds of things technology can do to help those with sight help those who are blind!

Be My Eyes – helping blind see from Be My Eyes on Vimeo.

• I am on an email list for Eyes4Zimbabwe, and they shared three awesome videos about the volunteer work that eye doctors do in that country.

What #LIGHTtheWORLD stories are lighting up YOUR world?

(This one made me chuckle tonight.)

The post #LIGHTtheWORLD Day 3: Eyes to See appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

We are being invited to think and look for little ways in our daily lives that we can be more like the Savior.

See the daily invitations at Mormon.org: 25 Ways over 25 Days, or see an at-a-glance calendar. I like the opportunity to ponder the Savior’s life and how His actions and characteristics can translate into our own mortal lives.

As I have been watching the chatter about the #LIGHTtheWORLD invitation, my favorite posts so far are those who are talking about service that others have done for them. I hope over the course of the month to share a few such posts.

I also really like this video. We are His hands.

The post #LIGHTtheWORLD: 25 days of service for Christmas appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

One of the things I appreciate about being a part of this effort is to read the words of my fellow brothers and sisters. Their perspectives and experience enrich my experience engaging the words of the prophets. Of course, we don’t want our posts to replace the words of the prophets, but we hope perhaps this project will inspire you in some way, as it has us.   

The other posts from this week’s reading, which focused on the Friday Afternoon Session of the April 1971 General Conference, are at the bottom of the post. 

It’s so interesting to see how the “What should I write about?” process works each week with the General Conference Odyssey. This week, rather than feeling drawn to the patterns in the talks, (which were definitely present — commandments was a key theme), I was drawn to the one talk that was completely different in focus and voice, which ended up opening up a pattern I observed in my personal sphere.

S. Dilworth Young began his talk thusly:

It is my desire to be led by the Spirit of the Lord in what I say. The wards and branches of the Church have been organized to give activity to a large number of the members, the great majority actually. Yet there are many with no official position or no specific responsibility that calls them to do formal acts for the organization. They belong to the Church; they belong to the stake; they belong to the ward. They are invited to attend various classes and meetings designed for their instruction, but at the conclusion of a meeting they go home, having no particular appointment to arouse them to organizational activity. Many of them feel that they are being left out, that their talents are not wanted. Others do not want to accept any responsible calling.

I have struggled with health issues for 13 years and for several years, my health has affected my ability to hold Sunday callings. I have been active; I attend Sunday meetings every week. My issues relate to sleep and fatigue and migraines; mornings are a challenge. But I didn’t want to miss church, so I have attended other wards. (I have such a testimony about how much God cares about me getting the sacrament; I can’t tell you how many times He woke me up just in time to get the sacrament. Amazing.)

My calling for I-don’t-know-how-many-years has been ward tech specialist. As passionate as I am about the benefits of technology, the work I can do in this calling is fairly limited. And sometimes, as Elder Young describes, I have felt detached and sometimes discouraged when I’ve heard repeated talks about the importance of filling a calling. I also felt self-doubt about the things I have been able to do in spite of health issues — like running this website and doing other online volunteer work.

Without a formal calling, though, there have been times I have wondered if my offerings were acceptable to the Lord because my work wasn’t necessarily part of a calling for which I was set apart.

(I also read Elder Young’s words and think of women who may equate a differential in leadership callings between men and women as a sign that we are less needed, so I hope some of what I share here will be helpful.)

I love what Elder Young had to say — something that I’ve felt the Spirit tell me, and yet, it was still refreshing to hear it so clearly articulated “over the pulpit.”

Each of us has the same general calling. Each of us has the same responsibility as a result of entering into the waters of baptism and making the covenant. The Lord will not hold us blameless if we allow organizational responsibility, or the lack of it, to interfere with this special calling….

He then quotes numerous scriptures — too numerous to list here — that underscore the calling we all have to help the children of God who are in need. It seems obvious, but again, who doesn’t need to hear that our personal service to the one really does matter. In a world where accolades and position and resumes often measure the worth of work, it’s refreshing to be reminded that the Lord doesn’t work that way.

All about us are those in need of encouragement, assistance, and help—help of a kind we can all give, not money, but time and attention and personal encouragement, especially to those who must bear great responsibility for loved ones and who cannot pass it to others for the simple reason there are no others to whom to pass it.

I think of the women from years ago who I called my “stay-at-home sisters.” They were women who had older children but still chose to stay home. That was where they felt they should be. They filled their time serving others. These women helped me at a time when my health issues first started and I had three very young children. Some of my dearest friendships came out of that period in my life when I was in such want and women stepped into that role to help me over and over again.

I think of my friend who came over and read to my children when they had a two-week stomach bug and my husband was out of town. I think of friends who have spent hours with me walking and talking, helping me face the inevitable cycle of discouragement that swings around with chronic pain.

These are the kinds of examples of “helping the poor and needy” that Elder Young invites us to embrace as our covenant responsibility and opportunity. When we don’t have a formal [or “big”] calling, it’s all the more a chance to reach people who can’t be reached otherwise.

I know that home teachers are responsible for these needs, but often those at home conceal the needs from them. I know there are visiting teachers, but still there are many who hide their needs from them. I know the priesthood is expected to be alert, but this responsibility goes beyond the organized priesthood. This is a personal obligation that no living soul who loves the Lord can dismiss. It is one to which we must ever be alert.

Those with no [or “smaller’] ward assignments have more time to pursue this great work of the salvation of souls. Let us not sit back jealous of those giving attention to the stake, the ward, the auxiliaries [or sit back and wonder if our informal service matters to God], but seek our salvation where the Lord appointed us, among those who, weak in spirit, weak in body, or weak in desire, need to be encouraged, need to be raised up in the kingdom of God on this earth….

This echoes what James said: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27.)

One last word from the Lord to us in this day: “And remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple.” (D&C 52:40.)

I think of the conversation I just had on Sunday with the wife of a bishop of a young adult ward. Oh, how I wish every Mormon woman could have heard her and her husband talk about how they work together! She has not been set apart in her role as “just the bishop’s wife.” But there is no “just” in her service, and because she doesn’t limit her view by her lack of formal calling, she is channeling heavenly power in the lives of these young adults. That power was palpable.

Another conversation with a friend allowed me to bring up this talk by Elder Young, and reminded me also of President Russell M. Nelson’s recent Plea to [the] Sisters. How much the Lord needs us as women to understand how power through covenant living can and must be unleashed in these latter days as we prepare for the Savior’s Second Coming!

If ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work. – Doctrine and Covenants 4:5-6

It is easy to think that being called means being formally called. I am grateful for this talk by Elder Young and all that happened in my world this week to remind me that God’s work is everywhere and the needs of His children are all around us. Our calling to serve is never-ending, not bound by formal callings alone. I desire to serve. I pray to be open to where He calls me to help, every day.

– – –

Other posts from this week’s General Conference Odyssey can be found below:

The post Permacallings (#ldsconf Odyssey) appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

I barely made it to the store in time. It was my usual late-night Saturday (read: pre-Sunday) run. (Where I live, lots of us Mormons do that so as to avoid shopping on Sunday. Why we wait until Saturday night (why not Friday? or Saturday afternoon?) is a humorous rhetorical question. It makes for a fun neighborhood gathering, anyway. But, alas, I digress.)

Nearly running, I made my way from one end of the store to the other so I could get to the checkout stand by closing time. There were two lines open; I chose one and unloaded my cart.

The woman in front of me pulled a manager over and whispered something in her ear. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but it was definitely slowing down the process.

I don’t know anyone who isn’t the type to look for the shortest line and then bemoan it when Murphy’s law = your line ends up being the slowest. Oddly enough, though, for whatever reason (I’m can think of no other explanation than “it was grace”), I wasn’t feeling antsy. I had made it to the checkout before closing, but besides that, I really wasn’t in a hurry. And besides that, my items were already on the belt, so….

It soon became clear that the woman in front of me was trying to find a way to pay for the groceries of a woman who had come before her. The manager was trying to figure out how/if that could be done, and this woman was running back to get gift cards (she knew the woman in need and was coordinating with the manager to have this all work as a secret).

This Christlike woman kept apologizing, but my heart was about to burst. The clerk, the manager, and I were all fighting tears.

It was a sacred moment, one I thanked the woman for giving us.

I feel like God is trying to teach me something.

I have a new goal to not eat standing up. That may sound silly, but I’m always rushing about, shoving this food or that into my mouth while I’m running to the next thing. Or I put off eating all together. Not only is this not good for my body; it’t not good for my spirit. I’m not yet to the point of not multi-tasking while I eat, but my goal is to only read from real books (not a screen) while I slow down, sit, and eat.

So last night, while I was eating a snack, I sat and savored a chapter in Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. The title of the chapter? Timely to be sure: “a sanctuary of time.”

The chapter is about slowing down and cherishing the moment. She quotes a pastor who shares his greatest regret:

“Being in a hurry,” he says.

Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing…. Through all that haste, I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away. [found on p. 65-66 of Voskamp’s book; originally found in Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Your Sabbath, p. 45; emphasis added by Voskamp]

Voskamp adds:

Whatever the pace, time will keep it and there’s no outrunning it, only speeding it up and pounding the feet harder; the minutes pound faster too. Race for more and you’ll snag on time and leak empty. The longer I keep running, the longer the gash, and I drain, bleed away.

Hurry always empties a soul (p. 67).

And yet our souls crave the exact things that hurry cannot give us: God. Stillness. Peace.

I think we all hear and know that “being present” matters somehow, but it’s so very hard to actually slow down enough to do that. My mind is always thinking about the next thing I need to do or the thing I need to work on or the thing I am afraid of or the thing that got my goat…or…or….

I’m grateful that God took the time this weekend to help me, teach me, invite me to slow down, to be willing to wait — if even just in a grocery line — and to watch and see that He is there, everywhere, ever-ready to show His face. All I need to do is release my chaotic clutch on time a little, and instead let life move at His pace a little more.

When the veil which encloses us is no more, time will also be no more (D&C 84:100). Even now, time is clearly not our natural dimension. Thus it is that we are never really at home in time. Alternately, we find ourselves impatiently wishing to hasten the passage of time or to hold back the dawn. We can do neither, of course. Whereas the bird is at home in the air, we are clearly not at home in time—because we belong to eternity. Time, as much as any one thing, whispers to us that we are strangers here. ~Neal A. Maxwell

And yet while in this sphere bound by time, God need not be a stranger to us.

“Wherever you are, be all there.”
(Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor, p. 20; quoted on p. 69 and 77 of Voskamp’s book)

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In many areas where it is possible, young men of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints help collect fast offerings that are used to help those in need.

At the end of yesterday’s Fast Sunday, I took a few minutes to watch the newest video on lds.org on the blessings that come through fast offerings. I wanted to share the video here. Besides the moving reminder that our offerings can make a difference not just physically but emotionally and spiritually for those in need, I really loved how President Eyring reminds us that when we reach out and succor others, it is as if we are succoring the Savior Himself. I know that that is scriptural (“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” ~Matthew 25:40) but last night, hearing that hit me differently.

If the Savior was here, would I want to reach out to succor Him? If I had lived when He walked and could get tired, hungry, and thirsty, would I have wanted to help Him? I’d never really thought about that. I’d thought about how much I would want Him to help me. Which, of course, He would want to do. But I would hope that I would want to reach out and show my love to Him in some way. We can do this. Every day we can look and pray for opportunities to succor others, even in simple ways.

And we can also allow others to succor us when we need some love and support. Yesterday, I felt prompted to ask for some help. I’m feeling grateful for some friends who showed love and kindness to me as a result. It can be hard to ask for help, and it was. But I’m glad I did, and I’m grateful to feel from President Eyring’s message one reason why it’s important to let people serve me — because in doing so, I let them show their love to and serve the Lord.

The post The Blessing of the Fast appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Who am I to judge another
When I walk imperfectly?
In the quiet heart is hidden
Sorrow that the eye can’t see.
Who am I to judge another?

Lord, I Would Follow Thee

Hymns, #220

I have a friend who has suffered for years with depression, and at certain points along the way of her hard journey, she has been bedridden. A few years ago, as she was starting to find her way out of a serious bout with this depression, she had an unusual impression.

“Go visit the women in your stake.”

She took this prompting seriously, and dedicated a year and a half of her life visiting around 500 women, most of them in their homes. Many of them didn’t know what to make of it at first. Is she trying to sell me something? What is this about?

It was simply about following God’s will for her — and was something that has blessed many women’s lives, including my own.

One of the things that strikes me most about her experience (besides her incredible courage in facing her fears and her trust in God to act with such faith) is this:

“Michelle,” she says, “if there is anything I learned from that experience, it’s that every person, without exception, is dealing with something.” Because she took the time to visit women in their homes, in their own safe space, and because she had no other motive than to reach out and listen, women responded. They opened up. They got real about how hard life can be.

I’m reminded of something President Henry B. Eyring said in a talk years ago:

When I was a young man, I served as counselor to a wise district president in the Church. He tried to teach me. One of the things I remember wondering about was this advice he gave: “When you meet someone, treat them as if they were in serious trouble, and you will be right more than half the time.”

I thought then that he was pessimistic. Now, more than 40 years later, I can see how well he understood the world and life.

All I would add to that wise idea, based on my friend’s decent sample size in Mormonville, Utah, is that you will probably be right almost all of the time.

In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can’t see.

The next time you ask someone how they are doing, take a few seconds to look her in the eye and wait and listen. Maybe she won’t feel like opening up. But maybe she will. Or maybe the Spirit will at some time prompt you to do something that she might need, even if they don’t ask.

And watch for how God might be wanting to reach out to you in your own private struggles. He is real. He loves you. Tender mercies don’t always come in the way we want or expect, but they do come. They are real.

One last link I wanted to share is this beautiful talk by President Thomas S. Monson. The story of Tiffany moves me to tears when I read it.

And this quote from the talk is one of my all-time favorites:

“My dear sisters, your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.”

I pray that you can feel God’s love today. And know that He knows what is in your heart and life, and that He will even consecrate your trials — as He did with my friend’s — for your good and the blessing of others’ lives…in His way and timing.

The post In the Quiet Heart appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

I’m sitting here after watching “Meet the Mormons” for the second time (was able to see a preview screening and then went with two of my children tonight — the show came out a day early where I live). I’ve got many thoughts swirling around in my head. What can I share about the experience I’ve had with this film?

Because, you know, I’m Mormon (a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). So what else would I say on a Mormon website except that I liked the film?

Let me say this. Honestly, I went in a little skeptical, maybe even nervous. I wasn’t sure what to expect. A movie about Mormons on the big screen? Would I like it? What if I didn’t? (That’d be awkward, being a Mormon blogger and all.)

I loved it. (And I loved it even more the second time around.)

I am a fan of documentaries, so that may have something to do with it. The cinematography is breathtaking, especially in the scenes of Costa Rica and Nepal. The stories are real and diverse. They capture the fact that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an international faith.

As I’ve read reviews, I have seen people echo what I have felt — that “I think the [stories and the] challenges were diverse enough that somebody could identify with just about any one of them.” (There are some other gems from that article from “famous Mormons” that resonated with me as well.)

But the main reason I loved the film is because of how it made me feel. My son said something similar: “Mom, I didn’t have any major spiritual experiences with the movie, but I just felt good through the whole thing. That was evidence enough to me that truth was being shared.”

What kind of truth? Even if you take out the “Mormon” element (which is more understated than I expected it to be), the film explores the importance of family and the joy in and need for service to others. It encourages not giving up in hard times, and living life wholeheartedly. For Mormons, these principles connect to our faith in Jesus Christ, but these are true principles that can inspire regardless of religious belief, or even if you don’t identify yourself as a person of faith. They connect to so much of what it means to be human.

I left this film the way I feel when I engage with inspiring narratives. I left wanting to be a better person. I left wanting to face my own challenges with more hope. I left wanting to hear more stories!

And yes, I left feeling more surely the reality that God knows and loves all of His children. Tonight, as I watched the film, I felt that in a personal way — that He knows me. I was reminded, again, that He really is intimately involved in our lives — even when we don’t know it, see it, or even believe it. The last story about Dawn, in particular, really hit that truth home to me.

There is a very real message that we all matter to God, and that we each have something to offer this world. The song at the end of the documentary (“Glorious,” sung by David Archuleta) also reiterates this reality. The song in context of the film was one of the things my daughter loved most. She’s usually one who shares a lot with me, but Mary-like, both times we watched the film, I could see that she just wanted to ponder what was left in her heart after experiencing it all. (In fact, the first time she asked me kindly but directly to stop asking her what she thought!)

I hope you will take the opportunity to experience the film if it is in an area near you. (If it isn’t, you can request it here.) In my opinion, the film is not pushy or preachy. It’s informative without being impersonal. I do think that most people will find something that resonates, in the stories and/or in the simple yet powerful principles that are reflected in the narratives.

Note: All proceeds of the film will be donated to the Red Cross.

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