Mormon Quotes - A Short Faithful Devotional Podcast

  “Father, Mother, help me piece together the contradictions of my life: White cotton, red satin, brown polka dot; torn Sunday dress, Navajo rug, frayed baby blanket. Make me insistent on every lonely shred, willing to sacrifice no one. Where there is no pattern, God, give me courage to organize a fearsome beauty. Where there…Read more Mother, Father, Give Me Vision

  “We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.” Lucy Mack Smith Relief Society Minutes, 24 March 1842

  “This great trust which the Prophet Joseph Smith gave to women eighty years ago, has been a great blessing, not only to the Relief Society women but to the communities in which they have lived. Through our organization the gospel has been preached, the needy have been looked after, the sick have been comforted,…Read more The Greatest Thing In The World Is Love

  “In exercising charity, we come to know a sister’s heart. When we know a sister’s heart, we are different. We won’t judge her. We will simply love her. I invite you to not only love each other more but love each other better. As we do this we will come to know with a…Read more Love Each Other Better

  “The work of Relief Society is focused on the pure and simple part of the gospel, to develop faith and bear testimony; to render compassionate service as we care for the needy; to strengthen our families here and in eternity; and to work with our “hearts knit together in unity and love one towards…Read more Focused On The Pure And Simple

  “Some of our greatest learning experiences will come as we give compassionately of ourselves. We may forget to be compassionate, but God never will. It is important for us to remember that this is a significant part of our human experience. In fact, it seems to be that, of all our learning, that which…Read more The Most Significant Learning We Ever Do

This episode is focused on the following quote. “Each individual is entitled to determine the ultimate destiny of his or her life. We can choose to use the powers within to have a happy life of continual growth and development that leads to eternal progression, or we can choose to follow the crowd of other…Read more We Can Choose to Use The Powers Within

  This episode is focused on the following quote. “When we are honest in all things, big and small, we experience peace of mind and a clear conscience. Our relationships are enriched because they are based on trust. And the greatest blessing that comes from being honest is that we are able to have the…Read more When We Are Honest In All Things

  This episode is focused on the following quote. “Personal decision making is one of the sources of the growth we are meant to experience in mortality. Persons who try to shift all decision making to the Lord and plead for revelation in every choice will soon find circumstances where they pray for guidance and…Read more Personal Decision Making is One of the Sources of Growth

  In today’s episode, I discuss the following quote. “Every one of us has privileges and blessings, and every one of us has fears and trials. It seems bold to say, but common sense suggests that never before in the history of the world have women, including LDS women, been faced with greater complexity in…Read more Faced With Greater Complexity In Their Concerns

  Barriers Will Crumble

  Kindness Without Love is Not Kindness at All

  Today’s episode is centered around a quote from Ezra Taft Benson. He said “Children, do you pray for your parents? Do you try to support them in their noble endeavors? They will make mistakes, like you, but they have a divine mission to accomplish in your life. Will you help them do so? Will…Read more Do You Pray For Your Parents?

  Today’s episode is centered around a quote from the Ezra Taft Benson Manual. The quote is “Write thoughts and feelings that come to you from the Holy Ghost as you study. Underline passages you want to remember. Consider memorizing these passages or noting them in your scriptures next to related verses. Read a chapter…Read more Studying the Ezra Taft Benson Manual

  In this episode I describe a new project where I will be attempting to introduce some of the recent materials published by the church. Some of sources I would like to cover are listed below Are Mormons Christians? First Vision Accounts Race and the Priesthood Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah Book of…Read more New Project to Share Important Church Resources

  In this episode I share a presentation which includes a number of quotes about science from LDS leaders put to music from Josh Woodward. Thank you so much for listening.

  About 5 or 6 years ago, I began becoming increasingly interested in other religions and worldviews. Mostly I enjoyed hearing the stories and differing experiences that others have had. Sometimes, particularly in the church it can be easy to forget that we are not the only children of God, and that not only does…Read more Christ Did Not Come for a Chosen Few

  Remember that old object lesson of taking one stick and breaking it, and then taking two or more sticks together and trying to break those, which becomes much more difficult. I have heard that lesson regarding scriptures as well as many other things, but I would like to relate it to all of our…Read more Two Hands Together

  “Sometimes we hear the message that our strength is not desirable or wanted. Sometimes women feel that they should defer to others—that their husbands’ opinions are more important than their own, that the spiritual living teacher in Relief Society must be more spiritual than they are, or that their needs and wants should be…Read more No Healthy Marriage Needs to Fear a Strong Woman or a Strong Man In It

  One of my favorite talks is from Elder Uchtdorf where he discussed the idea of lifting where you stand. He spoke about members of the ward moving in a huge piano which had just been purchased. The difficulty was that when only some individuals would lift, it would make the piano go off center…Read more We Are All One in Sisterhood

  It is not difficult to mix up differing teachings of the gospel. Common examples of this are the teachings about the atonement. We believe in grace, and we believe in the importance works such as keeping the commandments. I believe that there are valuable ways to understand that these two concepts can work together,…Read more Christ Loves All of Us

  The topic of giving to the poor is so important while also controversial. Often while traveling through town you will see individuals on the corner asking for financial help. Many of us struggle with what to do in these situations as we are good people who want to help relieve the suffering of those…Read more Giving to the Poor

  Some of us are born in unfortunate circumstance and are even forced to be in abusive and harmful environments. I have a friend who was abused by a family member and was forced to be raised in a home that was extremely problematic and harmful. As this friend grew up and was seeking to…Read more Forgiveness Is Not The Same Thing as Pretending That There’s Nothing to Forgive

  I was recently listening to someone share the enlightening experience of climbing everest, but this person stated that although this experience was wonderful, he also believed that these types of experience can occur anywhere, and I think this is important. Sometimes people will say that they do not attend church because they feel the…Read more A Place for Spiritual Things to Happen

  I love the focus on unity which can come from the gospel. I love the concepts of zion and commitment that we all make towards helping and caring for each other. As we attempt to learn, grow, and become better people there are various teachings that can help us be more successful in achieving…Read more A Few Great Master Principles

  This Weekend I has the chance to go to the movie theater where we saw the Church’s new film called “Meet The Mormons.” I felt that the program was interesting as we heard from various members of the church who were chosen to be highlighted. One of these individuals was a humanitarian from Nepal…Read more Discipline Days

  I once had an interesting experience at a Fair in Utah. It was an interaction with some volunteer Christians trying to promote an important interpretation of the atonement. They were offering a dollar to take a survey asking whether you are a good person followed by specific questions about one’s practices in regards to…Read more Don’t Believe that Jesus Loves You Because You’re So Lovable

  I believe that everyone has those moments which are less than hopeful, in which one perhaps wonders why things are the ways that they are. I have never been athletic, and since playing basketball was the way to be involved in elementary school I would sit on the side lines just wishing and hoping…Read more He Loves You Unconditionally

Anne Hathaway once shared a thought that I feel could strongly resonate with a large amount of us, at least every once in a while. She said that “Loneliness is my least favorite thing about life. The thing that I’m most worried about is just being alone without anybody to care for or someone who…Read more Nothing Can Separate Us From The Love of God

  A while back I had the chance to have a conversation with some friends about how and why we sometimes seek to delegitimize others. In that conversation one of them brought up the question of the differing ways that one can judge. There is judging as discerning and seeking to understand as a judge…Read more You Don’t Have To Judge Another

  In today’s episode we are going to hear a story that I like which was told by sister Okazaki. “A few years ago, I was asked to speak at a high school commencement. When the students heard that the Relief Society person was coming, they thought, ‘Oh, do we have to listen to a…Read more It Was How You Delivered It

  I loved being in a singles ward. I know that there are a lot of people who do not enjoy that experience, but I felt that it was really fun to have so many people together who happened to be in similar places in their lives. However one of the difficulties that could rise…Read more How Do We Put The Savior First Without Putting Down Other People or Their Religions?

  Special musical edition with music from Josh Woodward.

  We as members of the church value niceness, which can lead to some complicated issues. One of these issues is that we are not always the best at expressing ourselves in the ways that we should. When issues arise we can sometimes be a little passive aggressive, instead of simply stating how we feel.…Read more Clear Boundaries For Themselves

  It has been incredible to have the experience of being a father and watching my son change as he has made it through the last 18 months. It has been so fun to see his personality develop and to watch him change from completely helpless to extremely mobile. Although he is on the very…Read more Be spiritually independent

  Don’t get me wrong. I was extremely thrilled to have the opportunity to serve my mission in Brazil. I quickly fell in love with the people, the language, and the food of that wonderful country. However I simultaneous felt various tensions, because I was extremely fond of the United Sates. I had pajama bottoms…Read more An Opportunity For Wonderful Explorations In Diversity

  While proselytizing in Brazil, we were taught to focus out content and approach on families. There are so many wonderful teaching about the family in which leaders want to emphasize how seriously we need to be concerned with these units. I think that much of this is wonderful advise, particularly because the incredible joys…Read more We Must Treat Each Other with Kindness and Respect

  In the beginning of my faith transition at the point where I least understood my place in the church and whether I would be able to continue as a member of the church, one of the problems that I didn’t feel like I belonged. At that point I was question everything, and to make…Read more May We Offer Our Willing Hearts

  I recently attended a conference where topics relating to Mormonism were being discussed. For a different project I decided that I would record myself asking questions to some of the people I met in the halls. One of my questions was “What is one of your favorite aspects of Mormonism?” I was so impressed…Read more We Really and Truly Need Each Other

  Rosemary M. Wixom has shared that “An elderly woman in her 90s has watched her children and grandchildren grow up and her great-grand-children come into the world. Like many of us, she has had a life filled with sorrows, afflictions, and incomprehensible joy. She confesses that if she were rewriting her life story, she…Read more I Just Must Live a Little Longer and See How It All Turns Out

  Obedience is a difficult principle for me to understand, particularly since I have spent so much time learning about blind obedience through psychological research, and to see how this concept can be manipulated by using natural parts of our humanity. There is much research exposing those who perpetuate fraud. In Utah there is sadly…Read more The Passive and Thoughtless Following of the Orders or Dictates of a Higher Authority

  When I was growing up there were various individuals that I would see in church who I would idolize.  I felt that these people had it all figured out and I was inspired by their incredible examples. However later down the line I got to know some of them a little bit better and…Read more The Same Person Wherever You Are

As you have probably come to expect from this program, I often focus on topics that relate to diversity, harm, and changing our paradigms. That is simply because this is the place I am in my life, and even though I may focus on things that others may not, I feel it is just as…Read more Over Time It Will Change You

  Elder Uchtdorf opened one of his talks by discussing the story of rip van winkle, which is a story of a man who sleeps through his life, and misses an incredible period of time. He then followed up this story by asking each of us whether we are sleeping through the restoration. We live…Read more Sleeping Through the Restoration

  Using a song from Josh Woodward, we put the story from Elder W. Craig Zwick. I hope you enjoy this episode.

  We are at a fascinating period of Mormon history, where various questions are rising in the minds of many members of the church. One hot button topic is the idea of ordaining women to the priesthood. I will not speak very much about my own feelings on this issue, although I feel that these…Read more What Other Authority Can It Be?

  There is a fairly esoteric topic from LDS history called the law of adoption, which I find to be fascinating. I will leave the opportunity to you to look up that history in order to learn a little more about this practice, but my understanding and simple explanation is that as God had provided…Read more Line Upon Line

  I once hear the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” quoted in a church setting. I have very serious critiques of this book, but I think that one thing which comes up when gender is discussed is the idea that we are different from each other. The descriptions that are usually…Read more What Are You Thinking?

  I am not ashamed to say that I hated junior high with every fiber of my being. There are various reasons for this, but one is the amount of cruelty that can come from such little people. I mean you are putting individuals who are not very well developed, be that emotionally or physically,…Read more Love and Treat All People with Kindness and Civility