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The other day my daughter was watching cartoons based on the Old Testament. After watching one of these she turned to me and said “Mommy, did we have any kings in our family…good kings?” I thought for a second and then said “Yes! “You’re related to the people in the Book of Mormon. King Benjamin and King Mosiah were both very good kings”.

Relief Society General President Julie B. Beck said, “The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.”1 Yet, the process of understanding how we can receive revelation—how God speaks to us—is a lifelong pursuit. One does not gain this skill in the abstract, we have to learn it through our own experience.

The Doctrine & Covenants is often described as a manual for the establishment of the modern church and its priesthood authority, but we can’t forget that many of its texts are fundamentally personal rather than institutional, given to individuals with particular questions for the Lord. This week’s texts are directed toward Oliver Cowdery and Hyrum Smith, two of Joseph Smith’s closest and staunchest friends. These words help define the process of personal revelation.

Lesson #7 focuses on the first ordinances and principles of the gospel: faith, repentance, baptism and confirmation of the Holy Ghost. To start, let’s look at what some of our women leaders have said about these ordinances and principles. In last April’s General Conference, President Oscarson said, “True conversion is a process that takes place over a period of time and involves a willingness to exercise faith.”

A couple of years ago, I was at a meeting where we were discussing some ward and stake events. When we got to the topic of an upcoming father-son event to commemorate the restoration of the Priesthood, one of the women leaders raised her hand and said, “Why should only men and boys commemorate the restoration of the Priesthood?

We live in times of extreme contention and confusion. We seem to be flooded with information of all sorts, with many versions of the “truth” being fed to us by world leaders, news agencies, and other people around us. But is it any more difficult to seek out and find the truth in this day and age than any other? (See Isaiah 29:14.)

When I was roughly 15, I said to my Mother in reference to Emma Smith, “Yeah, Emma was pretty cool except for that whole leaving the Church thing and starting her own.” Now, my Mother took the permissive approach to parenting. Up until that moment the only thing I was forbidden to do was watch The Exorcist.

Gospel Doctrine Lesson 11 The texts in this week’s lesson have a common subject: mission calls directed to dozens of people, some with familiar names like Hyrum Smith and some who subsequently fade from church history. There are no women mentioned in our reading. In those first decades of the church, women were not formally called to be travelling preachers or proselytizers, but women and missionary work do have a long and influential history within the church, one that is t

Whenever I think about the Gathering of Israel I think about the Allegory of the Olive Tree from the Book of Mormon which so beautifully illustrates the scattering of the tribes of Israel and the eventual gathering and grafting in of the gentiles.

I have often wondered what Mary and Martha would have written about the Savior, and about the new church whose foundation he laid, had they recorded their witness (or had it been preserved). They and other women play prominent roles in the New Testament, and the men who recorded the Savior’s life, death, and resurrection gave them place in the record. But the women’s own voices are lost to us.

Few things reveal the gap between godly living and our human failings as strikingly as the law of consecration. The Lord started revealing the law of consecration to the early Saints in 1831. The purpose of this law was to take care of the poor and to teach individuals how to be “… a faithful, a just, and a wise steward…” (D&C 51:19).

In Lesson 15 of the Church History curriculum, we’re encouraged to use the story of Amanda Barnes Smith as an example of the spiritual gift of revelation. Can you recall the story of Amanda Barnes Smith off the top of your head? What if I said she’s the woman who received instructions on how to heal her son’s leg after the Haun’s Mill Massacre?

Ok, that’s a lie. When I was a teenager (and probably a child) I chafed against what I saw as the restrictions of the Sabbath Day. My parents were very strict about Sabbath observance and I was grumpy that I couldn’t go and play wiffle ball (at the Bishop’s house!) or sunbathe (just on the deck!) or even do my procrastinated homework (the glory of God is intelligence!).

I offered to write the lesson supplement on tithing because I knew it would be a more difficult topic for me. As a kid, teenager, and even through college I loved tithing and paid generously on what little money I had. It felt simple and straightforward—I was contributing directly to building the kingdom of God, and that concept felt empowering and exciting.

The Washington DC temple is situated on a wooded hill above the Capital Beltway. For drivers rounding the curve of the highway, the temple rises into sight, out of the trees and with a backdrop of sky. When I was a child, we would always sing out “there’s the temple!” as it came into view, and I would feel pure joy and wonder at its gleaming gold and white marble beauty. Before I ever went inside, the temple was a symbol of heaven, an image of peace that rose above the hectic