Third Hour

The odds are good that at some point in your life (or many), you have watched The Princess Bride. This movie has everything: love, sword fights, pirates, and fire swamps. It is also incredibly quotable (Have fun storming the castle boys!). But The Princess Bride also has some incredible gospel truths. Westley: We are men of action. Lies do not become us. We should all strive to be men and women of action. And by that, I mean that our action should tell others who we are. We should also strive to be honest in all we do. Sister Ann M. Dibb said, “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.” When we are honest in all of our words and actions, we don’t have to worry about who knows what and what they think. We should be kind with the truth, but lies do not become us. Inigo Montoya: I just work for... View the full article

A spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has confirmed that on Friday, March 1, Russian police detained two Latter-day Saint "volunteers" in Novorossiysk. The Deseret News spoke with the father of one of these volunteers. "The father said officials believed the volunteers were teaching English without a license. The volunteers said they only were conducting a regularly scheduled game night in English." Eric Hawkins, the spokesman for the Church, said that, "While we are grateful these young men are reportedly in good condition and are being treated well, we are troubled by the circumstances surrounding their detention ... They have both spoken to their parents. We will continue to work with local authorities and encourage the swift release of these volunteers." Russia banned public missionary work in 2016. The new laws only allow proselytizing in houses of worship. The Church of Jesus Christ complied with the law by altering its missionary program in Russia. Missionaries do not proselyte in public and are currently referred to only as "volunteers." According... View the full article

If there's one thing we all know about Martin Harris, it's that he was persistent. (Remember when he asked Joseph Smith if he could borrow the 116-page manuscript like a billion times? Only a slight exaggeration.) It's unfortunate that the lost manuscript seems to overshadow all of the wonderful things he did during his life, like paying for Joseph and Emma's move to Harmony, PA, mortgaging his farm to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon, and acting as Joseph's scribe for a time. And it's precisely that event (acting as Joseph's scribe) that revealed another one of his characteristics. In addition to being faithful, smart, repentant, and a host of other things, Martin Harris was, if this story is any indication, kind of a trickster. The (true) story goes like this: Martin once tricked Joseph by replacing the seer stone he used to translate to see if Joseph was as genuine as he professed to be. How the Translation Process Worked So let's back up a minute: before I... View the full article

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has officially changed the name of several of its websites and social media channels. In an announcement released March 5, 2019, the Church announced the following. Official Church Website The name of the official Church website (formerly lds.org) has been changed to ChurchofJesusChrist.org, effective immediately. But don’t worry, lds.org will still redirect to the Church homepage. In a similar vein, Mormon Newsroom, the Church news outlet, will have a new domain. The new domain is Newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Mormon.org is now ComeUntoChrist.org. Social Media A new Facebook group has been created to help Church members stay informed and up-to-date with Church news. The new group is called “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—Inspiration and News.” In addition, the Church Twitter account name has been changed to “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” with the username of @ChurchNewsroom. Mobile Apps and Email Domains The mobile apps have a few changes as well. LDS Music is now “Sacred Music.” Gospel Library remains the same. All Church employees now... View the full article

I've mentioned it before, but here's a quick recap for those of you who haven't read much of my work (intentionally, probably, because my sense of humor is so weird): when I served a mission, I struggled with significant depression for almost the first nine months. After several transfers, my angelic mission president put me in touch with a General Authority (it wasn't a member of the Twelve, and please don't speculate). I remember talking with him, sobbing out my entire heart, telling him how I didn't understand why I had wanted to serve a mission so desperately my entire life but then hated it... But his response was not what I needed. Please don't get me wrong: this man — a man with a holy calling, but still an imperfect man! — was a good man who was trying. He didn't shoot me down or say anything intentionally hurtful, but his response was something along the lines of, "Well, the pioneers had to do things they didn't want to do,... View the full article

Some answers just seem so obvious that we don’t even bother asking the question in the first place. In 2012 when the minimum age requirement for women to serve a mission was lowered it never even occurred to me to ask whether or not I should serve a mission. Of course I was going! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2N1LEMnGZU So I started preparing. I went to mission prep every single Sunday. I studied “Preach My Gospel.” I saved money. Looking back I realize that there was one key thing I was missing in my preparation: Heavenly Father. If I had been smart, I would’ve taken the counsel found in Proverbs 3:5-6 to heart. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” I was “going rogue” in a sense and relying solely on what I wanted and what seemed right to me. I continued like this all the way up until my first semester of college was coming... View the full article

What do you remember from the last sacrament meeting talk you listened to? Was it the gospel points the speaker was explaining? The scriptures the person used? Or was it the story they told? As humans, we love stories. Our ancestors sat around the fire and listened to stories. We still read the stories of the ancient Greeks and Romans, passed down orally and eventually written down. We write down and record the stories of our ancestors and our own stories for our descendants. As children, our parents read us stories—and if you are like me, you never grew out of loving stories. Why do we remember stories? So why do we love stories? Matt Luhn recently spoke at a BYU forum and discussed stories. Luhn is a Pixar animator who worked on stories like Toy Story, Ratatouille, and Finding Nemo. He said that “when you use a story, you make things more memorable, you make things more impactful and you make things more personal.” When someone starts a story, they have... View the full article

There’s a long-standing notion out there that a Christian and an evolutionary view of the creation are at odds; if we believe the creation story outlined in the Bible, then it seems that the theory of evolution must be false. Growing up I remember having this idea that evolution and the creation was an uncomfortable subject among Latter-day Saints, really among Christians in general. I can’t track down a specific experience that made me think this was the case, perhaps it was just the lack of discussion about the topic as a whole that lead me to believe that it wasn’t something to be brought up. I remember looking up the question “Do Latter-day Saints believe in dinosaurs?” when I was a kid (I know, how nerdy can you get?). The only answer I found online was the idea that when God was creating the world, he took bits of other planets, which very conveniently just happened to have dinosaur fossils in them. Even to a child, though, that... View the full article

It started in 2001 as a means to promote and support the blossoming “Mormon Cinema” (now Latter-day Saint Cinema) movement. It expanded in the intervening years to include other wholesome films. Now in its 19th year, the LDS Film Festival is back with a new director, a more refined focus, and a fantastic lineup. Kels Goodman, director of such films as Hidden in the Heartland and Handcart, has been passed the baton from Christian Vuissa (Errand of Angels, One Good Man) to run the festival. Kels has an immense passion for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and for cinema. He took the time to give me the low down on why any Latter-day Saint who loves movies is going to want to do all they can to be at the SCERA theater in Orem, Utah, for the 2019 festival. What makes this festival so unique compared to other film festivals? This is not a normal film festival because the audience is very precise. It’s film-going Latter-day Saints. Our greatest strength... View the full article

Latter-day Saints strive to abide by a plethora of commandments. The Big 10, the Word of Wisdom, Law of Tithing, Law of Chastity, etc. Korihor made his opinion very clear about the commandments of his day in Alma 30: And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires; and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges. Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their priests, who do yoke them according to their desires, and have brought them to believe, by their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do according to their words, offend some unknown being, who they say is God—a being who never has... View the full article

You may be surprised to learn that Utah has the highest rate of adoption of Black babies by White parents. That's wonderful, but it comes with its own set of problems. This movie addresses them. And yet, this film isn't about adoption (it's a very helpful film if you are looking to adopt or know someone who has) it's about racism. However, if you watch the film with the idea of you being the parent then you can start to see more how this issue impacts all of us and your place in it. If you are someone who cares and just wants to learn more then this film can help. Black, White, and Us is premiering at this week’s LDS Film Festival at 2:30 pm on Saturday in the SCERA theater in Orem, Utah. Get tickets and info at http://ldsfilmfest.com/ To learn more about Loki, his mother, and their mission visit https://joantrumpauermulholland.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp4rh84-H7g The following is an interview with Loki Mulholland, creator of Black, White & Us. You're obviously committed to... View the full article

"I guess this is the wheat being separated from the tares." "This is a sifting moment in the Church." Comments like these always come across as a premature pat on the back. It's all good because I'm a part of the wheat. We are the wheat. Not only that, but they also imply that those who are not in total alignment with whatever's being discussed are dreaded tares. This always makes me wonder how recently these people have read the account. Speaking of, let's actually read through the parable (Matthew 13:24-30): Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.... View the full article

As a church, we focus pretty heavily on our history. Who hasn’t heard stories of the early Saints in Nauvoo or the members of the Church who gave up everything they had to pull a handcart all the way to Salt Lake? Sadly, like most history in the United States, the Church’s history has been white-washed. I don’t think this is any reflection on the Church itself but rather a reflection of our nation’s struggle with race. In fact, the Church has published numerous first-account sources, articles, biographies and more of early black Latter-day Saints on their website — but decades of tradition is hard to kill, which is why I think a lot of members have never heard about black LDS pioneers. It’s also important to note that some early Saints, especially those from the North were ardently against slavery. Joseph Smith wasn’t quiet about his abolitionist stance, which caused a lot the persecution the Church faced in Missouri (a slave state at the time). In honor... View the full article

Captain Marvel comes out in a few weeks, and like most people I am excited. I love superhero movies and I get even more excited when there is a prominent female lead. However, one thing that worries me about Captain Marvel is how they will portray Carol Danvers. Will she be an ultra-super feminist who despises men and doesn’t need them? Will she embrace what she can offer as a woman? These are the questions I have when I see powerful women on the screen. Personally, I believe you can be a powerful woman without trying to be a man. Church leaders teach us that men and women have divinely appointed roles, but they aren’t the same. Women are just as capable as men, but they have different (not lesser) traits. For these reasons, Wonder Woman has always been my favorite. I feel like she truly embodies what it means to be a powerful woman. Growing Up My dad loved Linda Carter, so growing up we watched her as Wonder Woman... View the full article

One of the coolest teachings that show our divine nature and potential as children of Heavenly Parents is that of spiritual gifts. We each have at least one of them, and we can develop others throughout our lives. What are spiritual gifts? Gifts of the spirit are "blessings or abilities given by God to His children through the power of the Holy Ghost." They are given to us to not only bless ourselves but also bless those around us according to our faith and what we need. D&C 46 outlines a few of these spiritual gifts and is often the go-to scripture when we talk about this. Section 46 includes things like the "faith to heal," "speak[ing] with tongues," "working of miracles," "discerning of spirits," and other pretty miraculous things. However, gifts of the spirit aren't limited to what's specifically mentioned in that section. Bruce R. McConkie once wrote that "Spiritual gifts are endless in number and infinite in variety" (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith). Gifts you may not have thought about... View the full article

We often hear that The Book of Mormon was "written for our day." I've always believed it, but frankly, I've sort of written it off as a pithy one-liner good for missionary discussions and sacrament meeting talks. Until recently, that is. You see, in my line of work I'm unfortunately exposed to just about every existing argument against the Church. But in a recent scripture study I realized that that's not exactly true. People in the Book of Mormon faced the same arguments some 2000 years ago, and they wrote their experiences down so we'd learn from them. Truly, The Book of Mormon was written for our day. Argument set #1: You've never actually felt the Spirit. It's all manufactured by your own emotions. All of your spiritual experiences are nothing more than illusions or chemical responses in your brain. If you actually did have a spiritual experience, it was from Satan. He must have appeared to you as "an angel of light." You've been duped. Book of Mormon equivalent: 3... View the full article

Daniel Peterson published this article in May 2010 in the Deseret News and in January 2019 in Meridian Magazine. The earliest Christians didn’t believe in the New Testament. They couldn’t. It didn’t exist yet. When Paul praises young Timothy because “from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15), the only “holy scriptures” to which he can be referring are those contained in what Christians today call the Old Testament. When Paul proceeds to explain, in the following two verses, that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,” he’s speaking of the Hebrew Bible. Or, if not, he’s referring to contemporary, ongoing revelation. More than once, zealous “Bible-believing” Protestants have told me that, since Timothy already had enough scriptural material to “make (him) wise... View the full article

You can't deny that BYU is an interesting place with interesting people. Provo is full of "not your average" college students, and when some of these "not your average" college students have a run in with the law, it can be a little funny. Some of these hilarious incidents are documented in The Daily Universe's Police Beat section, where you can find weekly BYU police reports. Here are some gems that could only happen at someplace like BYU: 1. "Don't mind me. I'm just borrowing this duck." Two male students were reported trying to capture a duck using a plastic laundry basket at the botany pond at the base of Maeser Hill. The students admitted to trying to catch the duck but said they weren’t stealing the duck, just borrowing it to put it in one of their friend’s rooms as a joke. 2. A good reason to always know what day it is... BYU police discovered several students from NewsNet trespassing in the Deseret Towers demolition site. The student said they... View the full article

If I were to ask you, "What is the gathering of Israel?" how would you respond? The standard answer is probably something like, "Oh, that's missionary work. Israel symbolizes God's covenant people, and as people join the Church, they're restored (by blood or adoption) to the covenant, or the House of Israel." And that's true, but there's more to it than that, as is evident in the first eight words of our tenth Article of Faith (emphasis added): We believe in the LITERAL gathering of Israel. Oftentimes we get so caught up in the symbolism of the gathering of Israel that we forget about the other side of the coin, the literal gathering. Why this matters in The Book of Mormon Via Book of Mormon Central YouTube video: Evidences of the Book of Mormon: Plates Check out the first couple of verses in 3 Nephi 29 (emphasis added): "And now behold, I say unto you that when the Lord shall see fit, in his wisdom, that these sayings [The Book of Mormon] shall come unto the Gentiles according to... View the full article

When I got married last year, everything was going great. I started a new job a few months before and started earning more money. My husband had just gotten a raise at his job as well. We were both in school and working, so we were on the same page and financially we were doing well. Then in December I graduated, and because I graduated I could no longer work my on-campus job and I had to find a new one. Eventually, I was able to get a part-time job and an internship, but it was unclear when my job would start. All of this cumulated with my husband starting a new semester and me feeling useless. Added to this feeling of uselessness was the fact that I had to start working. We were doing okay, but savings were running low and my income was more important than ever. The day before my husband started school, I was in a panic. In fact, I had not one, put two panic... View the full article

Man, I gotta say, you learn something new every day. Today's fun factoid appeared on my Twitter feed. The tweet was captioned, "If you can believe it, these glasses belonged to the Mormon preacher Hyrum Smith in 1844." What followed, as you see below, were a rather odd-looking pair of glasses. https://twitter.com/trufelman/status/1092496403576823808 "Oh great," I thought, "another reason for people to think the Latter-day Saints are bonkers." But it turns out these spectacles were good for much more than watching a 3D movie or reading an invisible map off the back of the Declaration of Independence. Funky specs The spectacles in the Tweet are on display at the Church History Museum along with the clothing Hyrum was wearing when he was killed in Carthage, Illinois. But what are they? A more modern Urim and Thumim? What do they do? Sorry to disappoint, there's actually nothing religious or mystical about these glasses. They were just Hyrum's prescription sunglasses. In fact, Brigham Young had a similar pair: Brigham Young's sunglasses, on display in the Church History Museum. And if... View the full article

Sometimes I think that if I were ever to write an autobiography, I would entitle it Amy Keim: The Real-Life Hunger Games and hope that Suzanne Collins wouldn't sue me. The title wouldn't refer to me living in a post-apocalyptic district, constantly shooting my crossbow, nor trying to decide between a compelling love triangle; rather, it'd be a direct reference to the fact that I'm literally always hungry. I just love food so much. That's why whenever I see articles about food storage, I panic. If an emergency were to happen, I'd first check on the whereabouts and safety of my family, and then I'd be like, "Where my food at? All this stress means I need a pizza and I need it now." But being a poor college student, I thought for a long time that I couldn't afford food storage, let alone find room for it in my apartment. Unsurprisingly, I was wrong. No matter how meager your circumstances, you can find room for food storage — and... View the full article

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is full of talented artists that we all celebrate. In each of our church buildings, you're likely to find many beautiful illustrations of the Savior, often depicting Him teaching people during His mortal ministry, holding or conversing with children, or leading a flock of sheep — but what about paintings for people struggling with depression? Truthfully, while we love those paintings, we may at times feel separated from them — they don't always show Christ reaching out to us and loving us in our times where we feel most unlovable; when we are sad, despondent, and hopeless. But He does reach out to us, especially in those moments, and I think the following paintings (among many others!) illustrate that beautifully and can bring us peace in our hours of deepest need. Lost and Found by Greg Olsen "Lost and Found" by Greg Olsen Painting Description (as told by the aritst): "I received an e-mail from a young man who expressed his discouragement at not being able to find... View the full article

While working on films during his undergraduate studies, LDS filmmaker Robert Machoian Graham, was struck by how negative some of the people on set were. They would criticize the director or bring other negative energy to the production. When it came time to make his own films, Graham made a conscious decision that his sets would be a safe environment. This lead him to make the decision to include his family in his films. Despite the fact that Graham’s family approach to film is a little less than mainstream, it has certainly worked. The filmmaker, who is also a BYU professor, has had four separate films accepted into the Sundance Film Festival in less than a decade. “You have a less than 1 percent chance of getting your film in, so it’s never not going to be the most amazing thing. The excitement isn’t going to wear off,” said Graham. “But my experience this time around I feel like I’m apart of Sundance. They are interested in the things... View the full article

For those of you wondering why I wrote an article titled that, there’s a simple reason. Today is National Do a Grouch a Favor Day! I find it appropriate that it happens two days after Valentine’s day for two reasons. One, those of us who are still single me might feel a little grouchy me after seeing everyone else celebrating love since we want to meet the love of our lives me. We all know ways to serve. Now the important part is to fully understand the why. Via colorado.ourcommunitynow.com. But the second reason. A reason I find much more appropriate. Valentine’s is a day about loving those who are closest to us. Celebrating those we want to keep in our lives. We all find it easy to serve those we love. Serving those we dislike comes much harder for us. Which is why we must make an effort to love those who we hate. And I will admit that hate is a strong word. But even though we should have charity... View the full article