May 20-26 I have often wondered what was on Abinadi’s mind as the fire that would engulf and kill him burned hotter and hotter.  Did he wonder if he’d been a good missionary, because after all, there wasn’t a rush of converts from King Noah’s court.

May 13-19 There are many times in our lives when we just have to stand up for the truth and, sometimes we stand alone. Has that ever happened in your life?  Has it happened in the lives of your ancestors or the lives of your children?  President Nelson said recently: “Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested.” (Nelson, Russell M., The Future of the...

May 6-12 Elder Richard G. Scott said, “Help from the Lord always follows eternal law. The better you understand that law, the easier it is to receive His help.” The chapters that we are studying in this episode demonstrate just that.

April 29-May 5 Over our years of studies of the first 6 chapters of Mosiah we have all come to love King Benjamin and his marvelous teachings.  We have the whole thing in our minds, don’t we? The aged King Benjamin; the anointing of his son Mosiah to be the new king; the innumerable hosts of tents surrounding the temple and families in breathless attention to their servant King.  We have the setting down pat, but what about the setting in our hearts—if King Benjamin were to send a text...

April 22-28 Elder Neal A. Maxwell called the chapters we are studying today the “Manual of Discipleship”. Since Mormon could include only the hundredth part of the records he had available to him, this may be the reason he zeroed right in on King Benjamin’s address and gave us so much of it. He knew we in the latter days would want to learn discipleship too.

April 15-21 I remember, following Enos’s example, of going to the woods to pray in my life, in fact, more than once. Then, I recently was talking about Enos with a friend, and he said he, too, had gone to the woods to pray. I know Scot took Enos’s example, but went to a mountain. I don’t think the location matters because it can be right in our own bedroom, but there is something magnificent to learn about prayer from Enos in his book.

April 8-14 One of my favorite olive trees in the entire world is inside the walls of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies in Jerusalem.  I remember Truman Madsen telling us all about how it was long-lined from a helicopter all the way from the Galilee to the center.  They were concerned about the shock of its journey, but they promptly planted it.  And then it died…at least they thought it did.  We’ll tell you all about it.

April 1-7 When Jacob speaks at the temple in the book named after him, it is with both anxiety and boldness, setting an example for all us who have to teach the people we love in this difficult world. It is not a time to shy away from the truth.

March 25-31 I love the season of spring.  I love the newness of life.  I love the crocus, the daffodils and tulips just popping through the winter-hardened earth.  I love the buds that magically appear on all the trees.  I especially love the redbuds and the dogwoods that were the first to show in my home-state of Missouri on our forested farm.  Most of all, though, I love the fact that “all things are created and made to bear record of [Jesus Christ]…things which are on the earth, and...

We wanted to take a few minutes just to relax with you, our amazing and loving listeners, and talk about faith, peace, calm and listening to the promptings and whisperings of the Spirit. 

March 18-24 Any returned missionary will recognize the chapters we are studying this week.  We used. many of these verses when it came time to challenge a serious investigator to make the commitment to be baptized.  In all our readings and studies of 2 Nephi chapters 31-33, have we possibly missed some critical teachings for our own spiritual progress?  Let’s study together and see what we can find out.

March 11-17 Nephi, of course is heartbroken because he has seen in revelation the destruction of his people. He says, “O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people” (2 Nephi 26:7). He says it consumes him. But he is given a promise of comfort. What is it? We’ll talk about it in this episode.

March 4-10 I love that language of Nephi as he adds so much of Isaiah into his small plates. He says that he delights in the covenants of the Lord. (pause) That’s certainly a theme throughout the Book of Mormon. He delights in the Lord’s grace, justice, power and mercy. This is all code language for rejoicing in the atonement of Jesus Christ. And Nephi delights in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death. These expressions of joy are in relation to the words and writings of...

February 26-March 3 There was a story told of a man in war and in the heat of the battle he was shot in the chest. By a miracle he was spared being killed. As he was taken back to the safety of the nearby camp, he was examined and he had a small copy of the Book of Mormon he had been carrying in his uniform. They opened the book and the bullet had penetrated only into about the middle of 2 Nephi—right in the heart of the Isaiah chapters. It was said that even a speeding bullet couldn’t get...

February 19-25 Do you know how many times the word “plan” shows up in the Book of Mormon? 66 times! How about in the Old Testament—only three times, and none of these is talking about the plan of salvation. The New Testament has no mention of “plan” at all.

February 12-18 One of the most exciting discoveries in reading the Book of Mormon is when we come upon quotations and extracts from the plates of brass! This is that ancient, sacred record that the sons of Lehi returned to Jerusalem and risked their lives to obtain. This is a record much larger than our Old Testament and it contains the prophecies, promises and covenants of the Lord from ancient times. And this week, we get to study one of the most significant prophecies given by Joseph of...

February 5-11 How can Lehi who has suffered so much in the wilderness journey, including the murderous rejection of his own sons, Laman and Lemuel, possibly write that man is that he might have joy? Does he know something that we sometimes forget? We’ll find out as we study together.

January 29-February 4 A theme is so prevalent throughout scripture, and especially in the Book of Mormon, that you would think we would never miss it, and yet we do. What is that elusive theme? We’ll tell you in this episode.

January 22-28 After Lehi had his dream of the tree of life, his sons had some choices, and, based on those, in the next few hours had radically different experiences. Laman and Lemuel went to their tent and fought about the meaning of the dream, and Nephi was swept up to a mountain and given a vision. What Laman and Lemuel missed out on in insisting on their war of words!

January 15-21 I remember once being so tired as we made our way out of a remote area of the Sinai Desert in Egypt.  It was night and we wanted to drive all the way back to Cairo but we were just too exhausted from having hiked Mt. Sinai at 2:00 o’clock that morning.  We pulled over to rest.  We got off the main road and pulled up onto a small hill.  We watched from our perch, as an occasional car would go by.  And then it happened.  We watched as a dark mist or fog rolled in like a...

January 8-14 We all know the 1st book of Nephi so well, you may wonder if there is still more to learn. Welcome to the inexhaustible Book of Mormon that always surprises us with its spiritual richness and historical authenticity. You may know these stories, but we are about to enter a treasure room.

January 1-January 7 I was reading a very short notice this past week in a local newspaper that was just over 300 words long.  This is not a well-known national periodical, in fact, it’s quite obscure—but the notice I read is probably the most important thing ever published in the news.  The paper was The Wayne Sentinel and the date was Friday, March 26, 1830.  This was the first announcement that The Book of Mormon was now available to the world.

December 25-31 Here’s the latest breaking news:  The major war that was going on in the pre-mortal world between the forces of Lucifer and the forces of Michael has continued—but it has changed locations.  All of Lucifer’s forces have been moved to this earth and continue to wage war against the Saints and the followers of Christ and His Gospel.

December 18-24 For a few minutes you can leave the hustle of the season behind, while we take you to Bethlehem, a place we’ve spent much time. Come on an armchair journey.