Just as the Savior’s efforts to heal were focused on those at the margins of his society, so our efforts at inclusion should focus on all of our Heavenly Parents’ children, but especially those who often get overlooked or left out.
We are on individual, parallel journeys, but at times they intersect
Have you ever worked so hard that your entire body ached and all you could think about was getting home to stretch out on your bed with your head cushioned by a clean, soft pillow? Rest is great!
Sacrament talk given in Springville, Utah in March 2023Read by AuthorWe love to say, in our faith, that God never changes and the gospel never changes. The scriptures back us up. How often have we read that God is the “same yesterday, today, and forever?”1 James was a little more poetic when he wrote that there is “no variableness, neither shadow of turning” in God.2But what’s caught my attention is the fact that even though God doesn’t change, our own perception and understanding of God does change, throughout our whole lives. As we grow and develop, the way we talk […]
Sacrament talk given in Capitol Hill Ward, Washington D.C., on November 28, 2021 I have been a member of this ward since 1997. Even though we lived overseas for seven years, my records stayed here and we always attended during our annual visits to the US. This is the ward where we would have gotten married if I hadn’t been overwhelmed by wedding logistics, and where our son was blessed and will soon be baptized. I love that our ward is welcoming and inclusive, with people who inspire me to do better. I love that our ward truly embodies compassionate service, […]
From a Stake Conference address in Highlands Ranch Stake, Colorado My husband, Joel, and I love to ride our bikes. We use a program to see how far we’ve ridden, how fast we’ve gone, and how many feet we’ve climbed. This program also breaks the distance up into segments, anywhere from a tenth of a mile to the entire 120 miles of the Triple Bypass here in Colorado. Each time we ride, the program records our time for that segment and then rewards us for a new personal record, or PR. It will also tell us if it is our second […]
Sacrament talk in Mar Vista Ward, Santa Monica StakeWe didn’t make it to church last week. My three-year-old came down with something like the flu, so I decided we would stay home and keep our germs to ourselves. About a third of the way through our third viewing of The Secret Life of Pets II, I remembered that I had a book to finish: an inspiring and enjoyable Sunday-appropriate read called Jesus Feminist.If you’re reading this but still somehow on the fence about feminism, recall that it is, as writer Marie Shear said, “the radical notion that women are people” […]
Editor’s Note: With the realities of Covid-19, wards found innovative ways to minister to their members. This issue’s Sabbath Pastoral appeared originally in the author’s ward newsletter. I am not sure when I began to feel like there was a difference between the dates and names that genealogists search for and the stories that bring family history to life. Perhaps it began when I watched my mother rescue family heirlooms my father and his family viewed as old junk. I now possess the steamer trunk my Great-grandmother Neill brought with her from England when she followed her only son to Utah […]
Sacrament talk in Dakota Ridge Ward, Columbine Stake, Littleton, Colorado Malcolm Gladwell popularized a theory put forth by psychologists from as early as 1899: it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery of a skill. Neurologist Daniel Levitin explains: “The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything. . . . It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.” As you might expect with a quote from a neurologist, […]
This sacrament talk was given on August 19, 2018 in the Lynnfield Ward in Massachusetts. I went to a small liberal arts school for an obscure graduate degree in something I enjoyed; it was expensive with little external funding. At the beginning of my second semester, two women in the year above me started planning a charity event. Great, I thought, a chance to give back to the community and stretch my acting legs a little more. Imagine my shock then when it turned out it was a fundraising event for the graduate students. They were trying to raise a few […]
Exponent II provides feminist forums for women and gender minorities across the Mormon spectrum to share their diverse life experiences in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Through these exchanges, we strive to create a community to better understand and support each other.
