We encourage people to seek the Spirit. And often we list actions that will bring the Spirit—actions such as being humble, doing good, serving others, etc. Those lists of actions can be helpful and are worth implementing.… Read more
Seeing the Forest in the Trees: The Sacred Invitation of the Temple
Several years ago, I knew a man who said that he had mastered the temple endowment. I was intrigued. He claimed that he could sit down and sleep for an entire session with only minor interruptions. That … Read more
Bringing Compassion to Parenting
Since I consider the book Between Parent and Child by Haim Ginott to be a masterwork of empathetic, yet disciplined child raising, I was delighted when Haim’s widow, Alice Ginott, gave me her approval to update and … Read more
The Core Doctrine of the Book of Mormon
There are unnumbered treasures in the Book of Mormon! In 2005, I published a series of thirteen articles about the ways that great book of scripture acts as a latter-day corrective—from teaching us about such subjects as … Read more
God’s Trophies
Quite often something that is almost too good to be true. A sunset. A field of wildflowers. A starry night. A delectable peach.
Over the years, when we ran into a wonder of nature that shocked us … Read more
Understanding Differences in Our Marriages
It is surprising how different we can be in our marriages. Here are some differences we have seen in couples we know and love.
He is married to his job and she wants more family time.
She … Read more
Life is Perfect
Why do I react so strongly to such trivial things?
My usually reliable ball-point pen was not working. I scribbled circles on scratch paper to get it warmed up. I tried again. Still spotty. I checked the … Read more
The Refugee Surprise
I was reluctant at first. Nancy and I were glad to have become involved with a local agency that assists refugees. But when the agency asked Nancy and me to take a Syrian refugee girl to her piano … Read more
Looking at Our Marriages from God’s Perspective
How would you define the purposes of marriage? Love and companionship? Stability? Building a family? Social expectations? There are a lot of reasons people marry and, more often than not, we haven’t thought about them very much … Read more
When Prayers Go Unanswered
H. Wallace Goddard and Barbara Keil
In Elder’s Quorum, we were talking about prayer. A kind, gentle, wise brother raised his hand. I was interested to hear his question. In his quiet voice, he asked, “Why did I pray when … Read more