The Shattered Butterfly
It was a warm summer afternoon, as I sat eating my lunch in a public park in Santa Fe Springs, California. At the time, I was much less than active in The Church, and my life was going nowhere real fast. As I sat there lost in my own little world, I observed [...]

Whether you’re a teenager, an adult, or a senior citizen, if you want to spend the rest of your life happy, then I recommend that you ask yourself one important question every single day. Do it after you wake up every morning, stumble into the bathroom, and look yourself in the mirror. Ask yourself, “Am [...]

In many LDS circles, singles over 25 are considered old. 27 makes them a “menace to society.” 30 and stake leaders start suggesting a special fast. Divorcées might more often escape the curious glance and probing question “So, what’s your fatal flaw?” but they’re still single and in danger of missing out on some of [...]

Do you ever get the feeling that something just doesn’t fit the way it should? Do you notice people who don’t behave the way that has always made sense to you? Do you feel frustrated or angry because life hasn’t yet measured up to your expectations of the arrangement? Has it ever occurred to you [...]

Psychologists and philosophers will tell you that two powers alone make the entire human race tick, that two motivations determine all actions – Love and fear. Others would call love the life force – the natural inclination to grow and learn, the will to survive and thrive. The only reason to avoid the sheer joy [...]

Several years ago while serving as elders quorum president for three university wards combined for the summer, I faced the challenge of motivating our quorum members to wake up early enough on a Sunday morning to attend nine o’clock priesthood meeting. After consulting with my counselors, we decided the best thing we could do was [...]

When we hear the words temptation and sin, we generally think of blatant and serious transgressions. However, the temptations the adversary uses to entice us to follow him are often subtle. Few people would deliberately choose a course of action they knew would lead to unhappiness. The adversary knows this, and attempts to present his [...]

The biggest trouble with good advice is that we so often fail to take it.
It’s not your fault, though…okay, it is your fault, but who can blame you? The simple fact remains that despite any amount of good advice we may receive, we humans still have to learn life’s lessons for ourselves.
Someone else may have [...]

A few years after returning from my mission, I transferred from my hometown university and moved to San Francisco. It didn’t take long before I found myself acting differently, feeling differently, and in many ways becoming a different person. It seemed as if I had been born into a new life. But being a member [...]

“And also,” wrote Josette from somewhere in France, “I don’t agree with political mails on this file.” This came in one of a dozen emails about voting and politics from the LDS singles email group I joined a few months earlier. “I thought that this forum my brothers and sisters was totally unbiased,” agreed Nunda [...]