When your efforts feel invisible and your calling feels heavy, how do you keep going? This reflection on Alma’s experience in Ammonihah reminds us where joy really comes from — not from results, but from faithful, wholehearted effort.
Tag: missionary work
“Go Forth from This House…”
Speaking about those preparing to leave on missions, Joseph Smith prayed during the dedication of the Kirtland Temple: “And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels…
Transfers: Smile Because They Happened
Transfers during your mission can be hard, but in the long run they bring a lot of joy.
Why the Book of Mormon?
A few weeks ago you mentioned something about so much emphasis on the Book of Mormon. I’ve been thinking a lot about that and some of my thoughts are below. I’ll just focus on three of those for now. The Book of Mormon Is a Second, Clarifying Witness I imagine most of the people you…
Qualifying for the Work: “An Eye Single to the Glory of God”
We often hear the phrase “an eye single to the glory of God” associated with what qualifies someone to be a missionary (see D&C 4:5). Yet, the Lord uses the phrase in D&C 27 when explaining what we use as the emblems of the sacrament is not as important as why we do it. “For,…
Grace: Strength Beyond Your Own
In Doctrine and Covenants 24 the Lord gives a promise to Oliver Cowdery as he continued to bear Christ’s “name before the world” (D&C 24:10): “And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I…
Service: In This Thou Shalt Have Strength
Joseph and Oliver must have been excited to share the message of the newly restored Church of Jesus Christ on the earth. However, intense persecution started almost immediately after the Church was organized. I can imagine it must have been intimidating to carry the burden of proclaiming the gospel in such circumstances.1 The revelation in…
I Believe Joseph
I remember when I first received a spiritual affirmation of Joseph Smith’s experience when he saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, most often referred to as the First Vision. It was a few months before I left on a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My parents…
Drop by Drop: the Attainment of Spiritual Knowledge
When people say they “know” something is true in a testimony, what does that mean? How do they actually “know”? The answer seems to be pretty simple and straight forward and it comes directly from the Lord to Oliver Cowdery in Doctrine and Covenants 18: “Behold, I have manifested unto you, by my Spirit in…