Latter-day Saints Blog

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I will no longer be the About.com Guide of this topic about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This July would have been my 10 year anniversary as your guide and it has been a wonderful blessing and journey. I have loved writing and sharing about the gospel of Jesus Christ and all the other aspects related to it and the Church.

Everything on this site will stay live until a new guide is hired, at which time this content will be removed and replaced with the new guide's content.

I want to thank everyone who has visited this site and accessed its resources, for all the blog comments you've shared, all the emails I've received, and for those who have subscribed to my newsletter and followed this site on Facebook and Twitter. It has been a true joy to share my passion and testimony about Christ's gospel and His restored Church.

For those who are interested in where I will be going from here, I've created a new website all about Amazon's Kindle Fire at www.LoveMyFire.com which I'm really excited about.

May God be with each of you!
-Rachel Bruner

I found it a little surprising (although I'm not sure why) to find the Names of the Devil among the most popular features on my site. This list contains over 40 names, some of which have links to references found in the scriptures.

Here is one of my favorites:

"And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice." (Moses 4:4; Emphasis added.)

Learn more about the reality of Satan, how he was cast out of the presence of God, and temptations and trials.

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It's been a month since General Conference and although the May issue of the Ensign magazine (which contains written articles from all of the conference addresses) was only mailed out about a week ago, the talks have been available online in several formats. Which ones have you accessed post conference? Check all that apply! After voting share your ideas of how you can apply what you've learned from General Conference or read those ideas submitted by others.

Previous poll: Have You Memorized the 13 Articles of Faith?
Related poll: Have you ever attended General Conference?
Related poll: How many General Conference sessions do you usually watch?

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Each year students in the Church's Seminary program study one of the four major books of LDS Scriptures. Along with their study, students learn 25 Scripture Mastery Scriptures for each year. Here is a list of each book's set of Scripture Mastery Scriptures.

• Scripture Mastery Scriptures: Book of Mormon
• Scripture Mastery Scriptures: Doctrine and Covenants
• Scripture Mastery Scriptures: Old Testament
• Scripture Mastery Scriptures: New Testament

Also see these fun Scripture Mastery Scripture Songs to help you (or your students) learn each scripture.

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The next popular feature from my site that I will be highlighting is this list of 101 Family Home Evening Activities. Family Home Evening (FHE) is an unique aspect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which greatly benefits its members and any others who put it into practice.

In conjunction with this list is the very popular and extensive list of Family Home Evening Games that I have created over the years. Although at times it can be hectic and crazy, I love having Family Home Evening with my family. It takes effort to organize, plan, and hold regular FHE but the rewards (though often not seen for many years) is well worth it.

Learn more about Family Home Evening by browsing through these FHE articles and resources.

Previous Popular Feature: Meal and Menu Planning

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One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 2:25. The reason it is a favorite of mine is because it has personal significance to my life. Several years ago I went through horrible suffering, pain and grief. Not physical, but emotional, mental, and spiritual, due to a situation I never envisioned would happen yet did. I struggled with fear, guilt, and depression (not something I normally have a problem with) and my faith was thoroughly tested.

After about a year of going through this, I was particularly struggling with my feelings one night. After praying to God for comfort this scripture came into my mind:

"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25).

At first I was surprised and a little irritated. I sarcastically thought, "This is what you've sent to comfort me?" Fortunately, I began to think about the words of the scripture and came to realize two things: 1. Happiness was a choice: "men... might have joy" (emphasis added) 2. Not only did the Lord want me to be happy but I was "allowed" to be happy. I didn't have to keep holding on to those negative, unhappy feelings. The Lord didn't require it of me. It was "okay" and "right" for me to move forward with my life and choose to be happy.

This was a huge turning point in my healing and recovery. Happiness truly is a choice. We can either turn to the Lord and trust Him or we could turn away from Him in bitterness, hurt, and anger. He Loves us and He wants us to be happy, that is why He created this world and His plan of happiness for us.

Learn How to Be Happy in this detailed article or read about having Faith in Jesus Christ.

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This is a list of quotes about faith from some of the members of the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The quotes on faith are from the following general church leaders:

• Thomas S. Monson, President
• Henry B. Eyring, 1st Counselor
• Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Counselor
• Boyd K. Packer
• L. Tom Perry
• Dallin H. Oaks
• Richard G. Scott
• David A. Bednar
• Quentin L. Cook
• Neil L. Andersen

See these other lists of quotes for great quotes by our general church leaders including our prophet, apostles, and Relief Society leaders.

• Gratitude Quotes
• Charity Quotes
• Favorite First Presidency Quotes
• Favorite Twelve Apostle Quotes
• Joseph Smith Quotes
• Relief Society Quotes

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Not only is this one of the most popular features on my website, but it's one of my personal favorites as well... probably because I still use this meal and menu planning every day. Although I revised it not too long ago, the overall idea is still the same. This is how my menu planning goes:

1. Plan meals for two weeks and write meals on dry erase menu chart (see back for ideas and add new ideas to back with permanent marker)
2. Add ingredients to shopping list
3. Go to store and purchase items on shopping list
4. Prepare for each meal by thawing any frozen foods and setting out ingredients ahead of time
5. Make and enjoy dinner
6. Clean up and store any leftovers for lunches or the following meal
7. Wipe off meal from menu

Although this may appear simple, that's the beauty of it! I like things to be as simple and easy as possible. When I start to feel stressed or overwhelmed it's usually because I've complicated things more than they need to be.

I also keep things flexible. When I don't feel like making (or eating) a particular meal I skip ahead to one later in the week and use it instead. Then a few days later I usually end up making the meal I skipped earlier. This is especially helpful if something unplanned comes up, thus throwing off the plan, but instead of being a problem I just use that day's meal idea later in the week or add it to the next two week menu plan.

What ideas for meal and menu planning have been successful for you and your family? Share them with us in the comments!

Previous Popular Feature: LDS Dating Sites

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Whenever the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints builds a temple there is always a free open house for the public before the temple is dedicated with a prayer. During the open house anyone can come and tour the temple and see the beauty of the temple, both on the inside and outside. Volunteers help with the open house and provide tours and answer questions about temples, temple work, family history, our beliefs, and more.

If a temple is being built near you, or if you will be traveling this summer to a place where a new temple is being completed, check to see if there will be an open house so you can go through and see the amazing beauty of our temples. Once a temple is dedicated only members of the Church who posses a temple recommend are able to enter the temple and perform sacred ordinances (eternal work) for the living and the dead.

The Church has a page for temple open house reservations which also posts upcoming dates. Here are the latest announcements for future temple open houses:

• Manaus Brazil Temple: Friday, May 18, 2012 - Saturday, June 2, 2012 (excluding Sundays)
• Buenos Aires Argentina Temple: Saturday, August 4, 2012 - Saturday, August 25, 2012 (excluding Sundays)
• Brigham City Utah Temple: Saturday, August 18, 2012 - Saturday, September 15, 2012 (excluding Sundays and Saturday, September 8th)

There are currently 33 temples that have been announced, are being constructed, or under renovation. See the Church's list of temples to see which locations have temples, are building, renovating, or will be constructing an LDS temple near you.

See the Temple category to learn more about our amazing, beautiful temples, including how families can be together forever.

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If you're not a regular follower of news about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you may not have yet read about the governors of the state of Missouri and the state of Kansas releasing proclamations after the completion of the Kansas City Missouri Temple. Each proclamation makes positive statements about the contributions of the Church, its history, and its members to each state.

You can read more about the announcement in the LDS Newsroom as well as see copies of each proclamation with the official seal of each state: Mormons, Kansas City Missouri Temple Recognized in Governors' Proclamations.

If you know the history of the Church of Jesus Christ then you will realize this is an amazing event. If not, take a few minutes to learn more about the history of the church with these articles:

• Who was Joseph Smith?
• Who was Brigham Young?
• Who Were the Mormon Pioneers
• Pioneers Travel West
• More about the History of the Church

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