We're continuing our Good Word theme of Fruitful. Today's verse is from the famous chapter in Alma that compares the word of God to a seed. When we nourish the seed, it takes root and grows. Then, it bears fruit. (Easy, right?)

What does it mean to nourish the word of God? This verse gives us a clue. It says "if ye will nourish the word by your faith…" What does it mean to nourish the word of God with faith?

Have you ever read something — let's say, a news article — and you decided ahead of time that what you were about to read was hogwash? Your faith in the information affects how you understand it.

Recently, I started teaching lessons about the early days of the restoration, using Brother V. J. Lovalvo’s book, “It is Written Truth Shall Spring Out Of The Earth.” Brother V. J., for those who may not know of him, was an apostle in The Church and passed away several years ago. He wrote this book using historical records, personal testimonies and letters, church literature, and scripture to describe the events from the establishment of The Church by Jesus to the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ as we know it today.

Our lessons are concentrating on the latter part of the book and the restoration. There are many things I’m learning as I prepare each lesson that I don’t remember hearing before. I felt some of the facts would be great review questions. See how many you know already and how many are new to you.

You sometimes encounter people who are completely wrapped up in themselves. Whatever happens, their first thought is, "How does this affect me?" For example, you fall and break your leg, and the other person says, "Oh no, now I'm going to have to take you to the hospital and we're going to be there for hours and I had so much I wanted to get done tonight" — and meanwhile you're lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Or, you come home and tell your family you've lost your job, and your teenager says, "You're still buying me a new cell phone, aren't you?"

If you want to show off your vocabulary, you could call this type of person a narcissist. Or, the phrase that's often used today is, "I guess it's all about you."

One of the latest trends in society today is minimalism. The idea is that you live with only the necessities and abandon all the rest. Whether it’s clearing the clutter because it doesn’t “spark joy” or moving to a tiny house, it seems there’s always room to pare down and take the “less is more” approach.

After nine months of prayers and interviews, God provided a new job for me at a small local advertising agency. Accepting this position will be a shift for our family budget (hello minimalism!), but it will also provide more time together as a family (a big win!). Adjusting to this focus-on-frugal lifestyle will be a true lesson in trusting His plan and timing, as well as reminding ourselves that He takes care of the birds and will certainly take care of us, too.

Today's Miracle Monday, which is from Sister Cassandra Mosqueda, originally appeared in the October 2019 issue of The Gospel News as a Blessing Bit.

My son, Benjamin, has always struggled with severely sensitive skin. I have tried just about every single lotion there is on the market, it seems, and nothing has helped. It causes him a great deal of pain, and, as a mother, one of the most challenging things is to have your child in pain and not be able to do anything to soothe it.

My family knows next to nothing about gardening and landscaping. Plants need sun, water, food, and pruning to survive. That's the extent of our expertise. So, you can imagine our surprise this past summer when, after three years of living in our home, one of the smallest trees in our backyard sprouted a single, pretty pear. Prior to that, we had no idea it was a pear tree.

"By their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7:20)

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the type of tree that's recognizable to others who may not know much about God or Jesus Christ.

Quite frankly, if any of you reading this have done a deep-dive into Huldah before, then I am thoroughly impressed.

Here is a woman who played an important part in the execution of God’s plan, and yet.. how many times do we use her as an example of faith?

You can read her story in 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34, but basically, the King of Judah and the high priest come to her and ask her if the words on the scroll are true. She reads them, sharing God’s message with them, spurring them to action, and the rest is history.

It still amazes me that this GPS app on my phone knows how to direct me anywhere that I want to go. I identify my desired destination, and it maps out the best way to get there.

It wasn't that long ago that I had to rely on other sources to know the way to get somewhere. I used to keep printed maps in the glove compartment of my car, but those weren't very detailed, and they became outdated as roads changed over time. So, my preferred method for finding my way to get somewhere I hadn't previously been was to get directions from someone else who knew the way.

In 3 Nephi 14, as Jesus concludes the version of the Sermon on the Mount that He delivered to the Nephites, He addresses the two possible destinations that we are all headed to and describes the way that leads to each:

At our area camp a few weeks ago, I interviewed the following children by asking them, “What is your favorite hymn to sing at church and why?” Here are their answers.

Today's Miracle Monday is an experience about prayer that happened many years ago, submitted by Sister Janet Oestreicher.

After I had prayed one morning, I was told by a voice to “get on my knees to pray.”

I kept saying to myself, “I already prayed, and I don’t know what else I have to say.”

The voice was becoming loud and persistent to get on my knees to pray. I did and started praying that God would protect His people.

Today, we're introducing a new Good Word Friday theme: Fruitful. The next month's scriptures will focus on bearing spiritual fruit.

Those of you with green thumbs know what plants need to flourish and produce fruit. John 15:5 reveals the most important thing we need to produce: spiritual fruit. We need to abide in Christ.

"Abide" means "to continue to be in a place for a significant amount of time." (Many major translations use the word "abide." Several use "remain.")

The original version of today's article was first published on January 26, 2017.

It's October, and we're on the cusp of the "season of giving." If you're a go-getter, you may already be thinking about some of the ways you'll give back during the holidays. 

One very important way to reach out (anytime of year) is to visit the sick and afflicted. Those who are homebound or bedridden may love to see a friendly face. Some ailments can't be seen, though, and you may find God prompting you to visit someone who is spiritually struggling, grieving, or lonely.

If the idea of visiting someone makes you a little uneasy or unsure, then here is some advice for you to consider.

It happens from time to time. I'm talking to someone and their cell phone rings. After they glance at the screen to see who's calling, I get the inevitable, "Sorry, I have to take this," and the person who was talking to me is now talking to someone else.

Now, there's not necessarily anything wrong with my former conversation partner talking to whoever is calling — it could be their spouse, parent, boss, someone they've been trying to get in touch with, etc. Regardless, the point is that the person was focused on talking to me and has now chosen to turn their focus elsewhere.

Considering how automatic the above actions are for most anybody today, how would I feel if you and I were talking, and you refused to look at your phone when it rang or even went as far as turning it off so it wouldn't be a distraction? I would feel quite honored and respected that you would be willing to focus on me for that period of time.

Today we're bringing you another installment in Sister Alena's series "Women of the Bible."

Gomer’s story can be found in Hosea, and she marries Hosea only to be unfaithful to him. Thus far, I have stayed away from the “villains,” women like Jezebel or Delilah. But there’s something to Gomer that makes her different. She is no more a villain than you or I because how often are we unfaithful to God in the face of His mercy?

Hosea loves Gomer, through all of her sin and mistakes, he loves her and shows her grace upon grace.

But eventually, he gets tired and just wants to take her by the shoulders and tell her everything, but instead, he hears God tell him to love her and take her back, no matter what.

Gomer’s purpose is to show how much God loves us.

Today, instead of a typical Miracle Monday, we're bringing you a scripture study sent to us by Sister Lori Kimmel. We hope you enjoy it, whether you apply the scriptures personally or you use this as the basis for a church class or group discussion.

The topic, "Preparing for the Storm," will seem very practical to you if you live in an area that's periodically threatened by any type of natural disaster.

This study takes a real-life scenario and gives it a spiritual application. The remainder of the article is in Sister Lori's words.