It’s a new year. That means a lot of New Year’s resolutions are being made. And by now, over two weeks into January, that means a lot of New Year’s resolutions are already broken.

As a personal trainer, January is my busiest time of year. After eating all the sugary treats over the holidays and not moving very much, everyone vows to be healthier. Sometimes people take it seriously and really make changes, while others attempt it half-heartedly, and their effort lasts maybe a week.

This month, we're taking you back to some of our most popular Miracle Monday submissions from the past. Today's post was submitted by Sister Mary Ann Heaps and originally published on May 12, 2014. Enjoy!

I want to honor the Lord for protecting my late husband Rusty Heaps in battle during his service with the U.S. Navy during WWII.

May is a good month for me to tell this story – May 1 is “May Day” (an international stress signal), May 8 is VE Day, May 16 was Rusty’s birthdate, May 17 is Armed Forces Day and May 30 is the traditional Memorial Day.

When Rusty was in training, he left the U.S. on a large seafaring vessel that looked something like the one pictured in this article.

There's nothing scary about Friday the 13th, but there is something scary about trying to live life in your own strength and not God's. Today's Good Word reminds us to seek the Lord's will and the Lord's plan. Since we aren't perfect, we also need His strength to keep His commands, follow His path, and stay true to His word. When we do this, we are seeking His face.

Jesus. There is great power in His name. It’s something my husband and I have taught our children at a very young age. When they would wake up from a bad dream, they would come into our room crying. We taught them very young that whenever that happened, all they ever needed to do was to say Jesus’ name.

We talked about how the evil one shrinks away at the sound of His name. We wanted them to always feel the power of the Lord by knowing that they had the power given to them and could scare away the evil one. All it took was one word — Jesus. They always found such great comfort in this.

In 2 Nephi 31, Nephi makes a strong case for baptism. If you find yourself in a discussion with someone who is considering baptism — or if you’re contemplating it for yourself — here are some discussion points based on Nephi's words in this chapter:

This article is Part 4 of Sister Natalie Shawver's series “Born and Raised”…Or Not.

Gaining approval from our families is one of the most important things we can hope for, isn’t it? We hope they give their blessing for numerous milestones in our lives — our choice of college, our profession, even our mate. And, in some instances, gaining their blessing for our religious belief is among the list — especially for those who didn’t grow up in The Church of Jesus Christ.

For the month of January, we're featuring some of our most popular Miracle Monday posts from the past. If you're new to the blog or missed these somehow, then we hope you enjoy these re-posts. Today's article is from Sept. 16, 2014, and it's a testimony submitted by Brother Jerry Valenti. 

In my 28 years in the ministry, it had never happened to me ... until Sunday, July 27, 2014. On that day, I stepped up to the sacrament table and poured the wine into the glasses as I have done on so many occasions.

This Sunday, as I moved the glasses into position on the table, one of them suddenly tipped right over, banging loudly against the table and spilling the wine across the white cloths. It was dripping off the sides of the table and onto the rug.

Today's Good Word is a reminder from Wednesday's article. As we close the chapter on the first full week of 2017, we encourage you to think about who you can share your testimony with this year.

With the New Year here, I started thinking about resolutions. We've all made them before, right? Once the holidays are over, I'm going to… (insert change here).

It's normal to reevaluate life at this time of year and decide to make some changes where necessary. It seems like the most popular one is to lose weight, eat better, or work out more.

Hence the reason why gym companies love the New Year.

If you are a gym member, then you know how busy the first two weeks of January are. By February, however, attendance starts to fall off rapidly. By March, you're pretty much back to where it was in December minus the few who decided to stick with the lifestyle change.

Since the House of Israel was given the first opportunity to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, there were many Israelites in those early days who thought it was only for them or that they were somehow special to God or even privileged because of the family they belonged to. After all, they were the “covenant people”! Nephi sought to squash this notion in 2 Nephi 30, describing who the real covenant people are:

"For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel." (2 Nephi 30:2)

This had to be quite an eye opener, that the only factor that mattered was belief on the Lord Jesus Christ and that those who believed — regardless of heritage — would be part of the family of God and those who did not believe — again, regardless of heritage — would be on the outside.

Since — finally and miraculously — having a baby in June 2016, I now realize just how much being a spiritual baby is like being an actual baby. (When I say "spiritual baby," I mean someone who is just beginning to understand Jesus Christ and what it means to follow Him.) There are some interesting parallels.

My 1.5-year-old son, Henry, is a totally normal kid, but, like all toddlers, he's needy. He can't get food out of the fridge and prepare it for himself. He can't decide what he's going to wear in the morning. He can't clip his own nails.

Right now, Henry needs my husband and me to give him a helping hand in almost every aspect of life. And we'd never dream of not taking care of him. (It's our joy.)

Dear readers,

As we embark upon 2017, we are so thankful to the Lord for sustaining our little efforts here on the Gospel Blog and for giving us a supportive community of readers — you! It's our hope and prayer that these daily thoughts and inspirations will draw you closer to Jesus Christ, even while there are so many other things competing for your attention.

2017 is looming large, and chances are you're taking stock of some things in your personal life that may need changing. So many of us think about our health, finances, and relationships. 

“And it mattereth not to me that I am particular to give a full account of all the things of my father, for they cannot be written upon these plates, for I desire the room that I may write of the things of God.” (1 Nephi 6:3)

Nephi, being entrusted and commanded by the Lord to keep a record of his proceedings, labored diligently that the space allotted to him might be filled with the things of God. A few verses later, he expresses the reach of this priority as he commands his seed also that they “shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men” (1 Nephi 6:6).

With 2017 just days away, these passages struck me as I contemplated my transition into a new year. Beyond the resolution clichés that surround us, there is greater depth to contemplate as members of the Gospel. It is well placed that we survey our life and heart in the sight of God, often leaving us filled with gratitude for Him and a renewed desire to serve Him in spirit and truth.

What do the following books have in common?

• “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” by Agatha Christie
• “A Time to Kill” by John Grisham
• “Carrie” by Stephen King
• “Alex Cross” by James Patterson