Today is a special day for several people throughout the country. Ten men and women went into the waters of regeneration and gave their lives to Christ on this day in 1993 — two in Monongahela, PA, one in Lorain, OH, and seven in Palm Harbor, FL. Nine were young people, and one was young at heart. Some were born and raised in the church while others were not; regardless, each answered the same call.

This article is Part 3 of Sister Michelle Watson's series "Dealing With Divine Delays."

Everyone knows that there are certain spiritual gifts you can't earn. For example, you can't merit more of God's love by being an A+ Christian. You also can't get into heaven by impressing God with all of the good deeds you performed in life. As a young woman in my late 20s and early 30s, I knew this.

But ... I still kind of wanted to believe that if I was a really, really good girl and did everything I was supposed to, then God would reward me for my faithfulness and give me everything I asked for.

Realizing the error of this mindset took me a long time, and it was a hard thump when I hit the ground.

Before you read this blog, you’ll have to read Isaiah 58:5-12. (I promise, that’s your only pre-requisite). I’ll give you a few minutes to do that ...

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OK?

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All right! Now that we’re all on the same page, let me lend you some aid if you’re struggling like I usually do with the words of Isaiah.

I want to first preface that in The Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 23:1, Christ gives us a commandment that we should “search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.” The Hebrew translation of the word search means to ascertain, examine, investigate, and ponder. So, let us search the words of Isaiah.

If I had to choose my biggest pet peeve, it would have to be being the victim of a false accusation. Hearing allegations such as “Zarella left the cap off the toothpaste tube," "Zarella didn't change the toilet paper roll,” or, worse, “Zarella ate the last cookie!” really grinds my gears. Although that last one may be true, my point is that false accusations and false witnessing is not a fair game.

It has been almost two months since we commemorated Resurrection Sunday, but what has stuck with me since has been the role played by the guards of the tomb. These guards witnessed the most amazing and powerful event in the history of the world, yet for a sum of money, they became terrible false witnesses.

Today's article is another installment in Brother P.'s column, "Lessons From the Nursing Home."

My job is walking the residents of a nursing home, and sometimes they just don’t want to walk — or even get out of bed for that matter. Sometimes their resistance is due to pain or fear of the struggle that they might have to go through when standing and walking. Sometimes it's because they don’t know me. So, my job changes from being a people walker to being a people encourager, educator, annoyer, cheerleader ... whatever seems to work at the time.

Bully: “Hey, little Chinese girl, whatchya doing?

Target: (gets book knocked out of her hand by bully, and she is startled)

Bully: Konichiwa

Target: (Looks bully in the eye) That's not Chinese; it's Japanese.

Bully: (Gets frustrated and walks away)

This scenario is real, and unfortunately it happened to one of my daughters while she was waiting for me to pick her up from school one day. Under all the auspices of the definition, in simple terms, she was bullied.

Most mornings, I find myself in front of a mirror trying to fix stray locks of hair and adjusting an outfit that hopefully coordinates and appears modestly fashionable. All said and done, things typically come together quickly, and I go away feeling confident in the girl staring back at me. Yet, there are other times when I struggle and am less satisfied by what I see. Those locks of hair can be very ornery, my wardrobe not quite right or to my liking. In those instances, thank goodness for hairspray and a quick change of clothes ... or two ... or three ...

While a mirror allows me to peer at my outward appearance, the word of God serves as the mirror through which I gaze inwardly — in depth and with honesty. Sometimes, I become very engrossed, reading swiftly and coming away feeling confident that I am who the word of God says I should be. But other times, His word stops me in my tracks, puts me in my place, and reminds me just how far away I am from being who God wants me to be. In those instances, reading is not always easy. It takes more time and effort to absorb the content and full meaning. Sometimes, it drives me to my knees before the Lord, realizing that change is necessary and must be faced.

My blog articles are usually about how physical fitness relates to spiritual health, so I apologize for the change in topic with this post. I had been praying about what to write, and God told me to write this.

Last week, my husband and I made the very difficult decision to put down our dog, Milo. Due to circumstance, we have to wait a certain period of time before it can happen. But, by the time this post goes out, Milo will already be in doggy heaven. Physically, Milo is in good health and could have had a long life; however, he mentally has some issues, which at 85 pounds, can be very dangerous.

Do you remember being a kid and your parents telling you never to take candy from strangers? I do. Wouldn’t you feel uncomfortable if you were at the store, and a stranger came over to you and gave you a piece of candy? What if he or she said, “Here. Take this piece of candy and eat it ... It's really good, I promise.” Would you take it?! Umm ... probably not.

So, why do we take candy from the evil one sometimes? He sugarcoats things in our lives every day. He’s the master candy maker. The one who dangles things in front of us, begging us to take just one bite. He makes it look really good, too. He even custom designs it to fit exactly what he thinks will catch our eye. He lives to tempt and destroy us.

In honor of Mother's Day this past weekend, the following is a hypothetical letter home to mom from one of Helaman's 2,000 stripling soldiers.

Dear Mom,

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you, Dad, and the family are doing alright. We had one of the toughest battles today. Out of the 2,000 that left Jershon with Helaman, 200 were wounded today. But, by the grace of God, none of us died in battle, and we won the day.

This article is Part 2 of Sister Michelle Watson's series "Dealing With Divine Delays."

In my last article, I wrote about how my husband, Brother Michael, and I wanted to have a baby, but it just wasn't happening. It took us over a year to tell anyone about our problem or ask for prayer. After we did that, I thought, "OK, we've got tons of people praying on this ... it's going to happen! It's got to!"

But it didn't. Being a good church girl, I turned to scripture for answers — and, of course, solutions.

I read this passage, Matthew 7:7-11, one I'd read many times before:

Last October, in the heat of a really heavy school semester, I fell into what I labeled one of the hardest points in my life to date. With a quarter of my senior year of college finished, I was under the most stress I had ever faced since I walked onto campus back in August of my freshman year.

I was at a point where I was so lost and low that I couldn’t even pray for myself. I remember posting on the Facebook page for my seminar group from GMBA camp, asking my friends to pray for me, and the support I got from everyone was unbelievable and incredible.

It’s amazing what power giving something a name has.

Within the Word of God, the account of the ministry of Jesus Christ paints a brilliant picture of deliverance, miracles, healings, and glorious power unparalleled.

How marvelous would it be to know someone who is born blind and see him receive sight? How miraculous to feed 5,000 people out of one pot? How magnificent to see a soul delivered from demonic possession? How powerful to see a storm rebuked? How wonderful to witness the lame walk, the deaf hear, cancer cleansed, the dead raised?

"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 3: 8-12)

“Stick ‘em up!” You hold out your first finger on your hand with your thumb pointed to the sky. Standing directly in front of you is your best friend. He immediately puts his hands in the air and proceeds to empty a pretend safe or treasure box or surrender some prize to you. As you begin to walk away, his hand comes down in the same configuration. Suddenly, you are engaged in a deadly battle around your yard or house or playground.

Q: This struggle is truly tough to deal with; what can I do to overcome it?

A: Just pray about it

Q: I’ve felt so lonely and depressed; how long will I feel like this?

A: God never leaves you alone.

Have you ever found yourself on the giving or receiving end of “Sunday school answers"?