I’ll bet most people never heard of Carbondale, Illinois, until August 21 when the Great American Eclipse passed over the U.S. Carbondale just so happened to be the closest city to the point of longest duration of totality, and I just so happened to be in the city to witness it myself. An estimated quarter of a million people flocked to the small Illinois town to spend the weekend on Southern Illinois University’s campus to watch the amazing phenomenon.

A total solar eclipse is when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, and its shadow completely covers the sun, temporarily blocking its light. On August 21, I sat in a stadium with 14,000 people waiting to watch the eclipse — with our eclipse-approved glasses, of course. Around 11:52 a.m., the moon started to pass in front of the sun. Totality wasn’t reached until about 1:20 p.m.

Today's article is from the September 2016 newsletter from the Student Support Program, and it was written by the Gospel Blog's very own Sister Zarella Mosqueda.

I recently found myself sitting in a nail salon eagerly waiting my turn to receive my mani-pedi. I looked down at my fingernails and, in an odd moment of mindfulness, I began to meditate on my fingernails!

Recently one morning, I had just put the coffee on when I looked down and there they were ... some pesky little ants. I had noticed them off and on over the past several months, but we were living on the go with little time to pay much attention except to minimally treat where we thought they might be coming from.

Put off by the disruption to my quiet time, I got down to clean them up when I noticed a few more just around the corner. A quick flip of the light switch was all it took to discover that we had officially been invaded! Ants completely covered an area of my floor where it made absolutely no sense for them to be. YUCK!!! So much for Brother Joel getting anymore sleep!

One of the administrators of the school district where I was recently employed is famous for saying, “Every day is a holiday” when he extends a greeting. The first time I met him he said this, and I thought, “Wow, sheer optimism.” Recently, at a back-to-school rally for teachers, he greeted the staff with “Every day is a holiday, and every meal is a feast.” That was a new twist, I thought. Then, I began to ponder a spiritual application to this saying.

I don’t know about you, but for me when it is a holiday, I get super excited about having a day off from work, especially when the holiday falls on a Monday. It gives me a break in my hectic routine and extra time to complete things I need to get done on the weekend. I sleep better just knowing I have the next day off.

What things help you feel refreshed with the Lord? For me, there’s just something about being surrounded by nature that is spiritually refreshing.

We live in the country, and I love being outside. It’s peaceful — the birds are chirping and the bugs are buzzing. I love walking around our property and seeing deer, rabbits, and peaches ripening on our tree. I enjoy smelling the flowers as we walk past them, hearing the woodpecker knocking and the cows across the road, seeing the butterflies our daughter catches...

June 5, 2017 was a memorable day for our family. We welcomed our son, Graham Thomas Shawver, into this world after nearly 42 weeks in my belly. If there’s one thing I am certain of after giving birth, it’s that God certainly is still in the miracle business.

Since becoming a new mom, I’ve learned several lessons that seem quite familiar to things I’ve heard in church and that serve as great reminders as I go about my days with a newborn.

As I write this, my family and I are on our first vacation to Disney World. For those who have been here, you know that the staff members will go out of their way to ensure that you have the best experience possible. The nickname for the park is The Happiest Place on Earth.

But, is it really?

This article is Part 5 of Sister Michelle Watson's series "Dealing With Divine Delays," chronicling the lessons she learned during a time of infertility.

"Should I wait on God to tell me what to do, or should I step out on faith and take action?"

Have you ever asked yourself this question? You're seeking God's direction about a big decision or which fork in the road to take. It's not really a choice between something sinful vs. not sinful — that would be easier. These decisions aren't clear-cut.

This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend another GMBA campout. Camp is the one week I look forward to every year, and it is the one week I assume I will be getting no sleep! The theme this year was "in." We spent the week discussing what it meant to build in Him, to be all in, to be in the fold, and to be confident in Him.

On the first day of seminars, the leaders posed a question to my group, the 20 to 25 year olds. They asked us, "If you were to die tomorrow, do you think you'd be in?" Since it was the first day of class, we hadn't really dove into the topic of being in, but we all gathered they meant if you died, would you go to Heaven. I squirmed a little bit in my seat, the question making me uncomfortable as we sat and waited to see how people would answer.

Our present-day world is filled with division and strife, malice and hatred, lying and dishonesty, immorality and shamelessness — a lost world of uncertainty such as we have never experienced.

The perplexity of this present day filters down into our individual lives, bringing storms of problems, fear, anxiety, doubt, confusion ... We are tossed to and fro in an ever-changing world with little or no relief on the horizon of time.

Today, we'd like to call attention to a recent article published by the Student Support Program (SSP). It's titled "Unapologetic Belief" and written by the Gospel Blog's very own Brother Jordan Champine.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

As a follow-up to my article titled “The Sunday School Answer,” I decided to seek some Sunday school answers myself. I decided to ask a handful of seasoned saints from my branch a simple question: How do I keep my faith strong? I set the scene by asking them if somebody of any age approached them with this question, how would they respond? I even dared to ask them a follow-up: Why?

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

My job mainly consists of getting the residents in a nursing home up and walking. A part of my job that I find particularly challenging is the situation in which someone has the ability to easily get up and walk, but he just doesn’t want to. (In contrast to the guy who has two broken legs and two broken arms and is recovering from a heart attack and a stroke, and all he wants to do is work hard so that he can walk.)

Have you ever driven behind a garbage truck and caught a whiff of what’s inside? How about on a hot, summer day while your windows are open?! Pretty gross, huh? I have been blessed with a heightened sense of smell. Sometimes, that’s a good thing. And other times, not so much.

If sin had a scent, don’t you think it would be pretty awful? It would be the most horrible, rotting smell imaginable ... like death. A smell that would leave such a lasting impression that we wouldn’t ever want to revisit it.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life,” Proverbs 4:23. As the treasure box of our soul, we find within our heart all the precious sentiments and beliefs we value and hold dear. Just as with the physical heart, the spiritual heart is vital to our growth and well-being. We must do all we can to keep it “with all diligence,” as spoken by Solomon through his God-given wisdom (1 Kings 3:12, 4:29-31). Yet, this diligence is only preserving if we fully understand God’s intent for how our heart is meant to function.

Jesus says, "For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil...” (Luke 6:44-45).