Have you ever had a time in your life where it felt like you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders? Recently I experienced a time like this. I felt like I was Atlas from Greek mythology. He's the man who you always see literally carrying the world on his back. Every day between Thanksgiving and our Christmas vacation seemed to add another burden or worry. The scriptures are clear — the Lord doesn't want us to carry burdens ourselves.

He wants us to help each other...

This article is the final chapter of Sister Michelle Watson's series "Dealing With Divine Delays."

In 2017, I focused the majority of my articles on the topic of divine delays, and I shared with you how the Lord carried my husband and me through a period of infertility when we wanted a baby but couldn't have one.

Today, we're bringing you another article in a series on the topic of meekness by an "Original Atlantic Coast member." Enjoy!

Understanding why things are the way they are in our lives — on a deep level — is very beneficial for our overall contentment. Continually comparing ourselves with others, asking, “Why don’t I have that perfect relationship or that perfect job (or whatever else we are desiring)?” is the biggest injustice that we can do to ourselves.

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

Hello. My job is to help people who are in a nursing home return home or at least become more independent in functioning. Often, in order to get them moving, I ask them permission to take them on a walk. Most often they are agreeable, but sometimes they just don’t want to walk.

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to prayer. If there's one thing to commit to in the New Year, it's tough to top prayer. Today's article was originally published on Aug. 21, 2012.

When I was little, I always believed you had to say a prayer out loud in order for God to hear you. When I would sit at the dinner table with my parents, we’d say our prayers out loud before we ate our food. When I would listen to brothers and sisters pray in church, it was always out loud. Even in movies when someone needed help, the actor or actress would kneel down and talk to God audibly.

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to prayer. If there's one thing to commit to in the New Year, it's tough to top prayer. Today's article was originally published on Sept. 8, 2015.

My husband, Michael, had been ordained an elder for approximately a year when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. At about 3 a.m. one Saturday night, I began having severe pain and woke Michael to anoint me.

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to prayer. If there's one thing to commit to in the New Year, it's tough to top prayer. Today's article was originally published on July 15 and 16, 2015.

I've begun to realize that my prayers have a tendency to be driven by my worries. "Dear Lord, please help me so I don't _____," and "Dear God, I worry ____ in my life won't work out."

I know I'm supposed to be a prayer warrior, but sometimes I find that I'm more of a "prayer worrier."

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to prayer. If there's one thing to commit to in the New Year, it's tough to top prayer. Today's article was originally published on April 18, 2012.

An uncomfortable question, maybe? If so, hang in there with me! Take a minute, and think about the following questions:

• What is prayer?
• Is it a monologue or dialogue?
• Why is it important?

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to forgiveness. We hope this theme resonates with you as we start a new year. Today's article was originally published on Aug. 15, 2013.

How often do you use the delete button when typing on the computer or texting on your phone? Whether it’s because you made a spelling error or decided to word things differently, it’s as easy as hitting a button. How many times do you wish you could delete hurtful moments in life, moments you said the wrong thing to someone or you gave into temptation?

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to forgiveness. We hope this theme resonates with you as we start a new year. Today's article was originally published on May 6, 2014.

"Mommmm! Tommy cut all my doll's hair off!"

"Tommy! That's not nice! Say you're sorry."

(Giggling and mischievous) "Sorry."

"Mom, he's NOT sorry."

"Tommy, say you're sorry again — and mean it."

(With eyes rolled and arms crossed) "Sorry, Alice."

"Alice, now you accept his apology."

(With gritted teeth and evil eye) "I accept, I guess."

"Now you two play nice. I don't want to hear any more fighting."

Does this scenario sound familiar?

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to forgiveness. We hope this theme resonates with you as we start a new year. Today's article was originally published on Jan. 22, 2014.

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel: 36:36)

In yesterday's blog post, we saw how this verse epitomizes what happened to a man's heart when he prayed for the ability to forgive a person who caused immeasurable pain in his life.

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to the New Year — new beginnings, fresh starts. Today's article was originally published on Jan. 21, 2015.

"Dieting" is the key word today, along with "better nutrition," "watch the fats," "lowering our cholesterol," and "exercise." This is very good advice for healthier living. And we need to keep this in check. But I would like to talk about a different diet, one that is also necessary for a healthy and long life.

This is our spiritual diet, or S-diet.

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to the New Year — new beginnings, fresh starts. Today's article was originally published on Jan. 2, 2013.

I am not a mechanic. So when I took my car to the automobile shop to get new tires, I assumed they would do everything correctly. But my father is a fantastic mechanic, and he came with me to get new tires because he assumes there’s a good chance the mechanics’ work won’t be up to his standards.

So when my car was finished in the shop, it was time for the real inspection to begin. As Dad walked around my Honda to check the new tires, he immediately pointed to the front left tire and said, “That was put on backwards,” and then he pointed to the back left tire and said, “That’s not balanced correctly.” So the mechanics got back to work and fixed their errors.

This week, we're featuring a series of blog articles that all relate to the New Year — new beginnings, fresh starts. Today's article was originally published on Jan. 10, 2013.

My husband decided to clean out our basement. In doing so, he noticed many items we no longer used that were just taking up space, causing clutter. A lot of it was old clothing that we used to wear at one point in our younger days, worn out shoes that no longer fit, furniture that no longer had its shine, and our children’s baby items and toys they eventually outgrew. Some of our belongings brought back precious memories, and some brought back “not so pleasant” thoughts.

As our Gospel Blog writers enjoy a few weeks of well-deserved vacation, we’re going to devote the next three weeks to some articles from our archives which focus on three different themes. This week’s articles will focus on the New Year, next week’s articles will be on forgiveness, and the following week will be about prayer. Today's article was originally published on Jan. 8, 2014.

At New Year's, we often evaluate ourselves based on how many pounds we weigh, how much money we make, our marital status, or the possessions we own. What if our biggest priority was to evaluate ourselves based on our relationships with other people?

In 3 Nephi 11:30, Jesus says, "Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away."