Today's Topic

Strength

Today's Scripture

Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

A Different Kind of Weather Forecast

On Wednesday, several souls came to Christ and requested baptism! We will have full details for you tomorrow, but we'd like to share one remarkable testimony with you right now.

Early Wednesday morning, around 4 a.m., some campers — the lighter sleepers, maybe —awoke to loud peals of thunder and several cracks of lightning. This wasn't the soft thunder you hear on those "relaxing atmosphere" CDs. This was enough to wake me, Sister Michelle, the writer, from sleep. Now, if you've been paying attention to the weather report the last few days, it's been super hot with no rain. There's been some cloud cover, but summer monsoons aren't really a thing in this part of California.

Today's Topic

Peace

Today's Scripture

Philippians 4:7: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Memorable Quotes

"We're in the Peace Family."

In his chapel address, Brother Jerry Valenti explained that we're in the Peace Family. The head of the family is God and His Son Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. If we are peacemakers, as God teaches us to be, then we will be called the children of God, as it says in the Beattitudes (Matt. 5:9). When we're angry with our brothers or sisters and the other people in our lives — or even when we get angry due to trivial matters and inconveniences — that robs our peace. Let's not open our hearts to anger but instead focus wholly on God and experience the peace He wants for us.

Today's article comes to you from GMBA Camp at the University of Redlands, California. The theme for the week is "Peace, Joy, and Strength in Righteousness."

The whole week is geared toward unpacking the overall theme, but each day has a specific focus within the theme. The seminars and speakers all tie things back to that day's topic.

We're going to give you a snapshot of what each day held for the campers, from the daily topic to inspirational quotes from the speakers to some fun facts and photos. We hope this helps you feel like you're here experiecing it with us to some degree!

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

So, this very friendly, well-meaning but clueless resident of the nursing home where I work comes into our office saying that she felt bad for the man who did not go to the dining room for meals with all the other residents — the man is fed via a tube placed directly into his stomach.

I love to hike. The definition of hiking, according to dictionary.com, means "to walk or march a great distance, especially through rural areas, for pleasure, exercise, military training, or the like."

While visiting with family last weekend, a cousin told me I was crazy for enjoying hiking. She asked me what was the point of hiking since you don't actually go anywhere. A few days after that conversation, I went on a hike by myself. This hike didn't take me to the top of a mountain. Rather, it was an 8-mile loop through a variety of terrain, going down, then back up, then down, and ending with an incline. Because it's still early in the summer, everything is lush and green here, which will not last long. There were wildflowers starting to bloom. It was beautiful!

We continue to delve into the GMBA campout theme, "Are You IN?" Our Wednesday seminars focused on the subtopic: "All In." This topic is based on Mosiah 18:8:

"And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light."

We hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July yesterday! Today, we're continuing campiversary with more from GMBA Campout at Cal U of PA.

The topic for Tuesday's camp seminars was "In the Fold." This topic is based on the parable of the lost sheep that were found in Luke 15:4-7. Verse 4 states, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"

We've got an exciting surprise for you, Gospel Blog readers. This week is GMBA Campout held at California University of Pennsylvania, and our very own columnist, Sister Linda Scolaro, has volunteered to bring a little bit of the camp to us here on the blog by sharing stories, testimonies, and thoughts from her fellow campers.

The seminar theme for the week is "In Him," and it's broken down into four daily topics:

Monday: Building in Him

Tuesday: In the Fold

Wednesday: All In

Thursday: Confidently in Him

This article is Part 6 of Sister Natalie Shawver's series “Born and Raised”...Or Not.

One of the beauties of The Church of Jesus Christ is that there is no wrong testimony and there’s no wrong way to meet the Lord. He looks at us each individually — giving a specific gift to one and a specific gift to another. He uses us just as He wants to, always reminding us that we are merely but a lump of clay in His perfect potter’s hands.

Over the past several months, we’ve heard from various brothers and sisters across The Church who shared the impact The Church of Jesus Christ made on them. As one of the Songs of Zion says, their lives were “changed completely in a moment.” They were on a road headed in one direction and the Gospel persuaded them to change their course.

This article is Part 6 of Sister Natalie Shawver's series “Born and Raised”…Or Not.

Sister Wendy Giannetti was only 17 years old when she first walked into The Church of Jesus Christ. Sister Brianne Gehly? A year younger. Brothers Bob Batson and Frank Natoli were 18 and 19, respectively.

Although these handful of saints met our beloved gem in their teens, we hear of others meeting the church at any age — there’s no wrong time to learn about the Gospel.

To recap, during my last few blog articles, I have written about the fruit of the spirit that are integral characteristics of the godly women that the scripture portrays. I've discussed

• Hannah (longsuffering)
• Jochebed, Miriam, Pharoah’s daughter (gentleness)
• Mary the mother of Jesus (joy)

Galatians 5:22-23 defines the fruit of the spirit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.“

This article is Part 5 of Sister Natalie Shawver's series “Born and Raised”…Or Not.

It’s been said that the Lord can come into our lives like a rushing, mighty wind. We may not be expecting it, but He touches each of us in just the way we need — and sometimes, to the surprise of those around us.

Take, for example, Brother Bob Batson, Cincinnati-Morrow Mission, Ohio.

After attending the Niles, Ohio Branch in 1978 with his girlfriend, Sister Ruth Genaro, Brother Bob decided to take Sister Ruth up on her invitation to visit the Lorain Branch with her family.

Today's article is Part 5 of a five-part series provided by the General Church Finance Committee on finances and faith.

My parents always taught me to give regular donations to the church, so when I graduated from school and got my first full-time job, I selected an amount and began giving that amount to the church each month. This was before the days of “percentage giving,” so my monthly amount stayed pretty much the same for quite a few years, even though my income increased during that time.

Today's article is Part 4 of a five-part series from the General Church Finance Committee on finances and faith.

In the parable of the talents, Christ describes a man who gives money to his three servants to keep for him as he travels (Matt. 25:14-28). Upon the man’s return, he finds that two of the servants put the money to work and doubled the amount, but the other servant only had the original amount to return and was punished greatly.

Today's article is Part 3 of a five-part series provided by the General Church Finance Committee on finances and faith.

Like Nephi, I was born of goodly parents. I was raised in The Church and have many blessed memories. I remember the old brothers preaching about the duty of members to donate financially to The Church and how God would reward them. The term “tithing” was mentioned often, and the “ten percent” really stood out.