Last updated on January 26th, 2025 at 10:09 pm
January 19, 2025
Here is the best thing I heard (What?), saw (Eye.), and read (Read.) this week, as well as the best idea (💡) I developed.
What?
Saints Podcast | S4 Episode 11: Newfound Religious Freedom in Czechoslovakia:
- [Olga Kovářová Campora] “I translated the words of President Monson. He said: ‘You will be surprised what kind of marvelous changes will take place in your country in the next three or four years. It will come a time that also here in this place the church is going to be existing freely, and your membership will be recognized by the government of this country. When this time will come, you will remember my words, and you will know what Brother Monson meant.’
“So, that’s my rough translation into English. I had these goosebumps because I was there. I was in that meeting. It was 1985, and the Velvet Revolution happened in 1989. And he said in 1985 that not only that will happen, but he was very specific ‘in the next three or four years.’ And sure enough, it happened in 1989, so in four years. That’s something that was marvelous. So that was my first meeting with President Monson.
“I think my first meeting really with the living prophet was when I first came to the United States for a general conference, and I saw President Benson. I was in the audience in the old Tabernacle at that time, and I saw him walking, and I felt something that I have never felt before, and it was the amount of heavenly love that was really radiating from this man. I mean, he was really far away, I was somewhere in the middle of the old Tabernacle, in one of those benches, but I saw him and I just felt the love that this man has for everyone. And it was a life-changing experience to me. It transformed my life.”
Eye.
Jesus Christ Appears in the Ancient Americas | 3 Nephi 8–11:
- After watching this First Vision video as a family as part of Come, Follow Me, my three-year-old daughter, Reggie, said she wanted to watch “the storm video.” We’ve learned that this means that she wants to watch the Book of Mormon video depicting the storms that indicated the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. However, Reggie doesn’t just want to watch the storms, she wants to watch all the way to the end of the video. This means we were able to watch again a depiction of the Resurrected Savior descending from heaven, many individuals coming forth and feeling the marks in His hands, feet, and side, and the group declaring as one: “Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God!” (3 Nephi 11:17) Without fail, I have cried every single time I’ve watched this video. I know that the Resurrected Savior appeared to that group of people.
Read.
- “Many lives have been blessed through the program in the past two decades, including those of Scott and Melissa Harker.
“Scott Harker is currently the bishop of the Coaldale Ward in the Taber Alberta Stake, in southern Alberta, Canada, but just five years ago, he was struggling with a pornography addiction.
“Melissa Harker started attending a spouse and family support group as a way to motivate her husband to attend the addiction recovery program for himself. When he did finally attend that first meeting, it was a humbling experience. …
“As Scott Harker went through the 12 steps, the Spirit would constantly reassure his wife. She said the experience not only helped her husband but helped her experience the Savior’s healing power. …
“Because of his own journey, Scott Harker said he is now able to help others take advantage of Healing through the Savior: The Addiction Recovery Program.” - For those of us who grew up thinking Church leaders were perfect, or at least very above average, this article was refreshing. No matter our past sins, Jesus Christ can heal us and help us start down a new path.
💡
Two weeks ago (see my January 5, 2025, What? Eye. Read. 💡 Newsletter), I had the idea to organize annual family reunions with both my dad’s side of the family and my mom’s side of the family. This week, I had another idea associated with these annual family reunions.
- In advance of these reunions, have each family prepare a write up (no more than a page) of their family’s prior year highlights. These highlights would then be compiled into a book that would be shared at the reunion (either in hard copy or in PDF format). Also, at the reunions, we would participate in activities or games that would require attendees to mingle with family members with whom they might not usually interact.