First, read this quote from James Talmage’s Jesus is the Christ, which is quoted (among other places) in the Doctrines of the Gospel manual (published in 2000):

“For over seventeen hundred years on the eastern hemisphere, and for more than fourteen centuries on the western, there appears to have been silence between the heavens and the earth. Of direct revelation from God to man during this long interval, we have no authentic record.”

Then, read this quote from Elder Ballard’s 1994 General Conference talk:

When I was 14 and went to Youth Conference for the first time, our stake held a campout. It was right near the border of Illinois and Wisconsin, with lots of trees and greenery. We walked to our tents in the dark and woke up to a breakfast of an orange and nothing else, not unlike the trek experiences I’ve read about. That first afternoon, after “fasting” all day, we were told to take our scriptures and find a place to sit and read them and journal for an hour. And as orchestrated as the experience was, I remember writing in my journal that I did very much feel the Spirit that day. 

A friendly reminder about Exponent II’s Fall 2012 Political issue…we’ve also decided to extend the deadline from this Wednesday (yikes! how did that happen so fast?) to July 1st (Sunday).

Specific topics we hope people will explore include:

• How I became a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, Tea Party, Socialist, etc.
• What volunteer work do you do in the political sphere? Personal experiences of political action.
• How does your religious belief inform your political leanings? Does your Mormonism affect your party affiliation?
• For Mormons outside the US, what does Romney’s nomination mean for you? Is his religion noted in the press? How do members of your ward feel?

I’m something of a jewelry fiend. I love jewelry, and own entirely too much of it. Recently I noticed a trend; I can trace my spiritual journey through specific pieces of jewelry.

For a long time I owned and wore a ring that said “To thine own self be true.” I lost it in NYC, but it was my version of a CTR ring. For most of my life, I wanted to be a good Mormon. I struggled with the culture (growing up in Utah it was pretty prevalent) and so I wore a Shakespeare ring instead of standard CTR ring. And I had questions and concerns about various church doctrines and policies. But I wanted to do all the right things and believe the right things. So I put my struggles on a shelf and did what I was supposed to. Growing up in the church wasn’t a bad thing, but my brain is not designed to put things on shelves and leave them there. I admire those who can take things on faith; I’ve never been very good at that, so my shelf didn’t last.

Let me start with some honesty.

I volunteered to write this lesson plan because of the title. I thought it would be full of ideas of how to invite the Spirit in your life and recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

It isn’t. At least not at first.