Light and Truth

 Throughout my life I have found that often times the most memorable revelation from God comes during the most trying times. The three months marking the turn of the year 2020 to 2021 were certainly such a time for me, and likely everyone in the world. The United States of America particularly was in the midst of multiple memorable difficulties. The COVID-19 pandemic, and all of its associated social and political chaos, was at a rising height throughout November, December, and January. The presidential election had resulted in so much contention and misinformation from both sides that it was nearly impossible to discern the truth of the matter. Despite the prophetic call for greater unity and cooperation in October 2020, divisions only deepened in almost every possible way throughout society. And mobs had ransacked entire cities earlier in the summer, and the U.S. capitol building at the beginning of January. It did not take much thinking to know that all of these were paths towar...

In December 2013, I returned home after serving full-time as a missionary in New York for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly two years. Having served to the best of my ability, I stepped off the plane flight with many new lessons learned through experiences that were (at least to me) clearly orchestrated by the Lord. One of these lessons was, of course, the priceless value of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Prior to missionary service, the continual presence of the Gospel led me to deem it as normal and ordinary rather than of value beyond description. But by seeing, as a missionary, first hand accounts of so many individuals finding joy and purpose in life by coming to a true knowledge of their Savior, all of that permanently changed. Another big take-home lesson for me was that there is no such thing as a convenient conversion. I learned this through seeing the life-changing experiences of so many people, which were always accompanied with great sacrifices and c...