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A few years ago my family and I lived in Colorado. I had some friends who were humanitarians in Jordan and wanted to help Iraqi refuges living there. These people have escaped from Iraq and would not go back. Because they are refugees they cannot find work. They also live in camps with tents as their homes. I saw pictures of their lifestyle and was touched by one photo of a little girl. She looked just like someone my oldest daughter would play with. and yet she lived in almost unimaginable poverty. I did not know what I could do. Then 9/11 hit, and the people from Iraq were in great need. I kept thinking of what I could do, so I simply prayed for them.

A few weeks later, as a family, we visited the Humanitarian Center and Welfare Square in Utah. It was there that I learned that our Church sent food, clothing, and medical supplies to people all over the world for humanitarian purposes. I learned they also work through other churches for the same purpose of relieving hardship.

Upon returning home I prayed again to learn what we could do in Colorado to help these people. Then one morning I awoke at 3:00 a.m. and wrote a letter to the appropriate person to get a 40 ton shipment full of needed supplies to families I would never meet. I thought it was a long-shot, but a worthy cause. After many attempts to get a response nothing had happened. After six months my friends received the business licenses they needed to receive humanitarian shipments and filled out the appropriate papers. Again, nothing happened for a long time. I called two missionaries in Jordan to help us with the shipment. Finally, after almost of year, we were informed that a 40 ton shipment of school supplies, medical supplies, hygiene kits and clothing would be sent.

After sharing the news with my dear friends, we prayed and hugged each other. Although I will never meet any of the families, that shipment helped my friends were there. They were able to help people in a war in Iraq with some desperately needed supplies. Years later, my friends have shared how they still see bags sent from our Church for school supplies around the area. In this example, the Unconquerable Spirit is demonstrated through a combined effort of many people. The deep gratitude of those receiving basic supplies touched us all. In Mosiah 2:17 is states “when ye are in service of fellow beings, ye are in service of God.” I found this experience amazing because of how little time all of us really spent getting approved. Although much time passed, there was not a lot of effort. I wonder what kind of difference we could make if we all made a phone call or visited those in need.

There is much being written out on the ‘net about Mormons. Every so often, we’ll search the web for a few stories posted by Latter-day Saint bloggers that we think you may enjoy, with links to the entries themselves.

Here are some stories from out in the blogs that we found fun and enlightening.

1–Where is the Altar?

When Adam left the Garden, he built an altar.  Abraham made an altar where he almost sacrificed Isaac.  When Lehi and his family camped in the wilderness, he built an altar.  In our temples we kneel at sacred altars to make covenants.

So, then, if our homes are sacred, and like temples, where is the sacred altars of our homes?  This is answered poetically in “The Sacred Altar of the Home” by Momza at Mormonmommybloggers.

2–Hmmm…  It doesn’t SMELL like fish…

OK, here’s a party treat that is just so original, it has to be announced.  The world must know.  For those that don’t like a slice of raw tuna on rice wrapped in seaweed, or for those that can’t handle crab and cream cheese sprinkled with fish eggs, here you go.

Candy and Rice Crispy Treat Sushi!  We know!  We don’t think we would have believed it either, if she hadn’t posted pictures.  Our favorite is the one with the swedish fish…

3–And now, one from a father in Zion

We all know that you can’t raise all of your kids the same way.  They’re just too unique.  It’s a trick they pull.  We think they decide to do it in the pre-existence.  They say, “I’ll set him up for this, then when he thinks he’s got it figured out, you’ll come along, we’ll pull the rug out from under him!”

So, this Mormon Dad is facing raising a young daughter after being accustomed to his other two sons.  Much silliness ensues…

The last few weeks have been filled with stories of inspiring people making a difference in the lives of people they do not know. I have been amazed at the charity people can show in times of need. Service is all around and yet sometimes many feel they do not know how they can help. I hope the stories I will share will help you to reach out and make a difference.

My daughter was invited to attend a party in which her friends were making t-shirts to sell and donate the funds to those in Haiti. At the same party, posters were made for the school to help the people of Haiti also. My daughter thought it was so wonderful to be apart of a service project that was not a part of young women’s or another organization, but rather just a group of girls trying to make a difference.

I met another woman who shared a story of how she was a refuge who had escaped from her countries oppression. They got a sponsor to help bring her family to the Utah Valley. She did not speak a word of English, they were poor and tried to learn the holidays and customs of the United States. Because of her struggle and difficulties with living in a new country, she decided to go into a job that would help people like her. She now works at a non-profit organization that feeds families, provides services for families in need and educates families on how to manage their funds to stop the cycle of poverty. She has been working in this field for 20 years.

Over Christmas break, a family decided to go to another country and help build a school. They brought their older children ranging from 9 to 13. Instead of opening presents in the comforts of their home around a Christmas tree, they were working hard at literally building a school. They were painting, cutting wood and using a hammer. They said it was a lot of work but it was the best Christmas they had ever had. Instead of receiving physical gifts, they were giving.

I share these very short versions of people making a difference to show that there is no limit to the possibilities we have to help. We do not need to be a part of an organization to make an impact. The Lord needs us to serve outside the bounds of what we do daily. We can be a voice for those in need. We can take the talents we’ve been given and use them to bless the lives of others. As written in Mosiah 2:17, “When ye are in service of fellow beings, ye are in service of God.” It is my hope that all of us can find some time is our busy schedules to lighten the load of someone in need or gather people together to make a bigger impact. No matter the size of service, the Lord needs us.

Wendy M. Johnson

How do we know when as a family we are too busy? How can we tell when our children are in too many activities? I think each family faces these questions at one time or another. When I think of answering them I think of many other questions to ask: Are my children leaving the home in the morning without a prayer? Are they going to bed without a family prayer? Are we eating dinner in the car five nights a week? I have five children and have a carpool route for each one of them. Our children have three different departure times in the morning, between 5:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Do I wake them all up at 5:30 a.m. to say a family prayer? We are still trying to figure that out.

Some of our children are in activities they love. But when these activities, combined with many children, contribute to us neglecting our family prayer and scripture reading, then we may be too busy. Family time all too often contains memories of someone missing from an activity because another activity was too important. I have mentioned before that Sundays are my favorite days. It’s a time to rest and just talk with my family. Each Sunday our family sits for a period of about 20 minutes before bedtime to say our family prayers, read the scriptures and write in our journals. I keep the journals underneath our family room table and they are easy to pull out and use. I ask my children to write about something spiritual they can think of that happened during the week. The journals, I think, will be cherished treasures.

I think at this time in life (when kids would rather text for hours, go on facebook or be at a friends house), it is so important that we as families have family meetings to set the standard for each day – including scripture study and family prayer time. I think it is important to prepare our children to be stronger then they are now, and to determine what is important to the family as a whole. May we set a time aside each day to show our children what really matters in life, and set an example of being an unconquerable spirit against those activities that take us away from spiritual family moments. As stated in The Family Proclamation, “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

A choir of LDS youth prepares for a fireside in the Ogden Tabernacle. They'll present, to a full house, the music for a new program to be performed this July, by a cast of thousands.

by Sam Payne

Some LDS parents are old enough to remember LDS dance festivals, music festivals, and even speech festivals: massive events that involved hundreds of youth in months of rehearsals and gala performances. For a whole generation, such festivals were a hallmark of an LDS youth’s experience. It’s been a long time since the church has sponsored and promoted anything like that on a large scale (with some exceptions; I remember as a youth being involved in a Stake dance festival in which I danced the polka around the high school gym with Becky Williams. I still see her folks on occasion, and no matter what station I achieve in this life, they’ll always remember me as Becky’s dance partner. Believe me, there are much worse ways to go).

But the truth is, there’s been a sort of resurgence of interest lately (perhaps beginning with the big youth celebrations in 2005 of the bicentennial of the Prophet Joseph’s birth) in involving youth in memorable (and massive) cultural events. For example, in and around Ogden, Utah, a fever is taking hold, as dozens of stakes (no kidding: dozens of stakes) prepare for a spectacular July performance in Weber State University’s Wildcat stadium. The program will feature dance, theater, and music on a massive scale, with an audience of 18,000 (and a cast of nearly that many).

Above, find a cell-phone photo of a choir assembled to present some of the program’s music to the youth who will be learning and performing it. As some of their parents (and more of their grandparents) could tell them, it’s going to be one terrific ride!

Have you ever felt a prompting to do something you had never thought of doing before? Something that would impact your whole family? One such prompting came to a woman regarding her own family. Many years ago, television stations across the country would highlight a child in need of adoption each Wednesday. Over the years I have had the pleasure of knowing a few people who exude the extraordinary trait of pure charity. One such person named Marlene saw one of these children on television and felt prompted to talk with her family about the idea of adopting a child. The whole family was supportive. She called inquiring about the child she saw and was told to find another child because of complications. Marlene was confused. After all, she did feel a prompting to present this idea to her family. During the phone conversation she was instructed if she was still interested to go down to the adoption center and to filter through a box of hundreds of papers showing children waiting for adoption. After searching for days, she finally came across the child she wanted to adopt.

Her family went through the paperwork to begin adoption. They did not hear back from anyone for weeks. When she finally called to get an update, no one had processed her papers. She was worried the child her family had been praying for would no longer be available. She sent in the paperwork again. Unexpectedly, the boy they wanted to adopt showed up on t.v., as a Wednesday’s child. She immediately called to find out why they were not notified. Again, the paperwork still had not been processed. After many family prayers and fasting the doors opened for them to meet the child and spend a day with him. They knew he was the right one and months later the adoption went through.

When asked why she felt so committed to finding a child to adopt she replied, “It was not an easy process, but I felt a prompting and followed through.” After raising him to adulthood, the family felt committed to becoming foster parents. They have opened their home to many teenagers and have blessed their lives with the gospel. Even to this day, the foster children she once watched over still visit and love her. The average foster child will live in anywhere from six to nine different homes until the age 18.

What an amazing family Marlene and her husband have developed! In Moroni 7:47 it reads, “but charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.” Marlene and her family have been able to demonstrate the unconquerable spirit through the gift of charity and change the lives of a select group of special children they felt they could truly love.

I lost contact with Luis Calleja nearly twenty years ago. But a few weeks back, he tracked me down on the Internet, and it brought on a flood of memories. Luis was a young man when I first met him – an architecture student. I was a missionary in Argentina, and Luis’ Latter-day Saint girlfriend, Ruth, had laid down the law: Luis could join the Church, or say good-bye to any chance of marrying her. We were happy to teach Luis, and he was a willing investigator. He cheerfully accepted one challenge after another, committing to baptism, the word of wisdom, the law of chastity, tithing, and on and on – with one exception. Luis refused, for one reason or another, to pray. Though we made the invitation often, he wouldn’t pray with us, and as far as we knew, he didn’t pray alone. As such (and as cheerful as Luis was about adopting the lifestyle of a Latter-day Saint), my companion and I were troubled about Luis’ progress. It seemed clear to us that he was more interested in Ruth than in the gospel. Discussions with Luis were full of good cheer and cooperation – even full of determination and commitment – but devoid, it seemed, of the Spirit.

We prayed for Luis, fasted for him, and continued teaching. But the further we went, the more frustration we felt. It seemed possible to us that Luis might very willingly be baptized, without ever having gained any sort of testimony at all. We agonized over it, and as we approached the last discussion, we made a decision: right or wrong, we were going to stop teaching Luis. We met him for the discussion ready for a difficult conversation. Without much hope, we asked Luis if he’d offer an opening prayer. Incredibly, Luis shrugged his shoulders, bowed his head, and earnestly began to pray. It would be difficult to describe what happened next. It sounds hyperbolic, but never before had I experienced or witnessed such an immediate and complete opening of the windows of heaven. The simplest way to characterize those moments, perhaps, is to say that before that prayer, Luis was a willing participant in a belief system that he didn’t subscribe to. After that prayer, Luis had a testimony. There was no doubt of that left in any of us.

Brother Luis Calleja went on to marry Ruth, and has lived for decades now in faithful church service. It was a delight to get in contact with him again. He congratulated me on my calling to our Bishopric. He was just finishing a term of service in a bishopric himself. It was (if I understood his florid Spanish correctly) his sixth.

There are, of course, many elements that come to bear in the growth of a testimony. Obedience, faith, humility, service, and study all play a part in building a vibrant relationship with the Lord. But for Luis, one thing made the difference that has changed his life: simple, fervent prayer.

President Monson speaks pointedly of the power of prayer. In October, 2006, he said the following in General Conference: “How, you may ask, can we most effectively gain and maintain the foundation needed to survive spiritually in the world in which we live? First, fortify your foundation through prayer.” In the same talk, President Monson (quoting William Cowper, the 18th century English poet) said: “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”

Let us, surely, be diligent in all the attitudes and behaviors that building a testimony requires. But let us not forget prayer. Prayer, perhaps better than anything else, is the water that sends the roots of testimony deep into a soul. It can, as we sing so often, “change the night to day.”

As Christmas is only a few days away, may we find time to reflect with our family on the birth of our Savior and His mission. I know how busy it can be with finding just that right gift, or trying to find what would be best for stocking stuffers and hoping you haven’t forgot about a neighbor or friend. Amidst this season, may we take some time, perhaps at night, and read of His birth and share the message of His life.

As I reflect on his long awaited and tender birth I cannot help but think about His example and mission: to heal those that suffer and help us to return to Heavenly Father. I am reminded how even little children can be an example in their own family lives. A dear young primary girl was going through a difficult time. Her parents had divorced and she was adjusting to a new step mother who rarely attended church. Her own mother was going through a difficult time as well. She was unable to find a secure job and was finding single life again to be hard. Although the divorce was mutual, this sweet young girl found it hard to handle.

At church she was taught to say her personal prayers and read her scriptures, and encouraged to do a family home evening weekly. She was challenged to be in charge of one family home evening a month and would bring home an outline for the night. But these encouragements were hard to fulfill. She was told she could not have a family home evening with her family. She had to be to bed at a certain tim,e and if she was in the middle of a prayer she was told to stop and get in bed. She was confused as to how to handle these situations.

One Sunday just before Christmas, she was found in the halls of the church crying. Her family was simply having a bad day and she was having a hard time dealing with it. But the lesson in primary that day had been on the birth and example of the Savior. In that lesson, it was taught that each of the primary children were special, and had a special mission just like the Savior. Although each child will have a different mission, it was shared that they could make a difference in the lives of their own family just like the Savior made a difference in the lives of all people. This little girl took this Christmas message to heart. She asked her primary teacher how she could have family home evenings without getting into trouble and how she could say a prayer without being asked to stop. After coming up with a plan the young girl approached her father and asked if she could have a family home evening once a month with her little sister in her bedroom and she would say her nighttime prayers in her bed. Her father agreed and faithfully each month this little girl held an official family home evening with her little sister. She worked hard on saying her prayers at night and tried to stay close to the Lord.

Weeks went by and this young girl seemed more at peace. When asked how she was doing she said she remembered from the Christmas lesson that she had a purpose in her family and maybe it was to set the example for her little sister. Of course, I believe this sweet young girl was also being an example of the gospel for her family. What an incredible example of an unconquerable spirit against difficult situations. What a strength of character and maturity beyond her years this little girl demonstrated. As stated in 2 Nephi 21:6, “a little child shall lead them.” When the Savior came to the earth he came as a tender babe not as a king with his own kingdom. But, as a child. This season let our hearts turn to His birth and his mission and reflect on all the wonderful influences we have been blessed with in our lives.

Wendy M. Johnson

Earl and Nena Madsen, about two months before Earl's passing

Behind the scenes of the LDS music industry, you’ll find a bevy of dedicated folks. You don’t see their faces on CD covers or hear their voices on albums  and radio broadcasts, but without them, there’d be no music at all. Ask around in the industry about some of the names who’ve helped grease the wheels for LDS artists over the years, and one name will come up as often as any other (and more often than most): Earl Madsen. It’s hard to find an LDS artist that Earl didn’t take out to lunch at one time or another and offer some well-placed advice. Artists will be quick to tell you their favorite place to hang out with Earl. With me, it was always the Sweet Tomatoes salad buffet in Sandy, Utah. Albums were planned and careers plotted across the table between us, and anyone who ever spoke with Earl knew of his dedication to building the kingdom of the Lord through inspiring music.

Earl was a big part of the advisory team that helped put together the online station that became YourLDSradio. We couldn’t have done it without him, perhaps, such was his influence on what we do around here.

Earl passed away one week ago today, and has left a hole in the hearts of all who knew him. It’s been a week of memories — so many of them musical. Earl was in poor health for awhile. Maybe, even, he had an inkling of what was to come. As such, it might not have surprised many to find, tucked in his journal, a long list of LDS artists and songs that he wanted involved somehow in his funeral, when it came. It came this week, and the pews in the chapel were filled with LDS music-makers, sharers of the same love for great music that characterized Earl. His legacy was on display at the service, through songs and memories of of his many friends.

Earl Madsen in his element

As a YourLDSradio listener, you’re part of that legacy, too. We hope you’re enjoying the music, and we hope that Earl somehow has a glimpse, even now, of listeners all over the world, being uplifted by the music made by and for Latter-day Saints.

Earl spent the last months of his life building education outreach programs for young artists hoping to find opportunities to share their music. It was the sort of thing he loved: helping other people shine. A genuine builder. Earl, you fought the good fight. We are all thankful. Thanks for the memories.