5 Questions to Illuminate Women in the Scriptures

This episode features Maria Eckersley and Brooke Walker as they discuss five questions to ask in our gospel study to learn from the examples of women in the scripture. They discuss how we can better understand how God values and empowers His daughters. How He loves and trusts them to do His work.   Maria's five questions: How does her story illuminate the Plan of Salvation? How does her story illuminate the power of covenants? How does her story illuminate surrounding stories? How does her story illuminate teh gift of agency? How does her story illuminate the Savior's character?   Scriptural references: The Story of Eve - Moses 4:12 Mary when the angel appeared - Luke 1:38 Mary when Simeon told her a sword would pierce her soul - Luke 2:35 Sarah's story - Genesis 17 (see verses 15-16) Hannah's story - 1 Samuel 1 (see verses 10-11 and 17-18) Abish and King Lamoni's wife - Alma 19 (see verses 8-10 and 16) The widow with the empty vessels - 2 Kings 4 (see verses 5-6) Emma Smith - D&C 25 (see verses 5-6 and 10) The woman with the issue of blood - Luke 8 (see verses 43 and 47) Mary Magdalene seeing the risen Lord - John 20 (see verses 10-13 and 14-16)   Head to magnifythegood.com for event details!

A few years ago, in his talk "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives," President Nelson asked this question that we've all probably yearned to know the answer: "How do we become the men and women, the Christlike servants that the Lord needs us to be? How can we find answers to the questions that perplex us?" And his prescription to this soul-deep question: personal revelation. He said, "The heavens are open and God speaks to his children." Today's conversation is all about understanding personal revelation and how we can develop a relationship with God where we can draw on his power. Janiece Johnson joins this conversation to discuss the doctrines of revelation found in the Doctrine and Covenants. Janiece is a church historian, an acquisition director at Deseret Book, and her new book Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants: Revelation lends itself to today's topic.   Follow us on Instagram! Subscribe to our newsletter!

In his talk entitled, "Spiritual Treasures" given in 2019, President Nelson stated, "The heavens are.. open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants." We might read this and wonder, how? As women, we sincerely want to understand how we can better draw upon God's power. And perhaps, we'd like to know what we might be misunderstanding and where we can grow.  Today's guest, Kaylen Nelson, has wondered this question as well. In this episode, she comes studying President Emily Belle Freeman's "Live Up to Your Privileges" and the Doctrine and Covenants section 25 as a basis to this discussion. Kaylen is a contributor to the magnify podcast, a mom, and a visiting instructor at the BYU religion faculty.   President Nelson's "Spiritual Treasures" President Freeman's "Live Up to Your Privileges" Elder Anderson's quote: "We sometimes overly associate the power of the priesthood with men in the Church. The priesthood is the power and authority of God given for the salvation and blessing of all—men, women, and children. A man may open the drapes so the warm sunlight comes into the room, but the man does not own the sun or the light or the warmth it brings. The blessings of the priesthood are infinitely greater than the one who is asked to administer the gift." - Power in the Priesthood Sheri Dew's quote: “What does it mean to have access to priesthood power? It means that we can receive revelation, be blessed and aided by the ministering of angels, learn to part the veil that separates us from our Heavenly Father, be strengthened to resist temptation, be protected, and be enlightened, and made smarter than we are—all without any mortal intermediary.” - Women and the Priesthood   Follow us on Instagram!   Subscribe to the newsletter!   Head to our website for book club!

In this episode, Jenny Guthrie shares about her life's motto for spreading the gospel: Feed His Sheep and how she came to this conclusion when she felt prompted to answer the question, "Do I love Him?" She shares three different experiences about how this has become her life's mission: her husband's time in the MLB where she would interact with people of all different faiths and congregations, her time spent as a mission leader in Texas where she worked with missionaries and also helped her own growing family come closer to Christ, and her time teaching teenagers seminary.   If you want to find more Magnify goodness, follow us on Instagram!

God’s power can help us to lead out, solve problems, nurture humanity, and strengthen relationships. One way we can access His power is in temple worship. In fact, President Nelson promised us this in his most recent General Conference address: “Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple. You will find His mercy. You will find answers to your most vexing questions. You will better comprehend the joy of His gospel.” And as women of faith, this is what we want! More Jesus in our lives. Because with Him, all things are possible.    Rosemary Wixom joins Brooke Walker in this episode as she shares three spiritual guideposts that have helped her find Jesus in the temple.   Join us on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter!

In this special episode, we hear from author Carrie Skarda of The Practice of Stillness and walk through how mindfulness can be an important part of our spiritual growth. She does some mindfulness exercises and also walks us through a meditative practice.   This was a Zoom recording of the Magnify book club. If you want to join, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to the newsletter so you can be a part of next month's book club.

When President Nelson shared his conference address, “Joy and Spiritual Survival,” in October 2016, he said, “each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us,” and then he asked, “yet we are here to have joy? YES! The answer is a resounding yes!” indicating that we are built for it. In fact, today’s guest Lisa Valentine Clark even commented that it’s our birthright. But it can sometimes feel out of reach, especially if we are feeling nearly consumed by our trials. So how do we set our sights on it? Lisa puts it this way: “Joy is a creative act. Not a formula.”   Join our Book Club on Thursday, February 27 at 7pm MST! Sign up with this link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/MbD0gEldSDWhgRX2WYqhwA   Follow us on Instagram!

 In November 2018, one of the deadliest fires, known as the Camp Fire, took out the city of Paradise. Shauna Wilson Manwill had her home and everything she owned completely burned. While going through this tragedy, she was also dealing with personal loss that affected her story. But Shauna's story is one of rising from the ashes--both physically and metaphorically. She shares: "I have big faith," and it was this foundational faith in the gospel that carried her through. By opening herself up to letting others in, she learned that we can all be disciples of Jesus Christ through service, love, and turning outward.   Check out the Remembered Journal here!   Follow us on Instagram!   Sign up for the Book Club!

With the immediacy of today's world—the instant gratification, the ready made drive thru meals, the quick Google search for any little bump in our road—we can easily forget to let the good things come over time. So let's learn to forge the path of joy.    Brooke Walker joins Natalie Hill Jensen who has some wisdom on the subject of cultivating and celebrating the good. Natalie is someone who cares deeply about the things going on around her, be it her immediate circles or the country and the world at large, and yet she doesn't get bogged down by the tragedies. She makes her joy apparent.   Follow us on Instagram @magnifycommunity!   Join our Zoom Book Club for The Practice of Stillness by registering here!

In an effort to show that gospel living really works, we have to show our joy! Brooke Walker and her sister Lyndsi Frandsen were discussing this, and one idea came to mind: gush more. What does this mean? The fact is our world is becoming increasingly less expressive. Perhaps we aren't necessarily feeling less, but we certainly aren’t showing what we’re feeling, which isn’t always a bad thing. But because we are women who have the light of Christ, the fulness of the Gospel, and the power of God on our side, shouldn’t we have some feelings to celebrate and share?   This podcast will both celebrate and share ways we can all be gushers, ways we can wear our joyful hearts on our sleeve, and ways we can visibly and verbally emulate the bright light of Jesus Christ in what we say, show, and do.    Follow us on Instagram @magnifycommunity! And subscribe here to our newsletter!