This Chicago Photographer’s Project Shows Us How to Minister like Jesus

This episode shares a powerful story that will motivate us to better see those around us through the eyes of God. Anna Rasmussen is a photographer in the suburbs of Chicago, and she had an inspirational thought while she was serving her ministering sister that led to a ward-wide photo project where she volunteered to take portraits of her entire ward. She originally set out to capture the beauty in the diversity, but what she found was unity and the ability to see others through the lens of our Heavenly Father. She shares how this taught her to love others more expansively and learn of His love for us individually.   Courtney Webb Spencer hosts this episode with photographer Anna Rasmussen. If you'd like to see the YouTube with the slideshow, click here!   Follow us on Instagram @magnifycommunity! And head to our website magnifythegood.com for details about the newsletter and upcoming events.

When we trust God, we can gain greater access to His power in our everyday lives. And we can be confident that He will help us increase our capacity to do things that seem miraculous. This was a lesson that was learned by Jennifer Kerns Davis when her son passed away. She knew she needed a “but if not” kind of miracle, and what she found was courage to handle the situation that was before her. This power she felt from God helped her to have confidence to trust in Him.   Brooke Walker sits down with Jennifer Kerns Davis who is a mother, a grandmother, and a connector and gatherer of all things from wildflowers to angels on both sides of the veil.   Sign up for our new event "Magnify Learning Together: Transform Your Temple Experience" by clicking the link:  https://zoom.us/meeting/register/IIQyqWoCSVmgdHln8JXylw#/registration  

A few years ago, Sister Patricia Holland passed unexpectantly. She was a powerful disciple in her own right, standing as an example and witness that God lives, that He loves us, that and keeping our focus on Him is the sure path to everlasting joy. Her daughter, Mary Alice McCann, wanted to make sure that her children and grandchildren knew what kind of blood was in their veins, so she compiled and carefully selected Sister Holland’s thoughts and teachings into a beautiful book called An Eye Single: Thoughts and Teachings from Patricia T. Holland. She joins this episode along with Michelle Torsak, executive director of content at Deseret Book, as they reflect on the powerful force for good that was Patricia T. Holland.   Order your own copy of this book here!   Don't forget to sign up for our Zoom event for Learning Together: Transform Your Temple Experience with author of An Endowment of Love Melinda Wheelright Brown. You can sign up here!

This week, Melinda Brown's new book An Endowment of Love was dropped on Deseret Book shelves. In it, she offers a fresh and unique approach to the temple, helping us see the connection between our temple covenants and principles of eternal, loving relationships. So in this episode, Director of Content for Deseret Book Michelle Torsak sits down with Melinda to discuss how we can take a fresh look and see the temple with new lenses. They discuss how we can better understand covenantal relationships, and Mindy shares walks us through a few parts of her new book that will help us better see our covenants as manifestations of our love for God.   You can order Melinda’s book now at deseretbook.com or at your local Deseret Book store.   Head to magnifythegood.com/events to register now for “Learning Together: Transform Your Temple Experience” happening on May 6 at 7pm in Studio Draper. We will also have a Zoom link for those who are not local.      

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.