Magnify Book Club: The Practice of Stillness by Carrie Skarda

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!

Ashly Stone was a heroin addict who had found herself in and out of rehabilitation centers and even jail for years. While getting help at the Salvation Army, she found a bible with a Book of Mormon bookmark in it. That was the push she needed to return to the gospel and find her way to recovery. In this episode, she shares her story, how it can instill hope in all of us who might be wandering or who are aching for their loved ones who are on their own paths, and how Jesus Christ is the reason she got clean. No matter your circumstances, it’s a conversation that matters in our efforts to show that following the Savior works and sharing that joy with others.    Ashly is the host of The Comeback Podcast. In this episode she mentions the following episode: https://www.comebackpodcast.org/after-high-school-josh-left-the-church-and-became-very-hostile-towards-it-after-his-divorce-a-stake-president-changed-his-life-in-a-moment-the-led-him-back-to-the-waters-of-baptism/   Follow us on Instagram @magnifycommunity and subscribe to our newsletter at magnifythegood.com/newsletter      

With all that is going on in the world—fires ravaging the country, many lives being lost, and not to mention our own personal struggles that we face every day—we hope this episode will set us up that we can have joy amidst life's realities. And to bring some great perspective to this conversation is author Carrie Skarda. Carrie’s book The Practice of Stillness inspired this discussion.    Join us for our book club on February 27th at 7pm MT where you can hear Carrie lead out the discussion! Click on this link to sign up: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/MbD0gEldSDWhgRX2WYqhwA#/registration  

We want to make our joy more known, and because we are followers of Jesus Christ, this should be the center of our mission! But sometimes in our desire for everyone close to us to live the joyful gospel life, it's our worry rather than our joy that comes through. This was an "aha" from Magnify contributor Shima Baughman when her personal family experiences were causing her more worry than joy. It was a moment where she had to ask herself, “am I really living the gospel?” And in this episode, Deseret Book content manager Stephanie Bryson chats with her about what the solution to this problem could be.   Join us on Instagram @magnifycommunity to continue the conversation!  

 We hope this conversation will set you up well for the new year ahead. The Magnify theme for these next two months is joy and more specifically showing our joy. Harry Emerson Fosdick said, “You can know a real Christian, when you see him [or her], by his buoyancy.” As we set out to be women who magnify the Lord, one way we can do that is by living buoyantly and showing by example that God's plan works.    As we were thinking about where to start the conversation, we thought of President Nelson's invitation to be women who have a bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, including understanding what the scriptures say about joy. Deseret Book’s executive director of content Michelle Torsak hosts this conversation with Tammy Uzelac Hall, host of the Sunday on Monday podcast and adult institute teacher as they dive into how the scriptures define joy.   Scriptural references from Tammy: 2 Nephi 25:25-26: Theme for 2025, "we talk of Christ, we rejoice of Christ" Matthew 2:10: The wisemen rejoiced when they saw the star 2 Nephi 2:11, 13: There must be opposition in all things, compound into one, if these things are not, there is no god 2 Nephi 2:25: Men are that they might have joy 1 Nephi 17:1-3: They began to bear their journeyings without murmuring Psalm 16:11: Cause me to know the path of life Zephaniah 3:17: He will hold his peace with you   Continue the conversation over on Instagram @magnifycommunity!