Ensign

March 2007

Volume 37 Number 3

Do You Have a Story to Tell?

The Ensign welcomes submissions that show the gospel of Jesus Christ at work in the lives of Latter-day Saints, especially articles with personal experiences and gospel insights. This month we invite you to describe how you make Easter a Christ-centered season.

Limit submissions to 500 words, and label them “Easter.” Send them by April 13 to [e-mail] or Ensign Editorial, 50 E. North Temple Street, Room 2420, Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3220, USA. Include your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and ward and stake (or branch and district).

Writers’ guidelines: Visit the link in the lower-right corner of the Gospel Library page at www.lds.org. Due to the volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt. Authors whose work is selected for publication will be notified. If you would like your manuscript, photos, art, or other material returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Using This Issue

Trusting the hand of the Lord. Think about an event in your life that didn’t happen as you thought it would—or when you thought it would. Read “Having Faith in God’s Timeline” (p. 22), and consider times you have recognized the hand of the Lord in your life.

Being self-reliant in emergencies. After reading “Storming Back” (p. 46), think about emergencies you might face. Go to the Food Storage and Preparedness link on www.providentliving.org, and click on Emergency Preparation to learn how you might be more self-reliant in an emergency.

Preparing for missionary work. After reading “Missionary Health Preparation” (p. 62), discuss the reasons that physical and mental preparation for missionary service are just as vital as spiritual preparation. In family home evening, talk about ways your family might make these kinds of preparations.

Coming in April

Look for articles on:

• How feeling joy and feeling the Holy Ghost are interrelated.

• One woman’s decision to place motherhood before her career.

• The power of example.

Contents

• Messages

  • 4

    First Presidency Message: The Gift of Compassion

    President Thomas S. Monson

    Let us open the door of our hearts that the Savior—the living example of true compassion—may enter.

  • 57

    Visiting Teaching Message: Becoming an Instrument in the Hands of God by Listening to and Following the Promptings of the Spirit

• Feature Articles

  • 14

    Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment around the World

    Connie D. Cannon

    Relief Society sisters have caught the vision of what home, family, and personal enrichment meeting can be: a place where women of all ages can strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ, socialize, learn, and be uplifted.

  • 20

    The Parable of the Tomato Plant

    Cheryl Young

    I had little hope for the two-inch tomato sprout, but I underestimated its potential and worth.

  • 22

    Having Faith in God’s Timeline

    Catherine Edwards

    I had hoped to be married by now. I realize, though, that God’s timeline for the important events in my life differs from the timeline of many others.

  • 26

    Joshua’s Walls

    Cindy Gritton

    The faint sliver of hope that our son’s progress was simply delayed faded away. Now the word autism became part of how we understood Joshua.

  • 30

    Forgiving Oneself

    Elder D. Chad Richardson

    While Satan uses our refusal to forgive ourselves as a means of enslaving us, the Savior beckons us forward with the promise that we can become free from the chains of sin.

  • 34

    Hailstorm

    Stephen L. Knight

    With the storm just minutes away, we were totally helpless. Ours was a desperate plea for Heavenly Father’s mercy and protection.

  • 36

    Faith and Families

    Elder Russell M. Nelson

    Unshakable faith in the Lord enriches married life and love. Faith in Him increases one’s very capacity to love.

  • 42

    Coming into the Fold

    Three members recount trials of faith and the strengthening blessings of membership in the Church.

  • 46

    Storming Back

    Norman C. Hill and Richard M. Romney

    A year and a half after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, Latter-day Saints in the Gulf Coast area of the United States continue to face the future with faith.

  • 58

    Questions and Answers

    I have difficulty distinguishing between promptings of the Spirit and my own personal feelings. How can I tell the difference?

  • 62

    Missionary Health Preparation

    Donald B. Doty

    Careful physical and mental health preparation is essential for young adults who are preparing to serve missions.

• Departments

  • Lessons from the New Testament

    11

    Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life

    Elder Wong Yong Ko

    The miracle of the loaves and fishes is more than an ancient story. It teaches us that through the Savior all can receive eternal life.

  • 54

    “My Burden Is Light”

    Elder Paul V. Johnson

    Each of us faces challenging trials, but each of us also has access to the Atonement to help us through the difficult times and to bring peace and joy into our lives.

  • 68

    Latter-day Saint Voices

    A long-lost pen pal, decades of waiting, the universal language of the Spirit, and success despite skepticism.

  • 72

    Random Sampler

    Effective budgeting, kind words, teaching with music, remembering ancestors, and gifts of the Spirit.

  • 74

    News of the Church

On the cover: Benevolence: Through Love Serve One Another, by Avard Fairbanks. This bas-relief is found on the Relief Society Centennial Campanile at the base of the Nauvoo Bell on Temple Square.

Inside front cover: We Are the Clay in His Hands, by Julie Rogers, may not be copied

Inside back cover: The Lord’s Harvest, by Marilee Campbell, may not be copied