Ensign

June 2007

Volume 37 Number 6

Do You Have a Story to Tell?

The Ensign invites you to share your testimony of family home evening. What kinds of lessons and activities have generated love and positive behavior? How do you successfully have family home evening with young children, with teenagers, with no children, or when family members are separated by distance? Please send us your ideas and success stories, labeled “FHE,” by July 15.

We also welcome other submissions that show the gospel of Jesus Christ at work in your life. Publication criteria are posted at www.lds.org under Gospel Library.

Send submissions 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, ward (or branch), and stake (or district). 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 material returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Using This Issue

Teaching—even without a formal teaching assignment. After reading “Teaching and Being Taught” (p. 36), attend your next meetings prepared to share your insights. Consider how your learning is enhanced by your own reflection and by others’ comments.

Organizing family home evening. After reading “It Made Us a Family” (p. 64), talk with your spouse or children about possible themes for future family home evening lessons. You can use the Church’s online resources to prepare these. From www.lds.org select Prepare a Lesson; then explore reference materials listed under Home and Family.

Recognizing the Atonement in your life. After reading “Gratitude for the Atonement” (p. 15), think about what the Savior’s sacrifice means to you. It may help to record your feelings in a journal.

Coming in July

Look for articles on:

• Facing the future with faith—even amid frightening world events.

• Helping youth understand the sacred nature of our bodies.

• Honoring the Mormon Battalion.

Contents

• Messages

  • 4

    First Presidency Message: An Unending Conflict, a Victory Assured

    President Gordon B. Hinckley

    There is nothing the Lord has asked of us that in faith we cannot accomplish.

  • 49

    Visiting Teaching Message: Become an Instrument in the Hands of God by Standing Strong and Immovable

• Feature Articles

  • 10

    A Firm Foundation in a Shaky World

    Adam C. Olson

    Members in Lisbon, Portugal, share how their testimonies of the Savior help them stand resolute in their faith.

  • 18

    Gifts of the Spirit for Hard Times

    Elder Henry B. Eyring

    When we feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, we also can feel that our natures are being changed because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

  • 25

    On Your Own but Not Alone

    Kimberly Webb

    Eight tips for finding joy while living on your own as a young single adult.

  • 28

    The Robbery

    Sherrie Mackelprang

    My mother had prayed for us for as long as I could remember. One night I discovered the power in her regular pleas.

  • 30

    The Quest for Spiritual Knowledge

    Elder Robert S. Wood

    The understanding we receive from the Holy Ghost has three key aspects: it concerns the most critical and transcendent truths, it is definitive in its certainty, and it changes behavior.

  • 36

    Teaching and Being Taught

    Richard G. Moore

    When students are moved by the Holy Ghost, their comments often help clarify the gospel principle under discussion.

  • 39

    Signs of Friendship

    Melinda Riddle Kowalski

    Because I am deaf, I worried about being able to communicate with people at church. But I had faith that the Lord would provide a way.

  • 40

    “For She Loved Much” (Luke 7:47): Women of the New Testament

    Women of the New Testament depicted in art.

  • 50

    An Honored and Invited Guest

    Naida Stephens Tims

    We had allowed the spirit of contention to trouble our home. Our stake president taught us what we could do about it.

  • 52

    Eight Japanese Brothers

    Tadashi Kina

    Our house was isolated, surrounded only by sugarcane fields and a graveyard. Few people ever called on us, but two visitors would change the course of our lives.

  • 56

    Supporting Your Bishop

    Joseph Staples

    A bishop’s calling is challenging, but we have a great opportunity to assist and sustain him.

  • 60

    New Religion, New Life

    Elder Gary J. Coleman, with Elder John M. Madsen

    Something in my heart moved me to weigh celibate life in the clergy against life as a husband and father. I longed for clarity and purpose in my future.

  • 64

    It Made Us a Family

    Raquel M. Garcia-Rebutar

    Why our Monday nights—and our lives—will never be the same.

  • 72

    Questions and Answers: How can I get involved in community service?

• Departments

  • Lessons from the New Testament

    15

    Gratitude for the Atonement

    Elder Wolfgang H. Paul

    If we understood the great love the Savior had for us when He atoned for our sins, we would always love Him, be grateful to Him, and keep His commandments.

  • 44

    Oil in Our Lamps

    Elder Lynn G. Robbins

    The Lord has spoken of coming to His temple when He returns. We would be wise to prepare to meet Him by being temple worthy.

  • 67

    Latter-day Saint Voices

    One man’s conversion to the Book of Mormon, blessings for a tithe payer.

  • 70

    Random Sampler

    Sharing meals, bringing Relief Society to the homebound, and organizing reference information for an emergency.

  • 75

    News of the Church

• Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting

  • 82

    Principles of Teaching and Learning

    President Boyd K. Packer and Elder L. Tom Perry

  • 88

    Teaching and Learning in the Church

    Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

  • 106

    Examples of Great Teachers

    President Thomas S. Monson

On the cover: Front: For She Loved Much, by Jeffrey Hein. Back: Jesus Said to Her, “Mary,” by William Whitaker.

Inside front cover: Anna the Prophetess, by Elspeth Young. May not be copied. Anna, a widow and a prophetess of the tribe of Asher, was 84 years old at the time of Christ’s birth. She “departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:37). She was one who greeted the infant Jesus at His presentation in the temple.

Inside back cover: Joseph and Hyrum Leaving Nauvoo, by Don O. Thorpe. May not be copied. On June 27, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred in Carthage Jail by an angry mob. “Like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, [the Prophet Joseph Smith] has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!” (D&C 135:3).