5 Simple Ways to Keep Christ at the Center During the School Year

Ready or not, the school year is back! If you’re like most people, that means life is about to get a whole lot busier. Whether you’re a working parent trying to balance keeping food on the table, shuttling kids back and forth from their many activities, and keeping up with laundry, dishes, and everything else it takes to maintain a home; a young single adult trying to get through college courses and still have a social life; or a high school student navigating the awkward teenage years and going back and forth between the aforementioned activities that keep your parents’ heads spinning, the increase in secular activity during this time often makes it easy to let some of the seemingly less pressing spiritual aspects slip through the cracks. So how can we balance our various activities and obligations and still keep Christ at the center of our lives and homes during this busy time?

Elder Richard G Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles defines a Christ-centered home as one “where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds.”[i] Below are 5 simple things we can do during the school year to fulfill our many secular responsibilities while still successfully building this kind of home.

10 Common Words That Mean Something Different to Mormons

Mormon jargon can be confusing with specially defined words and acronyms.  Here’s a list of 10 common words that have a different meaning to Mormons. 

1.  Beehive

What it means to everyone else: A habitation for bees.

What it means to a Mormon: A name given to the 12-13 year old girls as they enter into the youth program.  The beehive was a symbol of harmony, cooperation, and work for the early pioneers of the Church.  Beehives today learn to work together in cooperation and harmony as they strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ and prepare to stand for truth and righteousness.

President Uchtdorf's 10 Best Talks of All Time

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was called as second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 2008. Previously he had been serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since October 2004. He was born in the former Czechoslovakia, but spent most of his growing up years in Germany, where his family joined the Church. Known for his accent and endless airplane analogies, President Uchtdorf has quickly become one of the most beloved speakers in the Church. His talks often offer encouragement to live the gospel through simple steps. Please enjoy the list and let us know your favorite. 

Dispelling 5 Myths about Mormons

Please also see our follow-up post "Dispelling 5 More Myths about Mormons."

Myth #1: Mormons are not Christians.

Over the years, I have had many friends from other faiths sincerely question whether Mormons are Christians. In reality, Jesus Christ is the center of our faith, a truth made clear by the official name of our church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our first Article of Faith states “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” We love and worship the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of the world and believe that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). We believe Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) and that “through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved" (Articles of Faith 1:3). Like other Christians, Mormons believe the gift of eternal life is possible only because Jesus willingly suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross at Calvary to offer Himself a ransom for all of God’s children. We are united with all Christians in our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and our conviction that the Gospel He taught provides the pathway to lasting peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.