Latter-day Saint FAIR-Cast

What True Worship Looks Like by Autumn Dickson I have been thinking a lot about what it means to worship God lately. It keeps popping up through random little avenues in my life. We’ve had the opportunity to have the missionaries in our home who taught about the ten commandments and only worshipping the one and true God. I’ve engaged in a couple of conversations about our beliefs of exaltation and what it means to become like our Heavenly Parents. I also recently saw a post about how celebrating Halloween is worshipping the occult, and so I asked myself, is that the truth? I love Halloween, and so I wanted to speak with the Lord and make sure I wasn’t doing anything He didn’t want me to do. What does it mean to avoid idolatry and only worship Heavenly Father? Let’s read a couple of verses in Abraham to give us some principles to live by. Abraham 1:6 For their hearts were set to do evil, and were wholly turned to the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; “…their hearts were wholly turned to the god of…” Your heart is representative of what you truly love. You can go to church and still have your heart oriented somewhere else. You can profess belief in our Heavenly Father and still not worship Him. You can watch Come Follow Me videos all you want, but if your heart is not engaged, it won’t save you. And I believe that’s the key here. Only the Lord can save us. There are many ways that He saves us, one of which being an entrance into the kingdom of God, but there are many ways that He holds us and cares for us here on earth. He saves us by bringing true joy and peace. That’s what it boils down to. He doesn’t save us for the sake of saving us, and though that may seem like a silly nuance, it’s really important. He saves us because He wants us to be happy. Part of worshipping the only true God is understanding that. Only the Lord can save us. Only the Lord can bring us true joy and peace. We often ask: Is your heart centered on Jesus Christ? Do you only worship the true and living God? Perhaps a fantastic follow-up litmus test is this: Is your search for joy and peace centered on Jesus Christ? The key word here is “centered.” That doesn’t mean you can’t have other things that make you happy and bring you joy. I believe that the Lord did what He did in order to give us an opportunity to enjoy other things in the context of eternity. There is a reason we keep hearing about the mansions in heaven. We can enjoy incredible things, but what matters in relation to the word “worship” is where our enjoyment is centered. Let’s make it come full circle. Why is it important to center our worship, joy, and peace on the Savior? Because everything else will leave us ultimately empty. Nothing else can save you. Nothing else can truly bring joy and peace. There are many wonderful, incredible things out there that bring deep and lasting joy, but all of it will come to naught unless you have something more solid and capable: namely, Jesus Christ. So I go and have fun and enjoy Halloween, all while keeping an eye on the fact that it doesn’t matter without Christ. My joy and peace are anchored in Him. Here is another verse to give us a second litmus test of worship. Abraham 1:8 Now, at this time it was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar which was built in the land of Chaldea, for the offering unto these strange gods, men, women, and children. Before, we covered, “What is bringing you happiness? Is your peace and joy centered on Christ?” My next question is this: what are you willing to sacrifice for these other things that you love? What are you paying for it? There are more questions we can ask that relate directly back to the experience of Abraham. Namely, are you sacrificing others? Are you sacrificing precious relationships with your family members? Are you sacrificing the needs and wants of others who are depending on you? Look at how you spend time throughout the day. Look at the things that bring you a lot of happiness. What do those things cost in time, energy, and resources? What are you dedicating to it? Are sports taking up so much time that you fail to spend quality time with family? Are you so obsessed with to-do lists that your kids are viewed as obstacles rather than purpose? Are you so caught up in social media that your kids miss you? Are you so caught up in anything else on earth that you’re sacrificing true joy? Which leads to another follow-up question. Are you willing to hand what you love over to the Lord should He ask? I think of my love of Halloween. If the prophet came out tomorrow and said that we weren’t going to celebrate Halloween anymore, would I listen? It’s okay to mourn things you love, but are you willing to hand it over as a sacrifice if the Lord asks? He should stand above all other things in your life. Your peace and joy should be centered on Him to the extent that you’re willing to give up other forms of joy should He ask. That’s what it means to worship. Only worshipping the true and living God means that your peace and joy are centered on Him. It means a deep and abiding understanding that only Christ can really save you, and your ultimate source of relief comes through Him. It means that you’re willing to let go of other forms of happiness should He ask you to. It means that you are weighing the costs of where you are investing yourself. The cost of what you love should never tip the scales dangerously away from the most important things, and it should never come at the cost of your relationship with Christ. I testify that true joy and peace is only found in Christ. I testify that He is worth any sacrifice. I testify that anything He asks us to sacrifice is actually only leading us closer to truth and joy. I testify that there is nothing that is more valuable than a relationship with Christ. He is worth the cost of anything else.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Was the Flood an Act of Mercy? by Autumn Dickson Noah’s ark is one of the most classic bible stories. Even when you’re not Christian, many people are aware of the story and what it means. I read these verses in the last post for this week, and I’m going to read them again with a new angle. Genesis 7:19-20, 23 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. The Lord destroyed everything. Oftentimes, this is rightfully seen as an act of justice. According to the Come Follow Me manual, the flood was also an act of mercy. I love that justice and mercy often come together, and I want to expand upon that. Here is a quote from the Come Follow Me manual. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “corruption had reached an agency-destroying point that spirits could not, in justice, be sent here.” During Noah’s time, the world had become so dark and devastating that bringing new children into the world would have been wrong. When you study child abuse and neglect, this makes complete sense. There comes a point when you are so traumatized that trauma is all you can offer others. And if there are no healthy adults to save the children, then society will just get darker and darker until it destroys itself anyway. Perhaps God destroyed the evil, but they would have destroyed themselves anyway. Because of His decisions, He was also able to save many of the spirits that would have gone down and been destroyed alongside the rest. Now this was an extremely large scale event, but that’s what makes it such an easy example to observe. Here is another scriptural example on a slightly smaller scale. In The Book of Mormon, Nephi is teaching his brothers and trying to get them to repent, but they hate the things of God. Here is a verse that shows some of Nephi’s pleadings. 1 Nephi 17:45 Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. The Lord had to be severe to reach them. We see this over and over and over again throughout scripture. Paul the apostle, Alma the Younger, the Israelites all throughout the Old Testament. You will see this theme all throughout Come Follow Me this year. The Lord is willing to do what’s necessary in order to reach us, but there is an important, adjacent understanding that goes hand in hand with this. Jeffrey R. Holland taught, “Justice is not the work of an offended tyrant. It is the loving labor of a Father who is trying to get His children safely home.” I LOVE this quote. He is not an offended tyrant. God is a loving Father, and He is wise enough to know how to reach His children. He’s not trying to punish us into submission. He’s trying to get through to us. In 1 Peter, we learn that Christ went and preached to those in prison, specifically to the disobedient from the times of Noah. I wonder if they were finally ready to listen. I wonder if the flood and spirit prison reached them so that they were ready to live their life in a manner that brought happiness. I wonder if they are friends with Noah now. If they have repented, then I know this. They are grateful for the Lord and His wisdom in raining down justice and reaching them. All of God’s decisions are based on love for His children, the seemingly severe and the softly spoken answer. He chooses the option that will most powerfully reach us. We’ve seen this on a large scale like with Noah and the flood, we’ve seen it on a smaller scale with Laman and Lemual. What does it mean for your own life? We have to be careful not to take this principle beyond its proper bounds. The principle is this: God will use tragedy to reach us if it’s necessary because He loves us. The principle is not this: If you’re experiencing something tragic, it is because God is using tragedy to punish you or because you really need to repent. Tragedy does not equate to wickedness, but it can be a tool that God uses sometimes. It just depends. I testify that all of God’s decisions are based on love. I testify that suffering in mortal life is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. I testify that death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. I testify that God is wise enough to do what it takes to reach us, and I testify that He sent His Son to wash us, heal us, and suffer with us so that He could succor us when we’re prepared to accept that loving kindness. I testify that God uses justice to be merciful in our lives.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

  Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

A Flood and a Fresh Start by Autumn Dickson This week we read about a couple of classic Bible stories, one of which is Noah and the ark. Let’s read a couple of verses. Noah was led to build and ark, and then he went into the ark with his sons. God shut them up in the ark, and then this happened. Genesis 7:19-20, 23 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. The earth was completely covered with water, and everything was destroyed except for Noah, his family, and the animals who went with them. The Guide to the Scriptures teaches us that, “During Noah’s time the earth was completely covered with water. This was the baptism of the earth and symbolized a cleansing.” There is so much symbolism here, but I want to talk about one of the most important aspects of this symbolism. When we are baptized or take the sacrament, our sins are washed away and we start over. The earth was filled with violence and corruption. Every imagination and thought of the people was evil continually. That is a lot of cleansing. I have a feeling that you have not yet reached this point in your life. I have a feeling that if you’re reading Come Follow Me posts, your imaginations and thoughts aren’t evil continually. Maybe you’ve got some flaws that you can’t kick, but I’m guessing that if you’re inviting good into your life, you can’t possibly be thinking about evil continually. And if God can wash away all of that evil at the time of Noah, He can wash away your sins too. He can make the baptism as “big” as it needs to be. He can “flood the earth” so to speak if that’s what it takes to wash away the sins that you do have. And that little tiny piece of you that is trying to do well and good will be preserved and provided with an opportunity to start over. Every Sunday when you take up that little piece of bread and that little cup of water, you are remembering how the Lord paid for your sins. There was a tremendous amount of suffering, both in the flood and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Honestly, it’s crazy to think that there was more pain in that one night in the Garden of Gethsemane than there was during the flood. But it is done. The suffering already happened. The price was already paid. It was a gift. The gift offered is not automatic salvation. When Noah and his family were preserved, it wasn’t automatic salvation. They weren’t going to immediately experience joy just because all of that evil was all swept away. They still needed to build something after the water was gone. What would they build in the blank slate that the Lord gave them? The gift is that the Lord is going to provide you an opportunity to build your life again without being weighed down by past sins. And you get to use that gift all the time, every time you repent. We go to church on Sunday, we take the sacrament, we wash away all of the evil, and the Lord leaves the good. He doesn’t wipe away all of our flaws. Noah and his family weren’t perfect. He just wipes away all of the residue of sin, and from there, we begin to build again. What are we going to bring into our new world? What will we bring into our new selves? As you look at the landscape of your life, it has been washed clean again. What will you create? What will you turn your life into? Because it is about building. This is a story of grace, and it is a story of what we create with what we were given. Hopefully, we take the blank slate and choose to build up incredible things that bless us and bless those around us. We are given frameworks and blueprints that we can use to build our lives. It is not enough to want something beautiful built; the Lord gives us the beautiful opportunity to do the work alongside Him. And as time moves on, hopefully we don’t need an entire flood every time we choose to take the sacrament. Hopefully the cleansings get smaller and smaller as we become more and more Christlike. You may still grieve. I don’t think Noah and his family walked away from this experience lightly. I think they walked away with a lot of sorrow for what happened alongside the gratitude for being saved. Like Noah, washing away your sins won’t erase the memory of it. Even though it may bring grief, it’s a gift. It’s a gift because it can prevent you from walking down the path towards an earthwide flood again. It will bring depth to your gratitude. We don’t want to forget what happened, not really, despite the pain it may bring. I testify that the Lord can wash away what you have. I testify that there are so many parallels with the flood and our own lives that can teach us about what the Lord did and what He offers. I testify that He did not automatically give us salvation; He gave us a blank slate so that we could build something worth having, so that we could enjoy eternity like He does. I testify that He will keep washing as long as it takes, as long as we need to build what He has in mind for us.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay by Autumn Dickson In Moses 7, Enoch watched some of the most devastating events in human history. He watched the earth be traumatized. He watched violence and the consequent justice of God. There was death and abundant evil. I’m not sure I want to see the vision that Enoch saw. And as Enoch watched these traumatic events, he also observed this. Moses 7:28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains? The God of heaven looked at what was occurring on the earth and wept. At one point in Enoch’s journey, he even “refused” to be comforted, and yet, God wasn’t angry with Enoch’s deep depression. There are things that will feel dark and unbearable even as we approach being like our Heavenly Father. In fact, there are things that will feel dark and unbearable simply because we are becoming more Christlike. When Enoch asked Him why He could cry, the Lord responded with this. Moses 7:32-33 32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; 33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood; The Lord is saying, “I chose this. I helped create this plan. I created all of this, gave knowledge to them, and I gave them their agency. I asked them to love each other, but they hate each other instead.” The Jews in the Holocaust were the children of God, but so were the Nazis. Those who perished in the attacks on 9/11 were the children of God, but so were those who attacked. Abel was the son of God, and so was Cain. The children of God included the Israelites, the oldest sons of the Egyptians, and the slave drivers. Regardless of wickedness, God loves and mourns His children. Regardless of what His children chose to become and regardless of the justice that He will choose to rain down, God knew His children when they were young and innocent. He loved them and cared for them. He had to face what it meant to put the Plan of Salvation into motion. He had to face the victims who perished and those who continue on suffering. He has to face His children who are perpetrators and mourn the fact that they refuse to come be a part of the family. Despite all that they did, He has to face what it means to separate them from the rest of the family in order to preserve any semblance of peace and happiness within the rest of the family. He shoulders that burden, and despite being from all eternity to all eternity, it weighs on Him. Despite His omnipotent strength, the weight that He carries is heavy. Can something be heavy when you’re perfectly strong? Apparently. Is it okay to be upset even when you know the happy ending? Apparently. Let’s take it a step further. Is it righteous to be upset even when you know the happy ending? I think sometimes I picture God as colder than He really is. I picture Him without all of His emotions because for some reason, I have come to associate omnipotence with being above that kind of thing. What if the opposite is true? As Enoch became more like God, as God taught him immense things in this vision, “his heart swelled as wide as eternity.” Perhaps eternity (and therefore this life) is not about becoming so powerful and knowledgeable that the suffering doesn’t affect you. Perhaps looking forward with an eye of faith is not about saving yourself from deep and hard feelings. Deep feelings are a part of eternity, deep feelings that are both happy and sad. If we are trying to become like God, then deep feelings will be a part of it. And if Enoch is to be believed, our feelings only grow deeper as we learn and experience more. Even as I write this, I keep trying to take this principle further, but the Lord is stopping me. Perhaps that is the principle He is trying to teach me; that is the principle He is emphasizing today. Deep feelings, and not just the happy ones, are part of an eternal existence. How does that change how you approach life? How does it change how you approach your difficult times? I testify that God’s eternity is full. I testify that part of that eternity is difficulty and grief because the happiness and joy would be hollow without it. I testify that we can lift up our hearts and be glad despite the other half of our eternity being heavy to bear. They come together. We do not need to fear that depth. I testify that because of Jesus Christ, we can feel hope alongside that difficulty.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 7 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

  Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 7 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

Why We Build Arks When We are Saved By Grace by Autumn Dickson Moses 7 is powerful. There is so much. I have so many thoughts, but let’s keep it to a few. One of those thoughts came to me while reading this verse. Moses 7:43 Wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an ark; and that the Lord smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand; but upon the residue of the wicked the floods came and swallowed them up. Noah and his family were surrounded by wickedness and danger. They built an ark, and the Lord protected them. The rest of the people were wiped out by the flood. I want to draw your attention to two details. Noah built an ark, and the Lord held it in His hand. There is a type in this. Let’s talk about one of my favorite subjects: grace and works. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is frequently attacked for not being Christian because we believe that we will be judged by our works and desires and not just by whether we believe in the right Jesus. Other Christians believe that it’s just about accepting the Savior, not following Him. They believe that you don’t have to do anything. Some believe that if you try to do anything, you’re only taking away from His glory (or so I’ve been told by some of my friends; I recognize that there are nuanced beliefs within the Christian faith in general). I know others believe that it’s all about belief and works simply follow belief, but the works are just not necessary. It is extremely important to note that Latter-day Saints believe 100% in grace. We believe that works are necessary, but works don’t save us. Christ saves us. Works are necessary, but they perform a different function, not saving As I read the bible, over and over and over and over and over I get the message that the Lord does require works even if it’s not ultimately the works that do the saving. There are places in the bible that more directly teach this concept, namely in the letters of Paul, but there is also story after story after story that teaches this principle. Noah and the ark is just one of these stories. Noah and the ark can teach us about how Christ does the saving, and it teaches us about why the Lord requires works and will judge us by our works. What do we learn from Noah’s story? How does Noah’s story teach us about grace and works? Let’s talk about it. First of all, let’s look at it before Noah even builds the ark. The Lord saved Noah and his family because they were righteous. There is a type in this. Noah and his family weren’t perfect, but they were righteous. And even though they loved God, it didn’t save them. It just meant that God saved them. Would God have saved them if they hadn’t built the ark? My personal opinion is no. Why would He command Noah to build an ark if He didn’t actually care whether Noah built it? Let’s look more specifically at Noah and the ark and not everyone who died in the flood. Our verse teaches us that the Lord held Noah’s ark in His hand. That’s the grace right there. The Lord protected Noah. The Lord saved Noah. The verse could have said, “Noah obeyed God and built the ark, and it saved him.” But that’s not what it said because that’s not what Latter-day Saints believe. In fact, it doesn’t even specifically say that God looked upon Noah, smiled at him, and saved him. It very specifically says that God looked at “it,” as in, the ark. God looked at the works of Noah. The works didn’t save Noah, but God looked at the works, judged them as good and smiled at them, and saved Noah. If God is the one who saved Noah, then why did He have him build an ark? Why perform works? That’s the million dollar question for Latter-day Saints. We believe that we are saved by grace, 100%. So why build an ark? Why do we believe in doing our best and performing works if the ark doesn’t do the saving? It’s because God has to judge. He has to judge who will destroy heaven and who will be able to appreciate heaven and preserve it. He could have saved all the wicked by smiling at them and holding them in his hand, but the wicked would have destroyed heaven. They would have made it as miserable as they were making the earth with their violence and idolatry. They wouldn’t have been able to enjoy heaven because of their choices, because of their works. Beyond that, they would have ruined heaven. Our works don’t save us, but God judges us by our works and saves us accordingly. That’s what Noah’s story is teaching us. The works don’t save us; they just allow us to appreciate heaven and preserve it. They determine whether God steps in with the atonement of Jesus Christ, saves us, and brings us back into our heavenly home. So do Latter-day Saints believe that we are saved by works? No. We believe we are judged by them, but we believe that Christ does the saving with His atonement. I think parents of addicts understand this more than most. If you have a child who is extremely addicted to dangerous drugs, you don’t keep bringing them back into your home just because they love you. They would destroy your home and any heavenly feelings that reside there. Even if you have the power to keep taking care of everything despite their addiction, I would hope that you wouldn’t bring them back in to destroy everything (unless God says differently, listen to Him for specifics). If you do choose to bring them back in, then it’s not home anymore. It’s not heaven so no one really got saved anyway. So you make a judgment call. You pray your guts out for the child. You love the child, but you separate the child because of their works. You judge their works and preserve the home. If they repent and truly change, then they get to come back home. Not because of their works. Quitting drugs doesn’t pay for the house; it just makes it so that you trust them enough to bring them home. I think it’s important to also note that not everyone’s ark looks the same. That’s one of the beautiful things about the atonement of Jesus Christ. It removed the absolute justice that kept us from heaven. It enabled Christ to be the judge and save who He decides to save. Some of us will build an ark. Some of us will look at the barren desert before us and be lucky to build a canoe, but you know what? The Lord judges perfectly. He looks at your entire situation and what you have, and He judges perfectly. I testify that the Lord saves us with His grace. I testify that your ark is not enough to save you. I testify that even though your ark can’t save you, it builds you and God judges you by your circumstances and your ark and determines whether you’re going to contribute to our heavenly home. I testify that the relationship of works and grace is taught all throughout the bible.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 7 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

The Power of a Spiritual Record by Autumn Dickson I’ve given this message before, and I’ll probably give this message again someday. This message has been repeated so frequently throughout scripture so I figure it’s not the end of the world if I repeat it too. It is something that has been taught by modern day prophets. It has changed my life profoundly. If someone were just beginning their family, what advice would you give them? What would you focus on? If you could give them advice that they were supposed to read over and over and over throughout their lives, what would you emphasize? If you were trying to teach a group of people how to build a society, which principles do you think would be some of the most valuable to learn? Over the past couple weeks, we have been reading about the beginning of one of God’s projects. It includes the building of a world. It includes the building of God’s family, and the building of a new society upon the earth. There was a father and mother and a whole lineage of people. I have so many questions about how some of these things came to pass. How did they build their society? How did it change? Did they even consider the idea that they were setting up the foundation of a society? I’m not sure. But out of every message that the Lord could have sent us, one of the messages that He gave us was this. Moses 6:5 And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; A book of remembrance was kept. It was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration. Was this one of the pieces of advice you would have chosen to give to this new society you were directing? Because it was one of the pieces of advice that God thought was important. Do you call upon God? If you do, here is the bible teaching us that you’ve been called upon to write by the spirit of inspiration. Please stay with me for a moment if you don’t feel like you’re ready for this message. If you hate writing and reading, if it’s not something that you particularly enjoy, stick with me. A book of remembrance doesn’t have to look like what you’re picturing. I almost feel bad sharing this message because writing is something that comes naturally to me. Even if I wouldn’t classify myself as overly talented, I love writing. I’ve written regularly in a journal since I was 14 years old (and boy do I wish I could burn those journals). My journals were not always written according to inspiration. For a lot of my life, my journals were where I angrily wrote about my angel parents that I didn’t appreciate, about boys, about friendships at a time in my life when I didn’t know how to be a good friend. It wasn’t until later that my journals became filled with true, uplifting purpose. Writing in a journal has blessed my life. I have gone back to read what I used to care about. I have been able to observe the growth I had and watch how the Lord guided my life, page by page. It’s actually pretty fun. Not to mention, I record all the absolutely ridiculous things my children say and that is one of the best blessings of my life. But the commandment we find in this verse is not necessarily what you think. It’s not about writing what you did every day or even every month; I love writing, and I think that would bore me to death. My life isn’t exciting enough for that. We need to rethink what it means to keep a journal. When God gives a commandment, it’s to draw us closer to Him so let’s look at our book of remembrance through that lens. And as a matter of fact, let’s look at another phrase from the verse that we read from Moses. Write by the spirit of inspiration. If that sounds intimidating, let me try and ease your worries. Let’s look at what it means to receive inspiration. Inspiration is when God gives you thoughts and feelings to propel you in a specific direction. He gives it to you. When someone gives something to you, are you the one who is supposed to be stressing about how the gift makes its way into your lap? No! That’s not your job. You just have to make yourself available to receive it. Hence the writing. Make yourself available and trust the Lord to give you what you need. He knows how to give. I have one practical piece of advice for starting your book of remembrance. It’s just one piece of advice to start things out so that God could push you in the correct direction that will fit your personality and circumstances. Open a journal when you’re praying, open a note on your phone, or open your computer to type. Just open it and make it available once a day for one week. When you’re praying. That’s my tip. You don’t have to write your prayers like I do. I just do that because it helps me focus when the last seven years of my life have been interrupted approximately every three minutes. Don’t do it before bed; I never write my prayers before bed because I’m not in the proper mindset to write by inspiration. I’m too tired. The Spirit can whisper through a lot of things but apparently not my exhaustion (or maybe I’m just bad at listening through my exhaustion?). It doesn’t have to be a long prayer. It doesn’t have to be an impressive prayer. Open it, and simply start talking. He may not say anything immediately because He usually only talks when He needs to. You may start to feel like you should pick up your pen. Trust the feeling and do it. Even if you don’t know what you’re going to write, just start and open yourself up and He will speak. It’s remarkable. You will feel so close to God. Just as the verse taught, if you have called upon the name of God, you have been called to write by inspiration. He wants to talk to you too. I testify that God loves you and knows how to give you inspiration. I testify that it’s not your job to figure out how to receive a gift; it’s just your job to try and make yourself available to receive it. I testify that writing by the inspiration of God will change your life as it has changed mine.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 5; Moses 6 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

  Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 5; Moses 6 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

Revelation, Submission, Sacrifice by Autumn Dickson For this week, we get to read more about Adam and Eve and their posterity. While reading about this posterity, we find a really beautiful summary of how to live. It is so simple and yet so profound. Moses 6:3 And God revealed himself unto Seth, and he rebelled not, but offered an acceptable sacrifice, like unto his brother Abel. And to him also was born a son, and he called his name Enos. I want to take it one phrase at a time. God revealed Himself to Seth. Seth didn’t rebel. Seth offered an acceptable sacrifice like his brother did. Though this is about the personal life of Seth, there is a pattern that all of us can follow. First, God revealed Himself. It is not enough to try and interpret the bible perfectly. You can’t. It’s not possible for man to interpret it correctly even if it had been translated perfectly. God has to reveal Himself and the truth concerning why we are here and how we get back. You can’t go to school and have other people teach you about God because they have studied a ton. No matter how hard you think or how long you ponder, it is insufficient unless God chooses to reveal Himself. He does this through a variety of ways. He reveals Himself through His prophets. He teaches us as we’re reading the bible. He teaches us as we listen to other people, but we have to remember that He is the one who gives us the information. Then comes the next part. We decide what to do with it. Seth rebelled not. Honestly, it reminds me of something that I read about the Tower of Babel. One of the reasons that God was so frustrated with the people in relation to the Tower of Babel was because He had told them how to reach Him. These people were descendants of Noah’s sons after the flood. Noah walked with God, and so it’s easy to assume that these descendants had been given a knowledge of how to form a relationship with God. We do not know exactly what this looked like. We know that after Moses, there were more extensive ordinances contained in the Law of Moses that helped the people reach for God. In our day, we likewise make covenants and perform ordinances in order to reach Him and develop a relationship with Him. I’m not sure what it looked like in Noah’s day, but these people had a prophet and it was likely that they had oral traditions to lead them along. Unfortunately, they rebelled. They didn’t want to reach God in that way. They wanted to do it how they wanted to do it, and they ended up with chaos and confusion. Through modern-day prophets, God has revealed how we can draw closer to Him. These avenues are not exclusive; they’re available to everyone who wants them. Some have had incredible experiences with the gospel but have chosen to only accept some avenues of closeness. Some believe they don’t need these extra things in order to draw closer to Christ rather than gratefully receiving any options He gives us to think of Him and follow Him. I think of Cain and Abel. Cain was mad that God didn’t accept his crops even though God had asked him for a lamb originally. Cain only wanted to give what Cain wanted to give. And when God didn’t accept it, he was angry. Interestingly enough, God didn’t ask for a lamb for fun. It was very specific and meant to help Cain understand Christ. Cain missed the memo. If you’ve had good experiences with the gospel, I can promise that accepting all of the gospel will only bring more goodness. Don’t rebel against it. Give it a chance, soften your own heart and see if God doesn’t bless you. Then there is the last portion of this pattern that we’ll talk about today. Seth offered an acceptable sacrifice like his brother. I love this part. We can offer acceptable sacrifices like our Brother. There is much to be said of sacrifice, but I want to focus on one specific principle here. The Lord asks for specific sacrifices. There are general ways that we draw closer to Christ through ordinances and covenants, but there will also be very personalized sacrifices that the Lord asks us to make. Christ had a very tailored sacrifice to give. It was perfectly picked just for Him. There are very tailored sacrifices we will be asked to make. They are tailored in two ways: how we can give and how they can bless us. Some of them are because God gave us gifts and expects us to use them to bless others. In ancient times, the oldest brothers received an extra portion in order to take care of the mother and sisters. Each of us have received some kind of specific extra portion, spiritual gifts that are not given to everyone. We are expected to take care of those who don’t have what we have. It is completely fair for Heavenly Father to ask us to give when He has given us more precisely for that purpose. We have also been given a responsibility to make specific sacrifices because of how they will bless us. They will mold us to be more like the Savior in the exact ways that we need. Just like the lamb wasn’t random, our sacrifices don’t need to feel random. They can refine us. I got pregnant 3 months after having a baby. My fifth child was born when my oldest was just six years old. I despise being pregnant. I’m grateful for it. My children are my greatest blessing, but I can’t begin to describe just how much I lose myself when I’m pregnant. Conner was out on the east coast every other week for work. I was overwhelmed and sick. My body was destroyed, and I still had a tiny baby that needed me so much. I had three other kids who also needed me, and I still felt the Lord telling me that I needed to keep sharing my testimony of Christ. There were a million lessons learned through this specific trial given to me. The Lord needed me to change in specific ways in order to step into the life I wanted for myself and my family. I let go and let my kids step up in ways that were powerful for them, a beautiful blessing that I would have never voluntarily given over. I miraculously finished my work and still got a desperately needed nap almost every day. Both of these specific lessons have set me up in exactly what I want for my life. Most importantly, I learned that God really is on my side. When I first found out I was pregnant again, I felt utterly betrayed. Believe it or not, we had taken some pretty intense measures to prevent pregnancy. This wasn’t a mistake on our part. It was a definitive choice for the Lord. I had told Him that I wanted to wait a bit. There have been numerous times in my life that the Lord has chosen different for me than I chose for myself. I grumbled and fought it just like anyone else. Getting pregnant again and losing myself for 18 months instead of 9 months felt like more than I could bear. For the first time, I felt truly betrayed by God. I felt like He had completely ignored everything I had wanted for myself. I felt like He had ignored what I needed, that He didn’t care what I needed. He was going to choose what He was going to choose. I knew logically that wasn’t the case. I had experiences with God and knew He loved me, and maybe that’s why it had been so painful. I had trusted Him, and this felt too far. It took some time, but I learned the tailored lesson He sent me. I turned my heart around and accepted the sacrifice that had been asked of me and just like with any sacrifice, it was for me. He was trying to bless me, and He did. I thought I trusted Him before. It multiplied after this last baby. The Lord tailors our sacrifices for us, and in the end, we make them acceptable by putting our heart into it. I testify that the patterns of the Lord are simple. I testify that He can guide our individual details in the midst of those grand patterns. I testify of a Lord who made an ultimate sacrifice and set an example for how we can draw closer to God. I testify that the scriptures can teach us of these patterns, and if we choose to accept them, He blesses us more than we can imagine.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 5; Moses 6 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

The Power of Giving God the Glory by Autumn Dickson We are learning all about how man came to be on the earth. The Lord is setting the stage for us to understand the context in which we were placed on the earth. Part of that context is understanding the Fall and everything associated with it. Here are a couple of verses that help us understand what we’re trying to emulate in the midst of this fallen world. Moses 4:1-2 1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. 2 But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever. The Lord is telling Moses, “You were just tempted by this Satan guy, and you commanded him to leave in the name of Jesus Christ. Before the world was created, Satan wanted to redeem everyone, take away their agency, and keep all the glory. Christ came prepared to do My will and offered the glory back to Me.” As a church, we talk a lot about following the will of the Father; this is a frequent discussion. We have also discussed how Satan wanted to take all the glory, and how Christ rightly placed the glory with the Father. Much of this life is a lesson in those two aspects: bending our will to match our Heavenly Father’s will as well as recognizing that the glory belongs to Him. I want to focus on that second lesson: recognizing that the glory belongs to Him. Glory is an interesting one because everyone likes to get credit for how they contribute. Christ gets credit for His role in the Father’s plan even if Christ is offering all of the glory back to His Father. Our prophet is just a man trying to follow the Lord, and yet, we honor him for the sacrifices he makes in order for us to hear the will of the Lord. I honor my parents for the continuous, ongoing sacrifices they make to bring me closer to Christ. Hopefully, there is credit given when someone makes a sacrifice for you to draw closer to your heavenly home. This is a righteous principle. And yet, Christ told the Father, “…the glory be Thine forever.” I think everyone knew Christ would be honored for what He did, and it is righteous to honor Him for what He did. He could have stopped at, “Thy will be done,” and left it at that. We all knew He deserved to be worshipped for what He was sacrificing, but He chose to keep speaking. He ended it with, “The glory be Thine forever.” I’m sure Christ was aware that He would be loved and worshipped for it, but Christ was also aware of an important, adjacent principle. Seeking glory sucks the happiness out of life, and the entire reason He made the sacrifice was on behalf of our happiness. Setting the example for us to willingly hand over the glory whenever we follow the will of the Father was setting us up for success; it was setting us up to find happiness and joy more readily. This wasn’t humble brag. It wasn’t lip service. Christ wasn’t saying, “I’ll go make this sacrifice and tell everyone that the glory is Thine because everybody knows I’m going to be worshipped for it anyway.” No. In His heart, Christ was saying, “If no one ever knew what I did, I would still choose to do it. If no one ever had an inkling of the sacrifice I was going to make, I would choose it if it means they can be happy.” I’m sure when the prophet steps up, he knows that there are those who will respect him for his position. He knows that there will be honor for it. We don’t have to pretend there is not. It is righteous to love those who teach you about Christ. However, it can’t be about seeking honor or glory. If you choose to step up and help with the Lord’s work, and if you do it with the right heart, you end up feeling grateful. You feel floored that the Lord let you come along anyway. Despite mistakes, lack of wisdom, and natural-man-tendencies, He let you be a part of it. When you’re participating in His work with the right heart, you’re filled with gratitude. If you do not currently feel that way but want to feel that way, there is hope. If you find yourself with creeping feelings of vanity, if you find that you enjoy the praise of others a little too much, if you find this burning secret desire to make your sacrifices known, AND if you simultaneously don’t want those feelings, fear not. I’ve been there, and they don’t have to tear you up. I battle those feelings often enough. I have always found guilty pleasure in people thinking I’m wonderful and smart and wise. Because of that weakness, I tried running anything that would tempt me. I didn’t want to experience that spike of happiness when someone told me that I was amazing. I didn’t want to be crushed when someone corrected me. I didn’t want my pride, and so I didn’t want to face my pride. I wanted to bury it. And sometimes, the right choice is to bury it. Sometimes it’s better to run in the opposite direction. However, I have learned that sometimes the right choice is to face it and keep practicing day after day after day after day after day. When it comes to serving in the Lord’s kingdom and not seeking personal glory, there really isn’t another way. We are all asked to serve in one form or another. It is a responsibility to serve, which means you have to face the idea that someone is going to thank you for your service, and you’re going to have to face the weakness that isn’t gone yet. So what do you do? Let’s discuss a general principle and then a couple of more practical tips. General principle: You practice day after day after day after day after until you become. We battle our desires for glory until our desires no longer automatically jump towards glory. You school them. You become someone who knows better. That’s really what life is. You come down here and continually fight sin and weakness and consciously take hold of the direction of your growth. This is the overarching principle. Here are some practical tips to help you fight that weakness when you’re presented with it: It is easier to fill your life with good than it is to push out bad. Replace your pride with something that is more lasting, more important, more filled with joy. When I’m struggling to fight off desires for glory and it’s interfering in my ability to build the kingdom, I pray for a couple of things. To see things clearly. I pray to help me see things as they really are. If I can see reality, then I don’t have to fight off feelings that I’m amazing and doing it all on my own. He helps me see the truth of how He’s holding me up. Beware of this one in high pressure environments; He is willing to teach you and let you flop on your own. Gratitude. Rather than praying for gratitude (though that’s an option too), I just start being grateful within a prayer. When I start having those intrusive thoughts that say, “You’re the best. You help everyone. You’re so amazing. Everyone is lucky to have you,” I replace them with, “You are so lucky that Heavenly Father is taking you along for the ride. You are so blessed to be around these people who are carrying things you don’t understand. You are fortunate to be able to learn from them and be with them.” Oftentimes, when I start praying and focusing on gratitude, my feelings follow and the desire for glory gets silenced. It can’t stand up to that. Charity. I mentioned earlier that Christ probably knew being honored was a part of making the sacrifice. It would be almost silly to pretend that’s not the case. Rather, the key here is that Christ wasn’t seeking glory. He would have done it without the glory because He just loved us so much. When I’m feeling prideful or wanting glory, I pray for charity to replace it. Loving others and wanting what’s best for them fills you. Trying to get enough validation and appreciation is like trying to fill a cup that has no bottom. Filling yourself with love for others pushes that cup aside completely and you find yourself overfilling. I testify that our Savior is the ultimate example. He is the ultimate example in laying aside His own will, but He’s also the ultimate example in being so filled with love that glory seems silly. It’s not about the glory. He wants our love for sure; that brings Him joy. He knows how to live an eternal life that allows happiness rather than emptiness, and He set the example of filling yourself with love rather than glory in order to find that happiness.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

From Sin to Stepping Stone by Autumn Dickson This week we get to read about how Adam and Eve made their way out of the garden and into the world that we know today. There are principles here that can change how you see your own efforts to follow Christ. Some of the principles we read about this week have the power to bring you out of perfectionism and into true salvation because they are not the same thing. Background on the verse we’re about to read: Moses is learning about Satan because Satan had recently come to him to tempt him. The Lord starts to teach Moses about the man who was trying to get Moses to worship him, specifically about Satan’s role in the beginning of the Plan of Salvation. Moses 4:6 And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world. Satan wanted to tempt Eve in order to destroy the world. He wanted to destroy the plan of God because he was mad. Despite his original pleadings to come down and save everyone and bring them all home, now Satan threw away his supposed love for us and merely sought to destroy what God was planning. He was a fraud; he never loved us. He just wanted glory and honor. There is beautiful irony here. Satan would have destroyed God’s plan if he had left Adam and Eve alone, but he knew not the mind of God. He didn’t know that tempting Eve and convincing her to sin was part of the plan. One more time. He didn’t know that tempting Eve and convincing her to sin was part of the plan. I want to switch up the verse just a little bit. I’m going to put in my name. You put in your’s. Moses 4:6 And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Autumn, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world. Satan tempts me because even though he already lost his chance to destroy the plan with Adam and Eve and then again with Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, he wants to destroy the effects of the plan in my life. There is beautiful irony here. Sin was part of the plan, and not just as some unfortunate byproduct of a fallen world. It was one of the most powerful tools utilized to save Adam and Eve. Let me explain myself. Let’s pretend for a moment that Satan predicted the mind of God and left Adam and Eve alone. We would have remained in the exact state where we were. Adam and Eve would have remained innocent in the garden, and we would have stayed in our heavenly home with God. God’s plan would have been thwarted. No sin would have occurred, but no true happiness would have occurred either. Sin was part of the plan, and not just as some byproduct of a fallen world. Sinning teaches us powerful lessons. Now we have to be careful with this principle and have the right attitude towards it. I don’t teach this principle so that someone feels like they can go try cocaine in order to learn that it’s bad. That’s ridiculous. I’m not even teaching that it’s okay to lie or cheat so that you can learn your lessons. I’m not teaching that it’s okay to go sin as long as your purpose is an education. I am trying to break apart the ridiculous arguments of perfectionism. We came here to grow and become. Our purpose in life should not be to stand frozen and still so that we don’t do anything wrong. Our methods should not include berating ourselves into perfection. We were meant to come down here and return to live with God, prepared to live His life and participate in His work. How do we get from Point A to Point B? There are a lot of ways we acquire that growth. One of those ways is sinning. I have learned so much from reflecting on the times that I screwed up. This doesn’t give us license to go out and sin on purpose for the supposed goal of learning because that doesn’t get you to Point B. If you’re using “learning” as an excuse to sin, you’re not returning to God, prepared to live His life and participate in His work. Rather, this gives you license to look at your sins the way Adam and Eve came to look at their sins. Here is another verse from this week. Adam and Eve sinned. They disobeyed God and were driven out of the garden. They toiled, suffered, had children, and offered sacrifices to God. One day, an angel came to them and taught them about Christ. The angel told them that they could be redeemed after they sinned and return to live with God again. Moses 5:10-11 10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. 11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. They rejoiced. Because of his transgression, Adam’s eyes were opened. He got to experience joy because he had transgressed and he still had an opportunity to return to live with God whom he knew personally and loved. Eve rejoiced that she learned the difference between good and evil as well as the joy of Christ paying for them to come home. We don’t look at a choice ahead of us and disobey God in the name of learning good from evil. However, we do have permission to look back at our transgressions through the lens of a testimony of Christ. We rejoice that He took our sins and turned them into powerful stepping stones that brought us closer to Christ. Honestly, it makes me think of the Come Back podcast. Some of the stories we hear about on that podcast are so incredibly powerful. People learned from their mistakes and found rejoicing in Christ. We can find that too. We don’t have to let our sins weigh us down unto death. We can rejoice in Christ’s ability to save us from our sins and utilize our sins to help us become prepared to live God’s life and participate in His work. When we beat ourselves up with perfectionism over our mistakes, it’s only because we don’t yet know the mind of God. Satan wants you to believe that your sins and transgressions are the end of the story, that he’s destroyed you. He has since learned that his desire to thwart God’s plan ironically fell apart because of his own participation in that plan, but if he can keep you from understanding that, then he can win a couple of battles even if he can’t win the war. He doesn’t want you to know the mind of God which is offering you joy, peace, and salvation. Thwart Satan. Let go of everything that keeps you from the feelings associated with salvation, namely shame and guilt that has been blown out of proportion and continues to hold you down. Rejoice! Gain a testimony of Christ like Adam and Eve did. I testify that God didn’t fear Adam and Eve’s transgressions. He knew it would happen. He planned on it. It needed to happen. I testify that God isn’t afraid of your sins; why would He be? They’re already paid for and taken care of. Sometimes the only thing holding us back from salvation is our own inability to know the mind of God and let go of the sins that were already paid for. I testify of Christ’s saving power, and I testify that gaining a true testimony of that power can light up your life like you’ve never experienced.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Jennifer is joined in this episode by Ben Spackman to talk about Genesis chapters 1 and 2.   Ben Spackman is a historian and scholar whose work spans Semitic languages, biblical studies, the history of science, and the history of Christianity—particularly the Reformation and modern American religion. He completed doctoral coursework in Comparative Semitics at the University of Chicago before earning his Ph.D. in American Religious History from Claremont Graduate University. Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

Not Meant to Be Alone by Autumn Dickson The world is so confused. The more I learn about the gospel and the more I observe the world, the more I’m amazed at how lost the world is. The world is constantly seeking happiness, but it still seems so elusive. I testify that there is joy to be found, and it is found in following the patterns of the Lord. Moses 3:18 And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him. And the Lord created Eve for Adam. They were married for eternity. They went through the “dating” stage where everything was perfect, and they also crossed over into the mortal, fallen world where they had a lot to learn and figure out. They had to toil and sacrifice together. They worshipped together. This is one of the ultimate patterns of the Lord. The ideal is marriage. It is not good for man or woman to be alone. That is the truth. God declared it Himself in the beginning. We were not meant to be alone. Let’s talk about a couple of ways that our world is fallen and tries to take this away from us. We live in a fallen world, full of hurt and selfishness and abuse and apathy and neglect. Somewhere inside, we know that we were meant to have true joy and so in a confused attempt to achieve this joy, we walk away from difficult and painful things. We shy away and assert that we’re happier on our own. And honestly, that is probably true in specific circumstances. Perhaps a person who has been abused for years in a scary marriage has finally found peace in the quiet that has been left behind after that marriage has fallen apart. Perhaps this person has found themselves again and likes who they are. Of course they are happier than they were in a toxic relationship. But ultimate joy is found in following the pattern of the Lord and no matter what you’ve been through, the Lord stands ready to walk that hard path back towards healing and peace so that you’re prepared to find joy on the other end. We live in a fallen world where many find themselves without a partner through no fault of their own. We live in a fallen world where many long for this pattern but it hasn’t come to them yet. Just because the Lord has an ideal and you haven’t received that blessing yet does not immediately equate with being unloved or being unworthy. It does not mean that your life has to be void of joy or meaning. When I say that marriage is the ideal, I’m not simultaneously testifying that being alone means worthless. It’s not worthless. The Lord can take any journey on any path and turn it into powerful, meaningful, joy-filled growth opportunities. We teach that marriage is ideal, not because we want to rub salt in the wounds of those who find that truth painful but because we want to testify of what the Lord wants them to have. He wants you to find what Adam and Eve found. He wants you to find what it means to labor alongside an eternal partner. He wants you to find what He has found with your Heavenly Mother. That blessing is there. He can see it. We live in a fallen world where the ideal is far away from many. Even if you’re not abused, there are many who worship without a spouse who has stepped away. There are many who long for an eternal sealing, a full bench during sacrament meeting, someone to engage in the deepest parts of life with. There are many who have been victims of infidelity, and there are many who are the ones who engaged in the infidelity and also feel far away from the ideal. I testify that the truth is this: It is not good for man or woman to be alone. I also testify of another truth. Christ can take you exactly where you’re at, no matter how far away you feel from the ideal. I testify that Christ knows how you feel. I testify that He stands ready to walk the path before you with you. In The Book of Mormon, we learn about the strait and narrow path to walk towards the love of God. It is not “straight.” It is “strait,” meaning “narrow.” I understand that this partially refers to the covenant path, but I also believe there is another layer of meaning. When we picture the traditional life in church, we see finishing high school, going to college, serving a mission, coming home, getting married, finishing college, and having kids (sometimes with varying order). That’s the path. It’s straight. We can see it. We know how it’s supposedly meant to happen. But God set us up for a fallen world, and that means that there isn’t a “straight” path. There are only “strait” paths. There is a path for you to walk, and along that path, there are pieces of salvation that you will be picking up. A spouse, selflessness, compassion, knowledge. God can see your strait path, and Christ stands ready to walk it with you. The ideal is available to you even if it’s not the path you would have chosen for yourself. Trust me; the path that God chooses is so much better even if it feels painful right now. I testify that the ideal is to not be alone. The world will tell you that you’re better off alone or that you don’t need a relationship, and they’re right but only to an extent. You can be happy on your own. However, the ideal, the most amount of joy available, comes from being in a relationship centered on Christ. God declared this truth, Himself. Sometimes this truth feels unbearably painful because it feels withheld or tangled up with trauma, but it is still the truth. Luckily, I can simultaneously testify that if we cling to the Savior, He can help us find that ideal and He can help us be able to find joy in the strait path that eventually leads to the ideal. You can find joy now in less than ideal circumstances if you include Christ, and you will also eventually find the ultimate joy if you continue to hold to Christ.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Creation: What I Learned Watching My Husband Build a House by Autumn Dickson This week, we read about the Creation story. I don’t have a specific verse to share, but I have an overarching idea that I want you to contemplate while reading the Creation story. There are many principles that we can talk about; we could talk about the power of God or His creative abilities. However, there is one principle I want to focus on because I feel like I’m watching a mini-version of it right before my eyes. These scriptures are rather poignant for me right now. My husband, Conner, is currently working alongside others to build a house for our family. He has worked so hard on it; he has been actively involved in every step of the process including the construction itself, and he has the chemical burns from the wet concrete to prove it. It has been an exhausting process for him; there have been extra challenges to face that I won’t go into detail over, but I wish I could describe the depth for which he fought for us to have this. There have been many times that I have watched his tenacity with fascination and curiosity because it’s so different from my eager willingness to walk away and give up. I legitimately don’t understand how he can be so obstinate and relentless to have made this come together for our family. There have been endless nights of research, gray hairs, even legitimate nightmares over the challenges that we (but mostly, he) faced in trying to make it all come together. There were a lot of times when I felt like, “Enough is enough. Let’s cut our losses. We’re happy enough where we are.” But not Conner. He wouldn’t let it go. Conner had more than one motivating factor that kept him going when I’m convinced that 99% of people would have given up. When he was a young boy, his family moved to Sharon, Vermont. It’s a tiny town where Joseph Smith Sr. met Lucy Mack. We went back to visit this town a couple of years ago, and they were still using the same General Store that had been used in Joseph Smith’s time. You could see through the floorboards. Conner’s family lived on an obscure piece of land, and it was heaven for Conner. He spent all day every day outside, playing in the stream and running through the woods even when the snow was as tall as him. He loved it. He was so proud to take me back and show me. Conner is building us a house on a bit of land where our kids can experience the happiness that he experienced. I’m convinced that’s his motivating factor. That was what caused him to continue on despite obstacles that would have chased away anyone else. I have watched my husband labor (and honest, labor seems like a euphemism for what he’s done) on behalf of my family. I have watched him go through the wringer because he wants his kids to have what he had. And yes, one of the parallels of THE Creation story and our mini-creation story is the fact that there was sacrifice involved. However, I want to draw your attention to another detail. You are so loved. Christ worked so hard to make this come together for us, and He gave an unfathomable sacrifice all because He. Loved. You. I look forward to the day that my kids can walk into what my husband built. I look forward to sitting on our porch and watching them play, get dirty, wash off, and do chores alongside us in order to grow. I hope that one day, I can convey the price their father paid for them to have what they have. I don’t want them to become depressed over the price or feel like they can’t go out and learn for fear of ruining everything. I don’t want them to sit and mope and lament that they didn’t deserve all the work their father put into it. Of course they don’t deserve it! Of course they didn’t earn it! It wasn’t meant to be earned. It was a gift. I hope they are filled with tremendous gratitude that only sweetens the gift that we want them to enjoy. I hope they take advantage of the gift. I hope they run their little hearts out, following our rules for safety. I hope the gift helps them grow so that they can be as good as their father. I currently try to teach my children about the gifts that their Savior gave them. I don’t want them to become depressed over the price that He willingly paid. I don’t want them to be terrified of going out to learn for fear of making mistakes. I don’t want them to sit and mope and lament that they didn’t deserve it. Of course we don’t deserve it. Of course we didn’t earn it. It wasn’t meant to be earned. It was a gift. I hope we are filled with tremendous gratitude that sweetens the gift that our Savior wants us to enjoy. I hope we take advantage of the gift. I hope we wear ourselves out utilizing His gift, following His rules for safety and also trying to grow to become as good as Him. I hope my kids look at their father one day and realize what it cost him to build this. I KNOW that my husband will look back at them and feel like he got a gift back just because he had the pleasure of watching them grow and receiving their love in return. I hope that we look at Christ and realize what it cost Him to build this. I KNOW that Christ will look back at us and feel like He got a gift back just because He had the pleasure of watching us grow and receiving our love in return. I testify that our Savior gave us many gifts. I testify that He sacrificed and built us a home. I testify that it cost Him more than we can understand. I also testify that He did it because He wanted to. He really just wanted the pleasure of watching us find what He has. He wanted the pleasure of us loving Him for it. He just wants us all to be happy together.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.   The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Jennifer and guest Sarah Allen discuss the books of Moses and Abraham.   Sarah Allen is a Senior Researcher with FAIR, a former member of Scripture Central’s research team, and the 2022 recipient of the John Taylor: Defender of the Faith Award. An avid reader, she loves studying the Gospel and the history of the restored Church. After watching some of her friends lose their testimonies, she became interested in helping others through their faith crises. That’s when she began sharing what she’d learned through her studies. She is a co-moderator the LDS subreddit on Reddit and the author of a multi-part series rebutting the CES Letter. She is also the co-host of FAIR’s “Me, My Shelf, & I” podcast. She’s grateful to those at FAIR who have given her the opportunity to share her testimony with a wider audience. Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

God Will Pause to Save You by Autumn Dickson I got a little lost as I was reading in Abraham at 6:00 am after staying up too late reading a book. Abraham had received a vision that showed him the workmanship of the Lord’s hands. He discerned a whole lot, and then the Lord started explaining some deeper things to him. I was pretty tired, and my mind drifted until I came across this verse. Abraham 3:20 The Lord thy God sent his angel to deliver thee from the hands of the priest of Elkenah. Everything was feeling a tad confusing to my tired mind until I read that verse. Interestingly enough, as I backed up and read previous verses and when I continued reading forward, verse 20 felt like an interruption. The Lord is speaking of intelligences, including His own. He is speaking of how He dwelt in the midst of them and so on and so forth. The chapter is showing His absolute majesty. But He pauses and recalls how He saved Abraham’s mortal life from a priest who was trying to sacrifice him. It felt like one of the most relevant interruptions I had ever read. It felt perfectly inserted into a sermon of how Christ rules over all of His creations. Christ is powerful and wise and loving. He is the Creator and King. He has many important works that He is juggling, but He pauses long enough to save you. Saving you from a mere mortal trial is nothing and everything to Him. It is nothing in relation to His power, and it is everything in relation to His love. I want to share a story about how the Lord saved my family. Honestly, I’m not even sure the extent to which it has saved my family yet, but I feel strongly that one day I will understand just what the Lord did for us in moving us across the country. Despite all the other works that the Lord was juggling, I watched Him masterfully manipulate detail after detail after detail to put Conner on track for his life’s work. I will share some details, but I don’t even think I’m fully aware of all the details and timelines that the Lord set in motion to take care of us. I probably don’t remember all of the details, but I will tell you of a few. Conner had told me for years that we would never leave Utah, but there had always been a nagging feeling in my heart that we would leave. I had prayed about it, and the Lord kept telling me not to worry about it. The time would come when it came, so I left it alone. Though it was likely one of the more traumatic eras of my husband’s life, I felt the Lord’s hand hovering over us the entire time. Moving to Virginia the first time around was wild. My husband’s job had been taken away from him through a series of lies told by another person. Looking back, I am 99% certain my husband would have never left. It had to be taken away from him in order to propel him in the correct direction for his life. I praise the Lord for taking it away. That’s detail number one. Conner was meant to end up out in Virginia, and so the Lord sent a friend to ask for his help. That was detail number two. The only reason I was able to get Conner out of our house and into the car was because it was a friend who had asked him to come. We lived in a hotel for three months with three kids before moving to an apartment of a friend who had moved out west. We stayed in that apartment for two months before we received a big enough miracle that even my husband couldn’t ignore (he still wanted to go back to Utah). We were staying in that apartment and the contract was running out soon. We could renew it, but the price would go up to more than we could really afford (especially since the job we had moved out for wasn’t working out as we hoped). I was at church one day when that lady I ministered to asked me if we had found a place to stay yet. I answered no. Now let me tell you this portion of the timeline backwards. Monday, the very next day, was when we really decided that this job was not working out with our friend. I know Conner, and I know that the moment we realized it wasn’t working out, we were headed back to Utah. It was much cheaper to go back, and we had just spent inordinate amounts of money to go and stay in Virginia and it just wasn’t doable anymore especially since we were leaving the job. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if we had packed up that day and drove back immediately. However, the night before this final decision about the job was made, we received a message from a lady who had been sitting next to my ministering assignment when my ministering assignment had asked me if we had somewhere to live. This lady was a stranger at the time, and I’m going to name her Jill so that we can follow the story more easily. It turns out that Jill and her family had just bought a house even though they were headed overseas for ten months. She had a friend who was supposed to live in her house while they were gone, but that fell through. So Jill looked me up since they needed someone to come and stay in their house. As it turns out, we were related distantly through marriage. After asking some questions to our mutual relatives, she messaged us the night before we would have made the decision to head back to Utah. She sent us messages about the house and immediately, Conner and I realized we wouldn’t be able to afford it. We asked how much she would charge us, and it was miraculously lower than what we would spend living in Utah. That was the very first time that Conner was like, “Maybe we are supposed to be in Virginia.” We moved in almost immediately. Conner was led to a couple of other jobs that were so healthy for him and have enabled us to be exactly where we need. When we needed to come back to Utah temporarily, we found a flight pass that enabled Conner to go back and forth across the country for $25. Detail after detail after detail after detail has lined up perfectly for us to be exactly where we need. I have no idea how He set things in motion a long time ago to set these things up for us. But I do know this. In the midst of all His incredible works, He paused long enough to save my family. I know that it was both nothing and everything to Him; it was nothing in relation to His power, and it was everything in relation to His love. I was not saved from a priest who was trying to kill me like Abraham was. I don’t know how many of us will face situations like that. However, the Lord can save us. Whatever you’re going through, it’s nothing in relation to His power, and it was everything in relation to His love. I promise you that whatever you’re facing, you are safe. When placed in the context of eternity, you are safe and everything will turn out better than you can imagine. He has handled much larger things than this, and they were likewise easy for Him to handle. I testify of the power of our Lord. I testify of the love of our Lord. I testify that whatever you’re going through is just a blip on the spectrum of eternity. Reading Moses and Abraham gives us a glimpse into the eternal and can help us recognize that what we’re going through doesn’t have to take us down completely. I testify that it’s okay for things to be hard, but I also testify that nothing can defeat us if we keep close to the Lord.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Jennifer Roach and Sarah Allen host this discussion. Guests are Allen Hansen, Ben Spackman, and David Harper. Note: After this was recorded, the Church gave new guidance on additional Bible translations besides the KJV, which allows their use in Church settings and personal study. The post Me, My Shelf, & I – How to read the Bible and love it appeared first on FAIR.

In Similitude; Becoming Full of Grace and Truth by Autumn Dickson Before we jump straight into the Old Testament and the Creation story, we have an opportunity to read in Moses and Abraham. There are many truths that were restored through these works, and there are many truths we already know that are echoed. In Moses this week, we read about a vision that Moses was given on the top of a high mountain where Heavenly Father was speaking to him. Here is a verse from that vision. Moses 1:6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all. There are a couple of phrases in here that are powerful, especially when put together. Let’s start with this one: “…and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth…” The Savior holds grace and truth within Him; He is full of it. Let’s talk about both individually. Under Topics and Questions on the church website, we read this: “Grace is a gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ. The word grace, as used in the scriptures, refers primarily to enabling power and spiritual healing offered through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ.” Christ is full of the enabling power and spiritual healing, and He offers it in mercy and love. There are a couple of other truths that we learn in that same topic page. Overcoming physical and spiritual death are part of the grace that He offers. He helps us do things we would not be able to do on our own. He strengthens us. He helps us return to live with God. He helps us every day. The Savior is also full of truth. He knows things as they are. There are two different perspectives with which we can look at this idea of Christ being full of truth. One, we know that He is currently full of truth. He knows all things. He is omnipotent. When He tells us to do something, He knows what He is talking about. However, there is also another perspective. Christ may have all knowledge now, but it didn’t start out that way when He started His mortal journey on earth. On earth, He came as a baby and forgot everything. He had to learn truth through the power of the Spirit as He grew. He did not know everything on earth. Otherwise, He could not have remained on earth (Moses 1:5). So we know that Christ didn’t know everything while He was here, but He knew all of the most important truths and lived perfectly according to those truths. There is another phrase in the first verse that we read that I want to utilize to add another layer here. “…Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten…” To be in the similitude of someone is to resemble them, not so much in looks, but in how one chooses to live one’s life. Moses was like Christ, even if he was not perfectly like Christ. Moses was likewise full of grace and truth. When we are baptized, we promise to take the Savior’s name upon and become like Him. Essentially, we promised to be in a similitude of the Only Begotten. When people look at us, they should see something that roughly resembles the Savior. We can also be full of grace and truth. We may be full of grace and truth in a different way than Christ, but we can be full of it too. Let’s go back through our paragraphs about how Christ is full of grace and how He is full of truth, and let’s look at the parallels in our own lives. 1. We can be full of grace. We can offer the enabling power and spiritual healing with mercy and love. No, we cannot offer it in the same way that Christ can, but we can help with it. When you sin and harm your spirit, another person can’t go in and fix it. However, another person can take you to the doctor. As I was growing up, I had a shame problem. I took guilt beyond its helpful, proper boundaries and tried to beat myself into submission in the gospel. Not a great way to approach the gospel. I remember being on my mission, and my companion and I came in later than we were supposed to. We didn’t set out to be disobedient, but we did make that mistake and it could have been prevented with a bit more effort on our part. I remember telling my companion that I didn’t feel guilty and that I felt bad about not feeling guilty. With no hesitation she simply responded, “Maybe Heavenly Father knows you don’t need to feel guilty in order to do better.” And she was definitely right. Coming in late happened once on my mission. Making me feel guilty wasn’t going to change that. It wouldn’t have served me. It was such a simple, nonchalant thing for her to say, but it changed my life. I had experienced a lot of self-inflicted spiritual damage in the name of trying to force myself to do better. Attacking myself and berating myself over mistakes didn’t draw me closer to Christ or help me be better. Ironically, it did the opposite. My companion did not spiritually heal me. She is not the one who could take away those feelings or pay the price for them. Rather, she took me to the doctor. The grace she offered me was not her own, but she was still full of it. Overcoming physical death is a little different. We’re not sure how resurrection looks or how that comes to pass. Do we get to help with that process through the power of Jesus Christ in the same way that we help with ordinances like baptism? Even if we don’t, we can still point others towards Christ and hope for the resurrection. Overcoming spiritual death is similar to offering healing; it is a part of healing. It’s not our power, but we can take people to the doctor. His power can be offered through us. We can help others do things they would not be able to do on their own. We can strengthen others. We can help others return to live with God. We can help others every day. 2. We can be full of truth. Eventually, we are going to progress to the extent that we know all things. That will take a long time. Until then, we can know all of the most important truths. We can be so full of truth that we live our lives differently than we would otherwise. My dad used to frequently echo the truth taught by Boyd K. Packer that doctrine changes behavior faster than a study of behavior changes behavior. When we see and know things as they are, we change accordingly and we feel differently. “As they are” is a really key phrase here. I’ve learned to see things as they are a lot more clearly since I became a mother. Let me give some examples. My third child, KJ, is obsessed with our youngest baby. She is constantly running over to Vivian and rolling her over so she can hold her down and cuddle her. Vivian is less than impressed now that she can walk. I swear I sound like a broken record all day, “KJ, let her go. KJ, let her go.” There was one time that KJ did it where Vivian got hurt. Vivian’s leg got stuck at a bad angle while KJ was trying to roll her over, and Vivian started crying pretty hard. KJ felt so bad she could hardly stand it. She ran and hid on the stairs. After making sure Vivian was okay, I called KJ over to me. KJ couldn’t even look at me. She was trying to swallow back tears, and her chin kept trembling. It was rather cute on her four year old face. I remember feeling that way before when I accidentally hurt my dog when I was younger. I could hardly bear to even look at my dog the whole day because it hurt so bad. As I sat and thought about how that felt, the Spirit taught me something, and I was able to teach it to KJ. I told KJ, “The bad feeling is actually a good sign. It means you’re a good person because you would never want to hurt Vivian. If you weren’t feeling bad, then that would be a bad sign. Feeling bad just means you love her so much.” I guess the Spirit testified of that truth to her, and she brightened immediately and ran after Vivian again. Being full of truth is more than being able to recite that God judges us by our hearts. It’s understanding how God’s judgment works and being able to thwart Satan when he tries to mix us up. It is understanding the knowledge. It is applying the knowledge to any given situation and acting accordingly. If we want to be full of the truth like the Savior, it’s more than just reciting what the Savior said. It’s understanding what He said and seeing things as they really are. I testify that the Savior is full of grace and truth, and I testify that one of His purposes is to help us become so as well. This is done line upon line, with each practice taking us closer and closer. It’s about taking our hearts with us into those actions, rather than going through the motions of the gospel. I likewise testify that the Savior is trying to fill us with grace and truth because He loves us and knows it will make us happier.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.