by Danielle Ellis

When my first baby was a newborn, I learned a great lesson. A dear friend who taught elementary school was in between babysitters for her 13-month-old son. She asked if I could I watch him during the day for a week. She was a dear friend, and her little boy was a sweet angel. Still, I found a difference in my feelings for him compared to my own baby.

Continue Reading »

by Dave Ellis

My wife told me I have odd toes. This was about month after we were married, so there was no recourse. It was quite a shock to me as I never thought a thing about my toes; they were useless little fingers on my ground hands.

Continue Reading »

Let’s get right to it: last month’s cover. I have fielded several phone calls and emails a day all month from people upset by the cover, featuring a lovely bride in a short sleeve dress.

We apologize for running a photo where the sleeve appeared too short to be appropriate.

All of us who looked at it saw it as a cap sleeve. In fact, as you can see from a different photo of the same bride, it is. More to the point, this beautiful, temple-worthy bride was married in the Newport Beach Temple, in this dress.

Continue Reading »

Concerning our February 2007 Issue cover photo, we apologize for choosing a photo where the bride’s sleeve appeared to be not temple-appropriate. We did not mean to offend our readers or imply that weddings outside the temple are “the latest trend in LDS weddings.”

We appreciate the readers of Desert Saints Magazine holding us to a higher standard than other magazines in the mainstream. Thank you for your continued support as we strive to Inform, Uplift, and Entertain our readership.

By Danielle Ellis

Kenya Jackson of Henderson, Nevada, has been chosen as the 2007 Young Mother of the Year by American Mothers Inc., Nevada Association.

Continue Reading »

by Alison Palmer

I love the innocence of youth. Unfortunately, the rising generation is faced with more hate, cruelty, and selfishness than this world has seen in a very long time. In a world that is becoming more violent and unfeeling every day, what can we do to teach our children that there is a better way?

Continue Reading »

by Tina Scott

As I mentally picture the Savior on the cross, I remind myself that this was the pinnacle gift in Jesus’ remarkable legacy of love. I want to have his patterns of kindness ingrained deeply in my heart. I want to use them in dealing with my family and friends; thus continuing the legacy of love He initiated.

Continue Reading »

by Danielle Ellis

“Motherhood Matters,” says Jane Clayson Johnson. “I really feel like this is the message I was born to give.”

It’s a message that has been hard won.

As a college student, Jane Clayson laid out her life’s plan on paper. It included finding a great husband to marry just after her BYU graduation, then a happy life at home with her eternal companion and a brood of five children. But despite her faith, prayers and righteous action, her life took turn after turn that seemed to be leading her farther away from her goal instead of closer to it.

Continue Reading »

By Gail Jackson

I think my mother was fairly typical of the mothers of her day – she wasn’t employed outside the home, she did all the housework wearing a printed cotton “house dress,” sensible shoes and white cotton ankle socks. We were a one car family and she didn’t even know how to drive.

Continue Reading »

by LaRae Free Kerr

If our ancestors had only stayed put. In one spot. For generations. Our hunts for them would be so much easier. But just like people of this age, they moved all over. A very old genealogy “rule” said ancestors probably stayed within twenty miles of their birthplace. Well, we know better now. Our ancestors were a movin’, groovin’ bunch.

Continue Reading »

by Andrea Lauritzen

And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (3 Nephi 9:20). So the Savior commanded those who wanted to come unto Him. This is the sacrifice we are to offer the Lord.

Continue Reading »

By Cheryl Stewart Osborn

Shortly after feeling relief and gratitude that I had given birth to a healthy son, I was suddenly struck with the daunting realization of what loomed ahead: Boy Scouts.

For the first 11 years of his life, I dreaded the day my son Rick would enter the Boy Scout program. I was intimidated by the 21 merit badges, overwhelmed by the 20 nights of campouts, and feared the Eagle Scout service project that lay ahead of us…I mean him.
Still, I was determined that Rick would achieve the Eagle rank.

Continue Reading »

by Georgia Jensen Blosil

We once walked dearly together
In a beloved forgotten realm.
Yet–in quiet thought,
Echoes of what we once shared
Whisper to us tender memories
In a language
Only of the heart.

Now we must walk
In an oft-times puzzling, lonely world,
Separated by languages of the tongue,
And opposing, turbulent philosophies.
To whom can we look for guidance
Along our wind-blown, arduous paths
To the still waters of truth?

Who can shepherd us
Into the lush, green pastures
Of self-understanding,
Divine sisterhood, wifehood,
And cherished motherhood–
With humble, forgiving hearts,
And loving, helpful hands?

“The Lord is our Shepherd.”
In Him we shall not want.
He anoints our heads
With goodness and mercy,
Restoring us, leading us back
To dwell in His house.
The House of the Lord–
Our Home
Forever.

Georgia Blosil’s poetry is available through desertbook.com.

Brandon Albright, a well-known performer to Signature Productions audiences, returns to the stage to star as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His wife Kelly has the other lead role, as narrator.

Continue Reading »

When the urge comes to “get away from it all,” or to “get out of town,” or to have a get together without the distractions of normal life, a ranch in rural southern Utah might be just what you’re looking for.

Continue Reading »