This issue of Desert Saints Magazine focuses on Mothers. Mother’s Day is a perfect time to tell your mom, or any other mom you know, just how much you love them. We both have been blessed by great moms.
My mom raised all seven of her children in the gospel, and has set an example of service for us over
her lifetime. Scott’s mom is one of the best grandmas in the world. For the 20 years I have been in her family, she has always loved me like one of her own daughters. I have learned so much from both of these valiant women. Their quiet strength in good times and in bad have shaped my testimony.

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We admire pioneers, and are moved by their stories because they are steadfast. Perhaps many begin their journey in the flush of excitement, when things are easy: the Spirit has borne a powerful witness of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or the thrill of gathering to Zion with the saints looms large. The experience is probably not so different from young men going off to war, convinced it will be a sightseeing tour.

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This issue of Desert Saints Magazine focuses on families and family history. This topic is such an exciting one: it brings the spirit of Elijah into our hearts like nothing else can. That spirit enlivens those it touches with a love for God, for extended family, for the Savior’s redemptive work, and for the temple, wherein holy ordinances are performed.

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It is no secret that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a peculiar outlook on life. This extends to our views on relationships, and especially marriages. While we use the world’s terminology, such as “falling in love,” we believe in so much more. The term “falling in love” implies an accident, or something over which we have no control. It also has a corollary, very common in the world today, “falling out of love.”

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January normally brings a joyful sense of beginning again. A fresh calendar beckons, waiting to be filled with new adventures. This year, though, the air feels different. Whether it’s the economy, political unrest, personal tragedies on an epic scale due to upheavals of nature, or something else, I don’t know. People just seem concerned with what 2012 might bring.

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