My sweetheart and the funniest guy
you know, Dave Ellis.

What a great message our Father in Heaven gives us. Of all the names He could be known by, He chooses simply “Father.” More than any superlative title, He wants us to speak of Him with the term that reminds us of our close relationship to Him.

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Danielle and her mom. I love you Mom!

As we approach yet another season of mother appreciation, I feel to rejoice in what the Lord has done for women. Whether or not we bear children in this life, our calling, our nature, is to mother Father in Heaven’s children. Ours is the job to bear up souls, to love, to listen, to lead, to guide. (See Sheri Dew, “Are We Not All Mothers?,” available at lds.org).

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I have loved being the editor of Desert Saints Magazine since its inception seven-and-a-half years ago. I am proud of the hundreds of articles we have brought to you over the years, meant to inform, uplift and entertain. I hope this magazine has been a blessing to your life in some small way. I know it has blessed my life in many ways.

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This month’s issue of Desert Saints Magazine is on simplifying our lives and de-cluttering our priorities. While we’re at it, I think now is as good a time as any to prune right to the trunk of the tree. It is becoming clearer every day that all “things,” meaning external stuff, are expendable and could be gone at any time.

So I propose looking at the very essence of who we are. We are Father in Heaven’s children who are covenant members of His church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are on the earth in the final stages of preparation for the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The first sign of the Second Coming, by the way, was when God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove in 1820. The hour is now very late.

We were told in the October 2008 general conference by an apostle that we are witnessing the fall of Babylon and it is time now to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord and the establishment of Zion. (See Elder Todd D. Christofferson, “Come to Zion.” Many other messages echoed this same tone.)
I suggest using this key piece of information in evaluating your life, your priorities, your finances and your heart.

The time is now for us to repent, set our hearts and lives in order, seek the face of the Lord, and keep His commands, whether from the scriptures or the voice of our living prophets, with exactness.

All the best,

Editor@DesertSaintsMagazine.com

This month, as Desert Saints Magazine celebrates love and marriage, I feel the need to remember the real definition of love.
True love is from God. It is the way in which He loves His children. It is the pure love of Jesus Christ, which we can both access and share with the world as we become more like Him.

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It’s always good to start the new year on a bright note. So here are a few things to make you smile:

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Although it was seventy seven degrees outside today, some radio stations are playing Christmas music, and the Santas are already at the mall, it doesn’t seem much like Christmas yet. This year, I have proposed a “service Christmas” for our family. I didn’t get much of a response; I think they were all too busy chewing their potatoes to notice.

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I am so full of gratitude right now. (I guess that’s better than plenty of other things I could be full of!) I am grateful for such talented writers who have contributed so much collected wisdom in this magazine. There is enough wise counsel that if followed, it could change all of our lives for the better.

I’m grateful that I have had the chance to read and absorb this counsel already, and it will be preserved in one place for me to use as a reference volume on gratitude.

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This issue of Desert Saints Magazine marks our seventh anniversary of monthly publication. In fact, this setting reminds me of when we put together our first issue. It was an uncertain time, in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks. People were paralyzed with fear. No one seemed to know what to do. Our whole world was turned upside-down.

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I turned a page in my life today. As I write this, it’s the first day of school. I sent three kids off to school this morning, leaving me with only two little ones at home for six hours. This year, I don’t have a kindergartener, tying me to three daily bus schedules. Nor do I have a newborn, tying me to nap schedules and nursing times in between three bus schedules.

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Imperfect and flawed though our families are, it is the deepest desire of every human heart to have a loving family. Some days it’s easy to love my family, and some days it takes a fervent prayer to love them! But we must love one another. The Lord told us, “I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine” (D&C 38:27). President James E. Faust added to that, “Unity in the Church will always be a reflection of the unity in our homes.”

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During this patriotic time of year, we collectively pause and give thanks for our nation: from its tenuous beginnings, upheld by the hand of the Almighty; to its rise in wealth and power; to the restoration of the gospel with the ordinances and covenants that lead us to eternal life. In counting the blessings of our lives and of this land, our list is long indeed.

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At the end of each day, when my husband walks through the door, the chorus begins. The toddler squeals with delight and yells “Dada! Dada! Dada!” The four-year-old runs to meet Dad at the car, then hides behind a front-porch pillar to yell “boo” and scare him. His mock terror gets the happy giggles flowing.

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I had a motherhood epiphany today. I was nestling my baby down for a nap, watching her relax and unwind into a gentle slumber, her sweet, soft breath on my cheek. The thought came to me that things are better when the children are close.

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As the United States enters a period that I can only euphemistically call “interesting,” the timeless counsel of Church leaders rings in my ears. We have been counseled for decades to put our lives in order; put our homes in order; draw near to one another; draw near to the Lord. We have been warned that these days would come. And now they are truly “at our doors.”

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