Meridian Magazine--Come Follow Me Latter-day Saint Podcast

March 23-29 I remember, following Enos’s example, of going to the woods to pray in my life, in fact, more than once. Then, I recently was talking about Enos with a friend, and he said he, too, had gone to the woods to pray. I know, Scot, that you took Enos’s example, but went to a mountain. I don’t think the location matters because it can be right in our own bedroom, but there is something magnif...

March 16-22 One of my favorite olive trees in the entire world is inside the walls of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies in Jerusalem.  I remember Truman Madsen telling us all about how it was long-lined from a helicopter all the way from the Galilee to the center.  They were concerned about the shock of its journey, but they promptly planted it.  And then it died…at...

March 9-15 When Jacob speaks at the temple in the book named after him, it is with both anxiety and boldness, setting an example for all us who have to teach the people we love in this difficult world. It is not a time to shy away from the truth.

March 2-8 Any returned missionary will recognize the chapters we are studying this week.  We used many of these verses when it came time to challenge a serious investigator to make the commitment to be baptized.  In all our readings and studies of 2 Nephi 31-33, have we possibly missed some critical teachings for our own spiritual progress?  Let’s study together and see what we can...

February 24-March 2 Nephi, of course is heartbroken because he has seen in revelation the destruction of his people. He says, “O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people” (2 Nephi 26:7). He says it consumes him. But he is given a promise of comfort. What is it? We’ll talk about it in this episode.

February 17-23 There was a story told of a man in war and in the heat of the battle he was shot in the chest. By a miracle he was spared being killed. As he was taken back to the safety of the nearby camp, he was examined and he had a small copy of the Book of Mormon he had been carrying in his uniform. They opened the book and the bullet had penetrated only into about the middle of 2 Nephi—right...

February 10-16 Do you know how many times the word “plan” shows up in the Book of Mormon? 66 times! How about in the Old Testament—only three times, and none of these is talking about the plan of salvation. The New Testament has no mention of “plan” at all.

February 3-9 How can Lehi who has suffered so much in the wilderness journey, including the murderous rejection of his own sons, Laman and Lemuel, possibly write that man is that he might have joy? Does he know something that we sometimes forget? We’ll find out as we study together.

January 27-February 2 A theme is so prevalent throughout scripture, and especially in the Book of Mormon, that you would think we would never miss it, and yet we do. What is that elusive theme? We’ll tell you in this episode.

January 20-26 After Lehi had his dream of the tree of life, his sons had some choices, and, based on those, in the next few hours had radically different experiences. Laman and Lemuel went to their tent and fought about the meaning of the dream, and Nephi was swept up to a mountain and given a vision. What Laman and Lemuel missed out on in insisting on their war of words!

January 13-19 I remember once being so tired as we made our way out of a remote area of the Sinai Desert in Egypt.  It was night and we wanted to drive all the way back to Cairo but we were just too exhausted from having hiked Mt. Sinai at 2:00 o’clock that morning.  We pulled over to rest.  We got off the main road and pulled up onto a small hill.  We watched from our perch, a...

January 6-12 We all know the 1st book of Nephi so well, you may wonder if there is still more to learn. Welcome to the inexhaustible Book of Mormon that always surprises us with its spiritual richness and historical authenticity. You may know these stories, but we are about to enter a treasure room.

December 30-January 5 I was reading a very short notice this past week in a local newspaper that was just over 300 words long.  This is not a well-known national periodical, in fact, it’s quite obscure—but the notice I read is probably the most important thing ever published in the news.  The paper was The Wayne Sentinel and the date was Friday, March 26, 1830.  This was the first a...

December 23-29 Here’s the latest breaking news:  The major war that was going on in the pre-mortal world between the forces of Lucifer and the forces of Michael has continued—but it has changed locations.  All of Lucifer’s forces have been moved to this earth and continue to wage war against the Saints and the followers of Christ and His Gospel.

December 16-22 For a few minutes you can leave the hustle of the season behind, while we take you to Bethlehem, a place we’ve spent much time. Come on an armchair journey.

December 9-15 There is often a certain dread that comes over us as we approach a thorough study of John’s Book of Revelation.  “How will I ever understand this book?  How can I figure out all the symbols and mysterious beasts?  Is there application in this book for me personally?”  In this week’s podcast and in one more lesson on Revelation to follow, we will give you some tool...

December 2-8 John is described as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, and it may be no surprise that he gives us a deeper look into what it means to love and how it is done. Of all the things I want and hope for in this world, it is to learn how to be a person filled with love, but self creeps in at every turn. Let’s turn to John for help.

November 25-December 1 We know so much about the apostle Peter.  He is a hero to many of us.  He is the one who stepped so quickly forward to action.  He is the one who boldly testified that Jesus is the Christ.  He is the one who healed the sick and the lame and raised the dead. But how much do we know about the two epistles that he wrote before his martyrdom?  Let’s do s...

November 18-24 Of the three men named James in the New Testament, which one wrote the Book of James? And another question: Is James actually a Hebrew name anyway?

November 11-17 When I was in college, my great desire was to develop an unshakeable faith, and so I tried many things. I went up the canyon hoping to be alone with God and pray for an hour, but I ran out of things to say in ten minutes. Then, a speaker came to my college ward who struck me as a woman with wonderful faith, and so I asked if I could go visit with her at her home and if she could tea...

October 28 - November 3 What would you say to your beloved friends and followers if you knew this was the last time you would ever speak to them?  Such is the case with 2 Timothy as Paul has his last words penned by a scribe from a dungeon in Rome.  Paul’s words to Timothy, and of course from his other letters, would change the entire world.

October 21-27 We have many sicknesses today in our tumultuous world, but Paul aptly labels one of the most pervasive and contagious. We’ll call it the “shaken in mind” syndrome. Being “shaken in mind” is as deadly as it sounds, like something that would make you really sick. It is where stillness and stability and a sure foundation have fled. 

October 14-20 Paul’s letters, or the Pauline epistles, are arranged in the New Testament in descending order of their length—with the exception of The Book of Hebrews.  These 14 letters comprise 173 pages, just about 43% of the entire New Testament.  This week we will be looking at the small epistle of Paul to the Philippians—those converts living in Philippi in the region of Macedonia,...

September 30–October 13 What does it mean to be a “stranger in the world”? That’s a lonely idea, right up there with one of the saddest words in our language—homeless.  Paul tells the Gentile converts, “Now, therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the Saints” (Ephesians 2:19). Being a stranger in the world is what it means to be without Christ in our journey...

September 23–29 The Book of Galatians is little known among us.  It’s only 6 chapters, in 149 verses and a total of 3,084 words.  Can we glean some eternal lessons from this brief letter of the Apostle Paul?  We certainly can!  In today’s podcast we will draw out some of Paul’s teachings that we think will bless all of our lives.