Segullah

Mormon women blogging about the peculiar and the treasured

My Life’s True Mission

At twelve, I felt the first stirrings of destiny. What plan did God have for me, and how could I follow it? I took German and French, discovering I had a knack for languages. Maybe I’d serve a mission. Perhaps I’d become an ambassador, maybe even feed the hungry masses in India. I loved, loved, [...]

Spiritual Resiliency

Everyone in our ward adored Brother Brown.* His countenance radiated light and goodness; his testimony was firm, sincere, and powerful. He drew us in droves to his gospel doctrine class and then, as a loving priests quorum adviser, he shaped and molded hard-edged teenage boys into men. He was a skilled and busy physician, the [...]

Rich Girl

As a BYU freshman living in the dorms, my daughter made up an excuse every time I invited her and her roommates over for Sunday dinner. When I finally pinned her down, she confessed that she was embarrassed. “I don’t want them to see where we live,” she said. It was the same when she [...]

Ward Envy – Part II

“It seems like the more we try to live the gospel, the more trials we have.  Why ?”  I will never forget Beata’s question while I was studying in Poland last summer.  Dr. Whipple and I gave our best Sunday School answers, but our words felt empty and our hearts ached for her pain. My mind went back to [...]

UP CLOSE: Living Single– One Brief, Pure, Shining Moment

Julie R. returned to teaching after taking a hiatus to earn an M.A. in Popular Culture. She teaches high school English and Composition, and Media Studies classes somewhere in middle America. When she isn’t at school, she’s teaching piano lessons, baking, watching movies, or hanging with her family. She blogs when she can at Welcome [...]

just show up

I’ve made a mess of things. Really, truly. Please read this and make a mental note of WHAT NOT TO DO. Last Sunday my oldest son received his patriarchal blessing. Can you imagine how I’ve anticipated this day? Ben is a brilliant, sweet, astonishingly mature kid who will clearly change the world. And I could [...]

UP CLOSE: Living Single– Titanic Tears and Ministering Angels – Just Another Day Really

If you’d like treat yourself to wonderfully honest, poetic writing from a red-headed Aussie, visit Selwyn’s Sanity. Selwyn is the mother of two boys and is in the middle of a divorce. What more shall I say? I’ll let her writing tell her story. Last night I watched Titanic for the first time. Apparently I [...]

Testimonies, War, and Cherry Picking

Every time a certain older gentleman in our ward (I’ll call him Brother G.) gets up to bear his testimony, I inwardly roll my eyes. All around me, I see fellow ward members slump in their pews as they brace themselves, eyes already glazing over. It doesn’t matter if the meeting is running over and [...]

pieces

I felt the tooth crack, and then shatter like a stone in the garden. Salt Lake’s finest and oldest buildings are formed from Rocky Mountain granite and yet one quick blow from my shovel fractures the rock into tiny grey and white crystals. Spitting the fragments into my palm my tongue probes the hollow– how [...]

Dating, Courtship, Marriage, WORK

Attention all Segullah readers: The deadline (August 15th) is quickly approaching for our 5th anniversary issue on Dating, Courtship and Marriage. We hope to make this an extended issue examining every aspect of bliss and heartbreak, but we need your contributions.  Writing tips can be found here and submission information is here. Be sure to [...]

Baby Sister

I was fourteen when my youngest sister, Charlotte, was born. Because my mother birthed her at home, I saw her when she was just seconds old and watched my father cut her cord, bundle her in a blanket, and hand her to my mother. When she cried her first soft cry, I fell in love [...]

Putting Away Childish Things

Last Thursday, I buried my mother. My dad offered the family prayer while I stood by her coffin, patting her shoulder and running my fingers through her hair. She clearly wasn’t in her broken body anymore, but it was sacred to me, and I loved touching her hands and face and running my fingers over [...]

Can I Get A Witness?

I hear voices, not regular voices per se, but a gospel choir. They sing to me in my head. They wear blue satin robes with white collars and are quite soulful. At various times throughout the day I hear… “Can I get a witness, wit-ness Can I get a witness, wit-ness” They are clapping and [...]

A New Heart

Four years ago, when the bishop announced during sacrament meeting that a new bishopric would be sustained the next Sunday, I almost ran screaming from the chapel in terror. For several months I’d been shrugging off the premonition that a bishopric call was coming to my husband, and my husband had seemed to sense something [...]

the essence

My mom is dying. Just three weeks ago, I was moving my graceful bleeding hearts from pots into the shady side garden. My little Mary wore her stiff pink garden gloves and chatted with me as I dug deep holes over by the rose arch, “What’s this called? Is that a weed? Why are you [...]

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