In this special Magnify episode, you'll hear messages and reminders that will invigorate you to know that you are a key player in God's plan. And you're already exactly where he needs you! Sometimes it just takes a shift in perspective to see more of our divine purpose. As followers of Christ, we’re called to be His hands, speak up, and speak out, but how each of us does this will look different.

In this special Magnify episode, you'll hear messages and reminders that will invigorate you to know that you are a key player in God's plan. And you're already exactly where he needs you! Sometimes it just takes a shift in perspective to see more of our divine purpose. As followers of Christ, we’re called to be His hands, speak up, and speak out, but how each of us does this will look different.

We hope this conversation will serve as a reminder to be more gentle with ourselves as we are letting the Savior mold us into who we need to be. That we don’t need to be in a rush to become better immediately, but that we can rest and find some calmness knowing we are a work in progress. In fact, this episode's guest calls it the “slow work of God.”

In her very last public address, Patricia Holland said this in a worldwide devotional given to the young adults of the church: “Simplify! [God] wants us to know that the gospel is beautifully simple and simply beautiful.” She shares the most simple sequence of the gospel is to have faith, hope, and charity. She says, “Our part is to come unto Him in lowliness and simplicity, then we should worry not and fear not.” 

In his most recent general conference address, President Nelson said that as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have access to a different kind of confidence—a confidence that doesn’t come from what the world tells us about how to look or be or act, but that comes from having a relationship with the Lord. It's a gift that we can tap into right now! We might be wondering exactly how we can do that, and while each of us has our own path to finding confidence before the Lord, today’s guest shares that it's our covenants that are the path to our potential.

We shared a quote from Patricia Holland where she said, “my personality was created to fit precisely the mission and talents that [God] gave me.” This message has resonated with so many of us because it serves as a reminder that when we trust God to give us the energy and confidence to lean into our unique talents and abilities, we have more of His power in our lives. That power can helpe us grow in divine confidence to be our best selves.  

When we trust God, we can gain greater access to His power in our everyday lives. And we can be confident that He will help us increase our capacity to do things that seem miraculous. This was a lesson that was learned by Jennifer Kerns Davis when her son passed away. She knew she needed a “but if not” kind of miracle, and what she found was courage to handle the situation that was before her. This power she felt from God helped her to have confidence to trust in Him.

A few years ago, Sister Patricia Holland passed unexpectantly. She was a powerful disciple in her own right, standing as an example and witness that God lives, that He loves us, that and keeping our focus on Him is the sure path to everlasting joy. Her daughter, Mary Alice McCann, wanted to make sure that her children and grandchildren knew what kind of blood was in their veins, so she compiled and carefully selected Sister Holland’s thoughts and teachings into a beautiful book called An Eye Single: Thoughts and Teachings from Patricia T. Holland. She joins this episode along with Michelle Torsak, executive director of content at Deseret Book, as they reflect on the powerful force for good that was Patricia T. Holland.

This week, Melinda Brown’s new book An Endowment of Love was dropped on Deseret Book shelves. In it, she offers a fresh and unique approach to the temple, helping us see the connection between our temple covenants and principles of eternal, loving relationships. So in this episode, Director of Content for Deseret Book Michelle Torsak sits down with Melinda to discuss how we can take a fresh look and see the temple with new lenses. They discuss how we can better understand covenantal relationships, and Mindy shares walks us through a few parts of her new book that will help us better see our covenants as manifestations of our love for God.

This episode features Maria Eckersley and Brooke Walker as they discuss five questions to ask in our gospel study to learn from the examples of women in the scripture. They discuss how we can better understand how God values and empowers His daughters. How He loves and trusts them to do His work.

A few years ago, in his talk “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” President Nelson asked this question that we've all probably yearned to know the answer: “How do we become the men and women, the Christlike servants that the Lord needs us to be? How can we find answers to the questions that perplex us?” And his prescription to this soul-deep question: personal revelation. He said, “The heavens are open and God speaks to his children.”

In his talk entitled, “Spiritual Treasures” given in 2019, President Nelson stated, “The heavens are.. open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants.” We might read this and wonder, how? As women, we sincerely want to understand how we can better draw upon God’s power. And perhaps, we’d like to know what we might be misunderstanding and where we can grow.

In this episode, Jenny Guthrie shares about her life’s motto for spreading the gospel: Feed His Sheep and how she came to this conclusion when she felt prompted to answer the question, “Do I love Him?” She shares three different experiences about how this has become her life's mission: her husband’s time in the MLB where she would interact with people of all different faiths and congregations, her time spent as a mission leader in Texas where she worked with missionaries and also helped her own growing family come closer to Christ, and her time teaching teenagers seminary.

God’s power can help us to lead out, solve problems, nurture humanity, and strengthen relationships. One way we can access His power is in temple worship. In fact, President Nelson promised us this in his most recent General Conference address: “Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple. You will find His mercy. You will find answers to your most vexing questions. You will better comprehend the joy of His gospel.” And as women of faith, this is what we want! More Jesus in our lives. Because with Him, all things are possible.

When President Nelson shared his conference address, “Joy and Spiritual Survival,” in October 2016, he said, “each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us,” and then he asked, “yet we are here to have joy? YES! The answer is a resounding yes!” indicating that we are built for it. In fact, today’s guest Lisa Valentine Clark even commented that it’s our birthright. But it can sometimes feel out of reach, especially if we are feeling nearly consumed by our trials. So how do we set our sights on it? Lisa puts it this way: “Joy is a creative act. Not a formula.”

In November 2018, one of the deadliest fires, known as the Camp Fire, took out the city of Paradise. Shauna Wilson Manwill had her home and everything she owned completely burned. While going through this tragedy, she was also dealing with personal loss that affected her story. But Shauna’s story is one of rising from the ashes—both physically and metaphorically. She shares: “I have big faith,” and it was this foundational faith in the gospel that carried her through. By opening herself up to letting others in, she learned that we can all be disciples of Jesus Christ through service, love, and turning outward.

With the immediacy of today’s world—the instant gratification, the ready made drive thru meals, the quick Google search for any little bump in our road—we can easily forget to let the good things come over time. So let's learn to forge the path of joy.

In an effort to show that gospel living really works, we have to show our joy! Brooke Walker and her sister Lyndsi Frandsen were discussing this, and one idea came to mind: gush more. What does this mean? The fact is our world is becoming increasingly less expressive. Perhaps we aren't necessarily feeling less, but we certainly aren’t showing what we’re feeling, which isn’t always a bad thing. But because we are women who have the light of Christ, the fulness of the Gospel, and the power of God on our side, shouldn’t we have some feelings to celebrate and share?

Ashly Stone was a heroin addict who had found herself in and out of rehabilitation centers and even jail for years. While getting help at the Salvation Army, she found a bible with a Book of Mormon bookmark in it. That was the push she needed to return to the gospel and find her way to recovery. In this episode, she shares her story, how it can instill hope in all of us who might be wandering or who are aching for their loved ones who are on their own paths, and how Jesus Christ is the reason she got clean. No matter your circumstances, it’s a conversation that matters in our efforts to show that following the Savior works and sharing that joy with others.