Segullah Journal

MY SPOT IN THE HOUSE: standing at the kitchen counter. It’s where I’ve worn out the ground more than anywhere else in the house. It’s where my children will remember me standing as they retell their childhood tales to their children. This spot in the house helps define me, whether I’m making food, signing school [...]

THE CATHEDRAL ROSE MASSIVELY from its city block like a monolith to tradition and ceremony. I had come to interview for a teaching position at a private Catholic choir school. That summer, I had interviewed for at least twenty teaching positions with no success. I had taken long-term substituting jobs, continued on to graduate school, and [...]

AMONG MY EARLIEST CHILDHOOD MEMORIES was a strong desire to go to the Celestial Kingdom. It was a natural part of being raised in an active LDS family, and I tried hard to be “really good.” However, as I grew older and learned more about what was required, I began to worry. What chance did I [...]

CLOTHES BOUGHT, SCRIPTURES MARKED, bags packed—I couldn’t believe it was finally my turn to go into the Missionary Training Center. A mission was one of those things I always “knew” I was supposed to do. My life plan to that point had been simple: I’d go to college; I’d serve a mission. Meeting the love of [...]

FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS, Sundays have been a little unusual at our house. Like any active LDS family might do, we eat breakfast, put on nicer clothes, and gather church supplies. But there is no schedule. We don’t have to be out the door at any certain time. In fact, we don’t even bother putting [...]

Too impatient for mortar I build tumbled towers. Gossamer-fine spider silk Slings my elephant-bridges together No bumbling drum of concrete truck Disturbs my peace Fine damp sand holds shapes Like magic. And I, I sit in my own safety, My silly solitude, And await hordes and storms. Elaine Rumsey Wagner has a BS in math [...]

Harpooning—the Undoubtable Shot from your sea-swept eyes, Frothing mouths— Bobbing, billowing On the world’s flood tide. The spindrift of your good news— Wholly flung Fervor and Hope Of Kingdoms, triumphs, doles— Oil for salt And brine for wine. Beyond liminal promises— Unveiling the Blue Of seas and skies. Answers bask on shorelines— The great and [...]

THE PHONE RANG AWFULLY EARLY for a summer morning. “Ms. Kendrick?” a man’s voice summoned me from my sleep. “This is George Eckles from the Department of Defense. I have some questions to ask you regarding a former mission companion of yours.” Now this is extraordinarily cliché to say, but that is a statement I never [...]

February 10, 2005 TODAY WAS AS HOT AND DUSTY as the dirt road we traveled. Walking slowly just ahead of us, we saw a woman with her two little girls. The smallest seemed anxious to either be held or be at home to open the sacks that—along with the crying—were weighing on her mother. We caught [...]

IT IS LOOKING AT A BRITISH GRAVESTONE, of all things, that makes me think the question. The gravestone is old and covered with some sort of green fungus. There are many people listed on the stone, though their carved names have been degraded by elemental wrath. They have been dead so long that my question seems [...]

An Historical Overview THE HISTORY OF FEMALE MISSIONARY SERVICE within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is rich. Although the function of sister missionaries has evolved over time, the goal of women who serve has always been the same: to bring souls to Christ. A brief historical overview of female LDS missionary service illustrates [...]

New Scholarship on Latter-day Saint Women in the Twentieth Century: Articles Selected from the Women’s History Initiative Seminars, 2003-2004 Edited by Carol Cornwall Madsen and Cherry B. Silver for the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for LDS History Published by Brigham Young University, 2005 Purchase price $19.95 A NEW PUBLICATION from the Smith Institute for LDS History [...]

“YOU NEED TO SHARE.” My refrain to my eldest daughter Eliza is an echo of what my own mother said to me. But while my mother was a solid example of generosity, I am not. I tell Eliza to let her little sister use her things, yet she sees me check the caller ID before I [...]

(Chiasmus) Prelude: Hymn #85, Verse 1 How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent word! What more can he say than to you he hath said Who unto the Savior for refuge hath fled? I. A Token (2004) NEXT TO MY MIRROR hangs a small plaque: [...]

TOWARD THE END OF HIGH SCHOOL, WHEN I finally resigned myself to the fact that I could not build a university education around intramural volleyball, I began seriously looking for a “career path.” The problem was not a lack of options, but an overabundance. I was interested in, and moderately good at, just about anything my [...]

Cool you are, and warm. Your nine-year-old body still knows how to romp, Careen in delight, Rejoice in flight of running or tickles But only until you remember You’re cool. You might forget and sidle up to my hip For a hug—but I’m careful Not to mention it. You muss your hair just so these [...]

Baggy jeans, rolled up to fit short legs still pink and rounded but strong enough to kick covers off, race Daddy, leap puddles (unless it’s more fun not to). Sand in the cuffs and pockets of rocks summer-scavenged, Anakin, Pokémon, metal bolts and bits of magic treasure overlooked by grownups. Batman underpants beneath it all [...]

It’s strange to sit here on this soggy bench and watch my fishy-wiggling boys romp below me in the swimming pool, shrieking with joy. I would have liked to savor waking up today, drowse awhile in bed and then maybe take a walk to smell the summer morning linger in the grass. Instead I piled [...]

It is possible for Christ to be born in men’s lives, and when such an experience happens, that man is “in Christ”—Christ is “formed” in him . . . [Then Christ] is not just a general truth or a fact in history . . . [but a] moving, dynamic, vitalizing force [in his life]. –President Howard W. Hunter [1] IT [...]

“A Remarkable Work”: Advice to Sister Missionaries WHEN WE ASKED WOMEN what advice they would give to a young woman who is considering a mission, the response was amazing. Women have much to say on the subject. Though these returned sister missionaries admit that missions are hard work and that—as President Hinckley has counseled—“young sisters are [...]