The Come Follow Me curriculum for Easter has a beautiful scripture activity under the heading, “Because of His Atonement, Jesus Christ has the power to help me overcome sin, death, trials, and weaknesses.” There is a list of scriptures to study, write about, and help you reflect upon the Savior’s power. It brought a lot of peace and reassurance to me as I did this.
Interested? Here is a LINK. (Once you click the link, you will need to scroll down to find the activity and its scripture list.)
In Exodus 1, we read about two Hebrew midwives who defied the order of Pharaoh to kill all male children born to Hebrew women. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15) and they have spectacular meanings*:
Shiphrah🌟: “Brilliant,” from the Hebrew word that means “to shine”. It also connotes “pleasing, calm, composed, beauty or loveliness; a canopy under which peace and stability may be achieved.”
Puah 🪩: “To glitter,” also, “splendid, radiant.”
These women were lights in a dark time because they feared God more than Pharaoh.
Therefore God dwelt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared [revered] God, that he made them houses [households].
-Exodus 1:20-21
Here are two takeaways,
*Name meanings taken from the Abarim publications website. Emily Belle Freeman also contributed to my appreciation of this passage of scripture.
This sister missionary is a friend and I have watched her grow up. This is an awesome musical number. Her voice and testimony have become so strong during her missionary service!
This was my Austin seminary class on the last day that I taught them in May 2001. Our house was their classroom for 3 years, from 6:00-7 am each school day.
As I study the Old Testament, a few of these kids come to mind like a reflex as I read the “scripture mastery” verses we rapped and sang together to help with memorization.
My heart aches for a few of them. If I could teach them all over again, knowing the things they would face in the future, we would sing even more. I’d have them share their impressions and testimonies more often. I wouldn’t lose touch with them during their adult years.
Even if I had been a better teacher, it was never my job to save them. It’s a comfort to know that the true Savior is still reaching out to them and helping them. I trust Him.
Grief lurks beneath the routines of life and finds its way out from time to time. This week I experienced a resurgence of some grief for Richard’s sister and my grandmother who both passed away 5 years ago, one day apart, during the first week of March.
As I studied Jacob’s dream recently, the detail of the angels stood out to me, perhaps because I have been living with these memories of loved ones. I like the imagery of the Lord directing and overseeing the comings and goings of angels.
Perhaps this dream is my reminder that the spirits of loved ones are busy, still progressing, and are allowed to minister to us from time to time, according to our needs and their life experiences, all under the direction of the Lord.
Jacob is experiencing a rough time. I like in this painting that more angels are coming toward Jacob than are walking away. He has a long path ahead, but it’s an ascent that leads to the Lord.
Maybe you’re discouraged about a loved one’s path and this image could be helpful to you.
Or, you might be the one in a wilderness, sleeping on a rock, looking for personal hope. I have seen that keeping my covenants with God really helps during these times.
As we keep our covenants with God, He promises great things,
-See Genesis 28:15
Serve a mission! Anyone who wants a blessed and happy future should consider it. The Lord knows and understands even better than you what you sacrifice and you are compensated for it.
Elder Mark Ross, February 2026
Our temporarily silent piano means that pianos throughout the world have been played by our sons. Our silent piano stands in contrast to their missionary voices sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others. What a privilege to have a silent piano for a few years while a child serves a mission!
Whatever your challenges, keep trusting God. I will, too. It will be worth it.
When we are young, we learn about rainbows.
Rain + sunlight = 🌈
We know the story of the Flood and the covenant that God made with Enoch and Noah. In the Bible, the rainbow is the token of that covenant. We know it so well that we might consider it a great story to tell children, but find little meaning in it for ourselves.
When I read a little deeper, though, I find a beautiful lesson about God,
The Lord’s tears for the wicked who will suffer are as the rain upon the mountains.
Likewise, when Enoch sees in vision the suffering of the wicked in the flood, he weeps and thinks that he will never be comforted.
The Lord weeps for the wicked, but He doesn’t want us to weep, but look to the atonement of His Son and rejoice. Will we allow Jesus Christ to carry the burdens of our sadness, fear, weakness, and sin?
Heaven’s tears are as the rain, and the Savior is the sunlight that can cut through our darkness.
A rainbow reminds me of the Lord’s covenant. It also reminds me of a God who weeps, who is just, merciful, and sends light to shine through the tears.
Tears + Light = 🌈
A just, merciful and loving God who weeps + the Light of Hope in Christ = A Fulness of Joy 🌈
Rejection is one of the greatest teachers in life. Mark is experiencing it as a missionary, and you can probably recall a time when you’ve been rejected. I think of a small rejection I faced just last week and ouch, it still hurts.
Rejection makes us see that we aren’t going to be chosen every time; we can’t all be the favorite; the gifts we prepare won’t always be appreciated; and sometimes, the precious things we share with people will be ignored.
Let’s remember that poor reception from others can’t obliterate our efforts. We haven’t failed if we have loved, sacrificed, and shown the courage to share. And if we are unable to accomplish the big things we hoped, let’s remember that our identity and our worth in God’s eyes have never been a matter of popularity, outward measures, or appearance.
…for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
What can we do when we experience rejection? It’s tempting to get discouraged, feel like a victim, or become angry. But Jesus knows a lot about rejection, and he met it with love and truth, whatever the personal cost.
Today, I am going to keep facing the winds of possible rejection and keep loving, serving, and sharing. I also take comfort that in some things, such as temple work, we see things as they really are:
There is value in giving, even if we don’t see an immediate result.
Gradually, our church is rolling out new hymns, so it’s becoming more common for me to hear unfamiliar music at church. This hymn was sung in my parents’ sacrament meeting on Sunday and although it isn’t new, it was new to me.
It’s a beautiful prayer, and it was written by a woman I admire, Ellis Reynolds Shipp, an early female medical doctor in Utah.
Some of my favorite lines,
Calm the surges of the soul,
Bid the dark waves backward roll,
Let us all thy mercies feel,
Thru the pow’r thou dost reveal.
The storms we face are usually hidden in our souls, with dark waves and uncertainty that can feel consuming. This verse reminds me that we can ask our Heavenly Father to calm our storms. Jesus Christ showed us that He is really good at that.