As believers but also as people with natural man tendencies, we sometimes struggle to really know what God’s love feels like. We often wrestle with the question, does God love me? Am I loved? That’s a question we want to approach in this episode. It’s core to the human experience to want—and need—love. God promises us His love. So why does it sometimes feel like we don’t have it?  

Wendy Ulrich joins the podcast to share her research on how we may not feel God's love at times because we, perhaps unknowingly, have built in some misconceptions about how God's love works based on our own human relationships and experiences. Wendy Ulrich is a psychologist whose book Let God Love You: Why We Don’t, How We Can has prompted this discussion.

Read Wendy's book on Deseret Bookshelf+ or head to your local Deseret Book store for your copy today.

Theosis, or becoming like God, is the kind of weighty topic that may not come up every week in Sunday School, but has more to do with our daily devotion than you might think. Author Daniel Belnap gives biblical precedent for this belief and in the chapter we are opening to today, he connects that belief with the most basic gospel principles.  Professor Dan Belnap is an educator and author of many books including the new entry in the Let’s Talk About… series about the topic we are addressing today.

If you want to download his book, head to Deseret Bookshelf+ where you can listen to Let's Talk About Becoming Like God and the rest of the Let's Talk About... series. Or head to deseretbook.com or your local Deseret Book store.

When President Nelson calls on us to stay on the covenant path, it is easy to think about a few steps along that journey, baptism, temple ordinances, marriage. But what is the end point of that lifelong path? Our celestial destination is one of the less understood points of LDS theology, and in this episode, a professor of ancient scripture helps put it into plain words that every member and curious believer can better understand the doctrine of becoming like God.

Professor Daniel Belnap is an educator and author of many books including the new entry in the Let’s Talk About… series about the topic we are addressing today.

If you want to download his book, head to Deseret Bookshelf+ where you can listen to Let's Talk About Becoming Like God and the rest of the Let's Talk About... series. Or head to deseretbook.com or your local Deseret Book store.

The need to feel seen and heard is something we can all relate to. It’s what gives us assurance, love, and even sometimes the endurance to keep going. It’s how the Savior ministered. And, it’s something Joseph Smith learned to do well.  A few examples of Joseph Smith’s abilities to notice others are captured by historian Matt Godfrey in his new book God Knows You: Getting Real About Spiritual Challenges. This episode is chapter 7 where you’ll hear about some of those examples from Joseph’s life. If you want to hear the entirety of this book, download Bookshelf+

Joseph Smith lamented in Doctrine and Covenants section 121 “Oh God where art thou?” It is a universal experience to have times where you feel like you can’t see God or He doesn’t see you. And it can make our experience at church complicated when it seems like everyone else talks about miraculous answers when you don’t feel like you can get any direction at all.

Matt Godfrey is the author of a new book God Knows You: Getting Real About Spiritual Challenges and he joins us today to share some of his real experiences, and most of all remind us that God is there when we seek Him.

Listen to or read to the ebook on Deseret Bookshelf+ or head to your local Deseret Book store to pick up your own copy today!

You’ve heard the phrase “you do you.” Now, author Terryl Givens points out that Latter-day Saint theology on Agency elevates our thinking to something like the phrase “you choose you.” This discussion is an invitation to consider deeply how we are empowered in Gods plan to make choices that make us very individual, move us forward in everyday life and over time, lift us to a higher version of ourselves.

Terryl's book Agency: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants illuminates the ways we choose and use God‘s great gift of agency. He is a senior research fellow at the Maxwell Institute and an accomplished author of many books. Terryl shares that at the center of this pursuit of agency is Christ's love.

Download the Bookshelf+ app today where you can read the entirety of Terryl's book plus the rest of his catalog of books. Or head to deseretbook.com or your local Deseret Book today!

Perhaps as curious believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we may have all had this question: what is truth? It's a wrestle that many of us have felt, and it's one that is soul-deep as we're seeking to grow closer to Jesus Christ. How do we navigate the quiet and simple truth that comes from God against the noisy onslaught of “untruth” that comes from the world? 

It's something that this episode faces head-on. Dr. Aaron Franklin joins the podcast. He is a scientist, professor, and author of a new book What is Truth? Navigating a World of Faith, Science, and Noise. Dr. Franklin promises strategies for discovering, holding on to, and cherishing the most powerful and sacred truth.

Listen to or read Aaron's ebook on Deseret Bookshelf+ or head to your local Deseret Book store to pick up your own copy today!

We have been given the gift of curiosity and discovery, and something all of us as Latter-day Saints share is the desire to know truth. It started with Joseph Smith asking that very question, and perhaps we've all had our sacred grove moments. If you've found yourself asking, “what is truth? How do we cut through the noise of the world and the many “untruths” that are out there and find the true peace and rest that comes from placing Christ at the center of all our seeking?" You're not alone.

That’s the question that Dr. Aaron Franklin set out to break open in his book What is Truth? Navigating a World of Faith, Science, and Noise. He’s a scientist, so in his book, he approaches and offers strategies on discovering, holding on to, and cherishing the most powerful and sacred truths—all that come from keeping Christ at the center of his pursuit. 

In this chapters episode, you'll hear chapter 6, “Discerning Truth amid the Noise.” Dr. Franklin shares strategies for developing discernment, trusting in ourselves, having patience with the Lord, and a few other strategies to help us find peace and calm in today’s world. 

Download Bookshelf+ now to listen to the entirety of this book, or head to deseretbook.com or your local Deseret Book store!

Finding a reliable source to learn about the temple can be difficult. We know the temple is meant to bring us closer to God, but how do we study what we learn there? Anthony Sweat’s book The Holy Covenants explains the motivations of Covenants in a matter of fact way. For anyone preparing to go to the temple for the first time, or finally looking to analyze what we learn about God in those walls, it is a great companion. Today we are playing an excerpt from Chapter 3: The Why of Covenants.

You can pick up your copy of The Holy Covenants at your local Deseret Book store or listen along with Professor Sweat as he reads the audiobook on Deseret Bookshelf Plus. And watch out for a follow up to this book in the fall co-authored by Anthony and Cindy Sweat titled The Holy Sealing: Uniting the Eternal Family of God.

Since it’s founding more than 150 years ago, the Young Women organization of the Church has influenced millions of women across the globe. And at the center of their mission is to draw from and contribute to the good things of the world. 

Carry On provides an incredible history of the creation and development of the Church’s Young Women’s program. Lisa Olsen Tait is a co-author on this history and she is the managing historian for women’s history at the Church history department. She was also the general editor and historical advisor on the Saints series.

You can find more information about this project by visiting the Church Historian's Press website at https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/young-women?lang=eng. 

And pick up your copy of Carry On: The Latter-Day Saint Young Women Organization, 1870–2024 at your local Deseret Book store. Or check it out on the new Deseret Bookshelf Plus App.