By ALICIA MOULTON

Those with financial questions can turn to the Bible for advice, as did author and institute instructor S. Michael Wilcox. In his three-hour Monday class, “The Eye of a Needle,” he taught financial security and contentment from a spiritual perspective.

“There is so much out there about financial planning and management that comes from a business profile – temporal – but not a lot with a scriptural background,” Wilcox said. “I think [scriptures] are the foundation.”

Wilcox based his daily class titles on Matthew 19:24, in which Jesus taught “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

In the fourth chapter of Jacob in the Book of Mormon, Jacob asks the question: why not speak of the Atonement of Christ?

Robert L. Millet spoke on this topic on Monday afternoon to a packed auditorium in the Joseph Smith Building, expounding on the importance of the Atonement and its central role in the church.

“To what extent do we designate ourselves as followers of Christ by what we say?” Millet asked after talking about Peter’s questioning in the courts of Caiaphas as to whether he was a follower of the Savior. “The fruits of our faith should be making a real difference in our lives.”

He said people often judge the church and its members not only by what they say, but also by what they don’t say.

Randy Bott, a BYU religion professor, gave counsel Monday on how Latter-day Saints can keep trials in their proper perspective by seeing them through the light of scriptures and prophets.

Bott quoted a number of modern prophets and apostles, sharing their advice about some of the challenges faced by church members today. He also spoke of their encouragement and guidance as church members begin to face an increasing number of challenges.

“To meet the difficulties that are coming, it will be necessary for you to have a knowledge of the truth of the work for yourselves,” Bott said, quoting Heber C. Kimball. “The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself — that’s what you have is that light.”

Bott cautioned the audience it isn’t enough to be sincere in what they believe, but that they must be right.

Classical 89 congratulates The Cathedral of the Madeleine on 100 years as a landmark of the community for spirituality, service, humanities and the arts. The church currently serves as the cathedral-mother church of the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

The Cathedral of the Madeleine has been a sanctuary for Utah’s Roman Catholic citizens and a cultural treasure for the community at large.

Classical 89 is broadcasting many of the Madeleine programs prior to the 100th celebration on Saturday. 

“We have a nice partnership with The Madeleine, it’s our pleasure to be partners with them,” said Christine Nokleby, marketing coordinator for Classical 89.

Cannons are blasting, soldiers are marching and cameras are rolling on the back lot of the LDS Motion Picture Studio.

The Mormon Battalion is back to make the trek from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, and you could be the next enlistee in this groundbreaking film.

The movie, titled “The Mormon Battalion Film,” will be the latest addition to the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center located in Old Town San Diego.

Visitors, most of whom will be elementary-aged children will experience first-hand what it was like to be a member of the battalion as they follow the story from room to room, said Tara White, manager of creative development for the Missionary Department.

“It will be a really interactive experience,” she said.

The film has been in the works for more than three years, and renovations to the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center are under way in preparation for the new film, White said.

Students should be still, become humble and place trust in the Lord, they were told in Tuesday’s devotional.

Erin Maughan, an assistant professor in BYU’s College of Nursing, shared a variety of personal experiences that she said taught her to be still and know the Lord.

She said her own life has been filled with stress. Initially she said she thought this stress motivated her to work harder, but she has realized this was an error.

“About a year ago, I was talking to a friend who turned to me and simply said, ‘To worry is to lack faith,’” Maughan said.
Maughan said this statement struck her hard.

“Think about it — it really does make sense,” she said. “If we worry and try and put it all on our shoulders we are not trusting the Lord.”

She said this counsel has helped calm her in times when she didn’t understand why events occurred in her life.

Gay-rights activists are organizing a nationwide protest with Temple Square as a targeted location as they rally for a “kiss-in” on Aug. 15 at 2 p.m.

The nationwide protest will be the third kiss-in to happen at Temple Square since a gay couple was arrested on Main Street Plaza in Salt Lake City after behaving in a way The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints deemed inappropriate. The plaza is owned by the church.

The couple that was arrested claimed they had shared a modest peck on the cheek, but church spokeswoman Kim Farah said the couple had “engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol.”

Trespassing charges against the two men were dropped by the county prosecutor this week.