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The church has always been big on learning, encouraging education, promoting teaching of many kinds. And it has been successful. I have attended a number of esteemed institutions of learning, encouraged by church principles, and been engaged in education all my life, but if asked about the most influential educational influences in my life, I would name two: first, the church, second, my husband. Leaving the second aside for this occasion, I have said many times that all I ev

Mary Ann Evans’ novel, Romola, tells the story of a young woman in an unhappy marriage. On the eve of her wedding, she visits her estranged brother, who receives her coldly and gives her a message, a warning vision couched in frightening symbols and full of dark premonitions of danger relating to her upcoming marriage.

In the middle of my junior year at BYU, I was called as a missionary to serve in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I knew it was what the Lord wanted me to do, but I had no idea how I—the girl who felt guilty every time I read about Alma wishing he were an angel so he could declare repentance—could be a missionary. I didn’t want to call anyone to repentance.

The First Presidency formally called the first two single sister missionaries, Inez Knight and Lucy Jane Brimhall, in 1898. Their call was in response to requests from the European and Californian mission presidencies to send female missionaries. President McMurrin wrote from England that there had been “instances in which our sisters gained attention in England, where the Elders could scarcely gain a hearing.”

Honestly, I mostly felt overwhelmed in reading through the Saints efforts to establish Zion. It seemed one upheaval after another in moving places, mobs, changing winds, respite, miracles, moving again. It wore me out just reading.

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #28 ; Doctrine and Covenants 121:1–33 ; 122 ; “ Within the Walls of Liberty Jail” ; “Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints” ; “Waiting for the Word of the Lord” ; and “Preparation of Joseph Smith: Strengthened by Trials.” In October of 1838, Governor Boggs of Missouri signed Executive Order 44, also known as the extermination order . “The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if n

Many of us are familiar with this lesson’s story of malaria-ravaged Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball rising from their mission-bound wagon to shout “Hurrah, Hurrah for Israel!” to encourage their sick wives. A less commonly shared story is what happened at home when the wagon pulled away.

This lesson focuses on the introduction of family history and temple work in the restored church. It describes some of Joseph Smith’s teachings about it and reminds us of its purpose and importance—that “the greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.” (History of the Church, 6:312–13)

When we teach D&C 132 in Sunday School we usually just focus on the first part, the part about eternal marriage. I have yet to be in a class where we’ve tackled the second part of D&C 132, the law of plural marriage.

D&C 135, the announcement of Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s murder, states that “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.” Clearly, the use of the word “men” in this verse refers to both men and women.

I often hear people say that the church is the same wherever you go. This is true for some of our more obvious practices-from our meeting protocols to the speech patterns we fall into when we talk about spiritual experience. It’s true in our deeper theology as well. We can walk into any Sunday service and be offered the same sacramental covenants and blessings, we read the same scriptures, and we find hope in the same Christ.

How do we continue when we are at our capacity? overwhelmed? terrified? When hope seems cruel? When grief has swallowed us whole? When the darkness closes in and light is a faint memory? When even just the thought of faith is too much to bare?

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #35 ; Doctrine and Covenants 4:3–7 ; 18:10–16 ; 52:40 ; 81:5–6 ; 138:58; 3 Nephi 18:31–32 ; Moroni 7:45–48 I appreciate that the stated intent of the lesson is to assert that the “gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of rescue.” When the Martin Handcart company was stuck, the prophet did not wait an extra day for the Sabbath to pass but immediately called on the Saints to organize a rescue mission. What I have learned from this story are three

When I moved to the Avenues neighborhood in Salt Lake City, I would frequently meander through the cemetery, making my way to large obelisks, figuring they marked the burial spots of those important in Salt Lake City history. This approach generally proved true, and they were always the grave markers of men with their wives’ and children’s much smaller headstones scattered around them.

The manual’s stated purpose for this lesson is, “[to] help class members recognize the need for our living prophet, understand his roles, and more faithfully obey his counsel.” Recognizing the need for a living prophet has never been an issue for me. I was born into the faith – having a living prophet is the only type of organizational structure I have personally know. I was born with a believing spirit. Believing in the authority and mantel of the prophet came easy to me.