Unique Nativities to set the scene this Christmas

Recently, I had the blessed privilege to speak live and in person to the amazing women of the Prosper Texas Stake. When invited to teach such groups, my role is to impart positive, uplifting gospel truths to calm the hearts and fill the cups of those who attend. When I walked in the chapel that day, I had no idea that my emotional and spiritual cup would be filled as well.

The Board of Education of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has appointed Brian K. Ashton as the new president of BYU–Pathway Worldwide (BYU–PW), effective August 1, 2021.

When the new Primary General Presidency was sustained in April 2021 general conference, the experience was different from most. Rather than being in the Conference Center and taking a seat on the stand as many do in new Church leadership callings, the presidency watched the event from their home while surrounded by family.

I remember vividly my first “faith crisis.” I was 14 or 15 years old. It centered on my desire to receive for myself, independent of my mother, a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Except for a period of rebellion when she left the moorings of her youth and wandered in the wilderness for a season, she was a believing, committed Latter-day Saint and the godliest woman I knew. The solid base of her faith was the Book of Mormon, which restored her to her roots and anchored her there for the rest of her life. I can’t recall a day when I did not see that book lying on her bed stand or on the lamp table next to her chair. I started reading the Book of Mormon fully expecting that its concluding promise would be fulfilled in my life as it had been in my mother’s. I was filled with Alma’s “desire to believe” (Alma 32:27). I wanted my own tree.

On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, the First Presidency announced that 60 temples will enter Phase 3 in June and July.

The excitement of the new Children and Youth program was palpable after a November 2019 Face to Face event with Elder Gerrit W. Gong. Then just a few months later in February 2020, President Dallin H. Oaks and Sister Kristen Oaks shared inspiring tips on accomplishing goals.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf recently shared a captivating image and video in a missionary devotional and then again in a Facebook post. Elder Uchtdorf heard about the image, titled “Within Our Grasp,” through a mutual friend and the story behind its creation is amazing.

In a May 24 letteraddressed to General Authorities, General Officers, Area Seventies, stake, mission, district and temple presidents, and bishops and branch presidents, the First Presidency announced that time-only marriages would no longer be performed in the temple.

As COVID-19 conditions continue to improve in some locations, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is looking ahead to resume on-site training for new missionaries in a phased and cautious approach. Over the past 14 months, more than 30,000 missionaries have received training in advance of their full-time missions through online training originating from the Church’s 10 missionary training centers (MTCs).