How one couple raised 8 kids to recognize the Spirit for themselves

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent the following message on Thursday, August 12, 2021, to Church members around the world:

Tokyo, Japan, may be stepping out of the limelight now that the Olympics are over, but the city is still an exciting place to be for Latter-day Saints. Why? After four years of renovation, the Tokyo Japan Temple is complete and will be rededicated when COVID-19 precautions allow.

You asked and we listened! Grab some popcorn and snacks for a fun movie night at home! Join all your favorite characters from Once I Was a Beehive for the long-awaited sequel, Once I Was Engaged!

I didn’t anticipate being thrust into the throes of grief as soon as I was. Yet it was in that harrowing space that I grew in profound ways. The spiritual experiences I had while struggling through my sorrow taught me lessons I would never exchange, despite the pain it took to get there.

Editor’s note: The following excerpt comes from a book about special witnesses of Jesus Christ. You can read this chapter in its entirety at truthwillprevail.xyz as well as other chapters as they are posted. This excerpt is republished here with permission.

Jake Tesch kept having the thought that a song should be written for his niece Sarah Frei. A few months prior, Sarah had been hit by a drunk driver in a car accident on July 30, 2020, where she was paralyzed from the waist down.

The most recent Liahona poses a poignant question: How do I support a child who is feeling depressed?

I always love hearing my friend Rob Gardner talk about writing Lamb of God, an Easter oratorio about the final days of Christ’s earthly ministry. I think part of it is because while Rob is incredibly talented (arguably a musical genius), I also know him to be a pretty normal guy. We’ve seen movies together and gone to London together, and what I appreciate about Rob is that he isn’t and doesn’t pretend to be someone who has it all figured out. And yet, he wrote what I consider to be a masterpiece all about the Savior of the world. He was young at the time and was enrolled in a program for film music at USC. He had been fortunate to be admitted to the program and was really enjoying it when all of a sudden, he began having ideas for what would become Lamb of God. He hadn’t even begun writing the oratorio when he contacted the London Symphony Orchestra via email and asked if they would be willing to record his composition. They wrote back explaining cost and availability, and Gardner booked it. He then dropped out of his program at USC solely based on the good feeling he had about the project, and a few months later, it was finished. Gardner’s Lamb of God explores the end of Christ’s ministry through the eyes of those who knew Him best.

President M. Russell Ballard has lived a life of service. From his early days as a child in Salt Lake City to his service as a missionary, he has made a positive difference in the lives of so many of the Lord’s children. And then when he was set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January 2018, it was another milestone in a lifetime of service to the Lord. Having set aside a variety of entrepreneurial ventures to serve as president of the Canada Toronto Mission at the age of forty-five, he then accepted a call to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1976 and continued serving in the Church for the remainder of his professional career.