Why I’m so grateful someone pushed through awkwardness to serve

With Christmas under two weeks away, Latter-day Saint musicians are bringing the Christmas spirit to YouTube. From houselights synced to carols to the opening of Light the World giving machines, these videos will get you in the mood for the upcoming holiday.

The updated youth curriculum, “Come, Follow Me — For Aaronic Priesthood Quorums and Young Women Classes: Doctrinal Topics 2020” is now available on the gospel library app and on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Every Christmas, my family reads the story of Jesus’ birth from the second chapter of Luke.

The following letter previously ran on LDS Living in 2015.

Leaders and youth beginning the new Children and Youth program will find updated websites for the Young Women, Aaronic Priesthood and Primary organizations.

When Elder Vai Sikahema was a boy, he kept the law of chastity out of respect for his mother. Then it turned into a desire to obey God’s commandments. Now, as a father, Elder Sikahema finds new gratitude in the blessing it was to his children.

President Russell M. Nelson announced the three temples during October General Conference

It all started with the fathers. As with countless Jewish girls, Mary’s betrothal likely began when, by custom, Joseph’s father approached hers. Before Joseph’s father said more than a few words, Mary’s father likely knew what he wanted. To be brief, he wanted to discuss a possible engagement of his son with Mary. That topic would require a somewhat formal meeting.1 Whether Joseph’s father was the first parent to approach Mary’s father we cannot know. It is certainly possible that her father had been approached by other fathers of young men in Nazareth. Mary would surely have been visible to all the fathers in the small town. She may have been one of the few eligible young women that year in a settlement that sat apart, high above the surrounding plains at the top of steep hills that rose near one another and, falling precipitously toward each other, formed a bowl-like setting for Nazareth’s few inhabitants.

There are so many amazing women throughout history who have chosen to follow God. These women's stories are told in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and during the time of the Restoration. These books and dolls will invite and inspire children to make important choices by following the examples of great women in the scriptures.