Unique Nativities to set the scene this Christmas

In 1916, when Reuben C. Syrett — Ruby to his friends — settled in the wilds of Southern Utah, he was unaware of the unique landscape nearby. A couple of weeks after the move, another rancher told him about the local canyon called Bryce, named for a man who’d lost his cow among the hoodoos decades before. Traveling to see it one Sunday with his family, Ruby was so taken with the beauty of the place, he began to spread the word about the unusual geology—an amphitheater of delicate rock spires the color of a sunset.

In December 1989, combat associated with a military coup in the Philippines came dangerously close to destroying the Manila Philippines Temple. As the coup erupted, heavy fighting took place at Camp Aguinaldo, a military base neighboring the temple grounds. The small Filipino staff still inside the temple complex at the time could hear confusion closing in as rebel troops attacked the government loyalists at Camp Aguinaldo, dropping bombs and firing rockets. On the second day of fighting, rebel soldiers breached the temple gates and occupied the grounds. Members throughout the Philippines prayed that the temple might somehow be spared.

Among the most laughably improbable prophecies recorded by the Prophet Joseph Smith is Moroni’s prediction that, in the Prophet’s words, “My name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people” (see Joseph Smith-History 1:33).

When world-renowned vocalist Sissel, best known for her stunning vocals in Titanic, stepped on the Conference Center stage for the 2019 Pioneer Day concert, her ethereal performance with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on Temple Square could be linked back to the efforts of one man: Erlend D. Peterson.

Thomas McConkie stopped attending church at age 13 and did not return until he was 32 years old. However, on this week’s episode of All In, McConkie shared with host Morgan Jones an experience he had in his early 20s when his grandfather, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, who at the time was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, asked him to come visit him at his office and how he believes his grandfather’s perspective reflected God’s love for him and impacted his life.

Have you ever heard something and wondered, “Is that Church doctrine?” For example, suppose you were in a Church class studying the passage where God teaches Moses there are “worlds without number . . . and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten” (Moses 1:33). Someone asks, “If Jesus created multiple worlds, did Jesus’s infinite Atonement redeem God’s children on other earths?” What would you say? Is that true? Is it a sanctioned Church teaching? How would you know?

Monique McDown had six months under her belt as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving in the Brazil Curitiba Mission when, on a Sunday afternoon while walking on a residential street, she heard a car approaching from behind. This was not unusual, but Monique encouraged her companion to join her in scooting over as far as they could to the side of the road. She recalls hearing the car’s engine rev before she was struck by the left front corner of the vehicle. Monique was awake and alert through the entire incident. She made eye contact with the driver before he sped off, never to be seen again.

Over the past 12 months I have witnessed the challenge of changing years of habits by people inside and outside of the Church of Jesus Christ. I have seen, and occasionally been part of, the perpetuating pattern.

After taking a deep breath, Hannah Krieg approached what she describes as the "least intimidating lady" in the foyer of a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse, a woman named Teresa.