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

"I got a new ministering companion and was so excited when I learned that I had been paired with a celebrity in our ward," Sharon Eubank said in a video she shared on her Facebook page.

I am ashamed to say that I had read the Book of Mormon a number of times and still managed to miss most of the women. We could examine my psychology to figure why that is, but frankly, I think it is more interesting to talk about the women I discovered when I finally read while paying attention. Here are just a few powerful moments I found involving women in the Book of Mormon.

"The scriptures call it 'a refuge from the storm,'" President Nelson says in a new Church News video. "And that's exactly what our chapels, what our homes, should be is a refuge from the storms of life."

Many of us have heard the parable of the two sons recorded in the New Testament, maybe even on multiple occasions. While this parable illuminates principles of humility and repentance, it can also teach us about the divine role of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Book of Mormon Central recently created this thought-provoking video detailing how this parable reflects the pre-existence.

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced dates for open houses, a rededication, and a dedication this fall for the Asunción Paraguay and Arequipa Peru Temples.

The location of a new temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Auckland, New Zealand, has been announced by President Russell M. Nelson during a Tuesday evening devotional in the country’s largest city. “Today I am pleased to announce that the new temple will be built in Auckland on Redoubt Road," said President Nelson. The temple will be on a hill between the Missionary Training Center and the Redoubt stake center. President Nelson said the temple will be a '"two-story building with a granite exterior. Its light and beauty will be highly visible."

Read the dedicatory prayer for the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple here.

"The coward wanted to divide us, but he only united us more and more," said Abdul Aziz, a survivor of the New Zealand mosque shootings. "I wish all the world was united like we are here now. At the end of the day, we are all brothers and sisters. We are all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. We are the same."

When 21-year-old Samuel Smith was called as the first missionary in 1830, there was no anticipated mission call opening, no preparation, no designated language or anticipated length of service. His brother Joseph Smith set him apart to preach the gospel, and Samuel took a stack of copies of the Book of Mormon and went. So how did mission calls evolve over the years and how was the traditional “18 months to 2 years” established? While there is little official documentation, we can find a bit about the changing landscape of missions since the Church’s organization. Let’s take a look at how things have been adjusted over the years.