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

If it seems like general conference and the announcement of new temple locations go hand-in-hand in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are plenty of reasons to think so.

The next two weeks of Come, Follow Me focus on Matthew 16–17, Mark 8–9, and Luke 9. In Matthew 16:13-17, Christ asks His followers, "Whom say ye that I am?" The answer to this question varies based on the revelation we have received of Christ's divine identity. Receiving revelation often begins with asking questions, and in preparation for the revelations that are to come this general conference, we have provided a family home evening activity focused on asking questions and finding answers. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Livingfor additional resources and suggestions.

Though we do not have many recorded prayers from our Savior in the scriptures, those that have been recorded can teach us much about our Savior's relationship to our Heavenly Father and to each one of us. Learn more about these insights from Daniel Smith from Messages of Christ.

Life is messy, and it was orchestrated to be so.

Every day we are surrounded by miracles, but sometimes we don't see them. The more we look for God’s hand in our lives, the more likely we are to recognize it!

The great misconception of "free" agency is that one can have the privilege of choice and somehow avoid the responsibility of consequences. Someone has said that a Statue of Responsibility should be erected on the west coast to balance the Statue of Liberty that stands on the east coast. Young people, especially, have an asymmetric view of agency; they tend to focus on the positive outcomes they associate with making their own choices and ignore the potential negative outcomes.

On Spencer Hyde’s 15th birthday, he boarded a plane for Baltimore, Maryland, with his parents, who had been called to serve as mission leaders of the Baltimore Maryland Mission. Teenage boys usually don’t want to leave behind everything they’ve ever known, but for Hyde, there were even larger concerns: He was suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

There are about 16 million Mormons on the earth right now. Wait. Scratch that. There are about 16 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the earth right now. Okay, that's right. One day I woke up and found out I wasn't a Mormon anymore. It's been over six months, but I still find myself slipping occasionally. I had been a Mormon for as long as it took to build the Salt Lake Temple, for the same amount of time Moses and his people wandered in the wilderness, essentially for my entire life. Forty years is a long time!

Last year,LDS Living launched our own monthly book club where our readers canjoin us on Instagramto discuss meaningful books and participate in a live Q&A with authors at the end of every month. We've been amazed and humbled by the response we have received as well as the way these books and conversations have been shaping lives.