Temple Square’s new Visitors’ Center is open—6 things to see without tickets

Imagine you are on a playground, and you spot a giant, old-school teeter-totter. It's bright yellow and it rises well above your head on the upside. You look around the playground, find someone who looks well suited to be your partner and together you climb onto your opposing seats. Rising and falling, you bounce up and down, enjoying the ride. Feeling confident that you and your partner have found a good rhythm, you tuck your feet up off the ground, trusting that the balance and rhythm will continue. Then, just as you begin to relax in your new position, your partner, across from you and on their way back to the ground, turns their legs to the side and casually rolls off their seat as they touch the ground. High in the air on the other side it hits you. You're about to come crashing down.

An estimated 68,000 people gathered in an NFL stadium on February 10—not to watch football players go head-to-head in an adrenaline-pumping game but to listen to a 94-year-old prophet of God speak. About this gathering, which is believed to be the largest Latter-day Saint gathering in Arizona's history, Arizona Central's BrieAnna J. Frank and Mackenzie Shuman wrote, "The leader of [T]he Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday reminded a massive gathering of church members in Glendale to follow the covenants to unlock God's promises and reminded them about the important role that church members will play in preparing for the second coming of Jesus Christ."

In high school, Tanner Hutchens became obsessed with The Book of Mormon musical. Within three days of hearing the music, he bought a plane ticket to New York to see the show on Broadway. Eventually, Hutchens realized this satirical musical wasn't based on a fictional religion. He learned that missionaries and Latter-day Saints truly existed. He became so obsessed researching this new, bizarre religion, he tried to check out some books about "the Mormons" at his local library, but the librarian wouldn't let him check them out.

According to The Family: A Proclamation to the World, “Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.” And yet, hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints now find themselves in a predicament few of them imagined: never married or divorced after what they expected would be an eternal marriage.

After becoming nationally recognized as a stalwart "Mama Bear" on behalf of her son Josh Holt, who spent two years in a Venezuelan jail before being released last May, a family social media posting Sunday announced Laurie Moon Holt has died.

In January, Elders Bednar and Rasband led the first visitors on a tour through the newly completed Rome Italy Temple, which included political leaders and journalists from across Europe. But they weren't the only apostles to visit the Eternal City.

"To be faithful to our temple covenants means we are willing to be different — much different — from men and women of the world," President Nelson said during a devotional at an NFL stadium in Arizona while speaking to 65,000 Latter-day Saints. "As covenant keepers, our thoughts, behavior, language, entertainment, fashion, grooming and time on the internet — to name a few things — are to be distinct from patterns and habits considered as normal by the world."

“Try just saying the name ‘Jesus Christ’ in a perilous setting with one who has lost hope. Just calling upon Him by name, with reverence, can make a difference in a difficult moment," Elder Ronald A. Rasband said in a message to Church Education System Employees. "He loves us in our brightest and our darkest hours. . . . Jesus Christ is always the answer."

In a day of repeated and widespread prophetic messaging across the state of Arizona, President Russell M. Nelson summed up his call to action with a personalized invitation that sent a near-audible ripple of listeners giving increased attention.