This Latter-day Saint hymn led my entire family to join the Church

Now in its 27th consecutive year and performed for more than a million people throughout the world, The Forgotten Carols has grown from a simple idea into a true phenomenon and Holiday tradition. Composer and writer Michael McLean’s original goal was to create a Christmas-themed collection of songs based around the stories of the “forgotten” characters in the Nativity. And from that initial album sprang the beloved story of Nurse Connie Lou and Uncle John, and their amazing spiritual message surrounding Christ’s birth.

Back when I was in the Young Women program, I remember being told that “returned missionary” needed to be at the top of my dating criteria list. Supposedly, dating and marrying an RM meant that my husband-to-be would honor his priesthood, love the Lord, and be everything a good Latter-day Saint girl wanted—short of being Prince Charming himself.

Latter-day Saints around the world held their breath as President Nelson announced a change in the Church meeting schedule in the October 2018 general conference. The new schedule will put a special focus on gospel learning in the home, supported by the Church.

Often, when we think about the translation of the Book of Mormon, we immediately think of how Joseph Smith miraculously translated its Reformed Egyptian characters into English. But translations of the Book of Mormon into other languages have also been miraculous.

Singles occupy a unique place in the Church. At least one-third of the adult Church membership is single. As President James E. Faust has pointed out, we were all single before we were married, and many, due to divorce or death of a spouse, will once again be single. The promise of an eternal family is nonetheless available to all who are worthy.

In a few weeks, you'll be sipping sparkling cider and counting down to midnight and a new year will be here! These calendars from LDS artists will help you plan out your 2019—plus the images inside are stunning!

Sitting in the back of the chapel during fast and testimony meeting feels like a safe bet—until we get the spiritual prompting to stand up and bear our testimonies. For several minutes, we struggle with whether or not we really should. We rationalize. We're teaching Gospel Doctrine this week. We just bore our testimony last year, right? We don't have anything special to say. We're scared.

This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading of Hebrews 7-13. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Living for additional resources and suggestions.

This week’s readings: Hebrews 7–13