3 things to try if you’re intimidated by family history work

"I was sitting in a lesson at church and the teacher said that all people with tattoos are bad people." Unfortunately, this is the kind of email Latter-day Saint author Al Fox Carraway receives too often. But it also opens up room for discussion on how we should include all members, ink or no.

Seventy-six-year-old cancer survivor Shepard Adams and his wife, Gracelyn, age 69, were the first to raise their hands to volunteer when the Amite Louisiana Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was called upon to serve in Hurricane Michael cleanup efforts in Florida. When she didn’t see hands immediately go up amongst the gathering of some of the older couples, Gracelyn said to herself, “Could we do it next year? Well, better do it while we are able and can.” The Amite couple was not alone as they joined over 2,700 Church volunteers from five different states traveling to Florida weekly since the storm hit. Volunteers are hauling debris, chopping up large trees, and tarping damaged roofs.

Here are just a few of the things I enjoyed as a child more than riding the bus.

Twenty-two-year-old BYU-I student Josh Peters was 11-years-old the first time he viewed pornography—and that experience led to seven years of pornography use, shame, broken relationships, addiction, and secrecy. But Peters also found healing, recovery, and a renewed faith in Heavenly Father and the Savior's Atonement. Thinking about his journey of recovery, Peters told Nate Eaton from East Idaho News, "It's helped me understand myself and understand my faith in God."

At a news conference at the Utah National Guard headquarters outside Salt Lake City, Gov. Gary R. Herbert said he knew Major Taylor personally, calling him “the personification of love of God, family, and country.”

Major Brent Taylor, who was killed in an insider attack Saturday in Kabul, was "the personification of love of God, family, and country," Gov. Gary Herbert said. The Taylor family released a statement Sunday through Jennie Taylor's sister, Kristy Pack, expressing appreciation "for the outpouring of love and support during this unspeakably difficult time," according to the Deseret News.

As the aunt of 10 nieces and nephews, I love to watch my brother and sisters raise their kids. Among the grandchildren in my family, we’ve got two daredevils, two wild-childs, one bossy pants, and the sweetest autistic boy you’ll ever meet. Needless to say, wrangling—I mean, parenting—these kids is never the same for my brother and sisters. So when the children near the age of eight, how do they—and parents everywhere—decide on the best way to teach their child about the importance of baptism? And how much does the child actually understand?

U.S. Army Maj. Brent Taylor was the mayor of North Ogden, Utah, a father of seven, and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Taylor was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday while serving what was expected to be a one-year deployment.

Here are just a few of these profound principles about the after-life that are unique to the Church.