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Editor’s note: This article was originally published to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the revelation declaring that all worthy males, regardless of race, may receive the priesthood. We are sharing it again to mark the 40th anniversary and to celebrate the continuing growth of the Church in Africa.

Though some may view it as a punishment, repentance actually is a gift given through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Without it, we wouldn't be able to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father and fully enjoy the blessings of eternal life.

A prayerful study of symbolism in the gospel enables us to understand and better appreciate the doctrines, principles, commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel more completely. When we do, we are filled with gratitude, which is the ultimate catalyst for personal change. As our understanding of the gospel and the ordinances of the temple matures, we want to know even more. We become more like the Savior, and we desire more strongly to please God. That has been for me a delicious and deeply satisfying spiritual experience. My hope is that you will have the same kind of experience.

As Church membership continues to grow and change throughout the world, four new stakes have been created in several different countries, including Brazil, Georgia, Guatemala, and the Philippines, while one stake was discontinued in Germany, according to LDS Church Growth.

"I think there are places that sister missionaries can get into that our elders can't. They have made a wonderful addition to the work," Elder Nielson said about the sister missionaries. "We're all so grateful to have them serving. They are amazing."

The Church is pretty good at filming stuff. When the full-length feature Meet the Mormons was released in theaters throughout the country, it was a crowning moment in our long history of cinematic exposure. And let's not forget about Church video campaigns, such as I'm a Mormon and Because He Lives, which have provided our faith with excellent publicity for years.

In a letter to her husband, Joseph, Emma Hale Smith wrote, “I desire the Spirit of God to know and understand myself, that I might be able to overcome whatever of tradition or nature that would not tend to my exaltation in the eternal worlds. I desire a fruitful, active mind, that I may be able to comprehend the designs of God, when revealed through His servants without doubting.”

Author's note: I want to be clear that I am not a certified psychologist or a specialist on female adolescent development. I am one woman who is fortunate to have a job that exposes me to stories and gospel truths on a daily basis that expand my experience and knowledge. I hope some of what I can share will help others understand their place and purpose in the Church a little more fully.

Much of the happiness and unhappiness you will experience in mortality will be related to a powerful emotion—love. In the scripture quoted above, the Lord tells us that love is to characterize our relationships with each other. In the New Testament, we are even told “God is love” (1 John 4:8). It is my belief that He wants all of us to experience love in its deepest and fullest sense. On the other hand, Satan seeks to prostitute and distort love—making of it something tawdry and destructive. Many young people have been deceived by the counterfeit descriptions of love that are evident all around us. Perhaps you have known people who one day announce they are “in love” and the next that they have “fallen out of love.” You must be extremely careful also not to think of love as it is portrayed in the majority of TV sitcoms, movies, and romance novels. It has been said that there is a difference between Hollywood’s “reel love” and “real love.”