Dressed in a suit and tie, Burgess Owens stood at the pulpit in the Herriman LDS chapel and surveyed the scene before him on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 61-year-old man could see his wife, Josie, surrounded by six children and six grandchildren, seated among the congregation. A short time earlier, male family members had participated in the blessing of their newest granddaughter. In the midst of that sweet moment, Owens wanted to share his testimony with fellow members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “The church has been everything to us,” Owens said.

As a supplement to this year's Relief Society and Priesthood lessons from the life of President Howard W. Hunter, the Church History department has created an online photo gallery and timelineabout the life of this wonderful prophet. Here are some photographic highlights and facts about Howard Hunter that you might not have known, ones that will help you love him even more.

In honor of BYU's Mental Health Awareness Week, Tanner Mangum took to Twitter to share a brave but powerful message, one that will resonate with many members who have experienced depression or anxiety personally or through someone close to them:

There is no trip one can experience in the world as spiritually refreshing as the Holy Land. There is something wonderfully unique in walking, as we say, in the footsteps of Jesus. Galilee, the Garden Tomb, Gethsemane and Bethlehem will always warm the heart with renewed faith and understanding of the love of God for all his children as that love was manifested in the life, teachings, and sacrifices of His Son. There is perpetual homesickness within me when I think of these places. Yet the great story of Christ did not end when Jesus softly called Mary’s name by the empty tomb on that first Easter morning. It spread forth to distant horizons where searching men and women waited for the good news of God’s divine intervention in the affairs of men. That is a story in and of itself, written on the stones of Ephesus, Cappadocia, Athens, Galatia, Patmos, and Rome. These “holy” places also awaken the divine homesickness within.

A recently released Church video featuring Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve will soon become very familiar to some Latter-day Saints.

Photo from It Is What It Is

I just spent the weekend with 1,300 teenage boys and girls at a Latter-day Saint youth conference. I am exhausted. I also feel ancient after trying to be hip while hanging out with 16-year-old girls and boys. I felt especially decrepit after Justin Timberlake’s song “Bringing Sexy Back” came on the car radio and one girl yelled, “Oh yes, a classic! This takes me back to 7th grade.” Really? A classic? Oh man, I’m old.

On and on the Bible goes, offering story after story about fathers with shortcomings and failings. But that can be comforting, really.

Within the last couple of months, the Church has made some significant updates to their welfare centers.

Manual 3; Supplement from "Unselfish Service," by Elder Dallin H. Oaks