1. The founder of the program experienced a crisis of faith during his schooling.

While having a good job, earning a living, and making meaningful connections with others are all incredibly important components of a well-rounded lifestyle, these things should not become the foundation of who we are and how we seek our happiness.

Books, articles, and numerous Internet websites work to undermine faith in Joseph Smith’s first vision, but historically there have been just three main arguments against it. The minister to whom Joseph reported the event responded that there were no such things these days. More than a century later and in a literary style that masked her weakness in following the historical method, Fawn Brodie wrote that Joseph invented the vision years after he said it happened. A generation later, Wesley Walters charged Joseph with inventing revivalism when, Walters claimed, a lack of historical evidence proved that there was none and therefore there was no subsequent vision as a result. By now it has become a foregone conclusion for some that there are no such things as visions, that Joseph failed to mention his experience for years, and that he then gave conflicting accounts that failed to match historical facts. 1 But these three claims assume much more than they prove.

This year marks the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Here's a look at Latter-day Saint connections to that fateful voyage.

Mormon 1-6; Moroni 9

Over the past several years I have witnessed the dedication of several temples. I suspect that many of you have also. Our wonder and awe were renewed at what is happening in the world. When my oldest child was 4, he could name by sight every temple built in this dispensation, including the Nauvoo and Kirtland Temples. Now there are probably less than five people in the Church who could accomplish such a feat. I have a painting in my office that shows 55 temples in one frame! I think that painting included all the temples in the world when a junior in high school painted it to pay for his mission. And we are not done yet. Brigham Young expressed an interesting insight about this in a talk given many years ago.

One December, I saw a clever sign on the marquee of a Christian church: “Christmas is not your birthday!” I got their point, but I still had to disagree because I was born right on December 25th. When I was younger, my parents were afraid my birthday would get overlooked in the holiday rush, so they made a big banner that hung in our home: “Happy Birthday to Jesus and Brad!” They also started a tradition of putting up two trees—one for Jesus and one for me. The idea was that my brothers would put a present for me under each tree—a plan that worked well until my older brother bought me a pair of mittens. He placed one mitten under the Christmas tree and the other under the birthday tree, and everything went downhill from there. These days, most of my gifts come with a “Merry Birthday” card to cover both occasions. Here’s one I received from my cousin:

He grew concerned about his status in the Church, about the patriarch’s lack of inspiration, and about the truth of the Church itself.

“Every blessing of the gospel won’t do the people of the world one bit of good until they are gathered to the Church where they can become the Lord’s true covenant people.”

Craig Hosking is an LDS film pilot and aerial coordinator in Hollywood. Over the years he’s worked on more than 150 films and TV shows, a few of which include Dunkirk, Interstellar, Spectre: 007, The Dark Knight Rises, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Star Trek: Into the Darkness.