As I sat in my Sunday School lesson over the weekend, an interesting topic arose. Our instructor, a very experienced and proficient teacher of the gospel, asked my class how many of us had read the lesson for that day. A handful of arms went into the air. Mine not included. And I was reminded of what my grandma told me earlier that week.

On Wednesday, August 22 and Thursday, August 23 “World News with Diane Sawyer” aired a two-part report “Inside the Mormon Church” from ABC’s Dan Harris. In introducing the series Diane Sawyer said — “It’s a time of change in America. In the last 12 years alone we have seen the election of the first black President, the first Jewish candidate on a major ticket — Senator Joe Lieberman, and next week, another breakthrough – the first Mormon nominee for President, a profound and historic moment for the Mormon faith, which is a still a mystery to a lot of people. So tonight, Dan Harris begins a two-part series, answering questions about this uniquely American religion.”

The new host for “Music & the Spoken Word” says the calling came as a “complete shock and surprise,” but he trusts in the Lord’s timing.

Years ago, before the Church instituted the three-hour block schedule for our Sunday meetings, we used to go to the chapel for meetings three times every Sunday—once in the morning for priesthood meeting, a second time for Sunday School opening exercises and classes, and finally a third time for a ninety-minute sacrament meeting. When I was a very young man, our ward’s Sunday School superintendent, Brother Marchant, came to our class one Sunday to ask for volunteers who would be willing to give the prayer, the 2½-minute talks, and the sacrament gem (a verse of scripture shared before the sacrament was passed) in the following week’s Sunday School opening exercises. My strategy was to quickly volunteer to say either the prayer or the sacrament gem. I was motivated by the desire to avoid having to give a talk at all costs! Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t the only person in the class with that strategy, and I missed out on my first choice, the prayer. I was quick enough, however, to score the sacrament gem assignment. Given the other alternative, I felt lucky.

We are writing this week's column from New York City, where we have just welcomed our 23rd grandchild into the world. (Hey, if you are a fresh, new spirit going to go down into the world, why not start your life off right in the middle of the Big Apple?) This city has been a second home to us in many ways for many years. I (Richard) served my first mission here, several of our kids studied here and two started their careers here.

That moment you wait for forever. A moment of forever. A moment of peace, power, bliss and the essence of what this life is all about: love. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of witnessing such a moment when a local young man returned home honorably from his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After two years of service, his family eagerly waited in the terminal of the airport here in College Station, Texas. I can count on just one hand the moments when I have literally felt the anticipation of the moment coursing through my soul, and I can honestly say this was one of those moments.

When two-time GRAMMY award winner Lauren Daigle was a teenager, she contracted a debilitating virus that led to her being homebound for two years in high school. On this week’s episode of the All In podcast, Daigle shared how that period of isolation ultimately served as an “incubation” of sorts and led to the song that has become an anthem for many Christians.

All that remains is the signature of Italy's president, and the LDS Church will be recognized officially as a “partner of the state.” This week the Italian Senate approved the Utah-based faith's push for an “Intesa con lo Stato,” the culmination of a decades-long effort to successfully establish relations with the Italian government.

Reading about the Atonement is one thing but truly feeling it is another. This visual could make a difference.

In this week's episode of This Is the Gospel, Sue faces the grim possibility that her husband will not recover from a vital but dangerous surgery. And to add to her worries, COVID strikes, leaving her without in-person contact to her ailing parents who are in a nursing home in Pennsylvania. But right when it all seems too much to bear, a phone call from Sue's daughter reminds her of her power to call upon heaven to help her family.