Editor's note: The following is excerpted from Chapter 4 of the book "The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith," by Matthew Bowman, published this week by Random House. Copyright © 2012 by Matthew Bowman. All rights reserved. If the Mormons saw themselves as a new Israel, the trek west was inevitably their Exodus. For generations of Mormons, including the one that walked across the prairies, what mattered more than the destination was the act of the journey. It was a collective rite of passage that thousands of Mormons endured, as they had learned to endure all suffering: the death of their prophet, their flight from Ohio and Missouri, and their march across the plains all were taken as divinely sent education, clarifying and refining, testing the bonds that the temple ordinances had created, and they saw God's hand in every bush of berries. Many Mormons were rebaptized upon reaching Utah; they had traveled not only from the United States to the Utah territory but also from the secular realm to God's promised land, reborn into a sacred world. The banks and courts still close in Utah on July 24, the day Brigham Young crossed into the Salt Lake Valley, and the Mormons there celebrate it still, though the number of those who have ancestors who walked across the plains is a fading minority. They have become an archetype.

Here are some of the words associated with Holy Week and Easter that provide a glimpse into the events associated with the atonement of Jesus Christ, as well as into the history of Christianity itself.

Big news for temples coming to Mendoza, Argentina, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio, and Kananga, Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple.

Anyone raised in the Church or given the missionary discussions knows that it was the angel Moroni who appeared to Joseph Smith, revealing the location of an ancient record we now know as the Book of Mormon. But in the early days of the Church, that fact was not so clear. Some people believed it was Nephi, not Moroni, who revealed the location of the Book of Mormon.

Conference Talk: For more information on this topic read "Safety for the Soul," by Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, Nov 2009, 88-90.

Jesus Christ first introduced the sacrament to His Apostles at the Last Supper before His crucifixion. After His Resurrection, He also introduced it to the Nephites. By establishing this ordinance among both sets of His disciples, Christ showed us the importance of partaking of the sacrament.

The flood waters that breached the Houston Texas Temple earlier this week, flooding the baptistry, a marriage waiting room, dressing rooms, kitchen, and laundry, have begun receding. Though the extent of the damage to the temple is yet to be assessed, this beautiful video from Masa Yoshi shows the waters receding from the temple:

This year the Church is inspiring millions around the world to be a part of the greatest story ever told—the story of the Savior’s birth—and to light the world with love.

Visitors walking near the Assembly Hall at Temple Square will likely see the golden statue featuring two seagulls, wings spread and perched atop a granite column standing 30 feet tall.

Get the full lesson, "The Birth of Jesus Christ: 'Glad Tidings of Great Joy,'" from The Teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith at LDS.org.