Visiting Teaching Message:

The following was originally published in LDS Living magazine in February 2015. This month marks the five-year anniversary of when Jensen Parrish lost her mother, father, and two brothers while serving her mission. We are republishing this article to commemorate their lives and to reflect on the powerful lesson's Jensen shared following her sudden loss.

In a world where a constant—and we mean constant—flow of media images far exceeds the number of women we could ever see face to face, this abnormally thin and digitally-enhanced feminine ideal has become the norm in our minds. A counterfeit, dangerous, unattainable norm.

MR says: What an incredible story of perseverance and endurance! We wish this LDS mom all the best in reaching her goal.

"I crave adventure like most people crave chocolate," Marianne Jennings said in her video application to join Fjallraven Polar, a 186-mile long winter adventure across the Arctic tundra. That's right. Jennings is currently vying to be one of only two US participants allowed to compete in an arduous dogsled expedition across some of the most hostile climates Norway has to offer.

Growing up, I was never what you would call petite. I was usually taller than everyone, including the boys, and my early puberty helped to fill me out during the “awkward years.”

Via these new Mormon Messages YouTube Channel videos, let’s virtually follow the members of the Quorum of the Twelve around the world as they minister to the Saints. First let's go to Bolivia, where Elder Neil L. Andersen teaches church members about Jesus: “He lived a sinless life.… He took upon himself our sins so long as we are willing to repent.”

Hi! How are you? What’s your name? My name’s Jenny. I’m an extrovert—can you tell?

I spent nearly half of my mission service training new missionaries. This allowed time for a lot of extra study. I enjoyed this extra study so much that I convinced a couple of my more willing companions to get up early with me even when we weren’t training. Missionaries are fond of bearing comp-a-monies and will often get emotional about what they learned from one another. “Sister So-and-So taught me about charity.” “Sister Thingy taught me about prayer.” You get the drill. When it came to others reflecting on me, it was always, “Sister Lindley taught me how to work.” I was never quite sure how I felt about that. My new comps would invariably tell me after about three weeks how terrified they had been to serve with me due to the taskmaster reputation I had unwittingly earned. They would say, “I’m so surprised that that you are nice, too!” I was never quite sure how I felt about that, either.

SALT LAKE CITY — In a statement issued within hours of the Supreme Court’s announced rulings on two issues relating to same-sex marriage, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reconfirmed the church’s commitment to traditional marriage between a man and a woman while expressing concerns about the decisions. “By ruling that supporters of Proposition 8 lacked standing to bring this case to court, the Supreme Court has highlighted troubling questions about how our democratic and judicial system operates,” said LDS spokesman Michael Otterson. “Many Californians will wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong when their government will not defend or protect a popular vote that reflects the views of a majority of their citizens.”