INTRODUCTION: I am going to include an article written by Elder McConkie here as an introduction. I recommend that you read it along with these materials. It is wonderful. Some of the concepts will be repeated in the lesson I have written, but the “second witness” will be

The traditional family road trip is on the decline. During the 1960s and '70s, the Golden Age of the family road trip, parents loaded kids in the station wagon, rolled down the windows and set off across America. They would be gone for weeks at a time camping, exploring national parks and getting righteously sunburned. Sometimes they spent an entire summer lakeside.

Try this. Type “church,” “Old Testament” or even “friend” into Google, and the Web site of the LDS church, the Mormons, pops up near the top of the list. In the age of the Internet, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has found a way to dominate what is arguably today’s most important information source: the search engine.

Although there are many things we don’t know about the Millennium, there are several things we know as revealed through the scriptures and modern-day prophets.

Members of the Church come from a variety of places and speak a variety of languages, but one group of Latter-day Saints are especially unique because of their signed language. The first deaf branch of the Church was established in Ogden, Utah, in 1917 under President Joseph F. Smith. And the LDS deaf community has only grown since then. In fact, temple sessions, general conference, and many church pageants in the United States now offer American Sign Language interpretation in addition to other widely-spoken languages, like Spanish.

On June 27, 2002, President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple on the anniversary of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s martyrdom. In his dedicatory prayer, President Hinckley prayed that the temple would “stand as a memorial to him who lived here and was buried here, Joseph Smith, the great prophet of this dispensation, and his brother Hyrum, whom he loved.”

Editor's note: Newsroom released the following update on the St. George Temple renovation in recognition of one year of progress. Read a summary and watch the video below, or find more pictures on Newsroom.

There is more to the Abrahamic Covenant than most people think. Read on to find out three things you probably didn't know about some of the greatest blessings promised to those of the covenant.

As a young sister missionary, having been set apart by my father, who was the stake president, I wondered how it was that I was able to preach the gospel to the wonderful people of Los Angeles when I did not have the authority of the priesthood as the ordained elders did. I obediently taught the gospel and felt the influence of the Spirit strongly, even to exhorting and promising, but I wondered how that was possible. I understood that I was not ordained to a priesthood office and therefore could not perform priesthood ordinances outside the temple, but I still felt that I had authority—being a full-time, set-apart, assigned-by-the-prophet missionary—to help people obtain salvation. I even felt, although I didn’t understand how, that I was authorized by the Lord to do so. Here is what I have found about this and five other sometimes confusing aspects of priesthood power and women.

Five houses are still standing where ancestors of my children lived in Nauvoo in the days following the Missouri exodus. For a time, that beautiful Mississippi community must have seemed a heavenly gift. Once the swamps were drained the site became a truly attractive place. In addition, the Illinoisans were receptive and helpful. Converts arrived by the hundreds. Doctrinal growth added structure to the restoration. Joseph seemed to become more prophetic and powerful than he had been before. The Nauvoo years preceding the martyrdom provided a season of rest and rejoicing for the beleaguered Saints of the Most High.