The parable of the wheat and the tares is pretty well known, and odds are you've sat through multiple lessons and talks that expound on it. But let's be real here while learning about this subject have you ever wondered whether you are a wheat or a tare? As we study this week's lesson in Doctrine and Covenants 85–87, we'll dig into the many applications of this parable that you might not have thought of before and what it has to do with members of the Church today.

If you’re thinking, “Wait, didn’t we just finish the Doctrine and Covenants? Why are there more lessons this year?” Well, yes, we did technically finish the sections, but did you know there are three very important documents included at the end of the Doctrine and Covenants? And so this week, we’re going to study those three documents: Official Declarations 1 and 2 and the Articles of Faith. But we also have a little something extra for you that is going to set up the discussion so well for these documents and we can’t wait to share it with you. So friends, grab your scriptures and let’s dig in.

Stories in this episode: Brothers Charlie and Sam start a trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro only to find that the steepest trail ahead lies in their conversations along the way; An important spiritual lesson on-stage leads Broadway performer Sandra to the surprising truth about her most challenging role off-stage.

Stories in this episode: Laric breezes through sleep deprivation games on the Netflix show "Awake," but the final results leave him wondering if God cares about what matters most to him; A lost set of scriptures devastates Mark, but how they come back to him years later is nothing short of a miracle; David struggles to adjust to his mission in the Philippines until losing a contact lens in the mud helps him gain a new perspective.

Donald W. Parry, professor of the Hebrew Bible at Brigham Young University, Abraham O. Smoot Professorship, is married to Camille; they have six children. Brother Parry has authored or edited more than 40 books on the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and related topics. He writes for both academic and general audiences. His titles include: Angels: Agents of Light, Love, and Power; Dead Sea Scrolls Handbook; The Great Isaiah Scroll; and Exploring the Isaiah Scrolls and Their Textual Variants. He has also published more than 80 articles for a variety of venues. He has served as a member of the International Team of Translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jerusalem, since 1994. Parry is a member of several other professional organizations, including the International Organization of Qumran Studies, Groningen, The Netherlands; The International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, Groningen, The Netherlands; the Society for Biblical Literature, Atlanta, Georgia; and the National Association of Professors of Hebrew, Madison, Wisconsin. He also presently serves as a Board Member of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation.

John the Apostle and Jude, one of Jesus’s brothers, wrote their epistles in the New Testament to correct prevailing false doctrine. These corrupt ideas, which had already started leading many Saints into apostasy, included teachings questioning whether Jesus Christ had actually appeared “in the flesh.” Today, as we study 1–3 John and Jude, we’ll dive into how these apostles stood for truth and dispelled erroneous beliefs.

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.

Vashon’s Mormon church has received preliminary approval from King County to move forward with its plans to develop a teen girls camp at its 100-acre property on the southern tip of the Island. In a letter dated Nov. 21, the county’s Department of Permitting and Environmental Review (previously known as the Department of Development and Environmental Services) issued a conditional use permit to the Vashon church, noting the organization had met a number of concerns raised by neighboring residents as well as issues that came up during a state-mandated environmental review.

The youths and leaders, mostly from Clearfield Community Church, which had experienced a fire last spring just before its annual yard sale, said they were grateful for the experience the resulting event funded. Members of several stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at that time not only donated untold numbers of items for the sale, but they also held the event on their property and helped man the event.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is preparing to break ground for its new Hartford Connecticut Temple this weekend. The Courant reports that demolition was underway July 30 to clear the 11-acre property of five houses and an office building prior to the groundbreaking Aug. 17. Check out the paper's photo gallery of the demolition here.