“I was steeped in the positive-mindset mentality … so, when sadness and grief came—and they did—I harbored a sense of shame for these feelings.”

Shuffling through dirt and mud, stumbling over cold stones that rubbed their skin raw, Jane Elizabeth Manning James and her family inched toward Nauvoo, Illinois, barefoot. It was 1843; James was one of the first black converts to the Church and lived in a time where some people saw her as property first and a human being second.

From praying on an Olympic field to standing up for virtue and modesty, Latter-day Saint Olympians have let their talents and lights shine on the world stage since the beginning of the modern Olympics. Here are just a few of their remarkable stories.

Sometimes in an attempt to prove our faithfulness to the gospel, Latter-day Saints create standards that require even more than what the Lord is asking of us. So before we expend too much energy trying to live these "higher" standards, we should ask ourselves, "Are we living the cultural gospel or the Lord's gospel?"

General Young Women MeetingPresident Thomas S. Monson: Believe, Obey and Endure

When one of our kids asked for a pair of Seattle athletic socks for Christmas, we got to thinking. Wouldn’t it be cool if our kids got as excited about sharing their faith as they get about wearing the Space Needle? Wouldn’t it be sweet if we could buy our kids a pair with an LDS temple? What if? And True Crew Socks was born.

“We wish our Mormon friends joy and contentment and all of God’s blessings as they dedicate their new Temple, and we thank them for reminding us how holy a place a mere building can be,” Rabbi Wayne Dosick writes. In celebration of the newly announced temple in Pocatello, Idaho, the Idaho State Journal wrote an article about LDS temples, sharing insights written by Jewish Rabbi Wayne Dosick, Ph.D., after he toured the San Diego Temple in 1993.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, the happ-happiest season of all—and now we are already starting to get a glimpse of it.

The moment for me was one of deep reflection, one in which memories seemed to play before my eyes like a series of movie scenes. This cinema of memories occurred as I was seated in a beautiful house of worship in Nauvoo, Illinois (USA)—a temple—a building which members of my faith consider to be the literal house of God. My memories were triggered by an event held just a few days earlier in which I had accomplished one of the most significant feats of my life—graduating with a Ph.D. from a highly regarded university. My wife and I had set the goal when we were newly married and had nothing to live on except for love and Ramen Noodles that I would complete a graduate degree in something, somewhere. Little did we know at the time that our higher education journey would extend for eight years, take us to three different states, and at times, zap every ounce of physical, emotional, and spiritual energy that we possessed.

While pundits and theologians continue the seemingly endless debate over whether or not Mormonism is Christian/Mormons are Christians/a Mormon can be a Christian, over at Slate, browbeat writer David Haglund weighs in on the Mormon church’s latest advertising campaign (the “I’m a Mormon” campaign) and the recent participation of The Killers frontman and international rockstar Brandon Flowers in that effort: