Perhaps the most spectacular city in the Maya world is that of Tikal, located in the Peten Jungle of Guatemala. Dozens of pyramids and housing complexes spread over a vast area. The Temple of the Jaguars rises steeply to a small temple topped with a high roof comb. From the summit of Temple IV you can see for miles in every direction. Piercing the jungle canopy, the peaks of decaying pyramids, like spent volcanoes, rise out of a panoramic sea of thick, green foliage. On every visit, I climb as many of these Mayan mountains I can, saving the oldest, the Lost World Pyramid, for last. It is not crowned with a temple, and is not as high as its brothers, but it dates to Book of Mormon times and its simplicity is compelling. From its summit the broad expanse of sky dominates the green world below. Had I heard Samuel the Lamanite’s five-year prophecy from the walls of Zarahemla, I would have come to a place such as this on that night two thousand years ago, when this same sky was lit by a sun other than the one I see settling into the cebia trees in the west. On that night it was lit by the light of the son of God.

My mother, Mildred Bennion Eyring, grew up in the farming community of Granger, Utah, USA. One of her brothers, Roy, followed the family business of raising sheep. As a young man he spent many weeks away from home. Over time he became less interested in the Church. Eventually he moved to Idaho, USA, married, and had three children. He died at the age of 34 when his wife was 28 years old and their children were small.

MR says: Just in time for the new "Star Wars" movie! Check out these nine tips from Darth Vadar on how to give a talk in church.

In 1924, Elder George Albert Smith, then an LDS apostle, was visiting with a local church leader on the roof terrace of a hotel overlooking San Francisco Bay.

We are writing this week's column from New York City, where we have just welcomed our 23rd grandchild into the world. (Hey, if you are a fresh, new spirit going to go down into the world, why not start your life off right in the middle of the Big Apple?) This city has been a second home to us in many ways for many years. I (Richard) served my first mission here, several of our kids studied here and two started their careers here.

Of his wife of almost 54 years, Neal A. Maxwell called Colleen Hinckley Maxwell a "more complete" Christian than he, saying over the pulpit, "I express deep love and appreciation to my wife, who is splendid in every way."

Manual 1; Excerpt from "A Living Testimony," by Henry B. Eyring

Have you been to this meeting before? After the hymns are sung and the sacrament is passed, the first speaker gets up to begin their talk. Only, instead of launching into their prepared material, they start with a line like:

Three of the four children born to Greg and Gina Anderson of Springville, Utah, have served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All three of them have served in the Taiwan Taichung Mission.

“I was dying,” says Corey Fox. “I was on that verge, because when your kidneys are gone—you are dead.”