Official statistics are hard to come by, but it has become clear over the past several years that Mormonism is seeing many of its 18- to 30-year-olds reduce their participation in the church or leave the faith altogether. Two recent actions confirm this trend and reveal the church’s initial responses in trying to stem the tide. First, in an effort to better track singles and help them feel connected to a local unit by providing new opportunities for callings and meeting other singles without “ward hopping,” the church has disbanded Utah student wards and reorganized them into singles wards in all-single stakes. And second, because it seems to recognize that it meets the needs of families better than it does singles, it has begun re-emphasizing the counsel for young adults to not delay marriage, to not be afraid of finding a worthy partner and starting a family right away even if this means possibly experiencing financial and other struggles not faced by those who delay marriage and children until after completing school or professional training. In this podcast, host Dan Wotherspoon and panelists Joanna Brooks, Tresa Edmunds, and Jared Anderson explore this issue of a church seemingly in danger of losing a generation of young people.

On Septber 22, the Church provided the following update about humanitarian efforts impacting those affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria:

For the full list and more information about the Church pageants held this year, click here.

From Zimbabwe to Canada and Belgium to South Korea, learn more about the mission presidents and their wives called by the First Presidency who will begin their service in July.

Maual 3; Supplement from "Love and Law" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks

The new self-reliance course includes resources for developing healthy thinking patterns, managing stress and anxiety, understanding sadness and depression, and overcoming anger.

The old saying that "variety is the spice of life" can be turned around to express the truth that spices give variety to our life by making our cooking more interesting and tasty, thus allowing us to use many of the same basic ingredients to produce totally different dishes.

For those familiar with Masonry and Mormonism, there are some obvious similarities between the rituals conducted in Masonic Lodges and LDS temples. The critics claim that Joseph Smith created the LDS temple endowment by simply borrowing what he had learned from Free Masonry. Latter-day Saints might ask, “What is the true relationship between Mormonism and Masonry?”

This winter, one of our favorite reads comes to us from noted LDS figure Sheri Dew: Women and the Priesthood. Her book was so good, we simply had to share it with some of our friends. (You might know them, too: Emily Freeman, Fiona Givens, Brad Wilcox, and lots of our favorite LDS writers.) We asked each one to check out a chapter of this amazing book and write us back with their thoughts. And so straight from their pens to your eyes, we bring you their reflective and sincere responses:

Despite the fact that I’ve spent several years reading and writing about motherhood, I still have a lot of bad mom days. I have acted and spoken in ways that do not make me proud. I apologize and try to do better, but still. Some moms hate Mother’s Day because they feel like it’s a reminder of everything they’re supposed to be and they simply don’t measure up. I’ve always been one to brush off the self-loathing and embrace the attention and the chocolate, but this year, with the months leading up to Mother’s Day being among the busiest in my life, I can empathize. I don’t see glowing examples in my recent mothering that are worthy of celebration.