What is the meaning of the tree of life? The symbolism involved may furnish clues. Trees have several standard symbolic meanings. Green trees often represent the righteous, whereas dry trees can symbolize the wicked. 76 M. Catherine Thomas noted that "most often in scripture . . . the tree is an anthropomorphic symbol. A tree serves well as such a symbol because it has, after all, limbs, a circulatory system, the bearing of fruit, and so forth. Specifically, scriptural trees stand . . . for Christ and his attributes."77 Elsewhere we read, "In ancient times, sacred trees . . . were [representative of the] attributes of the gods." 78 Susan Easton Black wrote: "The tree of life is connected with the cross, the two having somewhat the same significance. Both relate to the resurrection, eternal life, the Lord, and the 'Love of God.' . . . Before the crucifixion of Christ, the tree of life symbol was used extensively. After the crucifixion the cross seems to have replaced it to a degree." 79 When Nephi wished to know the meaning of the tree that his father saw in his dream (1 Nephi 11:9–24), the angel showed him a vision of the birth of Christ. The angel then said to Nephi, "Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?" (1 Nephi 11:21). To this Nephi responded, "It is the love of God" (1 Nephi 11:22). Jesus is the "love of God" (John 3:16) and the "tree of life."

Virginia Pearce Cowley is the third child of President and Sister Gordon B. Hinckley. She and her late husband, James R. Pearce, are the parents of six children and have twenty-seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A published author and former marriage and family therapist, Virginia served as first counselor in the General Young Women Presidency and as a full-time Public Affairs missionary for the Church. She is married to Joseph F. Cowley Jr.

Business Week wrote an article called “God’s MBAs: Why Mormon Missions Produce Leaders,” (see link below) and we thought that we would just highlight a few of these amazing (and wealthy) influencer-leaders who have served full-time LDS missions.

David McConkie, LDS Family Services adoption group manager, explains the gist of the new arrangement: "The Church has signed an agreement with Adoption.com where the Church, through LDS Family Services, will be able to have Adoption.com post profiles for eligible couples through the end of February 2016."

The friendship between Jane Manning James and Emma Smith—remarkable in a pre–Civil War era—is documented only in a few scattered lines of historical text.

“He will be missed profoundly as the religious leader of 4,000 members of the LDS church in the Washington D.C. area,” Nathan Sheets said about James Baird, who recently passed away. “But he will be missed even more profoundly for the kindness that he showed, for the examples that he set, for the words of encouragement that he provided people." Read what theWashington Post had to say about his passing.

The 2011 “All Africa Service Project” of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) brought several Church members together to be part of clean-up exercises in various communities throughout the country and Africa at large. In Accra, among some of the places and communities where these exercises took place included the Korle-Bu Polyclinic, Mamprobi Polyclinic, and Usher Clinic at James Town, Tesano Total Filling Station to the Abeka Market, Alajo, Mamobi Polyclinic and the New Horizon School at Cantonments.

He was a big man who could handle the ball long before LeBron James took the court. Cougar fans flooded the Marriott Center to see him long before the start of Jimmermania. Kresimir Cosic had it all. He was a 6-foot-11 center who had the ability to dribble the ball and entertain a crowd. But one friend he made in Provo, a man who may have know the basketball star as well as anyone, never attended a game played by the famous Yugoslavian native.

After the devastating violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, many wondered how so much hate could exist in the world.

Just 29 days after reaching the Salt Lake Valley, President Brigham Young organized a choir to sing in a conference on August 22, 1847, according to a blog post on the Tabernacle Choir's blog. This small choir blossomed and grew into a 360-member choir that was later dubbed by President Ronald Reagan as "America's Choir" and has sung with world-famous artists like Sting, Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor, John Denver, and more.