INTRODUCTION: My mother was mostly blind during the final years of her life. A passionate reader, a woman who loved to sew and mend and cook and clean, her infirmity made the favored activities of her life nearly impossible. She did learn to crochet by touch, and made over one hundred Afghans for her grand- and great-grandchildren in those final years, but they were years lived in temporal darkness. But through it all she glowed! There was a source of light in her, a shining certainty, that enabled her to see more clearly than any of those whose love and compassion brought them to her side to read to her and to visit with her and to reminisce with her. The real light of the world, rather than being dimmed by her handicap, increased its brightness and radiance as the weeks and months passed by, until it seemed there was no darkness in her at all. More than any person I have ever known, she knew what Jesus meant when he said, “I am the light of the world.”

In Doctrine and Covenants 115:4-6, the Lord calls to action all the people of His Church, inviting them to “arise and shine forth” so that their “light may be a standard for the nations.” He asks them to join together to support one another and become a “refuge from the storm.”

Touch tone telephones were introduced

January 28-February 4, 2012

The invitation for mortals to enter the presence of God and secure a fullness of His blessings did not originate with Joseph Smith. In fact, it’s a theme as old as mankind.

Three years ago, the Gallup organization released the results of a massive study on the link between religion and happiness, surveying 676,000 people.

A simple monument sits next to a small canal in an authentic old-world farm setting in the northern part of Friesland in the Netherlands. An old man bicycles by and stops to tell the story of being a seven-year-old when this monument was first dedicated by T. Edgar Lyon, the mission president of the Netherlands Mission 75 years ago.

Lunch and Learn Series with Deseret Book Artists and Authors

In his book When Heaven Feels Distant, LDS author Tyler Griffin shows how we can move forward when we feel like the answers to our prayers are incomplete or when commandments, policies, or so many other things about the Church seem contradictory.

Last Spring, an interesting piece of early Mormon Folk Art, pictured above, resurfaced. It appears to be a depiction of Joseph Smith. He is standing on a pyramid of steps, holding a stack of gold plates in his hands like a book. The carved wooden figure has lost a bit of his pants and his right boot, but otherwise remains in fine condition.