Two Apostles visited five European countries this September—addressing members and missionaries, creating stakes in two major cities, holding an area review, presiding at a seminar for 32 European mission presidents and their wives, meeting with government and faith leaders, and checking on the status of temples under construction in Rome and Paris.

Do you remember a time when you were at a low point and someone knew just what to say to help you feel better? Maybe they shared some advice that you still use today or maybe it was a few words of encouragement you’ll never forget. For Joseph Smith, it was a little of both. In this week’s lesson, we’ll be studying Doctrine and Covenants 10–11 where we find words of encouragement and advice God has for all of us.

Astrid S. Tuminez was born in a farming village in the Philippines and grew up in the slums of Iloilo City. She was educated by Catholic nuns and teachers as a child and later received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brigham Young University, a master’s degree in Soviet studies from Harvard, and a PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the author of Russian Nationalism Since 1856: Ideology and the Making of Foreign Policy and Rising to the Top? A Report on Women’s Leadership in Asia, as well as many other publications. She loves to travel, read, dance, run, and spend time with her family and students at Utah Valley University, where she serves as president.

Studies on obesity and religious practice (including a BYU study) have shown that Utah members of the LDS Church are 34% more likely to be overweight than members of other religions. (1)

My senior year of high school, I stopped eating. My freshman year of college, I started throwing up. And the two continued to alternate in my life for the next five years.

After being called as a bishop at just 28 years old and with a desire to learn how to better lead and serve, Kurt Francom has interviewed hundreds of people over the past decade about their service within the Church. In this week’s episode of All In, Kurt talks about what he has learned from Church leaders serving in various callings all over the world, including how to recognize the needs of those you serve and the difference between motivation and ability when it comes to serving in leadership positions.

Enos, Jarom, Omni, Words of Mormon

I recently sat with a number of members of the Community of Christ, previously known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as part of an interfaith dialogue. I have great love and respect for these people, those I consider brothers and sisters in the faith. We talked openly and in a friendly manner about similarities and differences between our two churches and landed squarely on the topic of women and the priesthood. One of the women in the room who had been ordained to the priesthood described her responsibilities and shared her feelings regarding the blessing it was for her to be able to perform priesthood ordinances.

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.

A 39-year-old man allegedly displayed a knife and struggled with two missionaries in Pocatello, Idaho, but no injuries were reported and the man is facing two counts of felony aggravated assault, according to East Idaho News.