The earliest story recorded in the Book of Mormon is about a prophet named Mahonri, better known as the brother of Jared. As told in the book of Ether, he was directed by God to gather his family and friends and set sail towards a new land, leaving wicked Babel behind. But rather than teaching the brother of Jared how to build a ship like fellow Book of Mormon prophet Nephi built, Heavenly Father taught the brother of Jared and his people (the Jaredites) how to build barges. These barges were round, sightless, steerless, and rudderless. Nevertheless, with some special help from the Lord, the Jaredites built them and headed out to sea.

We don’t need to be the best cook to offer to feed another, a medical professional to offer healing aid, or flush with cash to ease another’s burdens.

“Not everything in life is . . . black and white, but it seems that the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its keystone role in our belief is exactly that. Either Joseph Smith was the prophet he said he was, who, after seeing the Father and the Son, later beheld the angel Moroni, repeatedly heard counsel from his lips, eventually receiving at his hands a set of ancient gold plates which he then translated according to the gift and power of God or else he did not. And if he did not… he is not entitled to retain even the reputation of New England folk hero or well-meaning young man or writer of remarkable fiction. No, and he is not entitled to be considered a fine teacher or a quintessential American prophet or the center of great wisdom literature. If he lied about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, he is certainly none of these” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "A Standard unto My People," delivered at the CES Book of Mormon Symposium, 9 August 1994, BYU Marriott Center).

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints honored the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Saturday night for the organization’s commitment to advancing equality and justice in society.

A fascinating 2015 article by Scott Hoyt commences with a lengthy quotation from a Catholic chronicler of Peru named Pedro de Cieza de Leon. He was writing around the year 1550, fewer than 20 years after the destruction by Spanish conquistadors of the Inca empire. In the passage that I cite here, Cieza describes the appearance of Viracocha:

The following has been republished with permission from taylorhalverson.com.

“We know that Joseph came to believe that Masonic rituals contained elements of an ancient endowment, just as other churches also had remnants of spiritual truth.”

Here are five names of Christ from the Old Testament that remind me He is real, approachable, and unfailingly compassionate.

Torrential rainfall moved through the state of Hawaii on March 8–9, 2021, causing flooding across much of Windward and North Shore Oahu, including the town of Laie, home to the Polynesian Cultural Center, Brigham Young University–Hawaii and the Laie Hawaii Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Following the recent travels of two apostles to Central and South America, Elder Renlund and Elder Cook praised the members and missionaries in Guatemala, Columbia, and Peru.