Joseph Smith taught that “a welding link … between the fathers and the children …” must be “whole and complete and perfect” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:18). The words welding link suggest a chain. Chains are strong things. They hold under great stress and pressure.

Editor’s note: The following excerpt comes from a book about special witnesses of Jesus Christ.

Twenty years ago, Stake President Thomas B. Griffith got permission to try something a bit unique. Every talk given in sacrament meeting or lesson shared must tie back to the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Judy Eror’s children suspected their father might leave the year before he actually did. They tried to tell their mother, but she insisted they were wrong.

There are many mothers in the scriptures with valuable stories—here are just five from the Old Testament that we have a lot to learn from.

“I believe that the diversity of thought and background that comes from a ward family can lead to some incredible, and dare I say life-altering blessings.”

Abish started out with God and eventually found the Church. I started out with the Church and have spent my life searching for God.

Participating in the endowment takes over an hour. That longer time frame allows for several divinely designed learning experiences.

INTRODUCTION: If I were teaching this lesson, I might begin by pouring water into several different shaped containers and asking class members to comment on what we can learn from that activity about the qualities of water. Someone will probably say that water takes the shape of its environment. If you then ask for words that describe water, you might get words like these: Flimsy, unsound, mercurial, capricious, changeable, wobbly, fickle, erratic, unreliable, undependable, vacillating, untrustworthy, variable, mutable, impermanent, unsteady, uncertain, transitory, ephemeral, inconsistent, precarious, and unstable. I am amazed at how many words the English language has to describe this rather undesirable characteristic. But this lesson will require us to think about them, because we are going to talk about three people who were much like water (one was even compared to water), and one young man who was as unlike water as it is possible to be.

The cities of Spain have vivid histories filled with battling cultures, religious artwork, and impressive ruins covered in vines and sand. And while countless visitors come to experience Spain’s rich treasures and heritage, Church members in Spain know that their real treasures are the blessings of the gospel and that their true heritage comes from a divine source. Here are five things to know about the Church in this country.