Making a pilgrimage is to undertake a journey to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion. Anciently, pagan pilgrims sought to consult the oracles and offer sacrifices at places now familiar to us as impressive ruins. Millions of Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus annually seek enlightenment through the very act of making a journey to sacred sites around the world—not as tourists but rather as pilgrims. The four Gospels tell us that Herod’s temple in Jerusalem was the destination for pilgrims who attended three annual pilgrimage festivals. The journeys were required for all adult Jewish men until the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. The Gospels record that Jesus, His family, and His disciples made their way to Jerusalem in obedience to tradition and to express their religious devotion. The most familiar pilgrimage was, of course, the Passover Feast, a celebration meant to commemorate the release from bondage of the Children of Israel in Egypt.

We begin with the unnamed, unknown persons in this story—the crowd. If modern Middle Eastern towns are a gauge, the crowd that followed Jesus was likely made up of men and, perhaps, a few boys who had squeezed in among the adults. If women or girls were present, we expect that they did not join the throng. Instead, typically, they hung back. This observation alone underscores the bravery and determination of the woman, unnamed in the accounts, who pushed her way into the clump of male bodies and reached out for Jesus’s clothing to gain relief.

Salt Lake City, UT: Today, Deseret Book Company announces the launch of their 2014 art scholarship program, which enlists the talents of 30 professional and noted artists to create original works of art. Through the auction of these pieces, the Gospel Vision of the Arts scholarship is funded and provides resources to students training in the creation of inspirational works of art.

Born in 1822 to former slaves, Jane Elizabeth Manning was baptized in 1842 into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which brought her great reproach. This was the beginning of many trials for Jane as a convert of African descent.

Anyone returning to Washington after the holidays hoping for a calm and quiet reentry must have been sorely disappointed by the first week of the new year: From Capitol Hill to the White House, it was a clamorous, chaotic, and, yes, teary spell that emphatically marked the end of one political phase and the start of another. But this is not a column about the commencement of the Boehner or the Daley era, or the conclusion of the reign of Gibbs. Instead, it’s about a story that broke even earlier in 2011—on January 1, in fact—and then got drowned out by the bang and clatter at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, but which certainly merits more attention.

We all have bad days.

I think you would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t identify “remembering” as a major theme in the Book of Mormon. “O remember, remember” (Helaman 5:9), “Do ye not remember?” (Alma 9:9), and “It came to pass that Shez did remember the destruction of his fathers, and he did build up a righteous kingdom” (Ether 10:2). Even outside of the Book of Mormon, the theme of remembrance permeates the scriptures.

When a concerned doctor suggested Sandra Munroe* go to the ER as soon as possible, she knew something was wrong. Once there, she discovered her blood pressure was 233/138. “It was amazing that I was even alive,” she said. She started taking medication to lower her blood pressure, but she knew that it was time for a bigger change.

Neil L. Anderson begins this talk by saying, "Children today find themselves in many different and complex family configurations."

Manual 3; Supplement from "Prepare for the Blessings of the Temple" by Elder Russell M. Nelson