Editor’s note: The following excerpt has been adapted from Voice of the Saints in Mongolia, the first comprehensive history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that nation.

“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.”

You’re not alone in having big gospel questions. Deseret Book’s Questions Worth Exploring sessions are where gospel seekers gather to find answers and where more questions are welcome.

I was hoping for an international church experience in Japan—but I got a very different outcome instead.

The beard debate has continued for decades, but aside from missionary standards and the BYU beard policy, little has been officially said on the topic.

In 1960, I was living near Hamburg in West Germany and was called to be the mission YMMIA president. Half of the members of our mission lived in East Germany, which necessitated having counterpart Young Men’s and Young Ladies’ presidents serving in the same capacity in East Germany. Because the Church members were scattered over a large area, we made a special effort to plan as many activities as possible that could be attended by all the youth of the mission. This presented some problems peculiar to our mission, since half the mission was in West Germany and West Berlin, and the other half was behind the Iron Curtain. It was impossible to hold any activities in the eastern sector, so we scheduled all of our programs in West Berlin so that the East Germans could also attend. They could easily board a subway in East Berlin, ride across the border into West Berlin and attend the meeting, then return to their homes without difficulty.

From a young age, Jenny Oaks Baker’s parents instilled in her a love of music and faith—a faith that has become the central force in her life.

There’s one teaching of Jesus Christ that author Emily Belle Freeman thinks about regularly.

President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a historic policy change Wednesday morning allowing women and children to serve as witnesses during sacred ordinances. For baptisms outside the temple, any baptized member of the Church can serve as a witness. For baptisms for the dead, any member of the Church, including women and young Church members, holding a limited-use temple recommend can serve as a witness. For sealing ordinances, any endowed member of the Church with a current temple recommend can serve as a witness.

Like birth, death is a necessary and essential part of the plan of salvation (see Moses 6:59–62)—which Jacob and Alma both called the “great plan of happiness” (2 Nephi 9:6; Alma 42:8). Facing death can be one of the most fearful experiences of mortality. For the righteous, though, death can be sweet and need not be feared (see Alma 27:28). Indeed, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that “those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them” (Doctrine and Covenants 42:46). On the other hand, for people who die not in Christ, death can be a bitter experience (see Doctrine and Covenants 42:47), and the thought of an approaching death can create foreboding, trepidation, and fear. Dreams regarding death can serve as a powerful reminder that this life is the time for us to prepare to meet God (see Alma 12:24; 34:32). . . .