Born in Salt Lake City, Clayton M. Christensen grew up in a Mormon family and served as a missionary in South Korea from 1971 to 1973; he speaks fluent Korean. He earned a summa cum laude degree in economics from Brigham Young University, then attended Queen’s College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, where he received an M.Phil. in applied econometrics and played some basketball, as he had in college. (He stands six feet, eight inches, and remarks, “I’d rather play basketball than eat.” His six-foot, 10-inch son Matt played on the 2001 NCAA championship team at Duke.) Christensen was a Baker Scholar (a top academic honor) at Harvard Business School, and became a White House Fellow in 1982, serving as an assistant to secretaries of transportation Drew Lewis and Elizabeth Dole.

I’m one of those weird people who actually likes to give talks, but I realize not everyone is as strange as I am. Not many churches besides ours let lay members talk in front of the congregation, and the prospect can be nerve racking, intimidating, and downright scary. It gets even worse if you are unprepared. Yes, the Spirit can inspire you, but not if you haven’t spent time and energy preparing. And remember, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:30).

Dear Dave,

As a theatrical composer, I am very used to looking at a story through a character’s eyes and placing myself in their shoes; I feel the emotions that they would feel so I would know what they would say and how they would say it. If a character is going to break into song, they better have a good reason, and I’d better know what it is.

In March nearly 7,000 people traveled to the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, to spend the weekend at RootsTech, a yearly technology-focused genealogy conference sponsored by FamilySearch and a few other big names in the family history industry. Genealogy — the search for and documentation of one’s ancestors — and “technology” haven’t always been kissing cousins, but this conference speaks to and encourages a growing relationship between the two. The hobby, traditionally picked up near retirement age and most often by women, is now a billion-dollar industry with a growing younger demographic. In the past few years, finding and charting one’s family history has become trendy because it’s also become a lot easier to get started. Companies like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch have spent the last decade or so making all of their tools, records, and data available on the internet, revolutionizing genealogical research — and significantly lowering the barrier to entry in the process. What was once a pastime for older people or professionals with disposable income is quickly becoming a more mainstream pursuit. Taking a peek into the past now requires nothing more than a decent internet connection and a laptop. DNA testing, which just a few years ago cost thousands of dollars and offered little information for genealogists, is now a growing consumer option, reaching back hundreds of years to provide undreamed of amounts of information about our ancestors.

Testimonies of the gospel are as diverse as the people who hold them. Everyone experiences the conversion process differently, and everyone has different experiences that build their testimonies.

Stand-up comedy that’s a stand-up act? In this 2012 comedic world of shock and smut, there are, indeed, living, breathing comedians cleaning house on the laugh track to success. You know the big-timers: Brian Regan, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Cosby. But what if we told you that dozens of LDS folks are bringing the funny to the fold and to the masses?

In celebration of Mother’s Day, Latter-day Saint golfer Tony Finau shared a tender animated video that captures the true essence of a mother’s love. Sharing a true story from his life, Finau honors his mother, Ravena Finau, for the sacrifices she made to help him achieve success.

I think my understanding of how angels help us has been wrong my whole life.

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