One December, I saw a clever sign on the marquee of a Christian church: “Christmas is not your birthday!” I got their point, but I still had to disagree because I was born right on December 25th. When I was younger, my parents were afraid my birthday would get overlooked in the holiday rush, so they made a big banner that hung in our home: “Happy Birthday to Jesus and Brad!” They also started a tradition of putting up two trees—one for Jesus and one for me. The idea was that my brothers would put a present for me under each tree—a plan that worked well until my older brother bought me a pair of mittens. He placed one mitten under the Christmas tree and the other under the birthday tree, and everything went downhill from there. These days, most of my gifts come with a “Merry Birthday” card to cover both occasions. Here’s one I received from my cousin:

I would like to open this study article with an observation I made in the commentary on this lesson found at mormonbasics.com. The commentary on the lesson begins with this quote: “Surely the Lord will support us if we use our best efforts in carrying out the commandment to do family history research and temple work.” Isn’t it odd that any of us might even wonder if the Lord will help us in doing our family history research or in doing our temple work? We do it on His commandment. If the Lord has ordered that it be done and that we do it on peril of our own salvation, does it not make sense that He will be opening doors for us to assist us in accomplishing this great work? God never commands anything that is not accomplished. If he says this work must be done, then every necessary thing will be made available to us to accomplish His work.

As part of an essay we wrote several years ago exploring what the four Gospels have to say about Jesus and suffering, we could easily have begun with any number of historical or scriptural references—from Liberty Jail and the Prophet Joseph in the winter of 1838-39 to Job, whose friends blamed his afflictions on his supposed sins, to the multiple souls described in the Gospels who were plagued by disease, misfortune, natural disasters, or simply the consequences of bad or even impetuous decisions.

1 Nephi 1-22

Notice the language of Jacob, who had been called of God, and ordained after the manner of [the Lord’s] holy order, ". . . having been consecrated by [his] brother Nephi . . ." (2 Nephi 6:2). He addressed the people of Nephi over a period of a couple of days (see 2 Nephi 9:54). 2 Nephi 6-10 is a record of that sermon, but this was not his only sermon. He said, “ye know that I have spoken unto you exceedingly many things" (2 Nephi 6:2). Notice also that in these verses, Jacob will speak concerning things which are, and which are to come” (2 Nephi 6:4). Jacob tells us why he is delivering this message.

There are two things Latter-day Saints get really excited about: general conference and Disney. So what happens when you put them together?

Ed Marquez walked toward the main gate of his military school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was late spring and he was dressed in white. While Marquez had been on guard duty the night before, a friend also on duty fell asleep. As a result, both young men were forbidden from leaving the school for two weeks. If the guards at the front gates permitted him to leave the campus, Marquez was on his way to be baptized. But if his name was on the list of those not permitted to leave, he could potentially face serious consequences.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

In a bold disregard for male superiority, the Savior was not ashamed to describe Himself by using feminine images. He is the mother hen yearning to protect her own under her ample wings if they will come to Him in faith (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:37), and the woman who searched her house until she found the lost coin (Luke 15:8–10). He invited all who were thirsty to come to Him and drink from His koilia (John 7:37–38), an interesting but debated image. The term refers to a “hollow of the body” and is typically translated as “belly” or “womb.”

As Americans wait to see what Donald Trump will say to the nation on Inauguration Day, here is a look back to see what every past U.S. president has said about God in their own inaugural addresses. With only two exceptions, every president acknowledged our Heavenly Father. And two presidents—Dwight D. Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush—even began their inaugural addresses with prayers. What did your favorite presidents say about the divine? See below to read related excerpts from their speeches.