My wife, Shauna, was talking with a friend one morning when the conversation turned to children. The woman spoke rather unkindly about a family she knew and of the problems some of the daughters had had. "What kind of parents would let their children do such things?" the woman asked very pointedly. My wife timidly suggested that we really ought not make those kinds of judgments. The woman replied, "No, what I mean is, there's no way my children would ever do those things." Shauna responded, "I hope you're right. But I wouldn't say that if I were you. Children can change overnight."

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INTRODUCTION:

This story was originally published by LDS Living in June 2018.

For a full 10 seconds I stood in amazement. It had never occurred to me at this point in the second half of a two-semester course that I needed to define something so fundamental.

The final print volume of the Joseph Smith Papers hits the shelves today. Here are 12 eye-opening things that the project brought to light over the last 20-plus years.

Brandon Sanderson has been named one of the top fantasy writers ever. Here’s how, where, and why he writes.

“Not everything in life is . . . black and white, but it seems that the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its keystone role in our belief is exactly that. Either Joseph Smith was the prophet he said he was, who, after seeing the Father and the Son, later beheld the angel Moroni, repeatedly heard counsel from his lips, eventually receiving at his hands a set of ancient gold plates which he then translated according to the gift and power of God or else he did not. And if he did not… he is not entitled to retain even the reputation of New England folk hero or well-meaning young man or writer of remarkable fiction. No, and he is not entitled to be considered a fine teacher or a quintessential American prophet or the center of great wisdom literature. If he lied about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, he is certainly none of these” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "A Standard unto My People," delivered at the CES Book of Mormon Symposium, 9 August 1994, BYU Marriott Center).

Alma 23-29

After its organization in 1830, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled across the United States. Whether they serve as the birthplaces for their leaders or the sites of wondrous miracles, each of the 50 states has a footprint left by Latter-day Saints.