On Sunday, I was at a mission homecoming for a friend and found myself talking to a Young Women’s leader from high school about what I was up to these days. I responded, “Oh, I’m just working.” And then I said to myself, Candace, stop saying that word.

Newsletter is a new option on LDS.org that can be used by wards, stakes, branches, and districts to publish news and messages to their members. This is an online alternative to paper or email newsletters that organizations typically create. It’s also a replacement for the “News and Information” section of the old ward and stake websites (ward.lds.org) that are now replaced by the new LDS.org functions Calendar, Directory, Newsletter, and Lesson Schedules.

One of the most striking messages for me when I first read the Book of Mormon is the constant condemnation of people who are “learned.” I am thinking of 2 Nephi 9:28, which famously says: “When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.”

Stories in this episode: Jolene fully expects a lecture from her father when he invites her to lunch, but is surprised when the conversation takes an unlikely turn; Steven's hopes for a bright future are thrown for a loop when his college football career comes to a sudden stop, causing him to spiral into his addictions until he finds God where he least expects it—an isolated jail cell.

This year has been packed with big changes in the LDS Church, from updating temple policies to consolidating sessions of general conference. As we prepare for a new year, here's a quick overview of all the major changes in the Church from 2017.

This month's message focuses on how the Atonement can give us strength to overcome difficult situations and circumstances. As you think of the sisters you teach, try to focus on how to help them apply this message to individual trials you may know they are facing.

Understanding that Jesus Christ is without guile and hypocrisy will help us faithfully strive to follow His example. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “To beguile is to deceive or lead astray. … A person without guile is a person of innocence, honest intent, and pure motives, whose life reflects the simple practice of conforming his [or her] daily actions to principles of integrity. … I believe the necessity for the members of the Church to be without guile may be more urgent now than at other times because many in the world apparently do not understand the importance of this virtue.”

Several years ago while conducting a tour to the Holy Lands; I had an opportunity of visiting Taba, Egypt for the first time. Taba is located just across the border from Israel at the farthest tip of the Red Sea. Many areas in the Middle East are dry, desolate places, but even I was not prepared for the scene that greeted me as we crossed the border. It seemed that even the words desolate, dry, and barren would not do the place justice. I could not see anything green for miles, nor were there any signs of life except where man had planted a few trees or shrubs to break the harshness of the landscape. We boarded our bus and drove across the desert toward our hotel. I remember looking around, seeing nothing but rock and sky. I searched for a few birds to indicate some form of life but could find none. Nothing seemed to live here. I thought as I surveyed the dry, bleak, austere scenery: “Whoever God assigned to create this part of his world needs to go back and take Creation 101 again, because they didn’t do a very good job here. Maybe they got started and the recess bell rang, and they never came back to add a bit of color or movement!” I do not think I have ever visited a more inhuman, forbidding, vista.

In June 2024, the History of the Saints team, Dennis Lyman and Glenn Rawson are taking a bus tour across the pioneer trail. The first group will travel by bus from Salt Lake, across Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and finally into Nauvoo. Along the way, they will follow as closely as possible the actual pioneer trail. There will be stops at the Green River, Martin’s Cove, Devils Gate, Casper and the last crossing of the Platte. We will visit, Chimney Rock, Scots Bluff, Fort Laramie, the Guernsey Ruts, and so much more. At Nauvoo, we will spend time in the City and take in the wonderful sites, especially those recently acquired. There will even be time for a temple session. On our last night in Nauvoo, we will walk the Trail of Hope—down Parley Street to the Mississippi River. As the sun goes down, we look out to the west and imagine that trail of 1300 miles before them. The next day we drive into northern Missouri and shift our focus to 1838-39 and the Exodus of Missouri following the Extermination Order of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs. We will visit the Hawn’s Mill martyrdom site, Far West, and Adam-ondi-Ahman. The last hours of the tour are spent at Liberty Jail and Independence. From there the group will fly home and Dennis and Glenn will welcome a new group flying in. The next morning, we reverse the trail all the way back to Salt Lake City.

“I felt a missing part of me kind of fill in a little,” said Elder Micah Beckstead of reuniting with his biological sister.