Future missionaries, their parents, and their leaders are inundated with information about preparing for, entering, and serving in the mission field. With all of that information, deciding what to start with can sometimes be overwhelming. Here are five simple things that your missionary can do to focus on what’s most important as they prepare to serve:

As a young sister missionary, having been set apart by my father, who was the stake president, I wondered how it was that I was able to preach the gospel to the wonderful people of Los Angeles when I did not have the authority of the priesthood as the ordained elders did. I obediently taught the gospel and felt the influence of the Spirit strongly, even to exhorting and promising, but I wondered how that was possible. I understood that I was not ordained to a priesthood office and therefore could not perform priesthood ordinances outside the temple, but I still felt that I had authority—being a full-time, set-apart, assigned-by-the-prophet missionary—to help people obtain salvation. I even felt, although I didn’t understand how, that I was authorized by the Lord to do so. Here is what I have found about this and five other sometimes confusing aspects of priesthood power and women.

Wendell Bradford Terry (known to his friends as Mike) and Beverly Ann Dodge married while Terry was on leave during his training to become a B-17 bomber pilot. Beverly and Wendell were allowed to live together during much of Lieutenant Terry's training, but when Wendell left for the European theater, Beverly moved back to Utah to be with her family.

After several successful half-marathons, I decided to run a full marathon. When I registered—actually paying money to run 26.2 miles—I felt motivated and excited. However, I got busy and my training suffered. My lack of preparation became evident when I took a short three-mile run a few days prior to the race. I decided to switch to the half-marathon. By then, however, it had been closed to new runners. My only option was to run in the 10K (6.2-mile) race. What had been motivation and excitement turned to laziness and indifference. The prospect of getting up early to run 6.2 miles didn’t appeal to me. I decided I’d run another time.

It's not a place Joshua Smith ever expected to be.

Glenn Beck was a teenager when his mother died by suicide. Having experienced depression as a boy, Beck recalls the oppressive grief and the feeling of inevitability that he would follow in his mother's footsteps. "You get to a place to where you think, 'Well, that's just in our blood. That's the way it works in our family, and I am going to repeat her mistakes,'" Beck says in the Good Morning America podcast Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris.

Amidst their world travels andbig Church changes, it's impossible to summarize all the good the prophet and apostles have done this year. But here's a glimpse into some of the most popular and touching stories and messages shared from the Brethren this year.

This folding card made from a file folder has four different tags to express your sentiments. The best part is that it truly stands on its own and will be a treasured keepsake! And, as Nat King Cole expressed it, “Love was made for me and you.”

It was after midnight and the scoreboard read 28-27. After a blocked field goal and failed Hail Mary resulted in another loss for the Cougars, it could have been easy for them to put their heads down and trudge into the locker room.

Last November, Donny and Marie sat for the Madame Tussauds studio team in an extensive process that took over three hours and 300 measurements per person. Then, the team began the meticulous process of sculpting, adding each hair one by one, fitting eyes and teeth, and painting--all steps that are done entirely by hand.