The Spirit of Christmas creates in our hearts a desire to give joy to others and to serve them. At this time of year we feel a spirit of giving and of gratitude for what we have been given. The celebration of Christmas helps us keep our promise to always remember the Savior and His gifts to us and, in turn, to serve others.Each act of kindness to anyone becomes a kindness to the Savior because He loves all of Heavenly Father’s children. And because that brings joy to Him it also brings joy to His Father, to whom we owe thanks beyond measure.

It is a huge and awesome responsibility to watch over missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While serving our mission in Georgia, one of my cherished opportunities was to help with their health and medical needs, like their own mother would. Whether dealing with sinus infections, bronchitis, dehydration or the common cold and sore throat, you hoped the best for them, knowing they need to be healthy to work effectively. We worked closely with amazing mission doctors and missionary medical nurses, and I learned a lot. In fact, my husband affectionately started calling me, “Sister King: Medicine Woman.” But not every illness was a common one. And sometimes, the unexpected happened — despite all the talk and training about health and safety. I can’t even imagine being on the receiving end of the phone call made to a mission president 14 years ago, when two LDS elders were kidnapped in Russia.

For much of her life, Brittany Fisher was a cross-country athlete whose identity was tied to physical activity and competition, but after an 80 to 100-foot fall while repelling left her paralyzed from the waist down in 2012, Fisher was forced to ask herself:

On June 1 in Cedar City, Utah, Jarom Hlebasko entered a baptismal font and faced his 8-year-old daughter, Miree, ready to baptize her a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At that moment, feelings of gratitude and fulfillment washed over him — gratitude because there was a time in his life when he didn’t think performing such baptism would be possible, and fulfillment because once again he was realizing a blessing pronounced years before.

“'Traveling has got to be so hard. Oh, it’s so tiring,'” Sister Kathy Christofferson, wife of Elder D. Todd Christofferson, says people often remark in reference to the frequent travels she and her husband are often assigned to. “And it is,” but there is something about being with members of the Church around the world that reenergizes and rejuvenates them in the Lord’s work, she says.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released the following statement regarding self-isolation guidelines for missionaries and their families:

Speaking of her friendship with Rev. Theresa Dear, Dew says, “Because she has been places in her life I have not been, she broadens my point of view and understanding, even on the most sensitive of subjects.”

Three new temple groundbreaking ceremonies have been announced—the Bahía Blanca Argentina Temple, the Elko Nevada Temple, and the Grand Junction Colorado Temple.

“What we really care about is helping people spiritually, emotionally and physically recover and build their societies back.”

Where would we all be without modern cell phone technology? You can call, text, email, DM, watch television, take professional-grade photographs—and manage your finances—from your mobile banking app.