Heather Pinegar and her family were camping in Arizona for a family reunion when their lives changed forever. They were preparing for their long drive back to Texas when Mick, Heather’s 15-year-old son and an avid dirt biker, asked if he could go on one last ride before they headed home. He loved going on rides after rainstorms, and after receiving consent from his parents, he went on his way.

When Sister Tracy Browning’s mother was investigating The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she reached a pivotal junction in her study of the restored gospel—a desire to know if the Book of Mormon was the true word of God.

If Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination for 2012, President Obama will reportedly have two things to say about him: he's greedy and he's weird. The greed part is based on Romney's work at Bain Capital, which frequently bought struggling companies and laid off workers. The weird part is based on his bad fashion and bad jokes, Politico reports. But Megan Carpentier thinks maybe it's really about Romney being Mormon. Carpentier notes that more than a third of Americans are "somewhat uncomfortable" or "entirely uncomfortable" with voting for Mormons, according to a Quinnipiac poll released in June. Further, Mormonism seems alien to many--the poll found just 25 percent think the religion is very or somewhat similar to their own. Politico's Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin report that Obama's campaign says it's not going after Romney's faith:

MR says: Just in time for the new "Star Wars" movie! Check out these nine tips from Darth Vadar on how to give a talk in church.

Why are Mormons so defensive when questions about their faith arise? And how can we as a Church be more embracing of those who are different than us?

The LDS Church is studying the impact of a new Russian law that restricts missionary work outside of churches and requires permits for missionaries, but the faith's missionaries will remain in place and abide by the law.

As much as we love things from the past, sometimes they can look a little dated. The original CTR ring from the 1970’s was great at the time; along with cassette players, perms and platform shoes. We’ve moved on.

"It seems like there have been a lot of people lately who have turned their back on the things they believe in," Nik Day posted on his Facebook page. "As we go into 2017, let's remember what's really important, and hold on! Even if it's hard. #holdon"

Ann Romney Tuesday night became the first member of the Romney campaign this year to use the word "Mormon" in public, marking a new turn in a five-year debate inside Mitt Romney's circle about how to handle his faith. Since Romney announced his second presidential campaign 15 months ago, his strategy in dealing with questions about his Mormon faith could be boiled down to three steps: duck, dodge, and weave. But in the past two weeks, the candidate and his team of advisers have made a dramatic about-face in their approach to the religion question; allowing reporters to tag along with the family at church, instructing surrogates to cooperate with cable news specials about Mormonism, and devoting valuable primetime chunks of the Republican convention to anecdotes about the candidate's church service — an unexpected series of moves that comprise, as one campaign adviser conceded, "a total 180."

"The gospel just comes first in our lives. That’s all there is to it," 76-year-old Dick Johnson says.