Current talk in the media sometimes calls this "The Mormon Moment." A hit musical on Broadway, "The Book of Mormon," has won multiple Tony awards. Posters in busses and on billboards nationwide show pictures of a great variety of people declaring, "I am a Mormon." Mormons are making headlines -- again. Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, and Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah and ambassador to China, have been running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Though Jon has left the race, his less identifiable Mormonism was as much a part of his persona as Mitt's more tithe-paying traditional look. But this is far from the first time Mormonism and its beliefs have been in the national news. And one of the prime objections of the public to a Mormon in office is "polygamy."

Christopher Jones is a father, husband, and historian. A graduate of Brigham Young University (BA, 2007; MA, 2009) and the College of William & Mary (PhD, 2016), he is currently an assistant professor of history at BYU, where he teaches a variety of courses, including Revolutionary America, African American Family History, Slavery and the Slave Trade, Family and Law in American History, and Missions and Missionaries in American History. His research focuses on religion, race, slavery, and family in early America and the Atlantic World, and his work has been published in Religion & American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, the Journal of Mormon History, and BYU Studies Quarterly. He is currently completing two book projects - a study of Methodism in Revolutionary America and a co-edited volume on Protestant and Latter-day Saint missions in American History. Christopher lives in South Jordan, Utah with his wife, Karim—a content creator, author, and photographer—and their four children. As a family, they enjoy food (both cooking and eating), hiking, reading, travel, and sports.

It's almost time to say goodbye to 2018 and hello to a new year. And what better time to reflect on the stories that brought us hope, made us laugh, and showed us the power of the gospel?

The weekly sacrament ritual is the focal point in LDS sabbath worship. In it we renew our baptismal covenants with Christ. These covenants include promises to God, to ourselves, and to others. The ritual also has layers of meaning in how it is prepared, blessed, and passed by the Aaronic priesthood holders in the ward.

The following is excerpted from President Thomas S. Monson's biography, To the Rescue, and illustrates a few moments from his military service in WWII.

In a letter to leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States and Canada, President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, encouraged leaders to look for ways to reconnect with youth in 2021 through local ward or stake youth conferences and Young Women and Aaronic Priesthood camps. The For the Strength of Youth (FSY) conferences (gatherings of teenagers from dozens of congregations) are postponed in the United States and Canada until 2022.

Mormon Husband Wins Most Memorable Moment Award on Today for Viral Video

The power and the lesson of family history work is love, Elder Paul E. Koelliker of the Seventy said at a devotional session of the RootsTech conference Feb. 4. An assistant executive director of the Family History Department, Elder Koelliker spoke to a gathering largely consisting of priesthood leaders, family history center directors and ward family history consultants in the Church.