John walked off the plane to see his family waiting for him with balloons and a homemade banner. Tears flowed freely as he hugged his parents, his little brothers and sisters, and his childhood friends who had come to welcome him home. After the parties, cakes, speeches, and celebration were over, he felt a little lost, not knowing what to do. On his mission, every day was planned to the hilt and evaluated against his key indicators. Now his family was telling him to take it easy, relax, and just hang out. He’d worked so hard for two years and discovered that he actually liked to work, to study, and to stay busy helping others. He wondered what he was supposed to do with all his newfound free time and often wished he was back on the mission.

Throughout his service in the Church, President Nelson has often spoken of our Savior and the sacred night of His birth. Here are a few of President Nelson's teachings on the topic, excerpted from the new book Teachings of Russell M. Nelson.

When tragedy hits, it is human nature to want to help. We bring food; we do laundry; we offer childcare. We want to connect! Some people do this through service; others do it through commiseration. We often feel the need to relate to the person suffering by sharing our own experiences.

From Academy Award-winning actors to those with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, learn more about the famous actors and actresses who converted to the Church.

"Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving [. . .] Honesty is a moral compass to guide us in our lives [. . .] Honesty is a principle, and we have our moral agency to determine how we will apply this principle. We have the agency to make choices, but ultimately we will be accountable for each choice we make. We may deceive others, but there is One we will never deceive."

A single woman may mistakenly believe:

More than 44,000 people are planning to fast on November 6, but that's not just because it's fast Sunday.

In a “friend of the court” brief, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined a number of other religions to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against same-sex marriage becoming legal nationwide.

Seventeen-year-old Mark Tenney combined his passion of biking with his passion of wanting to help children trapped in human trafficking.

There are nearly seven million Mormons in America. This is the number the Mormons themselves use. It's not huge. Seven million is barely 2 percent of the country's population. It is the number of people who subscribe to Better Homes and Gardens magazine. London boasts seven million people. So does San Francisco. It's a million more people than live in the state of Washington; a million less than in the state of Virginia. It's so few, it's the same number as were watching the January 24, 2012, Republican debate. In fact, worldwide, there are only about fourteen million Mormons. That's fourteen million among a global population just reaching seven billion. Fourteen million is the population of Cairo or Mali or Guatemala. It's approximately the number of people who tune in for the latest hit show on network television every week. Fourteen million Americans ate Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant in 2011. That's how few fourteen million is.