It was a regular Sunday morning in October 2015 as 19-year-old Jacob Pinkston sat with his family waiting for sacrament meeting to start. As the meeting began, his mom, Christine, leaned over to him and asked excitedly, “Do you know who’s on the stand?”

Joseph Smith and Pushkin, Russia’s beloved poet and the founder of Russian literature, were contemporaries. Pushkin published his first poem at age 15. Not long after, Joseph Smith had the First Vision in his 15th year. Pushkin’s novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, was serialized between 1825 and 1832. The Book of Mormon was published in 1830. Both men are revered to this day. Each died in their late 30s by an angry bullet.

If I were teaching this lesson, I might begin by pouring water into several different shaped containers and asking class members to comment on what we can learn from that activity about the qualities of water. Someone will probably say that water takes the shape of its environment. If you then ask for words that describe water, you might get words like these: flimsy, unsound, mercurial, capricious, changeable, wobbly, fickle, erratic, unreliable, undependable, vacillating, untrustworthy, variable, mutable, impermanent, unsteady, uncertain, transitory, ephemeral, inconsistent, precarious, and unstable. I am amazed at how many words the English language has to describe this rather undesirable characteristic. But this lesson will require us to think about them because we are going to talk about three people who were much like water (one was even compared to water), and one young man who was as unlike water as it is possible to be.

Author’s Note: Once again, I feel a need to explain the purpose of these lessons. They are not designed to take the place of the Gospel Doctrine Manual nor of your Sunday experience in a Gospel Doctrine class. My hope is that they will provide additional insights and increased understanding and that those who use them will have a greater love for the scriptures. —T. L. G.

Audy Leavitt is the interior designer for Charmed Playhouses and co-host of Animal Planet's Playhouse Masters. She shares her stories of faith on her blog alwaysaudy.com. The following story is written by her friend and client, Kelley Opedisano, about her family's playhouse miracle. Kelley's family was featured on the latest episode of Playhouse Masters, which airs Friday at 10/9 central on Animal Planet.

INTRODUCTION: A small tent, held in place by a tent peg (or stake) on each corner could be easily flattened or remodeled. But if the tent were larger and secured with 2946 stakes (as of the end of 2011), it would be almost impossible to move. This is the image Isaiah used to describe the Church and kingdom in the last days.

The LDS hymnal is full of uplifting music and poetry from a host of different sources, but they all share one commonality—they inspire and lift our minds toward heaven. Just as powerful as many of the words in these hymns are the stories behind them. Here are just a few.

1 Corintians 1-6

Rising from obscurity and persecution, Latter-day Saints have gradually gained significant political clout and earned the trust and respect of some of the most powerful leaders in American history.

While sifting through different movie options listed on Amazon Prime, most people don’t realize that there are many hidden treasures that usually will not pop up. Here is a list of 15 movies that you can currently watch for free on Amazon Prime that are perfect for Latter-day Saints.