We sometimes overlook the importance of the basic, simple things we can do to increase our testimony of the gospel or put them off for another time. Life just seems to get busy and sometimes we forget to make time for reading the scriptures or visiting the temple as often as we should.

The following is an article by Kurt Andersen published in The Atlantic. While he does not withhold his criticism of Mormon beliefs (beliefs he explains using terms and examples which are often lacking in their accuracy), it's interesting to note that he does not withhold praise of the way Mormons live those beliefs: "Latter-day Saints were the brave, virtuous avant garde, and as ridiculous as I find their supernatural beliefs, they are in this instance an outpost of true, real-world righteousness in a party in the grip of a terrible Faustian bargain."

The Hamilton New Zealand Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently closed for an extensive renovation.

The Deseret News recently compiled a number of interviews to help answer questions Church members might have about the new Relief Society and Melchizedek Priesthood curriculum set to begin in just a few weeks.

Two children walking arm in arm past the bleaching bones of a herd of cattle. A desperately dehydrated boy crouched over a puddle, scooping globs of messy mud into his mouth. Ribs — goat ribs, dog ribs, human ribs — poking out, exposed. These are the images of hunger in Africa. For years, humanitarian aid organizations have relied on such images and their accompanying stories to inspire well-off foreigners into fits of philanthropy. A dearth of donations in the wake of the United Nation's announcement last week that the drought in southern Somalia has evolved into a full-fledged famine, though, has raised the question: Has the Western world become desensitized to Africa's woes? The number of Somalis in need of urgent food aid has increased by 1 million since January, and is 85 percent higher than at the same time last year, according to UNICEF. Nearly 800,000 children are "acutely malnourished." Despite the UN's pleas to help curb mass starvation, though, officials say the overall humanitarian response has been severely inadequate. A combination of economic troubles at home, a rise in natural disasters and Somalia's tricky political situation have largely pushed the giving public into a state of donor fatigue.

When BYU students Tylan Glines, Connor Peck, Davis Blount, Jake Mingus, and Sumner Mahaffey made their first video for their Hey Joe Show, they had no idea just how outrageously famous they were about to become.

In the recent issue of the Ensign, the Church published additional information about the new Relief Society and Priesthood curriculum for next year.

Thanks to the Deseret News for making us aware of this story.

Before Jimmer Fredette became nicknamed the "Lonely God" and could score 73 points in a single game in the Chinese Basketball Association, he was frustrated and struggling in the NBA. That's when a call from an apostle changed his perspective.

MR says: What an ironic place to learn how to bring your faith "above ground" and into the public light.