Manual 1; Excerpt from "The Spirit of Revelation," by David A. Bednar

Last November, Donny and Marie sat for the Madame Tussauds studio team in an extensive process that took over three hours and 300 measurements per person. Then, the team began the meticulous process of sculpting, adding each hair one by one, fitting eyes and teeth, and painting--all steps that are done entirely by hand.

There's a reason why the Mormons fielded two top candidates in a single presidential election cycle and there's a reason why the comparatively small church is surging to prominence worldwide. Primarily, it's the fact that they inculcate within their teenagers the idea of mandatory service. From age nineteen to twenty-one, young Mormon men are encouraged to serve on a mission which they themselves largely subsidize by working in their teen years. Many Mormon women also do a mission beginning at 21 for about eighteen months. And what does a mission do? It teaches them altruism and selflessness, not to mention going beyond a natural shyness and learning to approach complete strangers about their beliefs. The approximately 52,000 Mormon missionaries are not allowed to call home other than Christmas and Mother's Day and communicate with loved ones with a single weekly email.

Dear Dave,

The popular science fiction novel “Ender’s Game” started as a short story in 1977 and is scheduled to debut as a movie Nov. 1, starring Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley. The book, by BYU alumnus Orson Scott Card, is set in a futuristic culture where the government breeds genius children and trains them as soldiers to prepare for the next attack by a hostile alien race. The novel claimed Nebula and Hugo awards — prestigious in the science fiction genre — and is on the Marine Corps reading list because of the leadership principles the book teaches.

Containing Israelite psalms and a form of Hebrew written in an Egyptian script, Papyrus Amherst 63 has many similarities with Book of Mormon writings and gospel teachings.

Shea Martinez was not impressed.

Gratitude is on everyone’s mind this month. Now there’s an easy—and free—way to express it.

I’ve been exploring the internet going on four years, viewing websites and blogs that present information about the Mormon church. Most of the sites I visit are created and visited by members and former members of the church. The subject matter of post and the comments made range widely. On one side of the continuum are sites written and frequented by church members who are filled with faith, on the other extreme are members who have left the church, but can’t leave the church alone. Then there is a large group of members who are in the middle. Their sites are frequented by members whose faith can be described as fragile.

Manual 1; Excert from "A Sense of the Sacred" by D. Todd Christofferson