In 2024, 308,000 people joined the Church—the highest number of converts in a quarter century.
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The baptisms took place in a pristine jungle river.
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A former religion teacher shares how to give a spiritual and engaging baptism talk.
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After his granddaughter’s baptism, President Eyring shared a tender reflection about the gift of the Holy Ghost.
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Like Lehi before him, Amos Makulu started to share what brought him so much happiness with others in the refugee camp, building a “family” of interested learners.
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Here are a few of our favorite easy gift ideas for children who have decided to enter the waters of baptism.
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After years of exploring other faiths, YouTuber David Boice concluded that there was something undeniably different about Latter-day Saints.
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A series of remarkable promptings and experiences led a world-class cellist back to the faith she’d decidedly left more than 20 years earlier.
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Prepare your children for their baptism day and help them remember their baptismal covenants.
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No one is ever too old to step into the waters of baptism. Whether you’re 8 or 108, a covenant relationship with God is something to celebrate. Here are 19 products to help a friend or family member cherish their baptism and remember the promises they made.
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Eduardo Maradiaga didn’t know it then, but the photo he took of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple was about to go on a journey that would give him and his family hope as they started new lives in the US.
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Meet Anurat Kaeocha, one of the newest members of the Church in Thailand and project manager for the Bangkok Thailand Temple.
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Marcia heard her grandmother constantly pray for her children, grandchildren, neighbors, and friends—and that example changed her life.
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When I reflect on how I found the gospel, I realize that my family’s experiences informed two important pieces of my testimony.
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Editor’s note: The following excerpt has been adapted from Voice of the Saints in Mongolia, the first comprehensive history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that nation.
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After Batchimeg told Soyolmaa that they could serve a mission, they decided to put in their mission papers together around March or April 1995.
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When Chris Schoebinger was a senior in high school, he moved out of his home and into the home of, unbeknownst to him, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Hundreds of Mozambiquans are joyfully entering the waters of baptism as COVID restrictions ease.
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The handbook update was made in December 2021, but Primary General President Camille N. Johnson and her counselors shared a video on social media last week explaining the update and the responsibilities of Primary presidencies.
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Elder Gutierrez’s desire to serve is because of his love for the God he once didn’t believe in, and because he believes small invitations can change lives.
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Fatima Dedrickson still remembers her first day on the campus of Brigham Young University. Every person she passed was staring at her.
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Published in 1899, the first Church handbook was small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. The world has changed greatly since then, and so has the handbook.
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Ryan Blubaugh’s conversion story is filled with seeds being planted throughout his life, including by a friend in high school—a friend he would reach out to on Facebook after 29 years.
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Note: According to the Church's General Handbook, "Baptisms should be performed in a baptismal font if one is available. If there is not a font, a safe body of water may be used. It should be large enough for both the person performing the ordinance and the person being baptized to stand in. Water is not dedicated for baptisms."
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On this week’s episode of This is the Gospel, Ryan Cranney of Cranney Farms shares how one decision to donate more than two million pounds of potatoes led to an unlikely correspondence with a woman in Kenya and the miracles that have since followed.
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When Renu Singh’s mother became ill, Singh started a search for the truth—a search that eventually led her to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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When Craig Fisher first heard President Russell M. Nelson talk in conference, he never would have guessed that he had a connection to him that would change his understanding of God.
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President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a historic policy change Wednesday morning allowing women and children to serve as witnesses during sacred ordinances. For baptisms outside the temple, any baptized member of the Church can serve as a witness. For baptisms for the dead, any member of the Church, including women and young Church members, holding a limited-use temple recommend can serve as a witness. For sealing ordinances, any endowed member of the Church with a current temple recommend can serve as a witness.
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We pulled into the parking stall 10 minutes early for the baptism. As we prepared to get out, we saw that right outside the meetinghouse was the guest of honor: a jubilant little girl, swishing her new white dress proudly as her family began to gather.
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On June 1 in Cedar City, Utah, Jarom Hlebasko entered a baptismal font and faced his 8-year-old daughter, Miree, ready to baptize her a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At that moment, feelings of gratitude and fulfillment washed over him — gratitude because there was a time in his life when he didn’t think performing such baptism would be possible, and fulfillment because once again he was realizing a blessing pronounced years before.
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Twenty-four years.
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It's an unlikely conversion story. Calyann Barnett initially wanted a Book of Mormon so she "could argue with me and prove me wrong about religion," Latter-day Saint Clarke Miyasaki posted on Instagram. Barnett added, "When I made my list of things I would NEVER do last year—believe in Jesus, join a religion, and get baptized as a Mormon—were at the top spots on that list."
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Weeks after her first birthday, Mazlowe Ard started breathing quickly, her appetite decreased, and she grew lethargic. The Ards noticed their daughter's sudden change and took her to urgent care, where doctors passed off the symptoms as teething.
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President Russell M. Nelson often teaches powerfully and poetically about the symbolism found in the scriptures, the temple, and the life and Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. InTeachings of Russell M. Nelson, we find many insights about the significance of Jesus Christ's baptism that can help us with our Come, Follow Me study this week.
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This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading in Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Living for additional resources and suggestions.
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With the desire to strengthen children and youth, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently announced changes that allow eligible 11-year-olds to complete proxy baptisms in temples beginning January of the year they turn twelve.
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Side-eyeing Chloe. You've all seen her. In fact, you have probably shared a meme with her face on it. But I bet you didn't know she just had her eighth birthday and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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As the aunt of 10 nieces and nephews, I love to watch my brother and sisters raise their kids. Among the grandchildren in my family, we’ve got two daredevils, two wild-childs, one bossy pants, and the sweetest autistic boy you’ll ever meet. Needless to say, wrangling—I mean, parenting—these kids is never the same for my brother and sisters. So when the children near the age of eight, how do they—and parents everywhere—decide on the best way to teach their child about the importance of baptism? And how much does the child actually understand?
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A child's baptism is one of the most important events in his or her life. These traditions will help emphasize its value and celebrate that decision whether you're a parent, Primary teacher, ward missionary, or anyone else involved.
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Editor’s note: This article was originally published to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the revelation declaring that all worthy males, regardless of race, may receive the priesthood. We are sharing it again to mark the 40th anniversary and to celebrate the continuing growth of the Church in Africa.
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What an amazing story!
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What a powerful example of following our Savior regardless of obstacles in our lives. As Elder Josh Bauman wrote in an email to his family, "The whole time [Juanita] was in [the baptismal font] she was saying 'Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus,' but with a small voice that struck right into the very center of your heart. After they baptized her, she came up and said, 'Kolabal Jesucristo,' which is Tzeltal [the Mayan language] for 'Thank you, Jesus Christ.'"
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Lindsey Stirling shared the Throw Back Thursday to end all TBTs yesterday.
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This fun dragonfly design features blue gems for extra sparkle.
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"I wanted to do something special for my 8-year-old who was recently baptized," LDS artist, arranger, and pianist Monica Scott writes about her new music video. That's why she decided to create a special arrangement of two popular Primary songs "Baptism" and "When I Am Baptized."
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In a recent letter to the editorof The Jewish Week addressing Mitt Romney’s candidacy, Rabbi Mordecai Schnaidman posed three questions about LDS beliefs. I have answered two of them in previous posts, and will now address the third. Given that the topic is a sensitive one—posthumous immersions for the dead – it is especially important to remember that honesty and clarity often trump agreement in interfaith dialogue.
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At age twelve, Walter Maschmeyer traversed Germany amid the turmoil of World War II. Traveling only with his mother, Maschmeyer saw miles of German countryside during 1945 as they used whatever transportation was available to find a safe place in the war-torn nation. With Maschmeyer’s father on the German front and the Soviet army fast approaching, this journey was both frightening and essential. Only upon the arrival of American soldiers did the Maschmeyer family reunite and settle again into a peaceful life.
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In May, 2011, President Meliula Fata, of the Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Mission, travelled seven hours by dinghy to Sogere, PNG. While there he participated in the teaching and baptizing of 114 investigators. The baptismal service was unique in its setting and in its blessings of safety. President Fata had created the Sogere District in November, 2010, with 995 members. Within six months membership in the eight new branches had grown to 1600. In May, 2011, President Fata returned to Sogere for a District Conference. Three weeks earlier, he had sent four missionaries there to teach and baptise investigators who were being fellowshipped by the members. By the time President Fata arrived, the missionaries had baptised 72 people.
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I joined the LDS Church less than three weeks after my first encounter with two Mormon missionaries, who I initially suspected were regular salesmen. It's a story I shared in my previous column. And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, here is “the rest of the story.”
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