Apostle Dallin H. Oaks of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said this week that Church founder Joseph Smith’s most lasting contribution to the world is the insight he received in his capacity as a prophet – including revelations about the importance of the United States Constitution.

Elder Oaks said Smith’s revelations “formed the basis for the philosophy that the [Latter-day] Saints would be asked to follow and that Joseph Smith himself would practice: Use the law to fight injustice; trust in the Constitution.” One of these revelations, contained in the Church’s Doctrine and Covenants, says the U.S. Constitution was established “by the hands of wise men whom [God] raised up unto this very purpose.”

Elder Oaks’s comments were part of a series of events this week in Illinois that explored how courts in the United States have protected minority rights since the 1800s, with Joseph Smith …

By Rachelle Funk

This past month, I was given the opportunity to try my hand at writing a book review. I was thrilled. Since I work in a library at a local high school, I am surrounded by books on a daily basis and love to hear about all the latest and the greatest things coming out in literature (in addition to my love of the tried-and-true classics). I enjoy discussing different books with the kids at the school (I love it when they get excited about a particular book), as well as discussing books with my own children and people in general. I love to share my thoughts with others on what I glean from the books I read and the enjoyment I get out of them. But when it came time to choose a book to review, I had no idea what to pick – there are so …

Tomorrow is October 1 and we are entering the last part of the year. Whether we are farmers or not, it is time to look back on the past 9 months and reap what we have sown. Ask yourself:

• Have the seeds for health that I have personally sown ones that I am happy about reaping?
• Are my current health habits up to the demands of Halloween and the holidays?
• More important: Am I currently happy, healthy and comfortable with my health habits? Is my family? My doctor? My Heavenly Father?

Although I have done a number of healthy things over the past nine months (including a terrific strength training workout for my osteoporosis that is now a habit and mastering the recipe for a green smoothie recipe that’s also become a daily habit), sugar has gotten the best of me more times than I’m happy to remember this year. …

A joint BYU-Utah research team is developing a new breast cancer screening technique that has the potential to reduce false positives, and, possibly, minimize the need for invasive biopsies.

Led by BYU electrical engineer Neal Bangerter and University of Utah collaborators Rock Hadley and Joshua Kaggie, the group has created an MRI device that could improve both the process and accuracy of breast cancer screening by scanning for sodium levels in the breast.

“The images we’re obtaining show a substantial improvement over anything that we’ve seen using this particular MRI technique for breast cancer imaging,” said Bangerter, senior author on a study detailing the method in academic journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Specifically, the device is producing as much as five-times more accurate images than previous efforts with an emerging methodology called sodium MRI.

Currently, there are two clinical imaging methods widely used for screening breast cancer: mammograms and proton …

Dear President,

I would like to recount one of my favorite experiences while serving recently in the Paris France Mission of the Church. My last area was in a town called Orleans, located south of Paris, on the banks of the Loire River. My companion and I were teaching a woman named Abra. She had been taking the missionary lessons for about six months. Unlike many of our investigators, she already belonged to a Christian church, and believed the Gospel of Christ as found in the Holy Bible. However, she was still very curious, even anxious, to learn more about the LDS church.

She had tried receiving an answer to her prayers as to whether the Book of Mormon was true, and whether the LDS church in general was true, but she felt that she had not yet received a strong enough answer to her prayers. She also wasn’t quite …

In working with individuals who struggle in their faith because of sincere unanswered questions, criticisms they encounter, or because of incongruities between their lives and the standards they hold, I have found a need to constantly draw such people back to the foundational principles of the Gospel. Foremost among them is of course faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

For some, their lack of answers undermines their confidence in the overall gospel plan. For others, criticisms cause them to reconsider once deeply held beliefs. For others, their struggles to live standards they accept create a wedge between them and their Heavenly Father. In all of these cases, however, the result is a sense of distance from the Father that loves them, and who patiently invites them home.

The path out of such situations is often a long path requiring patience and persistence. Such individuals need to re-anchor themselves to foundational …

This collection of outstanding books is geared for new chapter book readers as the chapters are short, the font is large and there is a smattering of black-and-white illustrations found throughout the books. The first four books would be excellent to read-out-loud and are geared for all ages. And all but the last two books are good for ages 7 through 9 to read independently. The last two books are outstanding picture books good for all ages.

White Fur Flying, by Patricia MacLachlan, is a sweet story about how dogs can open lives and hearts when life is difficult. Zoe, and her sister, enjoy the Great Pyrenees dogs who are continually coming and going through their doorway. Their mother rescues these large dogs until a home can be found for them and their house seems to be full of these animals. One day a young boy moves next door. …

Question:

I’m recently divorced. And sometimes I’m completely content to tell myself: “it doesn’t matter what other people believe about our marriage, no one can know what it was like but me.” And then I can let it go. But sometimes all I want is for some understanding and compassion from my friends and family. My best girlfriend insists that my ex-husband loved me, that he loves the kids, and tells me that I should reassure them that he loves them when they feel like he doesn’t. Everyone tells me that he really loved me, and I want to make them understand that things he did to me in our marriage couldn’t be called love. My ex-husband tells the kids, “I love your mom, but she’s doing this to our family.” It’s also really hard when my teenage son says, “Dad loved you, why did you divorce dad?” I have …

When the world just won’t let you sleep.

…

For the record, dishonesty, manipulation, and blame-shifting aren’t exclusively male problems. We all know women and girls who do the same. Nevertheless, a frequent issue that I encounter in my therapy practice is the complaint by women that their boyfriends and husbands often lie to “get out of trouble.” They also say that these men avoid responsibility for their actions by justifying, minimizing, and pointing fingers at others. Mothers and fathers often observe same behavior in their sons. The good news is that you can help the men and boys in your life to be honest and accountable by creating an environment where shame is eliminated, imperfection is accepted, and improvement is promoted not by control, but by “persuasion…gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned” (D&C 121: 41).

Why Men and Boys Struggle with Honesty and Accountability

Not all men and boys have a problem with dishonesty and …