This article was originally published in Public Square Magazine.

Dear Mayor Hubbard,

We write to you not as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nor on behalf of it, but as members of that church scattered across the country who have watched the Fairview temple controversy with growing concern. We know municipal leadership is hard. We know neighbors can disagree in good faith. We have often worked with our neighbors to get temples approved in our communities. We know growth can bring friction, and that public officials often inherit tensions they did not create. We also know that the language leaders use can either heal a community or quietly inflame it.

That is why your renewed request that the Church voluntarily lower the Fairview Texas Temple steeple deserves a candid response, not from the Church, but from its people. The town approved a 120-foot steeple more …

Beginning May 18, 2026, visitors are invited to explore the newly opened Temple Square Visitors’ Center in Salt Lake City, featuring immersive exhibits, inspiring artwork, and experiences centered on the purpose of the temple and the central importance of the Savior for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The opening of the visitors’ center represents another major milestone in the ongoing reopening of Temple Square ahead of the highly anticipated Salt Lake Temple Celebration, which will take place from April 5 through October 1, 2027.

Guests may visit daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. without charge or advance tickets. Experiences are currently offered in English, French, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Spanish, with American Sign Language (ASL) accommodations expected to be added soon.

One featured attraction, the “Inside a Temple” guided tour, is the only portion of the experience requiring reservations. This 30-minute presentation, located on the …

Few moments in scripture appear more contradictory at first glance than the golden calf at Sinai and the bronze serpent raised high by Moses in the wilderness. In one account, Israel falls into idolatry by gathering around a crafted image. In the other, Israel receives healing through looking upon a crafted image lifted high before the people. One act brings judgment. The other brings life.

The difference reaches far beyond the objects themselves. The issue never centered on metal, shape, or symbolism alone. The issue centered on where the people placed their faith, who directed the worship, and whether hearts turned toward God or away from Him. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, these two events reveal one of the great spiritual divisions running throughout scripture, the difference between creating substitutes for God and accepting symbols God Himself appoints to lead His children toward Christ.…

“Speak to your children as if they were the wisest, kindest,  most beautiful, and magical humans on earth, for what  they believe is what they will become.” — Brooke Hampton 

My grandbaby Clara is in her crib for what she believes is an unjust  nap. Far removed from the energetic chaos of vacationing families, she is not pleased. From the kitchen, we hear her wailing from below. I glance at Katie, my daughter, and ask, “Can I go sing her to sleep?” She hesitates, reluctant to offer Clara any false hope of escape from  her crib. Then, after a pause, she furrows her brow, and to my delight, changes her mind. “Okay,” she says. 

I head downstairs, eager to see my grand little one. Clara spots me. Her cries momentarily stilled. She looks at me, wide-eyed, her face a question mark. “What are you doing here, Nana?” 

“I’m here, Miss …

Was Zion’s Camp a failure—or one of the most important experiences in Brigham Young’s life? When does a peaceful people have the right to fight back? Our hosts examine the tension between the Latter-day Saint commitment to peace and the violent realities of early American history. The discussion turns to Zion’s Camp, the 1834 expedition to Missouri that Brigham Young went through as a formative spiritual experience under the guidance of Joseph Smith. Though often viewed as a military failure, the discussion turns to how Joseph Smith deliberately chose a peaceful resolution over armed conflict after receiving a revelation that the camp should return home rather than fight.

…

A new 20-minute video, “What It’s Like Inside the Missionary Training Center,” premiered on May 17, 2026. Filmed in Provo, Utah, the fast-paced video provides a rare look at daily life inside a Missionary Training Center (MTC) through the eyes of the young missionaries preparing to serve worldwide.

Hosted by Church convert Danor Gerald, the video follows new missionaries as they arrive, meet their companions, learn languages, and prepare spiritually. Currently, the Church has over 84,000 full-time missionaries serving across 150 countries. This number is fueled by a recent policy change in late 2025 that lowered the minimum age for single women to serve from 19 to 18.

Focused on Faith and Jesus Christ

At the MTC, missionaries spend 8 to 10 hours a day studying the gospel, attending weekly devotionals, and visiting the temple. Instructors and missionaries alike emphasize that their primary focus is leaning on Jesus Christ and …

Photography by Philippe and Regula Kradolfer

Rain hammered the set all morning.

Not a gentle drizzle, but a cold, relentless downpour soaking the desert outside Ouarzazate—gateway to the Sahara.

At breakfast, dozens of cast and crew members crowded beneath a massive tent erected by our production partner, OZZ Films. Conversations turned tense. If the storm continued, we would be forced to abandon the outdoor set at Fint Village and make a massive company move to the interior scenes at Oasis Studios.

That meant trucks. Equipment. Lighting. Wardrobe. Animals. Catering. Transportation. Rescheduling actors. And then, inevitably, moving everything back again the following day to finish this very scene.

Time-consuming.

Expensive.

Exhausting.

Quiet prayers were offered around the tent.

Then, ten minutes before “Picture up” was scheduled, the rain stopped.

The clouds slowly parted. Sunlight broke through the gray sky. Crew members rushed into motion. Within minutes, cameras rolled.

Moments …

Among the criticisms that I’ve seen of our Becoming Brigham series is one that blames Brigham Young for the invention of nineteenth-century Latter-day Saint plural marriage. The accusation tends, I think, to be made by people who want to preserve their trust in Joseph Smith but who cannot abide polygamy.

For many of those who want to distance Joseph from the idea and practice of plural marriage, Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve have become the fall-guys. Some allege that he, or others working with and for him, forged Doctrine and Covenants 132 in whole or in part, and that their motive was to establish polygamy within the Church. 

Some even accuse John Taylor and Willard Richards, rather than the anti-Mormon mob in Carthage, Illinois, of having murdered Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum—acting on orders of Brigham Young. Curiously, during their trial for the murders at Carthage …

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The story of the Abrahamic covenant is your family story. Kerry Muhlestein says, “We don’t often think of it in that manner.” But our grandfather Abraham grew up in a turbulent time, where “his own father was steeped in idolatry. He saw his immediate family involved in horrible practices, including human sacrifice, but he knew there was a better way. Records had come down from his forefathers and foremothers, from Adam and Eve, Seth and Enoch, and Abraham reached for the heavens hoping to join his ancestors in the covenant. “Then one starry night, God came to him, putting His hand over him, opening his eyes, and pouring out the power and blessings of the covenant upon him, welcoming Abraham and Sarah into the community of God and those who were bound to him. They had sought God and now they had found him.” These are the covenants offered …

This is the fourth episode of a series. To read the previous article, CLICK HERE.

Photography by Philippe and Regula Kradolfer

Talia has a deformity. Born with a club foot, she relies on a crutch to walk and is constantly struggling to keep pace with the other girls in our retelling of the parable.

Yet her weakness becomes one of her greatest strengths. 

Her disability has shaped her into someone resilient, compassionate, and deeply devoted to those she loves. 

But where is Talia in the original parable?

She isn’t there.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins in Gospel of Matthew 25 is only thirteen verses long. Our screenplay is 110 pages. To bring the story to life as a feature film, we needed to imagine who these young women were—their families, fears, hopes, wounds, personalities, and dreams. Great storytelling requires more than events; it requires people whom audiences can …