But before the demands of the day began, Jesus started His day this way: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” 

Our days may not include healing lepers or casting out devils. But like Jesus, we, as parents, face the challenge of having many people depend on us. Our daily demands may make us feel that our lives are impossibly full. 

Prayer helped the Savior meet the demands of His days. Jesus “went about doing good” because His Father was with Him. This connection helped Jesus with the challenges He faced. Our prayers connect us to God and help us meet our parenting challenges. The Savior’s example of turning to His Father in prayer is a pattern we can follow. 

Here are three things Jesus teaches us about prayer. 

Praying to Align with God’s Will

First, prayer can change us when we stop treating it as a means of controlling outcomes and begin to view it as a way to draw nearer to God.

It is easy to wish that Heavenly Father would grant our wishes for smooth parenting on demand. But while that doesn’t usually happen, He does listen, soften our hearts, ease our burdens, give us comfort, help us learn, and inspire us to find solutions. 

One young mother named Kenna changed her prayers, and her prayers changed her. When Kenna’s third child was suffering from ear infections and allergies, he had difficulty sleeping through the night. On the rare occasions that he would sleep through the night, the older two kids would often awake.

Kenna was totally exhausted. She kept praying desperately for her children to simply sleep through the night. But that never happened. She wrote: 

I would just walk out of the room after rocking the baby back to sleep, lie down, and hear his cries start again. “Heavenly Father,” I cried out in my heart, “I know that you have the power to heal, to raise people from the dead, to cause sleep to come over a person or an entire city of Lamanites. Why can’t you make my one little baby sleep? I am trying to do Thy work, and it’s hard enough with a good night’s rest, let alone without! Can you please help me get some sleep?” 

Over time, Kenna’s prayers shifted from a “grant me my wish” kind of prayer to one of acceptance of God’s will. She shared:

After some time of these increasingly frantic and repetitive pleas, I realized that I needed to change my prayer. “Please help him sleep, but if not, help me figure out what he needs. Help me get a nap tomorrow, or help me have enough energy to take care of the kids and get my things done at work.”

Once I changed my prayers, I was certainly less disappointed. I could also see that the Lord was helping me with all the other things I was praying for. I learned that He doesn’t always take our trials away. But He will help us through them when we change our request from “please take this away” to “but if not, help me handle it.”               

How many of us have had desperate, agonizing, long nights like those she described? Kenna felt less disappointed with the outcome of her prayers when she recognized that her sleep challenge would likely continue, but God would help her in other ways. 

Kenna also demonstrated the importance of learning to pray “but if not.” Using this phrase—and meaning it—in our own prayers to Heavenly Father shows our willingness to submit to Him. Although He may not remove our parenting trials, He will help us through them in His wisdom. He looks at the potential for our overall growth, not just our short-term comfort. We can still ask for what we desire, but if He has something else in mind for us, we can humbly accept it and know that He hears and loves us still. Kenna’s prayers changed her, and our prayers can change us when we are humble enough to align our will to His. 

Praying for Children by Name

Jesus prayed often throughout His mortal ministry. The way He prayed can help us more effectively pray for help as parents.

We see glimpses of Jesus’ prayers in the scriptures. Jesus prayed for comfort and to give comfort to others. He prayed when He blessed and healed others. He expressed gratitude to His Father when His heart was full of joy and turned to Him when His heart was full of sorrow. We, too, can turn our hearts to God through prayer throughout our day, following Christ’s pattern.

A few years back, I relied on prayer to get over a hurt caused by my daughter. She said something unkind, and though I tried to act like it didn’t bother me, it hurt. It wasn’t until I took this hurt to the Lord in prayer that my feelings began to change. 

As I said her name while praying, I could feel my heart softening toward her. Involving God helped me see her efforts and stay kind. The Book of Mormon prophet Alma taught that we should “cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.” Elder David A. Bednar has taught that when we have a prayer always in our hearts, we can experience the following: 

We notice during this particular day that there are occasions where normally we would have a tendency to speak harshly, and we do not; or we might be inclined to anger, but we are not. We discern heavenly help and strength and humbly recognize answers to our prayers. Even in that moment of recognition, we offer a silent prayer of gratitude. 

Praying Between a Stimulus and a Response 

Prayer can also help us respond better to the stressors of our day by creating space between when something happens and when we respond. Children fight over toys and cry when they don’t get their way, toast burns, socks are lost, and all before eight o’clock in the morning! With so many stimuli coming at us so fast, noticing the space between a trigger and our response can make a significant difference. 

A stimulus is what psychologists such as B. F. Skinner call an object or event that elicits a response. The scriptures might refer to these objects or events as “enticements,” and today, we often call them “triggers.” To me, a trigger is anything that irritates me and could cause me to respond in an angry, combative, or harsh way. Our reactions to triggers may feel instantaneous and out of our control, but in reality, we choose how we respond.

In his foreword to the book Prisoners of Our Thoughts by Alex Pattakos, Stephen R. Covey quotes an unidentified author: “Between stimulus and response there is a space, in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.” Prayer can be a part of that pause between stimulus and response. It doesn’t have to be a long prayer, and usually it won’t be. But the act of calling upon God for aid or picturing the Savior in that space can help us slow down to avoid reacting to stimuli without thought.

This can be hard! It is often more natural to react without thinking. Someone says or does something to us, and we reflexively respond. But we are still responsible for our actions, even if we don’t put thought into them. As Elder Lynn G. Robbins taught, Satan would like us to “believe that we are victims of an emotion that we cannot control.” When we say something like “You make me so mad,” it can sound as if we are not responsible for our actions. Our kids may make a huge mess, and our conditioned response may be to yell. But our children didn’t “make” us yell at them, and the mess didn’t “make” us yell about it. We chose to yell. This power to choose allows us to take control of our responses and find freedom from both external and internal forces that try to rob us of our agency. 

When the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery to Jesus, He remained calm despite the harsh words they hurled. Jesus didn’t answer them right away. He wrote in the dirt and waited until they were quiet before He responded. 

The scriptures don’t tell us why Jesus wrote on the ground, but His pause before responding stands out. It may have been to give Him time to think about how He wanted to act. Jesus lengthened His response time. When He did respond, He was in control of His emotions. 

We can also lengthen our response time. When children are upset, and the tension in the air makes us feel like our response needs to be immediate, we can slow it down by taking a deep breath, saying a quick prayer, and then trusting that the Lord will help us respond in a calm, positive way. 

We can practice lengthening our response time in simple moments. A while back, I asked my teen daughter to wash the dishes. She was not happy and exclaimed, “I’m not washing the dishes!” 

I could have responded immediately with, “Oh, yes, you are!” Instead, I took a breath, prayed for patience, and said, “I’m glad you know what your job is.” 

She reminded me how busy she was and that she didn’t have time, and I said, “I know you’re busy. Thanks for washing the dishes.” 

She huffed, and I ignored it. I simply put rubber gloves by the sink and smiled sympathetically as I walked out. I could hear her noisily getting ready to wash the dishes, but she was washing the dishes. 

Later that night, I thanked her for getting the job done, and she said, “Sorry, I overreacted. It didn’t take me that long.” I smiled and hugged her. It felt good to lengthen the space before I responded by letting Jesus in with a quick prayer. 

Through simple experiences like these with my children, I have learned that it feels good to lengthen the space before responding by letting Jesus in with a quick prayer. It may take time for this to feel natural, but by being patient and prayerful, Christ will help us lengthen the time between a trigger and our response, so we respond as He would. 

Making Prayer Part of Our Parenting Solution

Jesus often took time to pray, reflect, and center Himself. He didn’t wait for a problem to arise before He decided to be calm. He had likely made that decision during the time He spent with His Father. He acted rather than reacted to His challenges. His example can help us change our response to difficult situations. 

I still make mistakes and occasionally yell when things catch me off guard, but I know that through Christ I am more in control of my emotions than I used to be. When we make prayer a bigger part of our parenting, we can receive help with our responses, feel peace, and align our will with the Father’s. Jesus loves us, knows our hearts, and wants us to counsel with our Heavenly Father about creating space to act. And perhaps, as we follow the Savior’s example, our typical days can become something extraordinary, filled with His peace and joy.

This article is adapted from the author’s book Christ-Centered, Intentional Parenting, published by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media.

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Options For Temple Square Volunteers

Individuals ages 16 and older in the year 2027 are invited to apply to serve as volunteers at Temple Square. Volunteers may welcome guests, answer questions or serve in behind-the-scenes roles that support the event.

Volunteer duties may include greeting guests in the Conference Center plaza, lobby and auditorium; serving as an attendant at the Tabernacle or Assembly Hall; hosting guests in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, Relief Society Building and other buildings on the Temple Square campus; guiding visitors through exhibits; and assisting at outdoor gathering areas throughout Temple Square.

Opportunities are available for both guest-facing and non-guest-facing assignments, all of which help create a welcoming and joyful experience for guests.

More options have been added to the volunteer portal, offering schedules beyond the previously required 8- to 14-week commitment. Complete details about scheduling options, service opportunities and volunteer assignments are available in the volunteer portal.

Some scheduling options are available for select transportation and security assignments. Additional details are available in the volunteer portal.

Most volunteer assignments will consist of one three- to four-hour shift per week for eight weeks, and may require extended periods of standing. If applicants are unsure of their schedule at this time or anticipate missing one or more weeks, they are invited to still apply, as schedule accommodations can be flexible.

Additional details, scheduling options and service assignments are available in the application.

Volunteer Performing Groups

Music and dance groups are invited to participate in the celebration. Vocal and instrumental ensembles, folk and cultural groups, school organizations, and other performing groups may apply.

Groups may range in size from four to 100 participants, though smaller groups are preferred. All performers must be at least 8 years old.

Selected groups will be invited to present a 30-minute performance one or more times between April and September 2027. Performances should feature uplifting, inspirational, sacred or celebratory music and dance appropriate for the temple celebration.

Volunteer Artisans, Museum Guides and Educators

Additional volunteer opportunities are available for individuals interested in sharing their talents and expertise as painters, sculptors, illustrators, glass blowers, chalk artists and other artists, as well as Church History Museum guides and educators. These roles will help enrich the guest experience throughout the celebration.

Paid Opportunities

Professional Individual Performers

Professional singers, storytellers, dancers and instrumentalists ages 18–35 are invited to audition for a paid performance troupe that will perform throughout the celebration.

Troupe members will participate in rehearsals, daily performances and guest interactions across Temple Square, helping visitors learn about Jesus Christ and the purpose of temples through music, storytelling and personal connection.

Selected performers will serve under a paid contract from February through October 2027 and should anticipate a full-time schedule during that period.

Professional Temple Square Guides

The Church is also seeking individuals for paid guide positions on Temple Square. These team members will assist guests, provide information about the celebration and Temple Square, and help create a welcoming environment for visitors from around the world.

Details regarding qualifications, schedules and compensation are available in the application.

Join the Celebration

The Salt Lake Temple Celebration will provide opportunities for people from around the world to gather, learn and rejoice. Whether welcoming guests, sharing artistic talents, performing on stage or helping tell the story of the temple’s purpose and history, participants are vital in helping create a memorable and joyful experience for all who attend.

Information source: “New Volunteer Schedule Options Open for Salt Lake Temple Celebration.”

Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Job 1–3; 12–14; 19; 21–24; 38–40; 42 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

The Interpreter Foundation and Redbrick Filmworks continues to release a new episode of their not-for-profit series of mini-documentaries titled Becoming Brigham each Monday.

Over the past few weeks, they have released the following episodes:

Episode 28: “To See God Face To Face”

How did the early apostles’ expectation that they must personally see the Savior shape their understanding of what it means to be a “special witness”?

Why did the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society trigger such widespread doubt and apostasy, and how did Brigham Young’s response to the crisis reveal the difference between intellectual belief and deep spiritual conviction?

What does recent research reveal about the private, softer side of Brigham Young that is often missing from his public image as a fiery frontier leader?

Shortly after their calling in 1835, all twelve apostles undertook their first joint mission to the eastern United States. Oliver Cowdery challenged them to become special witnesses of Jesus Christ—urging them to never cease striving until they had seen God face to face, just as the original apostles had. Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball later reflected that some of the Twelve sought such manifestations with improper motives, treating them more as signs of personal status than as tools for testimony, which led to a lasting lesson in approaching sacred experiences with the right spirit. This episode also explores the turbulent mid-1830s, with the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society amid the national Panic of 1837, the first major wave of apostasy (including some of the original apostles), and the intense opposition Joseph Smith faced from both outside lawsuits and internal dissent. Brigham’s unwavering loyalty stands out—he publicly defended Joseph even when others turned away, distinguishing between Joseph’s imperfect business judgment and his prophetic calling.

Episode 29: “Inside the Lion House-Brigham Young and Women”

How did living in a household full of wives and daughters reshape Brigham Young’s understanding of women’s capabilities, even while he held traditional views of male roles in society? In what ways did plural marriage paradoxically expand Utah women’s legal rights (property ownership, etc.) compared with the rest of the United States?

Hosts Camrey Fox and Dan Peterson, joined by Jenessa Sheffield, visit the Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum to explore artifacts, letters, and documents from Brigham Young’s long presidency. The discussion highlights Brigham’s complex personality—forceful yet kind, practical yet philosophical, and described by visitors as industrious, sharp-eyed, and surprisingly jolly even in his sixties. The heart of the episode is an interview with Church History Department historians Brittany Chapman Nash and Lisa Olsen Tait about Brigham Young’s views on women. They place him firmly in the traditional 19th-century framework of male leadership, yet they also show how his views evolved. Living in a predominantly female household and managing the practical realities of plural marriage pushed women into greater responsibility for farms, households, and community life. This, in turn, contributed to expanded legal rights for women in Utah—property ownership and maternal custody after divorce—that were more progressive than many other parts of the United States at the time.

Why this docuseries? Many people are aware of Brigham Young as a pivotal figure in American religious and frontier history, but Brigham is also often misunderstood, seen as a larger-than-life caricature rather than as a man. Who actually was Brigham as a man, a father, a husband, and a prophet? The video web series Becoming Brigham debunks fictions and provides surprising new insights into the real Brigham Young. Learn more in the article “Becoming Brigham: The Video Series Premieres.”

FAIR is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Chandler “Chuck” Hendry, host of Restored Truth.

Chandler joined us at the FAIR Conference this past week, and on Thursday we had the privilege of spending time with him as he met with FAIR and fellow podcasters. His unexpected passing the following morning, as he returned to the FAIR conference, has left us shocked and heartbroken.

Chandler was a passionate defender of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Through Restored Truth and his other efforts, he willingly entered difficult conversations, answered challenging questions, and sought to strengthen faith in Jesus Christ and His restored Church. We are grateful for his voice, his courage, and the contribution he made to the Latter-day Saint community.

Our hearts and prayers are especially with Chandler’s family and friends, as well as the many people who came to know and appreciate him through Restored Truth. We mourn with all who loved him and pray that they will feel the peace and comfort of the Savior during this time of profound loss.

We are grateful that Chandler chose to spend some of his final days among friends and fellow believers at the FAIR Conference. We will remember him with gratitude and affection.

— FAIR

The post In memory of Chandler “Chuck” Hendry appeared first on FAIR.

by Autumn Dickson

Job is a profound biblical exploration of faith and loyalty to God. Job loved the Lord, and he stayed true to Him. In the midst of great tribulation as well as riches, Job kept himself close to the Lord. Here is a verse that tells us a bit about Job.

Job 2:3 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

By this point in time, Job has lost all of his property and riches. Worse than that, he has also lost his children. Despite this being the case, Job remained an upright man. There is one phrase in particular that I want to talk about, namely, “he holdeth fast his integrity.”

What does it really mean to have the Christlike attribute of integrity?

The more I try to write about integrity, the more difficult it becomes. Integrity is a mixture of things.

Preach My Gospel gives us a great definition that I want to paraphrase. Integrity is when you love God and stay true to Him because of that love. Integrity means that you know there are absolute truths and you align your life with those absolute truths no matter what comes along. It includes deep honesty, and what you choose to do when you’re alone is a good measure of your integrity.

In order to develop integrity, you need two ingredients: a knowledge of absolute truth and then alignment with that knowledge.

Ingredient one: a knowledge of absolute truth.

There are different types of integrity. There is a general sense of integrity where you hold fast to your principles, and then there is a religious integrity where you hold fast to God’s principles. It doesn’t matter how much general integrity you have if your principles are weak. Creating a house entirely made of straw may be consistent. It may be honest in the sense that you’re not pretending your house is anything other than what it is, but at the end of the day, it’s still straw. It won’t be able to withstand load or protect you.

We have to start with strong principles, God’s principles, in order to build something that will protect us and stand strong under the weight of adversity.

It is worth starting with the right materials if you’re going to build something. Starting with the right materials means understanding reality. If you understand that you’re a child of God and that there is an eternity waiting for you on the other side, it’s (hopefully) going to change your choices.

Ingredient two: aligning with that knowledge.

You would think that if you’ve got a solid foundation of truth, you would want to stay true to it. You would assume that if you could see that there are eternal realities, you would see the long game and hold on. Unfortunately, it’s simply not always true.

For example, King Zedekiah knew Jeremiah was a prophet. He protected and consulted Jeremiah. He even admits that he believes Jeremiah, and yet, he ignored Jeremiah’s warnings. He didn’t align himself with the truth that he knew, and tragedy struck because of it. In the face of fear and rejection, Zedekiah crumbled. And because he crumbled, his kingdom fell and the Jews were scattered.

So in order to reach integrity (the ability to withstand pressure), we need knowledge of truth and we have to align ourselves with that truth. It’s not enough to have one ingredient or the other; they have to come together in order to stand strong.

Action without knowledge of eternal realities stops when pressure builds. Knowledge without aligning yourself is moot; it doesn’t affect you or save you or bring you joy.

I’m going to make up a ridiculous parable, but it teaches my point.

A stranger comes to you, sets down a stool, and convinces you to step onto it. The stranger warns you that if you get down, you’ll die. It’s easy enough to stay standing on the stool for a little while, but then your legs get tired. You need to go to the bathroom. You’re hungry and cold. Why on earth are you standing on a stool because a stranger told you to do so?

Now imagine someone you deeply love and trust doing the same exercise. They warn you. You know they have your best interest at heart. You trust their wisdom and knowledge of reality. Despite mounting discomfort, you choose to hold on because you trust your loved one. Integrity is what you find when you keep standing on the stool even when it’s difficult.

It’s a mixture of trust in eternal principles and resilience.

And then there is the happy ending. Job is blessed with even more than he had previously. Even beyond the physical blessings, Job comes out a stronger man with a deeper appreciation of salvation and heaven. Integrity allowed him to conquer and come through on the other side.

Recap.

Ingredient one. Knowledge of God and eternal principles.

Integrity is powerful because it takes our acts of faith and turns them meaningful. No longer are we reading scriptures because a stranger asked us to. We read them to get closer to our Father in Heaven. And because we know Him, we seek Him out in times of trouble and need. Rather than turning our back on Him in anger, we find all the solace we need. It helps us to escape bitterness.

Ingredient two. Aligning ourselves with that knowledge.

Resilience gives us personal power as we grow into what our Father would have us become. It forges strength of character. We come out refined on the other end, seeing more clearly and that much more convinced of the truthfulness of gospel principles.

Integrity is powerful. It makes the gospel pathway worth it. We can see the blessings, and we stay on track to receive them. I testify that Heavenly Father is seeking to teach you truth. He wants you to see things as they are, and He wants you to choose to change your life according to that truth so you can experience the same joy He has experienced.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Job 1–3; 12–14; 19; 21–24; 38–40; 42 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

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Note: This piece is the second in a three-part series that reviews the best available science on the connections between religiosity and health. Part 1 discusses mental health; Part 2 discusses physical health; and Part 3 discusses social-relational health. 

There is a resource, strongly tied to a longer and healthier life, that our health system rarely acknowledges. 

The United States spends more per person on health care than any other nation, yet Americans live shorter lives than people in nearly every other developed nation. A 2025 Lancet analysis found the United States has made unusually poor progress against chronic disease, with mortality rising among adults ages 20 through 45—the same generations now least connected to religious communities. These data should make us curious. Are there “model” groups or best practices that yield significantly better health results that we should consider? 

A UCLA study that followed nearly 10,000 devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California found that the men’s death rate was roughly half that of comparable Americans. These men also lived 8 to 11 years longer than average. The pattern, however, was not unique to one faith. In another study of religion and health in Loma Linda, California—the only “Blue Zone” of exceptional longevity in the United States—Seventh-day Adventists outlive their countrymen by close to a decade, with markedly lower rates of heart disease and cancer. Additional research, however, has shown that the Latter-day Saints and Seventh-day Adventists do not have the religion and health market cornered. Later studies have revealed striking benefits, ranging from markedly lower cancer rates to additional years of life expectancy, among faithful weekly attenders across religions, races, and regions. 

What else does the best available science tell us about the religion and physical health connection?

Medicine and social science recently reached a milestone with the publication of “The Handbook of Religion and Health,” a multidisciplinary collaboration between Duke and Harvard University. Described as “stunningly ambitious” by former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Howard Koh, the text included only the most rigorous 5% of studies conducted on religion and health (about 2,800 out of 60,000). A second multidisciplinary team from BYU and Duke University recently completed three condensed reports on “Religion and Mental Health,” “Religion and Physical Health,” and “Religion and Social Health.” 

In this Public Square Magazine series, we offer highly compressed highlights of all three reports so that you can see the grand scope of the 1,100-page volume and decades of effort with just three long glances. 

What the Best Science Reveals about the Religion-Physical Health Connection

Following the lead of the Duke–Harvard team, our BYU–Duke team divided the best studies into 15 different physical health foci:

1. Disease Prevention, Detection, and Compliance
2. Exercise and Physical Activity
3. Diet and Weight
4. Heart Disease
5. Hypertension/Blood Pressure
6. Cerebrovascular Disease (Stroke)
7. Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias
8. Immune Function
9. Stress Hormones
10. Cigarette Smoking
11. Cancer
12. Basic Physical Functioning
13. Chronic Pain
14. Substance Abuse and Addiction
15. Mortality and Longevity

When we examined 1,069 high-quality studies across 15 physical health domains, we found that 876 studies found positive associations between religious involvement and physical health, and only 124 found negative ones: a ratio of roughly seven to one. The strongest signals come from the precise areas where American medicine spends the most time and money. Among high-quality studies of cigarette smoking, the ratios of favorable to unfavorable findings were 90-to-1 for cigarette smoking, 43-to-1 for substance abuse and addiction, and 15-to-1 for mortality and longevity.

Why Might Religious Involvement Be Associated with Significant Health Benefits?

A look at Figure 4 reveals that for all 15 physical health outcomes studied, the ratios of positive over negative (healthy over unhealthy) correlates of religious involvement are pronounced. The ratios range from about 2-to-1 for disease prevention, detection, and compliance to 90-to-1 for cigarette smoking.

We walk through the likely reasons one by one in our Religion and Physical Health report for readers who want the details. Here, however, we offer three broad strokes that help explain the “faith factor.”

1. Religious communities shape behavior and accountability. They discourage the habits that fill cardiology wards (smoking, heavy drinking, sedentary living, social isolation) and reinforce habits that keep hearts and bodies healthy. They build networks of care that last for decades—far longer than an annual physical—and give people reasons to get up, get out, and look after a neighbor. Tellingly, the longevity advantage persists in major studies even after researchers account for health behaviors and social ties; it is not merely that the faithful smoke less. Secular communities can strengthen health, too, especially through service. But few institutions bundle all these supports in one place over a lifetime as effectively as a religious community does.
2. Religious practices involve both action and abstinence. In terms of action, world religions promote prayer, ritual, worship, and the study of sacred texts in daily life and as core coping practices. In terms of abstinence, most world religions tend to promote avoidance or minimal use of addictive and damaging substances, as well as fasting and discipline in diet and avoidance of premarital and extramarital sex. Simply put, religious practice tends to encourage healthy behaviors and discourage unhealthy ones.
3. Religious beliefs can shape attitudes about the body. Most world religions emphasize the importance of caring for the body, often teaching that it is a sacred vessel or temple for the spirit. Many also hold that the condition of the body can either strengthen or hinder one’s spiritual life. When these beliefs are understood and applied, they can serve as powerful motivators for physical activity, exercise, and self-care grounded in faith.

A Note on the “Threshold Effect”

A close look at the best science on the religion–health connection suggests a “threshold effect.” In other words, the benefits of religion appear to be concentrated among those with sustained, high engagement. Hundreds of studies link religious involvement to better mental health, elevated physical health (including lower cancer rates), and significantly longer lifespan. Family-level gains have also been documented, including greater marital stability, higher marital quality and satisfaction, and stronger parent-child relationships. 

However, only individuals with “significant commitment to their faith” seem to attain the threshold “where measurable benefits are discernible and often substantive.” Occasional attendees do not enjoy the same benefits. In practice, the threshold is at least weekly service attendance, with associated health benefits observed from adolescence into older adulthood and across racial and ethnic groups and faith traditions.

Across the strongest studies on physical health, consistent weekly religious involvement is powerfully associated with significantly lower rates of cigarette smoking, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, Alzheimer’s Disease, cancer, physical disability, chronic pain, and markedly lower rates of substance abuse and addiction. The strongest studies also associate religious involvement with more exercise, healthier diets, better immune function, and longer, healthier lives. In addition to the quest for deeper spirituality, there are many bodily reasons to take faith community life seriously and to be actively involved in a sacred caravan of care.

There is a policy lesson here, too. We routinely assess patients’ dietary habits, exercise levels, and tobacco use, yet we almost never ask a patient whether they belong to a faith community, even though the evidence places weekly religious involvement in the same league as those better-known health behaviors. Health systems, researchers, and lawmakers would do well to treat religious participation as the health asset the data show it to be.

Our team’s invitation is two-fold: First, on a personal level, we can strive to live our faith beyond a “threshold level” where the faith factor thrives; and second, on a public level, we can support policies and practices that protect religious liberty and encourage people to live their faith in ways that bless their lives and improve their health.

The post The Physical Health Case for Religion appeared first on Public Square Magazine.

In his April 2026 General Conference address, Elder Thierry K. Mutombo taught that every covenant God invites us to make is motivated by His perfect love. Rather than imposing unnecessary rules, Heavenly Father gives commandments and covenants because He desires something infinitely greater for His children: an eternity of joy in His presence. Through his own experiences of profound grief, Elder Mutombo testifies that covenant discipleship anchors us to Jesus Christ, whose power makes that eternal promise possible.

Some people see religion as a collection of restrictions that prevent people from living freely or finding happiness. Elder Mutombo offers a very different perspective. God’s commandments are not barriers to joy—they are the path that leads to it.

His desire, purpose, and glory are to have us return to Him pure, having proven ourselves worthy of an eternity of joy in His presence.

Common Criticism: Commandments Restrict Happiness

Many people assume that religion asks us to sacrifice happiness in exchange for obedience. Commandments can appear limiting, especially when they require us to resist immediate desires, challenge cultural expectations, or trust God through difficult circumstances. From this perspective, God’s laws can seem like arbitrary rules rather than expressions of divine love.

Fallacy at Work: Present Bias

Present Bias is our tendency to prioritize immediate comfort or short-term rewards while undervaluing future blessings.

When we evaluate God’s commandments only by what they require today, we can lose sight of what they are preparing us to become tomorrow. Elder Mutombo reminds us that Heavenly Father always sees beyond today’s sacrifice to the eternal joy He desires for His children.

Doctrine

Throughout scripture, God establishes covenants to bless His children, draw them closer to Him, and prepare them for eternal life (Mosiah 18:8–10; Doctrine and Covenants 82:10). His commandments are not arbitrary tests of loyalty—they are invitations to become more like Jesus Christ. As we faithfully keep the covenants we make at baptism and in the temple, we deepen our relationship with Heavenly Father and receive His promised strength, peace, and guidance.

Elder Mutombo’s Correction

Elder Mutombo illustrates this truth through one of the most heartbreaking experiences imaginable. After losing four children, he and his wife faced another trial when extended family members insisted that cultural tradition required them to separate because of their repeated losses.

In that moment, he remembered the covenants they had made with God.

Nathalie is my eternal companion. We are striving together to build an eternal family, and the Savior is helping us achieve it.

Choosing the covenant path did not immediately erase their grief. It did something even more important—it gave them peace, purpose, and confidence that God’s promises extended beyond mortality. Their experience demonstrates that covenant faithfulness is not about earning God’s love; it is about trusting the God whose love is already perfectly given.

Solution

The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that obedience is not an end in itself. God asks us to keep commandments because He knows what kind of people we must become to enjoy eternal life with Him. What may feel like sacrifice today is preparation for everlasting joy tomorrow. Elder Mutombo reminds us that every covenant reflects the loving purposes of a Heavenly Father whose “desire, purpose, and glory” is our eternal happiness.

Living Apologetics: Seeing Commandments Through God’s Eternal Perspective

One of the greatest challenges of discipleship is remembering that God sees what we cannot. We naturally focus on today’s inconvenience, unanswered questions, or painful trials. The Lord sees the person we are becoming and the eternal future He is preparing for us.

Elder Mutombo’s testimony invites us to trust God’s perspective even when we do not yet understand His timing.

Practical Apologetic Use

If someone says: “Why would a loving God give so many commandments?”

You can respond: “The restored gospel teaches that God’s commandments are expressions of His love, not His control. He isn’t trying to keep us from happiness—He’s preparing us for the fulness of joy that comes from becoming like Jesus Christ and living with Him forever.”

Ways to Apply Today

1️⃣ Look beyond today’s inconvenience. The next time a commandment feels difficult, ask yourself what Christ may be helping you become through your obedience.

2️⃣ Remember the end of the story. When discouragement comes, reflect on the Savior’s Resurrection and Elder Mutombo’s reminder that “Sunday will come.”

3️⃣ Review your covenants. Spend a few minutes pondering how your baptismal or temple covenants have brought greater peace and direction into your life.

Keep This Talk With You

Elder Mutombo’s message reminds us that God’s vision for our lives extends far beyond mortality. Every commandment, every covenant, and every invitation to follow Jesus Christ flows from a loving Father’s desire to bring His children safely home. Even when discipleship requires sacrifice, we can trust that God never asks us to surrender lasting joy for temporary obedience. Instead, He invites us to exchange temporary comforts for eternal blessings.

This week, try one small step:

• Read Mosiah 3:19 and consider how yielding to the Savior changes your heart over time.
• Identify one commandment you have come to appreciate more deeply than when you first tried to live it.
• Thank Heavenly Father in prayer for one covenant blessing you have experienced, even during difficult seasons.

As Elder Mutombo beautifully reminds us, God’s ultimate desire is not merely our obedience—it is our return to Him, “having proven ourselves worthy of an eternity of joy in His presence.”

When God’s commandments require patience or sacrifice, what helps you remember that His ultimate purpose is not to restrict your happiness but to prepare you for an eternity of joy in His presence?

The Consider Conference series by FAIR offers an in-depth look at recent General Conference talks to help members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints navigate common questions, misunderstandings, and criticisms. Each post provides doctrinal insights, historical context, and practical ways to apply gospel principles in everyday conversations. Through this series, we hope to equip readers with faith-promoting resources that encourage thoughtful reflection, respectful dialogue, and a stronger foundation in gospel truths, fostering both personal conviction and meaningful discussions with others.

The post The Joy of a Covenant Relationship with God appeared first on FAIR.

With just a few clicks, Memories Book gathers photos, stories, and documents from across your FamilySearch tree and turns them into a family history book in only a few minutes. You can read the finished book online, save it as a PDF, or order printed copies.

From a FamilySearch Tree to a Finished Book

Memories Book connects to your existing FamilySearch account. Choose yourself, a parent, a grandparent, or another ancestor as the starting point. The starting-person selector can reach as far as eight generations back. Each finished book can include one to five generations from that person. The website gathers the available family details and supported memories, then organizes them by person.

The finished book can include

• Profile photos, names, lifespans, and relationship details.
• Color-coded fan charts for every person in the book.
• Life journey maps with numbered, dated events,
• Photographs with titles and captions.
• Written stories from FamilySearch.
• One to five generations in PDF, DOCX, ZIP, or print.

Fan charts and life journey pages add context

Each person’s opening page includes a color-coded fan chart that shows where that person fits in the book’s family lines. A separate life journey page maps dated events recorded in FamilySearch and lists them in chronological order. The map adjusts from a state view to a country or world view based on the places in that person’s life.

Review, download, edit, or print

Read the complete book online before choosing what to do next. The PDF preserves the finished page design for viewing, sharing, and printing, and can be downloaded directly or received through a private email link. Premium also includes an editable DOCX file for Microsoft Word, so you can revise the text, rearrange pages, or add your own material. The organized ZIP package keeps the original photos, stories, documents, XLSX inventory, fan charts, and available maps together for archiving or building your own version. Printed softcover copies can be ordered in color or black and white.

Explore your ancestors before building

Browse your ancestors in a fan chart or list, then open a person to see their photographs, written memories, and PDF documents together. Photo details show available titles and captions, and any ancestor page can become the starting point for a new book.

Play Games With People From Your Own Family Tree

Personalized games use direct ancestors, siblings, and children from your FamilySearch tree. Choose a one, two, or five-minute round, or play without a time limit. Questions cover faces, relationships, dates and places, and life sketches.

Correct answers earn miles along a virtual Mormon Pioneer Trail. Progress, locations, and badges are saved across devices. At the end of a round, missed questions can show the person’s image again and link to that ancestor’s page.

Your FamilySearch Tree Stays Where It Is

Memories Book reads the people and memories that your FamilySearch account is allowed to access. It does not edit profiles, change relationships, or replace the original files in FamilySearch.

Memories Book is an independent website. It is not owned or operated by FamilySearch.

Build a Family History Book From Your FamilySearch Tree

Connect your account and see the photos, stories, and documents your family has already saved. Create your book.

by Autumn Dickson

Esther’s story is one of courage. She is a remarkable woman who was placed in humble circumstances and rose to save her people. In a land that often looked down upon Jews, Esther’s heritage should have prevented her from being able to save her people. And yet, she rose to prominence was guided by the hand of the Lord. Here is one verse that introduces Esther and sets the foundation for what I want to talk about.

Esther 2:7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

In this verse, we learn that Esther’s given Hebrew name was “Hadassah.” In an effort to protect her, her name was changed to “Esther,” a Persian name. Jews were often looked down upon, discredited, and hated. Having a Persian name would have protected Esther from some of the prejudice she would face in court.

There is beautiful significance in the fact that Esther changed her name.

“Hadassah” means “myrtle.” The myrtle was a fragrant, humble evergreen plant often symbolizing righteousness, peace, beauty, or God’s people in biblical imagery. Esther was many of these things, and she rose to represent all of her people. The name “Esther” was also significant. Its Persian roots connect it to the word “star” which she certainly rose to be. Interestingly enough, the name “Esther” also has Hebrew roots, but those Hebrew roots mean “hidden.”

Esther’s names, with their many meanings, all tell her story very well. It also connects her back to Christ.

Esther was placed in a position to save her people. So much of her identity was “hidden” so that she could fulfill her role to save her people. Had her true identity been known, she may have been barred from being queen due to prejudice.

In the Old Testament, Christ is known as Jehovah, a latinized version of “YHWH.” This means, “I am.” It is a powerful statement of our Creator. It emphasizes self-existence, sovereignty, and eternal nature. When He comes to the earth, His name is revealed to Mary as “Jesus.” Jesus is the English version of Yeshua, which is a shortened version of Yehoshua. Yehoshua means “YHWH saves.”

When Christ came to earth, He did so quietly. Much of His identity was hidden. It was so hidden that the people in Nazareth, who knew Him while He was growing up, rejected Him thoroughly. They were angry when He claimed divine authority and purpose, and they tried to kill Him. If He had come in all of His glory, would things have been different? How would they have felt about Him then?

If He had come in all of His glory, He might not have been rejected and put in a position to save us.

On a broader note than Nazareth, many of the Jews didn’t recognize Him. They were looking for a powerful rebel who would throw off the Roman empire. They did not understand that Jesus was coming to save them in a more important way. Because He didn’t come in all of the glory that was due to Him, He was betrayed and rejected.

And though He didn’t deserve it, we needed it. We needed His true identity to be rejected so that He would be able to fulfill His atonement on our behalf. His “hidden” identity placed Him in a position to save the entirety of the human family.

Let’s take it a step further.

Esther’s hidden identity placed her in a position to save her people, but it wasn’t just her hidden identity. It was also her humility. Because of her docile and peaceful nature, the king really liked her. When she entered the throne room, the king extended his scepter towards her, sparing her life. Even after being spared, her humility continued. Rather than making a big fuss in the middle of court, she invited the king and Haman to a banquet. At the banquet, her request on behalf of her people was not widely viewed.

This likewise ties her to Christ.

When Christ saved the world, He did it quietly and without fanfare. As He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, He may have had an audience on the other side of the veil, but they were likewise hidden. His only companions fell asleep, and Christ accomplished His mission humbly. When it was all over, His success remained quiet as He was betrayed and taken to die. Not even His apostles seemed to understand just what He accomplished in that garden.

Both Esther and Christ had identities that were hidden that placed them in a position to save. Both Esther and Christ did so quietly and humbly, and this likewise enabled them to fulfill their missions.

What does this mean for us?

Each of us has a mission given to us by the Lord. We made promises before we came here. The Lord can place us in the position we need to be in to set us up for our mission. Regardless of whether we are born as an exiled, lowly orphan or born in a stable, He has the power to place us exactly where we need to be. Though it is counterintuitive, sometimes it is the very humble circumstances we are given that enables us to fulfill our own personal missions. Christ utilized kings like Cyrus and Hezekiah to save His people, but He also used those in the humblest circumstances to save His people. None of your circumstances matter; those are easy enough for the Lord to manipulate. What truly matters is whether you’re following the Savior.

Your mission may be quiet and humble, but if that is the case, then you are in good company. We don’t have to go over a loudspeaker to save His people. It doesn’t have to look outwardly dramatic. It doesn’t have to be filmed or livestreamed or hold a huge audience. We simply have to be willing to follow the Savior, and He will lead us to do good.

I testify that we can learn about Christ when we study the scriptures. I testify that everything was set up perfectly for Him to save us, not just with the alignment of circumstances in the New Testament, but also in your own personal life. There is a Plan of Salvation at large, and it has been successfully won. There is also a Plan of Salvation for you, and through the power of God, the circumstances can align for Him to save you too. We can trust Him.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Esther – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

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The best family films are more than merely “clean.” They actively form the character of the people who watch them. 

Brigham Young, the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taught, “Upon the stage of a theater can be represented in character, evil and its consequences, good and its happy results and rewards; … and the greatness of truth. The stage can be made to aid the pulpit in impressing upon the minds of a community an enlightened sense of a virtuous life.”

In that spirit, I am always searching for great films that can help my children grow in virtue while they are being entertained. There are a great number of films that accomplish this from all over the world, and through the power of streaming, including in many cases on free apps or websites, these films are more available today than ever before.

So here are some of the best films for children that most families have probably never heard of:

‘The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales’

After learning he’s not as intimidating as a big bad wolf, a fox steals three eggs, intending to raise the chicks and then eat them. But when they hatch, they call the fox mommy, and everything changes.

It’s a Belgian film and is animated in bucolic watercolors. 

The film is about turning from a consumption mindset to a stewardship mindset. It is about sacrificing for those we love. The fox becomes something better, not through removing barriers to allow his “true self” to shine through, but by repeatedly choosing to protect someone weaker than himself. 

“The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales” can be viewed on Kanopy, Hoopla, and YouTube.

‘Children of Heaven’

If viewers are willing to read captions, there are hundreds of beautiful family films from around the world to watch. But for many children, the captions themselves are a significant barrier to entry. So I’ve only included this one subtitled film. It is the perfect children’s movie.

A brother loses his sister’s shoes. His family can’t afford another pair, so they have to share. The brother wears the shoes to school in the morning, then races home so his sister can go to school in the afternoon. 

The children are good, but not perfect. But their selfishness is answered with mercy, and their pettiness with compassion. 

The characters grow and change as they focus on being there for their family members. And the climax is really unforgettable. 

While it was nominated for an Oscar, most parents aren’t looking in the Foreign Language Film category for inspiration. This one is definitely worth it. 

“Children of Heaven” can be viewed on Kanopy, Hoopla, and YouTube.

‘Ernest & Celestine’

The premise of “Ernest & Celestine” is that bears and mice fear each other. But a bear and a mouse become friends anyway.

It’s a film about navigating prejudice, but in a way that encourages an internal locus of control, within a story that is pitched in a way that is appropriately gentle for kids.

The film is charming and cozy. It spawned a handful of sequels that are all also worthy films in their own right. So if families love the characters as much as I do, they can spend plenty of time with them. 

“Ernest & Celestine” can be viewed on Kanopy and Tubi.

‘Kirikou and the Sorceress’

This French-made Senegalese film tells the story of a baby, Kirikou, who is born into war and drought caused by an evil sorceress, Karaba. Kirikou goes with his uncle to confront Karaba, whose hatred comes from a thorn in her back. But she doesn’t want to remove it because it has become deeply a part of who she is.

The animation is striking and unlike anything American animation has produced. The tale teaches a deeply important principle about how to make real change in the world.

It is also an opportunity to talk about culture. The film can feel very strange to American audiences because of its pacing, forthright narration, and the fact that the baby Kirikou is naked throughout the film. The film contains frequent nonsexual nudity in its African setting. It does not align with American modesty norms, and it may not be a good fit for families who prefer to avoid all nudity. 

“Kirikou and the Sorceress” can be viewed on Prime Video.

‘A Letter to Momo’

Momo and her father get into a big fight right before he dies. Her internal demons come to life as three demons in her attic. 

By turning the real moral weight of her words into physical avatars, the film makes its rather weighty themes comprehensible to children. The demons are also hilarious. 

The film is not only about learning to forgive yourself, it’s also about letting our feelings of guilt motivate us to become better people. The film undersells just how powerful repentance and forgiveness can be. So I might want to open that up for a conversation with my kids after the film. But it is fairly minor. 

“A Letter to Momo” can be viewed on YouTube.

‘Long Way North’

A Danish film set in Russia, “Long Way North” tells the story of Sasha vindicating her grandfather by going on a grand (sometimes scary) adventure.

The film fits firmly into the modern heroine empowerment template. But rather than it being about discovering herself or proving others wrong, the film is about Sasha being empowered as she becomes useful. She has to work in sometimes humiliating circumstances. She studies a lot. And slowly she begins to gain the confidence of those around her, whom she needs to accomplish her goals.

Sasha is a fantastic example to children of what success often actually takes. Sasha makes some reckless decisions, and while the film usually contains consequences for them, those consequences are rarely clear. This could open up conversations with kids. The movie also includes characters smoking, drinking, and using (non-profanity) name-calling. 

“Long Way North” can be viewed on Prime Video and Roku Channel.

‘Millions’

In this delightful movie from Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, 9-year-old Damian finds a bag of money right before the UK is set to move to the Euro. He and his 12-year-old brother Anthony wrestle with what to do with the cash. 

The film is mostly about generosity. But it avoids making answers simple. After all, the money was never really his. And the film manages to bring the ethics of a question like “What is money for?” to a level that children can engage in it.

The film is also colorful, funny, and imaginative. Among the many sources of Damian’s charity are also a pair of missionaries, providing one of the better depictions of Latter-day Saints on screen.

The ending is suspenseful, and there is smoking and drinking, so this is better for older kids, eight and up, but it is certainly enjoyable for the whole family.

“Millions” can be viewed on Prime Video and Disney+.

‘Okko’s Inn’

This 2018 anime film is a rather straightforward story about grief. Okko loses her parents in a car accident, so she moves into her grandmother’s inn. And there she begins serving the guests and the burdens they carry.

The film teaches that dealing with our emotions is not only about inward processing, but also about turning outward and serving the people around us. She learns to deal with her own wounds while helping others heal theirs. 

This is a very Japanese movie. It is steeped in the culture and traditions of Japanese life, and many supernatural elements come from Japanese folklore. It may require a good conversation with kids to detangle the ideas in the film from doctrine about the afterlife.

“Okko’s Inn” can be viewed on Hoopla.

‘The Painting’

Containing one of the more whimsical premises for a film, the story is set in an unfinished painting. The figures in the painting are all at various degrees of completion, which causes conflict among them. When a completely finished figure falls in love with a half-finished figure, several characters leave the painting in search of the artist who created them to ask him to finish.

It is essentially a Romeo & Juliet tale about love overcoming prejudice, but with a much more accessible back half for children.

The film’s central metaphor also opens up interesting questions about the nature of the relationship between the figures and their creator. Most of the insights about taking accountability for ourselves and those around us are fantastic. But there are certainly takeaways that could feel atheistic. It’s certainly worth asking kids, “What is the difference between our Creator and the painter of the paintings? 

“The Painting” can be viewed on Hoopla and Tubi.”

‘Paper Planes’

A young boy has a talent for building paper airplanes and advances through competitions while his father remains emotionally distant.

It sounds like a setup for a conventional sports underdog movie. It is not. It is borrowing from the trappings of that type of film to ask bigger, more interesting questions, such as, Does winning matter if it’s detached from generosity, family, and friendship? 

The characters often act badly in the pursuit of victory, but the film often recognizes that this is not virtuous and can diminish our ability to be there for the people around us. 

It can become a little bit over the top at times in its discussion of death and depression, so it’s certainly not one for a cheery movie night. But this is the sports movie that provides the moral context for all of the other great sports movies. 

“Paper Planes” can be viewed on Starz, YouTube, and Tubi.

The post The Moral Power of Children’s Films appeared first on Public Square Magazine.

Special meetings will be held worldwide on August 30 and September 6, 2026, to help us learn more about the schedule changes to Sunday meetings that will begin September 6.

Youth Discussion on August 30

Youth, their parents, youth leaders, and Primary children who will turn 12 in 2027 are invited to gather in their wards and branches to learn more about the youth weekly classes that will begin September 6. Adults who do not attend this meeting will participate in a fifth-Sunday lesson under the direction of local leaders. Younger Primary children will follow their normal schedule.

This meeting will demonstrate how to use the For the Strength of Youth guide effectively, introduce the supporting curriculum materials found in the For the Strength of Youth magazine, and offer practical instruction on how youth can participate fully in weekly classes beginning September 6.

In the meeting, attendees will watch a 23-minute video, “For the Strength of Youth Curriculum,” where Young Men General President Timothy L. Farnes and Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman will introduce the new curriculum and discuss what is changing and why. The video is now available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and in the Gospel Library app under Handbooks and Callings. The video will soon be linked on Sunday.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Wards and branches can pause the video throughout and ask the discussion questions or watch the entire video and then have a discussion using the questions below.

• “How will we be blessed by the updated FSY guide and the new Sunday curriculum?”
• “As we follow the pattern in Doctrine and Covenants 88:122, how can we let the Holy Ghost guide what we say and how we listen so everyone feels uplifted?”
• “How will this new weekly schedule give us more opportunities to build strong relationships?”

Youth can learn more effectively using the following resources:

• For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices, available in the Gospel Library app, online, as a downloadable PDF, and in print.
• For the Strength of Youth magazine. Starting in September 2026, curriculum materials supporting weekly youth lessons will be printed in the back of each issue. Be sure to subscribe at no cost as soon as possible. See the September curriculum.
• Social media channels for youth (previously known as Strive to Be) on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
• Social media channels for parents and leaders: Young Women Worldwide on Facebook and Instagram and Young Men Worldwide on Facebook and Instagram.

Youth and Adult Sunday School Meeting on September 6

After sacrament meeting on September 6, youth and adults will follow the new schedule and attend Sunday School for 25 minutes. During this time, they will watch two videos and hold a discussion.

• The first video, “The Sabbath and Sacrament Meeting,” features Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Patrick Kearon. After watching this 11-minute video, attendees will discuss the question, “How can we create a sacrament meeting that focuses on spiritual renewal and growth through Jesus Christ?”
• The second video, titled “Sunday School,” is about four minutes long. It features Sunday School General President Paul V. Johnson and includes an example of a Sunday School teacher modeling how members can focus on Jesus Christ and support gospel learning at home. The discussion question for this video is, “How can our time together deepen understanding of the Savior and strengthen gospel learning in the home?”

After watching both videos, members will discuss the ideas and questions in sections 1, 2, and 4 of the implementation guide.

After this meeting, youth will attend their classes or quorums and begin using the new curriculum. Adults will attend Relief Society and elders quorum meetings as outlined below.

Relief Society and Elders Quorum Meeting on September 6

In the 25-minute Relief Society and elders quorum meetings on September 6, adults will watch a 6.5-minute video titled “Relief Society and Elders Quorums,” featuring Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson and Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela of the Presidency of the Seventy.

They will then discuss section 5 of the implementation guide and also the questions, “What can we do during the week to prepare for Relief Society or elders quorum?” and “How will meeting weekly help us strengthen our fellowship with one another?”

Additional Resources For Leaders

In addition to the videos mentioned above, other supplemental videos are available on the Church’s website, in the Gospel Library app, and on Sunday.ChurchofJesusChrist.org under “Sunday Schedule Refinements Panel Discussion.” These are a series of short panel discussions from April 2026 general conference training, featuring Elder Dale G. Renlund and members of general organization presidencies.

New features in the Gospel Library app can help you navigate to the new lessons beginning in September.

New Youth Curriculum

Beginning in September, youth will study a new curriculum based on the expanded For the Strength of Youth guide, with supplemental materials in the youth magazine outlining each week’s lesson for the month. Note: Printed copies of the guide were sent to wards and branches, and each household can subscribe to the printed magazine for free.

This new curriculum can now be found in the Home section of the Gospel Library on a card titled “FSY Sunday Lessons.” This feature has quick links to the corresponding monthly chapters of the FSY guide and the supporting FSY magazine articles that provide a deeper study of doctrinal topics for each week.

Relief Society and Elders Quorum

Adults in Relief Society and elders quorum study general conference addresses in their meetings. You can now swipe right on the Relief Society and elders quorum cards in the Home section of the Gospel Library to see upcoming lessons in future weeks.

Relief Society and elders quorum presidencies can select talks from the Home section for each week starting September 13. Entering these weekly talks will help class and quorum members be more prepared to discuss during the shortened class and quorum time together.

Related articles:

• Changes to the Sunday Class Meeting Schedule
• Implementation Guide For Changes to Sunday Class Meeting Schedule
• What is Taught in the Updated Edition of “For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices”?

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Employees typically feel comfortable discussing fitness routines, cultural heritage, family traditions, or even political causes, but conversations about faith often carry a unique tension. Consequently, workers who wear visible religious clothing, request schedule adjustments for holy days, pray during breaks, or decline to participate in certain activities for reasons of conscience can feel isolated or misunderstood.

Employers, meanwhile, often avoid engaging with religion altogether for fear that any discussion will produce conflict.

That instinct is understandable. Religion touches deep convictions, and Americans disagree profoundly about theology, morality, and political applications of religion. In recent years, many corporate leaders have concluded that the safest approach is to privatize religious identity entirely.

Yet this strategy frequently backfires.

When workplaces treat religion as unwelcome or invisible, employees do not become less religious. Instead, many simply feel pressured to compartmentalize core aspects of themselves. That pressure can produce resentment, disengagement, and mistrust. Increasingly, large American corporations are discovering a different path: rather than suppressing religious identity, they are building structures that allow people of faith—and people of no faith—to work together respectfully.

One of the most important developments in this movement has been the rise of faith-oriented employee resource groups, commonly known as ERGs.

These groups are quietly reshaping workplace culture in some of America’s largest companies.

Why Religion At Work Matters Again

For years, diversity initiatives in corporate America focused primarily on race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation. Religion was often missing from the conversation.

But the workforce itself has changed.

Employees increasingly expect to bring their “whole selves” to work, including their moral and spiritual commitments. Younger workers especially want employers to recognize identity in holistic ways—rather than asking employees to fragment themselves into separate public and private personas.

At the same time, globalization has transformed and diversified the religious makeup of many corporations. Teams now regularly include Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, atheists, agnostics, and others working side by side across national and cultural boundaries.

As a result, religion has reemerged as a significant workplace issue.

Religious discrimination complaints remain a recurring feature of American employment law. Questions surrounding Sabbath observance, prayer breaks, religious clothing, dietary requirements, and conscience protections continue to appear in litigation and public controversy.

Recent legal developments have reinforced employers’ obligations. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Groff v. DeJoy, which strengthened protections for religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The Court clarified that to establish “undue hardship,” an employer must show that a proposed accommodation would impose substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business—not merely an inconvenience.In practical terms, this means employers must take religious needs more seriously than many employers previously did.

Yet legal compliance alone cannot create a healthy workplace culture. A company may technically satisfy laws against discrimination while still fostering an environment in which religious employees feel unwelcome, stereotyped, or silenced.

This gap between formal legal protections and lived experience is precisely why faith-oriented ERGs have become so influential.

What Faith-Oriented ERGs Actually Do

Employee resource groups are voluntary, employee-led organizations formally recognized by companies. Most corporations already host ERGs built around shared identities or experiences, including groups for women, veterans, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ employees, or workers with disabilities.

Faith-oriented ERGs apply the same model to religion.

Some are centered on a single tradition, such as Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu employee groups. Others are intentionally interfaith, bringing together employees from multiple traditions alongside secular allies.

Critics sometimes assume these groups encourage proselytizing or create ideological division. In practice, successful faith-oriented ERGs usually operate according to very different principles.

Most such groups prohibit coercive proselytizing. Participation is voluntary, and the emphasis is typically on inclusion, education, dialogue, and accommodation rather than theological debate.

The work of these ERGs tends to be remarkably practical. Some help human resources departments understand religious accommodation needs before conflicts arise. Others organize educational events explaining major religious holidays or traditions. Some advocate for prayer or meditation spaces, flexible scheduling during holy days, or dietary accommodations at corporate events.

Perhaps most importantly, these groups create relationships.

Religious misunderstanding often flourishes in environments where employees rarely interact meaningfully across lines of difference. Faith-oriented ERGs reduce that distance. A Muslim employee explaining Ramadan to coworkers, a Jewish employee discussing Passover traditions, or a Christian employee describing Sabbath observance can humanize practices that might otherwise seem unfamiliar or threatening.

This matters more than many executives initially realize. Research suggests that religious literacy reduces prejudice and workplace tension. Employees who understand one another’s beliefs are less likely to interpret religious behavior as strange, hostile, or exclusionary. Simple familiarity can lower social friction.

In this sense, faith-oriented ERGs function less like advocacy groups and more like cultural translators.

The Corporate Shift Toward Faith-Friendly Workplaces

The growth of faith-oriented ERGs inside major corporations has been significant. Recent reporting and research by the World Economic Forum and the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation show that although only a small percentage of Fortune 100 companies had faith-oriented ERGs a decade ago, religion is far more likely to be included in corporate diversity strategies today.

Major companies, including Salesforce, Texas Instruments, American Airlines, and Dell, have publicly embraced faith-friendly initiatives.

Salesforce offers one of the clearest examples.

This collaboration challenged the assumption that religious inclusion would conflict with other inclusion goals. Instead of treating differing convictions as irreconcilable, the company encouraged dialogue rooted in mutual respect, and employees learned how to navigate disagreement without demanding ideological uniformity.

Texas Instruments, which has supported faith-oriented employee groups for more than two decades, provides another notable example.

Christian, Jewish, and Muslim ERGs all operate alongside other affinity groups within the organization. And rather than producing fragmentation, these networks have largely strengthened cohesion. Employees report feeling more respected when their beliefs are acknowledged rather than ignored. Managers gain a better understanding of accommodation needs. Conflicts are often resolved informally before escalating into formal complaints.

Importantly, these companies are not adopting faith-oriented ERGs merely out of altruism but because they increasingly view religious inclusion as strategically beneficial.

Retention improves when employees feel respected; recruitment from diverse talent pools becomes easier; and global business operations benefit from stronger cultural literacy. Companies serving international markets recognize that understanding religious diversity is valuable not only psychologically but also commercially. In other words, making workplaces faith-friendly is not just a moral project but also a good organizational strategy.

The Deeper Cultural Question

The rise of faith-oriented ERGs reflects a broader cultural debate unfolding far beyond corporate America.

Can institutions sustain genuine pluralism in an era of deep moral disagreement?

Modern workplaces bring together people who hold profoundly different views about truth, identity, sexuality, politics, and human purpose. Many organizations struggle to determine whether peaceful coexistence requires suppressing these differences or learning to navigate them openly.

Faith-oriented ERGs represent one answer to that challenge.

At their best, they reject two extremes simultaneously.

On one side lies aggressive secularism, which treats religion as inherently divisive and therefore inappropriate in public institutional life. On the other side lies sectarianism, which seeks dominance rather than coexistence. Healthy faith-oriented ERGs instead operate on a pluralistic model: employees may disagree deeply while still working together respectfully.

This principle sounds simple. In practice, however, it requires institutional habits that many Americans have lost.

Pluralism is not relativism, and employees do not abandon their convictions to participate. Nor does pluralism require pretending that moral disagreements are unimportant. Rather, pluralism requires learning how to live and work alongside people whose convictions differ from our own without treating disagreement itself as hostility.

That is increasingly difficult in American society.

Public discourse often rewards outrage, ideological sorting, and suspicion. Social media amplifies conflict. Many institutions have become uncomfortable with substantive moral disagreement.

Against that backdrop, faith-friendly workplaces may provide an unexpected civic benefit. They create environments where individuals practice the ordinary disciplines of democratic coexistence: listening, accommodation, restraint, compromise, and mutual respect. Employees who learn to navigate religious diversity constructively at work may carry those habits into families, congregations, neighborhoods, and civic life.

In this sense, corporate culture can influence broader social culture.

Legitimate Concerns—and Necessary Safeguards

None of this means faith-oriented ERGs are without risks.

Poorly managed groups can become exclusionary, politically polarized, or dominated by a single ideological perspective. Religious employees may sometimes fear that participation could affect their professional advancement. Others worry that companies could privilege certain beliefs over others. These concerns are real.

Companies must maintain strong nondiscrimination protections for all employees, and participation in religious groups should remain voluntary. No employee should feel pressured to engage in religious activity—or pressured to hide sincere beliefs.

Leadership also matters. The healthiest faith-oriented ERGs tend to emphasize humility, service, and relationship-building rather than activism or culture-war confrontation. Many deliberately include interfaith dialogue and collaboration with secular colleagues.

Importantly, protecting religious freedom in the workplace must also protect employees who are not religious. A genuinely pluralistic workplace recognizes conscience broadly. The goal is not religious dominance but institutional fairness.

That balance can be difficult. But it is achievable.

Why This Matters For Religious Freedom

Americans often think about religious liberty primarily in constitutional or political terms. We debate Supreme Court decisions, public-school controversies, and government regulation.

But most people experience religious freedom daily in ordinary institutions such as schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces.

Employment is especially significant because work occupies such a large portion of adult life. When employees feel forced to suppress their religious identities in professional settings, religious freedom can become an abstract concept rather than a lived reality.

Faith-oriented ERGs help bridge that gap. They translate legal protections into everyday organizational practice. They create channels for accommodation before conflict escalates. They normalize respectful discussion of religion within institutions that shape millions of lives.

And most importantly, faith-oriented ERGs remind corporations that human beings are not merely economic units.

People bring moral convictions, spiritual commitments, rituals, traditions, and community ties to work, and attempts to erase those realities rarely produce neutrality. More often, such attempts create environments in which only people with certain identities feel safe expressing themselves openly.

The ideal solution is not religious uniformity but principled pluralism. American corporations and society more broadly are still learning what that looks like in practice. Some efforts will fail, and others will become politicized or superficial. But the broader movement toward faith-friendly workplaces reflects an important insight: durable institutions cannot be built by demanding that employees abandon core dimensions of identity at the office door.

Healthy workplaces do not require employees to become less religious—or less secular—to cooperate. They require learning how to disagree without exclusion.

At a moment when American society often seems unable to sustain that balance, the quiet rise of faith-oriented ERGs inside major corporations offers a surprisingly hopeful model.

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