We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction. As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar. We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:

Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.

Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes.

Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.

Delight in service and good works.

Love life and learning.

Stand for truth and righteousness.

Sustain the priesthood as the authority of God on earth.

Rejoice in the blessings of the temple, understand our divine destiny, and strive for exaltation.

That Wife (Jenna) shares some of the things that inspired her. (Find some interesting posts about Mormonism from Jenna here.)

Albuquerque LDS Standard Examiner Jeannine writes about Elder Holland’s powerful talk about The Book of Mormon.

See pictures from sessions of General Conference in these photo galleries here, here and here.

Read a moving personal story of how Courtney (aka cjane) gained her testimony of The Book of Mormon here.

[Our conviction about the divinity of The Book of Mormon is a foundation of what we believe. It is another testament of the Savior, Jesus Christ. We consider it to be a companion book of scripture to be used side-by-side with the Bible. If you are interested in hearing more testimonies of The Book of Mormon, go here (Mormonity); here (lds.about.com); or here (youtube -- video from LDS scholars -- talking of how evidence comes from faith). Other testimonies are gathered here on this site. More general information about The Book of Mormon can be found here.]

For Caitlin, a college student living away from home, her “family” right now includes roommates and other friends. She and a friend attended General Conference together.

The Hampton family enjoyed gathering together to attend General Conference. Mom and Dad and the two youngest children in the family traveled from California and met up with three of the five other children who are currently living in Utah. Two dates joined the group as well!

Video rebroadcasts are available online, in English, Español, Português, and American Sign Language. [Edited to add:] Audio is available in multiple languages as well. (For a list of languages, see below.)

Transcripts will be available in a few weeks in multiple languages. [Edited on Oct. 6 -- transcripts in English are now available]

If you have had the chance to listen to these talks, please feel free to share your thoughts on the meeting.

Audio available in the following languages: (Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Aymar (Aymara), Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian), Bahasa Malaysia (Malay), Cantonese, Cebuano, Dansk (Danish), Deutsch (German), Diné bizaad (Navajo), Español (Spanish), Fanti (Fante), Fosun Chuuk (Chuukese), Français (French), Gagana Samoa (Samoan), Guarani, Hindi (Fiji), Hmoob (Hmong), Hrvatski (Croatian), Italiano (Italian), Japanese, Kahs Kosrae (Kosraean), Kajin Majōl (Marshallese), Kiswahili (Swahili), Korean, Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole), Laotian, Lea Fakatonga (Tongan), Magyar (Hungarian), Mahsen en Pohnpei (Pohnpeian), Malagasy, Mandarin, Nederlands (Dutch), Norsk (Norwegian), Palauan, Papiamento, Polski (Polish), Portuguese (EU), Português (Portuguese), Reo Tahiti (Tahitian), Română (Romanian), Sinhala, Slovenčina (Slovak), Slovenščina (Slovenian), Suomi (Finnish), Svenska (Swedish), Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thin Nu Wa’ab (Yapese), Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), Twi, Vosa vakaviti (Fijian), Česky (Czech), Български (Bulgarian), Монгол (Mongolian), Русский (Russian), Српски (Serbian), Українська (Ukrainian), ภาษาไทย (Thai)

We were excited to see that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched a new online radio station today, Mormon Channel. (It’s also available on HDRadio in Bonneville market areas such as Los Angeles, CA; Washington D.C., Chicago, IL; Phoenix, AZ; Seattle, WA; and Salt Lake City, UT.) The content will soon be made accessible via iTunes as well.

This resource will provide content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through a live stream; some programs include podcasts that can be accessed anytime. We include a list and brief description of programs below. (The schedule of live programming can be accessed here.)

Conversations features interviews with members and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first interview is with Elder David and Sister Susan Bednar. (Access or subscribe to Conversations podcasts here or sign up for email updates here.)

Into All the World will give glimpses into the Church by talking with people from different countries around the world.  The first interview is with a local leader in Italy, Massimo De Feo. (Access or subscribe to Into All the World podcasts here, or sign up for email updates here.)

The Light of Men will include a series of dramatizations of the life and teachings of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Scripture Stories for Children is a weekly series, featuring discussions with children about the scriptures and doctrinal principles. Music and readings are included. See, for example, the podcast entitled “Jesus Visits the Nephites” (a key story in the Book of Mormon about the Savior’s visit to the American continent.) (Access or subscribe to Scripture Stories for Children podcasts here, or sign up for email updates here.)

Mormon Identity is a weekly talk radio program, hosted by Robert Millet (Professor of Religious Education at Brigham Young University). This program will discuss issues important to Latter-day Saints throughout the world, and will also seek to help friends of other faiths understand more about Mormon beliefs and perspectives. The first discussion is with Brent L. Top, and the topic is “how to find serenity in the midst of complexity.” (Access or subscribe to Mormon Identity podcasts here, or sign up for email updates here.)

Stories from General Conference features different gospel topics, including clips from General Conference messages.  The first topic discussed is Forgiveness. (Access or subscribe to Stories from General Conference podcasts here, or sign up for email updates here.)

Legacy shares inspirational stories family and Church history stories. (Access or subscribe to Legacy podcasts here, or sign up for email updates here.)

Music with a Message explores various gospel topics through the power of music. Narration is included as well.

History of Hymns explores the creation and evolution of beloved Church hymns.

Everything Creative — Exploring Creativity: First episode features Dr. Mark Henderson of Weber State University, who discusses creativity and its spiritual components. (Access or subscribe to podcasts here, or sign up for email updates here.)

The app “includes space for noting your personal scripture faves, and incorporates a few scripture mastery games. You have the option as to whether or not to include the information on your personal profile.”

The More Good blog post also mentions the Ensign magazine page on Facebook, which is an official Facebook page of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Ensign is a monthly magazine for adults. (You can read the Ensign online here.)

Other official Church Facebook pages include the following:

The New Era — magazine for youth (read online, and find other resources for youth here)
The Friend — magazine for children (read online, and find games and activities for children here)
The Liahona — international magazine (the print version comes in various languages)

LDS Newsroom (also on Twitter)

My beloved brothers and sisters, this opportunity to speak to you is a great and sacred privilege. I pray that my words may be helpful and give you encouragement.

With all the differences in our lives, we have at least one challenge in common. We all must deal with adversity. There may be periods, sometimes long ones, when our lives seem to flow with little difficulty. But it is in the nature of our being human that comfort gives way to distress, periods of good health come to an end, and misfortunes arrive. Particularly when the comfortable times have gone on for a while, the arrival of suffering or the loss of material security can bring fear and sometimes even anger.

The anger comes at least in part from a feeling that what is happening is unfair. The good health and the serene sense of being secure can become to seem deserved and natural. When they vanish, a feeling of injustice can come. Even a brave man I knew wept and cried out in his physical suffering to those who ministered to him: “I have always tried to be good. How could this happen?”

That aching for an answer to “How could this happen?” becomes even more painful when those struggling include those we love. And it is especially hard for us to accept when those afflicted seem to us to be blameless. Then the distress can shake faith in the reality of a loving and all-powerful God. Some of us have seen such doubt come to infect a whole generation of people in times of war or famine. Such doubt can grow and spread until some may turn away from God, whom they charge with being indifferent or cruel. And if unchecked, those feelings can lead to loss of faith that there is a God at all.

My purpose today is to assure you that our Heavenly Father and the Savior live and that They love all humanity. Read more here 

Below, we give some highlights from his talk that stood out to us.

Elder Bednar discussed the importance of truth, “things as they really are.” He focused particularly on the truths about the importance of our bodies in the plan of our Father in Heaven, quoting from The Family: A Proclamation to the World, teaching us that as spirit children of God, we:

accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life.

Our bodies give us experience that is essential for our eternal growth. The adversary has no body, and as such, cannot have the opportunities and growth (and even challenges) available to us because we do. He does all he can to distort God’s plan, and to make us miserable like he is.

The devil seeks to influence us, Elder Bednar taught, to misuse our bodies, and to minimize the importance of our physical bodies in God’s plan. He warned against defiling of the body, and improper focus on body image. He invited us to learn “by study and also by faith” the ways we can discern what is and isn’t correct in relation to the proper use of the gift of a physical body.

Elder Bednar warned against extreme forms of extreme “entertainment” (sought for thrill or ego or social acceptance) that could put our physical safety at risk. He also warned against “digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value.” Video and online games and social networking sites were two specific digital distractions he mentioned that can distort reality, rob us of the joy of eternally-important relationships, and even become addictions.

Elder Bednar made it clear that digital tools can be of great benefit when used for good purposes, but he reminded us that they can also be seemingly-harmless distractions that can numb our minds and spirits and gradually, subtly pull us away from truth and truly fulfilling relationships and activities. He pleads with us to not become so “engrossed in pixels, texting, ear buds, Twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive uses of media and internet that you fail to recognize the importance of the physical body, and miss the richness of person-to-person communication.” What starts as “entertainment” can become enslavement if we are not vigilant.

He quoted from a sobering Wall Street Journal article, relating a tragic story about a man who spent so much time on Second Life (a virtual reality site), “married” to someone else, that he ignored his new wife of only seven months. Elder Bednar also quotes statistics from the article, illustrating that many who participate in online gaming tout their virtual relationships and experiences as being as good as, or even better than, “real-life” relationships and experiences.

He reminds us that electronic tools can also, of course, be used for outright evil and blatant disobedience of God’s commandments. But we found the more subtle ways media can distract from the richness of life and distort the truths of God to be the potent core of his talk. He quotes Paul, who reminds us that we “should know how to possess [our] vessels [bodies] in sanctification and honour.

We highly recommend his talk to anyone who uses the computer, who has children who do, who is wondering about the appropriate use of new media, and/or who desires to ponder more about the importance of the physical body in the plan of our Heavenly Father.

See other reviews here.

We just found an enjoyable Mormon Times article that tells a little of the history of Women’s Conference. The Conference began in 1976, and was entitled “The LDS Woman: Potentialities and Promises.” Belle S. Spafford, who gave the opening address for the conference, predicted that it would someday be an event that would fill the Marriott Center. She wasn’t far off.

The first conference that year had about 900 participants; now around 20,000 women gather to listen, learn, serve, and strengthen one another. Sister Ardeth G. Kapp, former General Young Women’s President, who was involved in the early years, is quoted saying that BYU Women’s Conference “has become kind of a gathering place.”

For the many of us around the world who were not able to attend physically, we can gather virtually on May 14 and 15 to hear rebroadcasts of some of the addresses from the 2009 Women’s Conference. They will be available on May 14 and 15. More information can be found here.

And don’t forget that sharing station information and transcripts will be available on the official Women’s Conference website in the coming weeks. (While you are waiting, consider enjoying content from past years!)

We thought we would pass along helpful information (a series of fact sheets) about preparing for a pandemic as provided on the Church’s emergency preparedness section of its Provident Living website. There’s much else on these sites that can help with general preparedness as well.

A powerful but relatively simple piece of advice that is often shared is to have a supply of food, medicine, and other necessities on hand (at least a couple of weeks’ worth, if not more) in case you are unable to get to a store (or stores are unable to provide what you need). Even a stressful period in one’s personal life could make such a supply helpful.

We live in wonderful, but also uncertain, times. Let’s not panic, but let’s try to be prepared.

(For your convenience, we have included the pandemin preparedness fact sheets from the website below.)

• Home and Family Preparedness
• Personal Hygiene
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Infectious Disease Cleanup
• Sheltering In Place
• Social Distancing
• Workplace Preparedness
• Health Care Worker Preparedness