53+ min ago (1323+ words) My higher power has been looking after me all my life," Elton John told Time magazine in late 2024. He's got me through drugs, he's got me through depression, he's got me through loneliness, and he got me sober. He's been there all the time, I think. I just didn't acknowledge him." That's how the legendary singer-songwriter summarizes his deepened spiritual appreciation since becoming sober in 1990 " part of a shift away from a party life toward one more centered around higher ideals that include family and God. Other rock stars witness to a more defined Christian conversion, including Bob Dylan (1978), Kansas' Kerry Livgren (1979), Alice Cooper (1980s), Foreigner's Lou Gramm (1991), Megadeth's Dave Mustaine (2002) and Korn's Brian Head" Welch (2005). Elton John and Alice Cooper's stories provide a glimpse into how some of the world's most famous people find their way to a new relationship…...

1+ day, 47+ min ago (575+ words) President Dallin H. Oaks became the church's prophet-president on Oct. 14, following the death of his friend and the church's 17th prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. President Oaks has made several leadership changes since then. First, President Nelson's death left a vacancy in the First Presidency. President Oaks called President Henry B. Eyring as his first counselor and then called Elder D. Todd Christofferson from the Quorum of the Twelve to serve as his second counselor. That, in turn, created a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve. President Oaks filled it by calling Bishop G'rald Causs' from his place as presiding bishop to serve as an apostle. President Oaks then moved to fill the vacancy in the Presiding Bishopric. He called Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, who had been a counselor, to be the presiding bishop and added Elder Sean Douglas as a new counselor in the…...

1+ day, 3+ hour ago (305+ words) They're helping their fellow beings right now, and they're helping them truly come unto Christ,' said Provo MTC President Stephen W. Owen Provo MTC missionaries assemble 500,000 meals in Thanksgiving service project "They're helping their fellow beings right now, and they're helping them truly come unto Christ,' said Provo MTC President Stephen W. Owen PROVO, Utah " This Thanksgiving, a battalion of young sisters and elders preparing for the Savior's call to "feed my sheep" (John 21:16) heeded another call to feed the hungry. On Thursday, Nov. 27, the Provo Missionary Training Center's 1,347 missionaries assembled packaged food into meal boxes. MTC leaders planned for 20,500 shelf-stable boxes; with each box able to feed a family of four for two days, that's about 500,000 meals. "Many hands make light work," said Provo MTC President Stephen W. Owen. "And boy, there are a lot of hands." Missionaries split into two groups,…...

2+ day, 56+ min ago (647+ words) President Dallin H. Oaks recently said that he spent three of his four years as a BYU student wondering what career he should take. In other words, the church's future president was the same as many college students who struggle to discover what they are meant to do. The lesson to learn from his experience was enhanced for me as I listened to him talk in this video with his successor as the university's president, President Jeffrey R. Holland. "I felt as I enrolled at BYU that I was going to be a doctor," President Oaks said. "My father had been a medical doctor and I took a zoology class as a freshman, and I wasn't more than a few weeks into that zoology class when I realized I wasn't cut out to be a doctor. I spent the next three years…...

3+ day, 47+ min ago (687+ words) Five days after the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy (which happened near Thanksgiving in 1963), Texas Gov. John Connally, who was also shot, was asked by a reporter if he had any reflections to share. The answer, given as Connally lay in a hospital bed, sounded like something straight out of 2025. Connally said he hoped the assassination would shock and stun the nation enough to make people aware of the "cancerous growth" of a society "that breeds a hatred, a bigotry, an intolerance, an indifference, a lawlessness " "(The assassination) is nothing more than a manifestation of an extremism on both sides that basically is the genesis of our self-destruction, if we are ever going to be destroyed." It is disappointing and perhaps even shocking to see how little progress has been made in the intervening 62 years. The nation still is…...

3+ day, 47+ min ago (430+ words) Here we are near the end of 2025. It has been a challenging year for many people who have suffered or witnessed losses. There have been many kinds of losses " loved ones, jobs, homes, benefits, trust and hope. Yet, there is still so much for which we can be thankful. Because we are still on this Earth means that we have not yet fulfilled God's purpose for our life. We may have our own purpose, agenda and goals, but God's plan for us is much greater than anything we could imagine for ourselves. We can thank God for our daily needs. He made it possible for us to acquire skills, secure employment, earn compensation and provide for our families. Most of us live in houses we didn't build. We eat food that we did not plant. Our consumption and indulgence were…...

5+ day, 47+ min ago (646+ words) Thanksgiving and Christmas are a time when people are focused on giving and serving. It's one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. It's also something I'm trying to emphasize in my own home " making Christmas more about how we make others feel rather than what we receive. My 4-year-old is having a hard time grasping this, unsurprisingly. In my family, we teach that Jesus Christ is the greatest gift of all " and that's why we give gifts to others. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I'm touched by how the church emphasizes this. And it doesn't just ask its members to serve or donate " it lives that principle, too. In 2024, the Church of Jesus Christ donated "$1.45 billion in humanitarian aid, welfare and other relief," Deseret News reporter Tad Walch wrote in March....

5+ day, 2+ hour ago (902+ words) With Christmas music echoing through City Creek Center's east plaza and volunteers cutting the ribbon in front of the bright, candy-apple-red vending machines, Utah's 2025 Light the World Giving Machines officially opened Monday " marking the beginning of a season of giving that organizers say changes thousands of lives each year. Utah's first lady Abby Cox attended the grand opening and there were musical numbers from Jenny Oaks Baker and Oba and Yahosh Bonner. The machines, which run Nov. 24Jan. 1, allow visitors to purchase items for global and local nonprofits " everything from handwashing stations and laptops to after-school snacks, youth programs, trees, chickens and even a tank of gas for a refugee parent rebuilding life in Utah. This year, Salt Lake City's machines include six Utah-based organizations and two global charities as part of a worldwide network spanning 126 cities in 21 countries across six…...

5+ day, 5+ hour ago (250+ words) An exterior rendering and site map of the Yuma Arizona Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were made available Monday in a church press release. The Yuma temple will be a single-story edifice of approximately 18,500 square feet, according to the release. It will be built on a nearly 7-acre site located at the corner of East 36th Street and South 8 East Avenue in Yuma, Arizona, and will be accompanied by an ancillary building. "Time in the temple will help you to think celestial and to catch a vision of who you really are, who you can become, and the kind of life you can have forever," said the late church President Russell M. Nelson in the same address he announced the Yuma temple in. "Regular temple worship will enhance the way you see yourself and how you fit…...

5+ day, 5+ hour ago (236+ words) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced dates for the open house and dedication of Oregon's third Latter-day Saint temple: the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple. The temple will open its doors to the media and other invited guests on April 20-22, according to the Church's announcement. Then, starting April 23, guests of all faiths and ages will be welcome to tour the single-story building during a free public open house period that will run every Monday through Saturday until May 9. Guests visiting the temple during this time can expect the experience to include an introductory video, followed by a guided walk-through with explanations of each area and its significance. Following the open house period, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the Willamette Valley temple on Sunday, June 7, at 10 a.m. This dedicatory session will be…...