I had an unexpected lesson in family dynamics a few years ago while watching the nature documentary TV series Planet Earth. I watched as animal mothers, from polar bears to musk oxen to apes, taught their children how to live. While the young played together for fun, the essential lessons like hunting, finding water or shelter, or protection, came from the older generation, most often from the mothers.

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Every July, Americans turn their thoughts to picnics, parties and fireworks. As a nation, we remember and celebrate the birth of the United States of America. The fireworks remind us of bombs that once burst in the air. We pause to remember the tremendous human toll of blood and tears that secured this freedom.

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As I searched for articles on the “armor of God” this month, I was looking for militant images. Captain Moroni standing with the Title of Liberty came to mind. Yet I didn’t find militancy in the current counsel from General Conferences. I found tender pleadings for the saints to pray more; to have more faith in the Savior; to learn the scriptures better; to keep their covenants with more exactness. I considered revising my search. I finally took a moment to let the message sink in: the armor of God is spiritual.

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I well remember my college graduation. I stood on the sidewalk outside BYU’s Marriott Center, dressed in my cap and gown, like so many others graduating that lovely spring morning. I thought of the hours upon hours of study, the papers written and re-written, the exams, the grades, the toil, the financial cost. I chuckled to myself to think that all of that effort had been for me to walk across the stage and collect my diploma.

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This issue of Desert Saints Magazine focuses on standing in holy places. The command to “stand in the holy place” was actually given by the Savior as a prophetic warning to us, living in the last days, awaiting His return during days of great tribulation (see JS—Matt: 1:12). Elder Lance B. Wickman summarized what latter-day revelations teach about this command.

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