Today, May 15, is John the Baptist Day, the day on which he appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in 1829 and restored the Aaronic Priesthood. On that morning, Joseph had reached 3 Nephi 11 in the rapid process of translating the Book of Mormon. It was in that chapter that Jesus gave his twelve disciples in Bountiful the authority to baptize. Realizing that they themselves needed to be...

The lesson from Come Follow Me for this week centers on John 1 and the topic of recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. The prologue to the Gospel of John ( John 1:1–18 ) introduces us to the pre-existent Christ: “In the beginning … the Word was with God.” Our Savior’s mission began long before He was born in Bethlehem. Holy prophets throughout history foresaw His coming and shared their divine...