Happy Independence Day!

Elder Ballard gave a wonderful talk in the October 2008 Sunday Afternoon session called, "The Test." It's a longer talk, but is a great one for study as we celebrate the Fourth of July and was a part of today's lesson. You can see the video online at http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-947,00.html

In his talk, Elder Ballard mentions the tragic persecution of the early saints while our country was quite young. He goes on to describe the patriotism of the saints despite that persecution. The Saints understood the importance of freedom very personally through their own and also through their recent ancestors' experiences as they sought religious freedoms and helped to establish the society we are blessed to live in today.