Summary: <br> <br> President Henry B. Eyring attends a gathering of religious and civic leaders at Vatican City to discuss families. He meets Pope Francis. He delivers remarks! It's all going wonderfully.<br> <br> Some changes in CES rules: women with kids at home can now teach seminary and institute, and divorcees may now do the same. Seriously, we've been punishing divorced people for this long??<br> <br> Ordain Women wants to crowdfund a billboard along I-15 in Salt Lake. Merry Christmas to all!<br> <br> The Phoenix Arizona Temple is dedicated in a flurry of Valley of the Sun wildness. It makes us remember <a href="http://thisweekinmormons.com/2010/02/this-week-in-mormons-ep-1-the-30-foot-phoenix-temple/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our very first episode</a>.<br> <br> Did you take the "Mormon Gender Survey"? It received quite the coverage on social media. Al and Geoff both have rants about it, but for totally different reasons. Listen in to hear everything you always wanted, but didn't know you needed.<br> <br> Mitt Romney speaks at a BYU FORUM and brings down the house with, let's face it, some pretty good zingers. We didn't expect him, of all people, to make polygamy jokes. So kudos to you, sir. We shall see you in 2016 when any Republican loses to Hillary.<br> <br> The New York Times covers BYU's prohibition of beards. It's a fair peace, but it also turns concepts of religious freedom up on their head.<br> <br> Glen A. Larson, LDS creator of many classic television shows, including Magnum, P.I., Battlestar Galactica, and Knight Rider, passes away at 77.<br> <br> MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, not one with a history of kind words about the Church, hosts a pretty even-handed segment on his show about recent revelations on Joseph Smith's polygamy. Joining him are Richard Bushman, author of Rough Stone Rolling, and Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times.<br> <br> Is prescription drug abuse grounds for losing a temple recommend? Interesting thoughts from a scary-looking man.<br> <br> Other news: we get final renderings of the MTC's expansion in Provo (we still don't like curbside dropoffs); there are secret recordings in BYU's religion classes; a Mormon doctor channels Patch Adams and becomes a "jollyologist;" Noelle Pikus-Pace and Alex Fox get to spend Valentine's Day at a convention; LDS Living makes us all look bad; and a former porn star wears a colander in her Utah license photo.<br> <br> Oh, and Bill Maher hates everyone.<br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-mormons/id354973564?mt=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=34249&refid=stpr" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><a href="http://thisweekinmormons.com/feed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/twimormons" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Links:<br> <br> * <a href="http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/vatican-summit-mormon-leader-calls-renaissance-happy-marriages" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vatican conference</a><br> * <a href="http://bit.ly/1sORhf2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Moms with kids can teach seminary</a><br> * <a href="http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/lds/ordain-women-going-billboard-route/article_3fdc762c-307f-5eaf-b460-ef64ae443f5d.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ordain Women seeks a billboard</a><br> * <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/glen-a-larson-dead-battlestar-748879" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glen A. Larson passes away</a><br> * <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865615705/President-Monson-dedicates-Phoenix-Temple.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Phoenix Temple dedicated</a><br> * <a href="https://georgiasouthern.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_7ZOwz9Tl8qzd3G5&i=R_719WppofGjWDq7z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Survey!</a>
