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Mary Richards

Mary Richards is a reporter for the Church News. Before that, she was a morning reporter/anchor for KSL NewsRadio in Salt Lake City. She graduated from BYU with a degree in journalism, and she and her husband have five children. Email her at mrichards@deseretnews.com.

Jesus reaches out to help the woman taken in adultery.
Leaders & Ministry
Aligning hearts and minds with Jesus Christ will provide relief
Women around the world answered Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson’s question on how they stay aligned with the Savior.
Sister J. Anette Dennis and Sister Tracy Y. Browning with sister missionaries in front of the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple Visitor’s Center.
Leaders & Ministry
Sister Dennis and Sister Browning experience ‘warm and welcoming’ ministry to Brazil
Sister J. Anette Dennis and Sister Tracy Y. Browning met with members and missionaries, and took part in humanitarian outreach during a 10-day Brazil ministry.
Jonah Alexander and Deacon Jones wear JustServe T-shirts as they take part in a service project in Gilbert, Arizona.
Living Faith
Meet the ‘Service Dudes’ — 2 young men who began a club to serve others around Arizona
Arizona high schoolers used JustServe to earn service hours for college applications. Now their friends and siblings are continuing their efforts.
Sudanese refugees seeking shelter in Chad in 2023. The Church is donating a combined $8.25 million to the World Food Programme and UNHCR to help with the refugee crisis in Sudan.
Global
$8.25 million Church donation to help refugees in Sudan
The combined donation to the World Food Programme and UNHCR is in response to the urgent humanitarian crisis.
Sister Kristin M. Yee, President Susan H. Porter and Sister Tamara W. Runia stand together at the podium at the beginning of a devotional at the San Diego Stake Center.
Leaders & Ministry
Outreach in San Diego connects the Church with community leaders
“We are not alone in this,” said a nonprofit leader after meeting with President Susan H. Porter, Sister Kristin M. Yee and Sister Tamara W. Runia.
Sister Taylor Erin Maw, 20, a missionary in the Philippines Angeles Mission, who passed away on Sept. 17, 2023.
Global
Full-time missionary from Washington dies of illness in Philippines
Sister Taylor Erin Maw, of Washington state, died in the hospital of an undetermined illness
A book donation drop-off box fills with children’s books at the October 2022 BYU Alumni pregame tailgate event at Liberty University.
Members
Tailgating with a purpose: BYU football road games provide service opportunities
For BYU’s inaugural Big 12 season, each away football game has a service project in conjunction with the BYU Alumni Association.
JustServe volunteers pack meals for the National Day of Service and Remembrance in Phoenix, Arizona.
Members
How volunteers took part in 9/11 Day of Service around U.S. and Canada
Volunteers gave countless hours of service on the National Day of Service and Remembrance, which honors those who died during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001
Mud coats the street and rubble of the city of Derna.
Global
Libya flooding prompts Church condolences and support
Entire families are lost after catastrophic flooding swept through the coastal city of Derna, Libya, in North Africa.
President Camille N. Johnson greets members of various faith traditions at the Indy Festival of Faiths in downtown Indianapolis.
Leaders & Ministry
President Johnson feels the ‘Hoosier’ hospitality, shares about the Church during trip to Indiana
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson spoke at the Indiana Statehouse and took part in the Indy Festival of Faiths during a weekend ministry trip.
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson and her husband, Brother Douglas R. Johnson
Leaders & Ministry
Today is President Johnson’s birthday. Here are 9 of her quotes from the past year
President Camille N. Johnson has served as Relief Society general president since Aug. 1, 2022.
Damage caused by the earthquake in the village of Tafeghaghte, near Marrakech, Morocco.
Global
Church offers condolences, support after deadly Morocco earthquake
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is partnering with local agencies to provide relief after 6.8 magnitude quake struck Morocco.
Youth from the Brasov Branch visit with each other after a meeting with Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in Bucharest, Romania, on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022.
Members
Worldwide youth testimony meeting to be held Oct. 22
For 24 hours on Oct. 22, youth around the world will stand where they are and bear testimony of Jesus Christ.
Elder Quentin L. Cook and Sister Mary Cook walk next to the River Ribble in England.
Leaders & Ministry
Today is Elder Cook’s 83rd birthday. Here are 9 of his quotes from the past year
Born Sept. 8, 1940, Elder Quentin L. Cook has served as an Apostle since October 2007.
Reagan Yamauchi, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is serving as Miss Idaho 2023.
Members
Why Miss Idaho Reagan Yamauchi seeks to represent the gospel of Jesus Christ
“It’s OK to be different and it’s OK to stand up for what you believe in,” says Reagan Yamauchi, a member of the Church.
Elder Quentin L. Cook and Sister Mary G. Cook walk near the Notre Dame Golden Dome during the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Leaders & Ministry
Worldwide Young Adult Devotional rescheduled for Nov. 19
Elder Quentin L. Cook and his wife, Sister Mary Cook, will address young adults ages 18-30, married or single.
An emergency supply kit with non-perishable food, water, batteries, flashlights and other items.
Members
Principles of preparedness from financial planning to family communication to food storage
The Church has many resources to guide individuals and families in planning ahead before a disaster strikes.
Sister missionaries haul branches from a fallen tree in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia in Fanning Springs, Florida.
Members
Thousands of volunteers help in 1st weekend of Hurricane Idalia cleanup
“The members here in the South know that hurricane response is part of what we do,” said Elder M. Andrew Galt, an Area Seventy in Florida.
Members of the Church in Benguela, Angola, with baptismal candidates by the Atlantic Ocean.
Global
‘God has a plan for Angola:’ Gospel quickly spreading throughout African nation
The country’s first chapel is on the way, the stake may soon split and more members are receiving temple blessings.
Laura Fajardo-Riascos shows a paper model of a temple in the September 2023 Friend to Friend broadcast.
Members
Friend to Friend teaches about the blessings that come from making and keeping covenants
Children are invited to recognize how they are “a child of the covenant.”
Debris from homes swept off their lots chokes a canal amid homes on stilts which remain standing, in Horseshoe Beach, Florida.
Members
Church members ready to help cleanup after Hurricane Idalia in Florida
Missionaries are safe but several Church buildings have damage from the storm.
A youth volunteer helps a Somali refugee woman practice her English skills.
Living Faith
Church efforts in Arizona help migrants, refugees from around the world
“We’ve got some amazing people here that want to give so much.”
Aerial view of Lahaina, Hawaii, shows burned shells of homes, cars and trees covered in ash.
Living Faith
‘A time of profound unity’ as Hawaii Saints navigate next phase of recovery after wildfires
Latter-day Saints and their friends on the island of Maui have felt support, strength and prayers from around the world after the deadly wildfires.
Gambia’s first lady and Elder S. Gifford Nielsen cut the ribbon of a new water borehole in Kubariko, Gambia.
Global
Church opens 18 new water boreholes in Gambia, leaders meet with country’s president and first lady
New boreholes from the Church will help villages access water in the country of Gambia in West Africa.
Volunteers from the Kumasi Ghana Konongo Stake clean a local market in Ghana.
Global
All-Africa Service Project brings blessings to communities, participants
Thousands of volunteers from 130 stakes in Africa West Area did service in nine countries.
Representatives from the Barzani Charity Foundation visit the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
Global
Kurdistan group visits Church headquarters, recognizes Church efforts in Middle East
The Church works with the Barzani Charity Foundation to improve lives in the Kurdistan region of Iraq
President Russell M. Nelson enters the Conference Center in Salt Lake City in April 2023
Leaders & Ministry
A talk a day: Preparing for October 2023 general conference
October 2023 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be held Saturday, Sept. 30, and Sunday, Oct. 1
Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman and Young Men General President Steven J. Lund speak in the Marriott Center.
Leaders & Ministry
Young Men and Young Women general presidencies share how to strengthen ‘Zion’s youth in latter days’
At BYU Education week, President Steven J. Lund and President Emily Belle Freeman and their counselors shared how to bring youth closer to Christ and let them lead in gathering Israel.
Leadership of the new Trenton Branch (Tongan-speaking) in their building in northwest Missouri.
Members
1st Tongan branch created in Missouri
“Now I realize why I am here,” says new branch president of Tongan-speaking branch in Trenton, Missouri.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell and Hawaii Governor Josh Green visit the Kahului Hawaii Stake Center shelter for Maui fire victims.
Living Faith
‘We have the people ready and willing to help’: Church provides temporal relief to Maui after wildfires
The Church announces $1 million donation to American Red Cross