Next we're spotlighting Professor Mark Ellison! What he enjoys most about being a professor is seeing students' faces light up with excitement as they make meaningful discoveries about the scriptures and religious history. Also, wonderful colleagues who are good friends and stellar examples of disciple-scholars. The first of his publications that he is most pleased about is Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, which is gorgeously designed and illustrated, written by contributors who are content experts, and peer reviewed by non-Latter-day Saint scholars to ensure historical and methodological accuracy. The second is his forthcoming book, The Visual Rhetoric of the Married Laity in Late Antiquity: Iconography, the Christianization of Marriage, and Alternatives to the Ascetic Ideal. In it he examines 3rd and 4th century artifacts containing portraits of married lay Christians—sarcophagus reliefs, catacomb paintings, gold glass medallions, finger rings, jewelry and gems, and other personal items. His study is the first to undertake a sustained examination of the physical artifacts these married lay Christians made, purchased, and used as vehicles for self-representation. Their voices (expressed in visual forms) give us a fuller picture of early Christian social history and the development of a Christian conceptualization of marriage. A fun fact you might not know about Professor Ellison is that he's run a bunch of marathons and several ultra marathons, including the Katcina Mosa 100K Mountain Run. His ultra running days are probably behind him now, but he still loves going out on Saturdays for a good 10-miler in Provo Canyon.

"The beehive symbol is found in many of our temples. All of this symbolism attests to one fact: great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands "anxiously engaged in a good cause." —President M. Russell Ballard

"Service is the source of our self-esteem. It is also the source of satisfaction and a source of healing." —Michael O. Leavitt

"My patriarchal blessing helped me understand my true eternal identity—who I really was and who I could become." —Elder Randall K. Bennett

"The Lord loves you. He always has." —President Henry B. Eyring

"Everyone's spiritual timeline is different." —Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita

"As disciples of Jesus Christ we are to be examples of how to interact with others especially when we have differences of opinion." —President Russell M. Nelson

This week we're spotlighting Professor Jared Ludlow! His favorite things about teaching are interacting with students and learning new things. Some of the most rewarding experiences he's had has been teaching at the BYU Jerusalem Center and getting to develop longtime friendships with students. A fun fact about Professor Ludlow is that he won a high school lip sync contest!

"Make Christ the center of your lives in all that you do." —Elder David A. Bednar

"Never give up an opportunity to testify of Christ." —Bonnie H. Cordon

"God continually creates us and forms us in His image throughout our lives." —Daniel Becerra Check out the latest episode of Y Religion! You can find the latest episode and all past episodes at this link: https://rsc.byu.edu/media/y-religion

"The God of heaven and earth will help us overcome discouragement and whatever obstacles we encounter if we look to Him, follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and keep going with faith." —Elder Carl B. Cook