Here are three ways to prep for conference: 1. Read Truman Madsen’s classic talk and see six First Vision depictions by artists with ties to BYU; 2. Listen to the podcast “Memory and the First Vision” with Church history and doctrine professor Steven C. Harper; and 3. Check out the BYU Speeches page with a treasury of talks on Joseph Smith the Prophet.

Read how campus went quiet, yet BYU continued on, in the first weeks of the current pandemic in this early look at a BYU Magazine spring feature. Also: while the effects of COVID-19 on campus may feel unprecedented, canceling classes, social events, and sports all happened before—just over a century ago, as BYU faced a post-WWI flu pandemic. Back to 2020: keep tabs on BYU’s latest updates on grades, spring term, food service, building closures, and confirmed BYU COVID-19 cases at byu.edu/coronavirus.

BYU psychology professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad is a world-renowned expert on the loneliness epidemic that has been building for the last several years. Here she addresses how social connections and relationships impact health. Spoiler: social isolation can have dramatic consequences (increasing the risk of premature mortality by 26 percent), but perceptions of social support can increase the odds of survival by 35 percent.

Watch how BYU is putting its 3D printers to work during the COVID-19 pandemic by printing protective masks for first responders. One BYU employee behind the operation, Therin Garrett (above), also happens to be a volunteer firefighter and EMT.

“The fact that I was forced to turn to God for help almost daily over an extended period of years taught me truly how to pray and get answers to prayer and taught me in a very practical way to have faith in God.” Watch this animated excerpt or the complete devotional from Elder D. Todd Christofferson.

Former Cougar player and coach Reno Mahe’s ohana (above) threw down the dance challenge. Not long after came rhythmic responses from BYU football coach Kalani Sitake (with three kids), wide receivers coach Fesi Sitake (with his wife and young kids), and the Detmers (with a too-brief Ty fly-by).

For millennia the Chinese held the secret to creating one of the most valuable fabrics in history: silk—at one point worth more than its weight in gold. In the latest in the Thing of Beauty series, family and consumer-sciences professor Dawna Baugh shares why the fabric, with a 5,000-year history that is loaded with mystery, is beautiful.

Finally, we get the answer to the most-asked question at BYU’s Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum: “Where are the beans?” Take a minute to read clever April Fools’ Day posts on Instagram or Facebook and add some virtual museum events to your home-based activities.

In this interview, recorded before plans fell through for her two shows at BYU, Marie Osmond spoke with the Deseret News about Kobe Bryant, her days at BYU, and the 50th anniversary of the Young Ambassadors.

After finding no students at a local school, Cosmo joins an online classroom meeting. Looks like our beloved mascot is now staying home, doing his part to physically distance from others and flatten the curve.