While those within Affirmation Venezuela celebrate friendship every day as an invaluable gift from our Heavenly Father, we recognize that this was a unique opportunity to celebrate this transcendent gift, as friendship is the salt of life.

As we open Black History Month – celebrated in several countries, including the United States – we mourn the death of another of our Black siblings, Tyre Nichols, at the hands of state violence. We hold our siblings of color in our hearts, minds, and arms right now, especially those in our intersectional community of Affirmation.

A recent training and devotional hosted by the Surrey Stake in British Columbia, Canada, featuring Ben Schilaty and Charlie Bird, garnered some addition, some even calling it historic. Similar meetings have been happening in various stakes of the Church for quite some time, as leaders and members of the Church seek to better understand, love, and minister to LGBTQIA+ Latter-day Saints.

We recognize that LGBTQ+ people are targets of hate worldwide as they seek to proclaim their most authentic version of themselves. We condemn these actions and call on leaders, parents, allies, and queer folks to join us as we defend and uphold the fundamental human rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, especially equal treatment in health care.

Snelling takes you on his over-six-decade journey of self-discovery, faith, sacrifice, loss, and affirmation, blending his memory with excerpts from letters, church talks, and other materials. Dean lives a double life, where, on the surface, he is a beloved teacher, family man, and worthy priesthood holder serving in various callings. However, below that surface is a man desperately struggling to hold it all together, seeking satisfaction in dark places and not understanding why this struggle was not being taken from him.