In connection with Faith Matters, Wheatley Institute sponsored an event at the National Press Club earlier this month titled "The Peacemaker: Exploring the Legacy of President Russell M. Nelson." While acknowledging President Nelson's passing this past week, we reiterate the need and message to be peacemakers in a polarizing time.

Wheatley Institute sponsored a 2-day BYU conference focused on The Family: a Proclamation to the World in celebration of its 30th anniversary. Speakers included Wheatley Institute Family Initiative Director Jason Carroll and fellows Jenet Erickson, Shima Baradaran Baughman, Brian Willoughby, Loren Marks and Justin Collings.

I hope that these small steps for each of us individually, will move us forward to a different kind of politics, where we can live out our commitments across deep and genuine differences, and rediscover the common ground that makes so much of life possible, and sometimes even beautiful.

This year marks the tenth fielding of the American Family Survey, a collaborative effort between the Wheatley Institute and Center for the Study of Elections and Democrat at Brigham Young University and the Deseret News.

Distinguished Wheatley Fellow Shima Baughman was featured on the Faith Matters podcast, sharing both her current research on the positive impact of faith communities on criminal justice and the powerful story of what led to her passion for justice and mercy.

"It's not really necessarily about having high goals, it's not necessarily even about not meeting those high goals—it's about how I feel about myself when I don't meet those goals. If I'm imperfect at something, how do I feel about myself?"