Hi all, here’s the best of the Mormon week that was. No General Conference commentary or historical perspective until next week!

FamilySearch has teamed up with GenealogyBank.org for a huge–seriously, huge–digitization project that was announced recently. When it’s completed, a billion records from 100 million US newpaper obituaries, from 1730 onward will be digitized and searchable online. They’re looking for tens of thousands of volunteers to help–could be you!

Heads up for a couple of upcoming conferences: the Post Mormon Moment (Media Studies) Conference in honor of Jan Shipps, and the 2015 Claremont Conference.

Take a look at this CNN editorial from this past week: Jill Strasburg writes about the world of a Mormon housewives. The piece was a lead off for CNN anchor Lisa Ling’s report on prescription drug abuse in Utah, airing tonight.

The LDS Church History Museum at Temple Square closes its doors tomorrow for extensive renovations that will take until fall of next year. Check out info on the incoming exhibit, “The Heavens Are Opened.”

News reports that Mormon have numerically surpassed Catholics in the Kingdom of Tonga, making Latter-day Saints the second-largest Christian denomination, behind Methodists.

Some Mormon historians have been involved over the past few years with the Conference on Faith and History, a group of Christian historians who gather once a year to wrestle with questions about reconciling and integrating faithful perspectives with sound historical scholarship. For any Latter-day Saints seeking similar inspiration, see a report on this year’s meeting.

Blair Hodges continues an excellent stream of content at the Maxwell Institute’s blog with a look at Eric Eliason and Tom Mould’s new edited volume on Mormon folklore studies from the University of Utah. See his book notes on Latter-Day Lore.

Remember Donny and Marie? Did you know that they went through a (brief) heavy-metal phase? True. See the linked article.

Finally, LDS bloggers at The Art of Manliness offer vital counsel and epic illustrations for “How to Gird Up Your Loins.” In case you were wondering.