Is there a connection between diet and health? The Word of Wisdom says there is. As a people with a health code, we should be robust and healthy. Our mothers should have plenty of energy, and should be without depression and anxiety. Our children should be free of learning disabilities and behavior problems. At missionary age they should be disease- and medication-free, and in great physical shape.

A baby's body is built of nutrients his mother provides. Teeth, for instance, are formed in the early years and must last a lifetime. So, too, with the unseen organs; their ability to do their jobs rests on the care with which the mother first builds them and with which they are nourished over the years, as well as the genetic legacy passed down from previous generations.

The raising of the bar on missionary health may help parents realize their important role in the body-construction business. What the parents, especially the mother, does for her child in the womb and in the early years will effect that child's ability to learn and his ability to serve a mission. Some missionaries whose spiritual bodies are well prepared will be denied the missionary opportunity because their physical bodies are not prepared.

In recent years, there has been a quiet but steady movement of Saints who are feeling prompted to take the Word of Wisdom more seriously. If you are among them, here is some information that will help you: