Introduction:
Faces of Friendship

You’ve probably had regular eye exams since you first started school. But we know one man who didn’t discover he needed glasses—and in a big way—until he was in the fourth grade. “When I wore my new glasses as I walked down the hall at school, I was amazed,” he says. “For the first time I could see the individual faces of my friends, instead of just a big blur.”

Good friends are so important in our lives. They share our laughter and sorrow. We spend fun times with them. They make us want to be better people. But sometimes we are like the boy with bad eyesight—failing to see clearly who our friends are, not always realizing just how many friends we have, and maybe not seeing those who need and deserve our friendship.

So let this special issue of the New Era open your eyes to the many faces of friendship. You’ll see more clearly the sacred friendship offered by your Savior. You’ll discover how to be your own best friend. You’ll observe that good friends are all around you, including some you haven’t recognized as friends before. And your vision of your own worth and your value in the lives of others will come into sharper focus.

Photography by Welden Andersen. Posed by models.