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Sunday, May 13, 2018

A Mother's Day Tribute

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to take this opportunity to post a Mother's Day tribute. The Lord has repeatedly emphasized the high importance of women. There is a reason that the last of the Lord's creations at the beginning of this world was a woman. This was His crowning achievement in that process, and it is my opinion that He saved the best for last because He knew we would all need the influence of righteous women.

The scriptures and numerous talks in General Conference have contained numerous accounts of the influence of righteous women through all dispensations of the world. We read in the Book of Mormon of the sons of Ammon, who volunteered to help defend the Nephite lands, since their fathers had promised never to use their weapons of war. The sons of Ammon had the courage to fight because they had been taught by their mothers that God would deliver them, and "[they did] not doubt [their] mothers knew it."

The influence of righteous women cannot be overstated. President Gordon B. Hinckley gave this address six months after his wife passed away, which focused on a tribute to the women in our lives. In my own life, I have been blessed to be influenced by so many wonderful women.

Among those women, just to name a few, are my mother (who, as I have noted previously, raised my siblings and me to be who we now are, and who took special care of me as a result of my health issues) to my mother-in-law (whom I have yet to meet, but to whom goes most of the credit for the way all of her children, especially my sweet wife Amy, have turned out) to sisters and sisters-in-law who have also sacrificed much for their families, to the women I have worked with through Church callings and in my missionary and temple service, and to all other women that have, in their own ways, influenced me at various points in my life.

Church leaders have repeatedly emphasized that the influence of a righteous and good woman on those with whom she comes in contact cannot be overstated. The women in each of our lives freely put aside their own wants, hopes, dreams, and desires in favor of giving all they can to the betterment of those within the scope of their influence.

The Lord, through scripture and the words of His Church leaders, has not only emphasized how important women are, but has also warned us as men about what will happen if we mistreat the women in our lives, or if we knowingly make them unhappy. As I noted at the beginning of this post, the fact that the Lord's final creation was a woman should be a clear indicator of the importance of such women in our lives.

It is my prayer that all of us, especially the men, will recognize the truth of these things, and treat the women in our lives accordingly. The crowning creation of the Lord should rightly be honored and revered, on this Mother's Day and always. That it may be so for all of us is my paryer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone Passes Away at Age 87

Hello again, everyone! Less than an hour ago, the Church News reported that Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, an emeritus General Authority, passed away earlier today at the age of 87. For those not aware of who he is, he had served in the Presiding Bishopric for four years (1972-1976), and then served as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy for 25 years (1976-2001), and he was granted emeritus status in October 2001.

During his time in the First Quorum of the Seventy, among other assignments, he served for five years as the Young Men General President. He also had experiences serving as a mission president and temple president. During his tenure as a mission president, one of the missionaries who served under him was our current Young Men General President Stephen W. Owen.

The Church News shared this tribute to his life. During his almost 30-year ministry as a general authority, he served in variety of important assignments, and he had 18 opportunities to give addresses during General Conference. You can review any of those addresses (which covered a variety of subjects), here.

Funeral arrangements are pending. I will keep you posted with more details on this as I receive them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Church News Report on LDS Teens Trekking to the Jordan River Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! The Church News shared this report earlier today, which highlights how the youth of the Jordan River Utah Temple District trekked from their local chapels or stake centers to the Jordan River Utah Temple. This was done to allow all youth to prepare for the rededication of that temple, which is set to occur one week from tomorrow.

The article notes that, for those organizing the events around the rededication, the difficulty was in determining how to enable all youth to participate. Participation in the cultural celebration was restricted to a certain number of youth from every stake in the district, so this walk was one of many ways in which leaders determined that all youth could feel as if they are participating in some way in the rededication events.

I will be carrying full coverage of the rededicatory events on this blog next weekend. In the meantime, it is worth reiterating a few points. First, as I have noted previously, this rededication will mark perhaps the last time that a cultural celebration will be held the night before a temple is dedicated or rededicated.

Although nothing official has been announced to indicate that cultural celebrations are being discontinued for such events, for the recently announced dedications of the Concepcion Chile, Barranquilla Colombia, and Rome Italy Temples, a youth devotional is set to be held during the time that has traditionally been reserved for those celebrations.

Additionally, since this is the first major temple event that will be held during President Nelson's prophetic administration, I am anticipating that he will be presiding over at least one or two of the three sessions. And since this is a temple in the Salt Lake Valley, I would anticipate that several Church leaders will be in attendance over the course of the three sessions.

I continue to monitor all temple news and developments and will pass those along to you all as I receive word of them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Vandal Strikes the St. George Utah Temple, Suspending Operations for a Few Hours

Hello again, everyone! The Church News has passed along this article, which details how, in the early hours of this morning, a vandal struck the St. George Utah Temple. The damage appears to be relatively minor, and normal operations resumed after a few hours. But the most interesting thing is that some of the temple workers were able to keep him there until police arrived without using much physical force or restraint.

While it is sad to hear of the vandalism occurring, I am grateful that those temple workers who were on duty at the time handled this situation so well. The article cites passages of the dedicatory and rededicatory prayers given for that temple, particularly those that are indirectly related to this incident. Just wanted to pass that along.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Additional Church News Reported: Part Two--Other Significant Church News

Hello again, everyone! I am back as promised, with the second half of the update I started with my last post. Having shared the updates on the ministry of our apostles, we now turn to the other major stories from the Church News and from Mormon Newsroom. Let's get going on all of that.

LDS Charities, the humanitarian arm of the Church, has recently evaluated the refugee situation in Rome Italy, and this report highlights those needs, what is being done about them, and more about the continued assistance needed for the situation as well.

The Church News has also shared this text and video summary of President Nelson's worldwide ministry tour by the numbers. For all female members of the Church and friends of other faiths who feel inferior in any way about the fact that they are "just a mom", the Church News shared this article with a video and text that demonstrates mothers are so much more than that.

Next, those of us who were alive prior to July 2004 no doubt remember Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as an apostle and a wonderful wordsmith. He had a way of combining phrases that left all within the sound of his voice with an indelible impression. The Church News shared this look back at one such address which was given prior to his call as an apostle.

And from Mormon Newsroom, we have this report of an additional statement released by the First Presidency about Utah's marijuana initiative that may be on the ballot. I gather from reading it that many people raised objections about the Church objecting to the initiative, citing the argument that the Brethren are not qualified to voice an opinion on that, since few (if any) of them have worked with doctors who see the measure as important.

To quell those concerns, the Church reached out to a well-respected law firm for their input on that subject, and the result was that the law firm in question cited more specific reasons from a legal standpoint why the measure in its' current form is problematic. Their analysis in response to that request is featured with the release above.

In all honesty, I don't see why anyone takes issue with the Brethren weighing in on such matters. As I have stated before, when the Church feels a need or receives a request to comment on such subjects, official statements on the matter are only released after all the impacts of such measures have been studied, which has included, where needed, consultation with outside experts on those subjects.

And to me, this suggests a lack of understanding on that process from those who raise such objections. It is true that there are some issues that may be outside of the knowledge the Brethren have gained through their experiences. But in such cases, the potential impact of those issues on all people is considered, which often involves outside consultation with those who see a legal, ethical, or moral reason that will justify the Church needing to comment.

If those we sustain as such are truly prophets, seers, and revelators, and I testify that that is the case, then when the Brethren issue statements on such issues, it behooves us as members to give heed to whatever counsel they give. For me, that means that, as a Utah citizen, if this issue makes it to our ballot in November, it is my duty to vote no on that measure.

It has been said by some that when the Lord (and by extension, those He has called to be prophets, seers, and revelators) speaks, the debate should be over. All of us will surely be held accountable before the Lord for any failure on our part to respond to such counsel when it is given. I hope that all of us will remember that.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Additional content posted at 7:40 PM:  Not long after I published this post, the Church News released this article sharing content posted on Facebook by several Church leaders. Particularly intriguing to me was the fact that the article passed along summaries of recent posts by Elders Gong and Soares.

Apparently, those posts marked the first time these leaders have added content to Facebook since responding publicly on that site to their apostolic calls. There were also posts from other apostles and general Church leaders regarding their ongoing worldwide ministry efforts. This latest article, like all of the others in this post and the previous one, are well worthy of your attention, and I can without hesitation give my endorsement to them. I continue to monitor all Church news, including temple developments, and will do my best to keep bringing you all word of those as I become aware of them. Thanks agian.

Additional Church News Reported: Part One--Updates on the Ministry of Our Apostles

Hello again, everyone! Between the Church News website and Mormon Newsroom, several additional Church news stories have recently been published. This post will share some links to and thoughts about those articles.

I had intended to cover all of the noteworthy stories in this post, but the coverage of the updates on the ministry of our apostles wound up being so extensive, I will be focusing solely on that subject in this post, and then focus on other stories in a second post which will be published not long after this one. Let's get right into it all.

We start first with a look at updates on the ministry of our apostles. President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, recently returned from a visit to Canada. He served as a mission president there years ago, and his travels as an apostle have involved several stops in Canada. The Church News has shared this report on how his many experiences in Canada have impacted the lives of all Canadian citizens, including many who are not members of the Church.

In the meantime, Elder Ronald A. Rasband recently visited Saints in the Europe Area. His time there included two visits to European islands that have not previously been visited by an apostle of the Church. The Church News shared highlights of his ministry there. This was another homecoming of sorts for Elder Rasband, who had served as a member of the Church's Europe Area presidency

And Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who had served in the Europe East Area presidency some years prior to his call to the apostleship, returned to that area. He specifically spent some time in Russia, returning to the nation in which he had spent time during his professional career. While there, he talked to the members of the Church about the temple that has been announced for Russia.

Among other things, he noted that, while that temple announcement is wonderful, due to the political situation in that nation, it will likely take some time before the Church is successful in obtaining approvals, purchasing land, and designing the temple, which may also mean it may be some time before construction begins, and even more before it is finished and dedicated.

Although his time in Russia coincided with the dates of President Nelson's European tour, Elder Uchtdorf indicated that he had not been able to read about what the prophet said during those stops. With that in mind, it is amazing to me that Elder Uchtdorf's counsel to the Saints in Russia about the temple that will be built there echoed the instruction President Nelson gave in several of the stops he made where temples have been announced. You can read more about Elder Uchtdorf's time in Eastern Europe in this article.

Next, many of you may know that Elder Quentin L. Cook has been asked to speak at a Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults that is set to be held on September 9 of this year (which will be the day after his 78th birthday, and the same day that President Nelson will be 94). While plans for that devotional have remained unchanged, the Church News has reported that the event will be broadcast from Nauvoo, and that a Face-to-Face event for Young Adults will be held during that same weekend, and will feature Elder Cook and two Church historians taking questions.

The Church News also sent out a request for comments from readers about what they have learned from the nearly 4 months of President Nelson's administration. The answers to that question have been published here.

It is awesome to see our apostles traveling so extensively, and to have seen more information published about their ministries. One thing I did want to mention: It often happens that multiple apostles are away from Church headquarters at the same time. When that happens, the most senior apostle who remains in Salt Lake has taken the lead of any meetings held in the absence of those more senior to him.

I haven't double-checked the dates, but there may have been some overlap of the time when Presidents Nelson and Ballard and Elders Holland and Uchtdorf were on the assignments noted. If it happened to be the case that these assignments took these men away from headquarters around the time when a Thursday meeting had been held for the apostles, that would mean Elder Bednar took the lead of the weekly meeting during that time.

It seems that the First Presidency is giving the senior apostles, particularly those who might potentially lead the Church one day, the chance to experience more of a role in the day-to-day operations of the Church. And that is good to see.

I continue to monitor all developments relating to the ministry of the apostles, and am committed to bringing those developments to you all as I receive them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post (which should, as noted above, come in the next few minutes to cover other important news items from the Church), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Church Announces Additional New Temple Presidents

Hello again, everyone! The Church News noted earlier today that several more new temple presidents have been called. I have revised my list accordingly, and the revisions follow below. I should also note a couple of other things as well.

First, I had a feeling I needed to check the list again, and in doing so, I found some duplication (primarily in the fact that I had forgotten to remove a few temples for which new presidents have been announced from the section of the list which highlights those temples that may get a new president.

Second, among those that have been called are several current area seventies. In addition, the older brother of General Authority Seventy Elder Donald L. Hallstrom has been called as president of one of the temples in Hawaii.

With that said, the updated list follows below. Again, so as not to disturb the flow of that list, I will end now as I always do. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.


New presidents have been called for the following temples:
1.      Manaus Brazil
2.      Boise Idaho
3.      Denver Colorado
4.      The Hague Netherlands
5.      Oquirrh Mountain Utah
6.      Helsinki Finland
7.      The Gila Valley Arizona
8.      Brigham City Utah
9.      Stockholm Sweden
10.  Palmyra New York
11.  Accra Ghana
12.  Papeete Tahiti
13.  Sao Paulo Brazil
14.  San Jose Costa Rica
15.  Albuquerque New Mexico
16.  Provo City Center
17.  Recife Brazil
18.  Cardston Alberta
19.  Payson Utah
20.  Porto Alegre Brazil
21.  Brisbane Australia
22.  Kansas City Missouri
23.  Oaxaca Mexico
24.  Regina Saskatchewan
25.  Cebu City Philippines
26.  Boston Massachusetts
27.  Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico
28.  Billings Montana
29.  Houston Texas
30.  Sydney Australia
31.  Guatemala City Guatemala
32.  Hermosillo Sonora Mexico
33.  Montevideo Uruguay
34.  Indianapolis Indiana
35.  Laie Hawaii Temple (the new president of this temple is the older brother of General Authority Seventy Elder Donald L. Hallstrom)
36.  Las Vegas Nevada
37.  Atlanta Georgia
38.  Buenos Aires Argentina

The first presidents will likely be announced for the following new temples:
1.      Concepcion Chile
2.      Barranquilla Colombia
3.      Rome Italy
4.      Kinshasa DR Congo
5.      Fortaleza Brazil
6.      Port-au-Prince Haiti

New presidents may also be announced for the following temples:
1.      Bountiful Utah
2.      Cordoba Argentina
3.      Draper Utah
4.      Fukuoka Japan
5.      Manti Utah
6.      Monticello Utah
7.      Redlands California
8.      Sacramento California
9.      St. Louis Missouri
10.  Taipei Taiwan
11.  Tegucigalpa Honduras
12.  Tijuana Mexico
13.  Trujillo Peru
14.  Vancouver British Columbia
15.  Veracruz Mexico
16.  Villahermosa Mexico
17.  Washington D. C. Temple (Note: The Church may opt to wait on calling a new president for this temple until 2020 when it is rededicated)

Details Released Regarding the Renovation Plans for the Mesa Arizona Temple

Hello again, everyone! Mormon Newsroom just published this release that provides more details on the renovation plans for the Mesa Arizona Temple. As most of you might be aware, the closure of that temple was announced roughly a year ago, and will be effective on May 20 (the same day on which the rededication of the Jordan River Utah Temple will occur). As some of you may also know, there was supposed to be a meeting held for citizens concerned about those plans. While I have not yet learned whether that meeting has taken place, the fact that these details have been announced via a Mormon Newsroom released indicates to me that all potential obstacles have been dealt with.

I continue to monitor all temple news and developments and will do my best to pass those along to you as I receive them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Article Published for New General Authority Seventy Elder Mathias Held

Hello again, everyone! With the need to focus on other topics in blog posts published yesterday (namely the discontinuation of the Church's involvement with the BSA, the new activity program, and the LDS Church Temples website issues), I had to hold off on reporting other developments until now.

But I am pleased to be able to pass along to you all now this article about new General Authority Seventy Elder Mathias Held. My biggest take-away from reading that was amazement about the number of nations in which he and his family have resided. It is easy to see why he was called, as he will have a unique understanding of the issues faced by Church members in several nations.

While not directly related to that article, I did want to mention one other thing as well: The Church has been very good about putting new General Authority Seventies right to work. This has been particularly true in recent years, when at least half of the newly called leaders have been given major assignments not long after they are sustained, whether those assignments are to serve in an area presidency, or to take on other responsibilities at Church headquarters.

As I have also noted previously, since President Nelson became the president of the Church, we have seen a long list of examples demonstrating that he and his presidency want the Church to be more transparent. Among the ways that is occurring have been the facts that major news has been reported on Mormon Newsroom on a more significant scale than we have previously seen, and that more information has been released regarding the ministry of all leaders.

The Church website is also currently in the process of updating the biographies of all general authorities with their latest assignments, which have traditionally been given each year sometime after the April General Conference. So we will likely know more within the next couple of months about what has changed in that regard.

I will do my best to keep you all posted on developments in that regard as I become aware of them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

BREAKING NEWS: Church Will Terminate Relationship with the BSA by 2020; New Program for Youth and Children to Be Implemented

Hello again, everyone! Breaking news tonight from the LDS Church. In a joint statement from the BSA and the LDS Church, an announcement has been made that the Church will be terminating all involvement with the BSA by the end of 2019. This comes as a follow-up to the previously announced news that the Church would be evaluating the needs of children and youth and make any changes or adaptations that might be needed to general and specific activities for those 8-18 years old.

Mormon Newsroom also published this release highlighting what is currently known about the new program for those of that age range, saying that more details would be forthcoming. Mormon Newsroom has also provided these answers to frequently asked questions about the extent of  those changes and how they will be implemented.

Here yet again we have clear evidence that modern revelation is occurring, and that the Brethren have evaluated how to streamline and unify the guidelines for activity programs for children and youth all over the world, fulfilling a promise made last year that they would be doing so.

I look forward to finding out more about this monumental change, and I will bring you word of any new information as I learn of it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.