As I have mentioned before, 2017 is already shaping up to be a most historic year in terms of Church news, and we are only 4 days into this new year. In an announcement made on the Church's website just within the last several hours, the Church notified youth of a scheduled Face-to-Face event with President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
This event is historic for two reasons: it marks the very first such event to involve the participation of a member of the First Presidency. Also, more significant than that is the coincidence that before President Eyring began serving in the First Presidency 10 years ago in October (can it really have been that long? Crazy and wonderful to think about!), he and Elder Holland were seatmates in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, with Elder Holland being the more senior of the two.
Elder Holland was the only apostle called during President Howard W. Hunter's short tenure of less than 9 months. And President Eyring was the first apostle called by President Hinckley, who succeeded President Hunter. In responding to this assignment, these former apostolic seatmates focused on what they hoped the event would do in terms of inspiring the youth of the Church to live by the Mutual Theme for this year, which comes from James 1:5-6, the scripture that led Joseph Smith to have his First Vision.
Elder Holland also commented on how much he appreciated sharing this event with President Eyring and noted how much he (President Eyring) cares about and prays for the youth of the Church. This was very inspiring to read about. Click here for all the wonderful details.
Enjoy! Any comments are always welcome and appreciated.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Face-to-face event with President Eyring and Elder Holland
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
4 comments:
In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.
At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.
I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.
And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.
Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
With prisdent Eyring, all the youth in the church today have grown up with him and as a counselor in the frost presidency.
ReplyDeleteExcellent observation, Bryce. However, I was speaking particularly of how that has changed during my lifetime. I would certainly have been the last one to predict that the first apostle called by President Hinckley would be subsequently called by him 12 1/2 years later to succeed President Faust. I had personally believed that Elder Oaks or Elder Holland would be called. Not that I supported President Eyring's call any less, of course. I love nothing more than to be reminded that the Lord's plan for the leading councils of the Church is vastly different from what anyone else may expect or predict to happen. And I was absolutely elated when the First Presidency was reorganized following President Hinckley's death. I love rereading in President Monson's biography how he came to select the counselors he has had since 2008. It was observed that, even knowing how junior his choice for counselors were in terms of apostolic seniority, he felt he had enough seniority of his own to balance that out. I like that reasoning. And I would never fault him selecting those the Lord wanted in those positions. But you do make a fair point. I had not considered that. Today's youth have not grown up very much under a First Presidency that did not include President Eyring. Thanks for that reminder.
ReplyDeleteI am reading the biography semi-autobiography, of President Eyring. He is a fascinating man. I have always appreciated, and want to emulate two things (among others) about him. First, his ability to keep a daily writing of what he calls recognizing the hand of God in his or his family's lives every day. Second, his tender heart and empathy toward others as shown in his many talks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that comment. I have been trying more religiously (pun intended) to emulate the lives of all of these great men. I look up to them a lot, and I hope that this blog, such as it is, is one of many ways I can keep the world informed regarding the latest developments in their lives. I haven't personally read President Eyring's biography, but he has been one of my favorites for a while. I like the always tender tone of his messages, and I feel like I have learned much from his stellar example and teachings. Thanks again.
ReplyDelete