Hello, all! I am posting today with an update on Church News that has come to my attention within the last 3 hours or so. Let's dive right in to the latest news.
First, the Church News has reported the deaths of seven members of the Church in a mud slide. There were 330 people total who died in that mudslide, so Latter-day Saints only constituted 2% of all casualties. Church representatives further noted that all missionaries serving in that nation are safe and accounted for, and that no Church buildings were impacted by that mudslide. 3,000 people were displaced, while almost six hundred people were reported missing. It is unclear whether or not any of those 600 or so were Church members, nor is it known if those people are still alive and lost somewhere.. In the meantime, I don't know how or if this natural disaster will impact any plans that might be under consideration for a possible temple in Sierra Leone. You can find the full report of this news here.
The Church also released today a copy of the dedicatory prayer offered by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf for the Tucson Arizona Temple. You can read the text of that prayer here.
Members and missionaries in Ghana are celebrating the opening of the MTC in that city. For a full report on that, click here.
This year marks 50 years since BYU professor and Book of Mormon scholar John Welch, while serving his mission, discovered chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Chiasmus, for those not aware with the concept, is the way a sentence is put together for it to build from beginning to middle, then to repeat the same ideas in reverse order until the end of that sentence. Other religious texts (the Bible included) feature some form of this concept, so it is not new to most religions. But Brother Welch was the first person to actually notice this concept in the Book of Mormon, which is part of what likely influenced his career path.
The Church News wrote an article about this which I read earlier today, but cannot find anywhere now, but it was also covered here, in an article about how Elder Holland spoke at the BYU annual chiasmus conference. Because John W. Welch wrote about this discovery in an Ensign several years before I was born, I somehow never came across that article when perusing old Church magazines in my parents' basement. But this is a most intriguing concept, and I hope it will enhance my study of the Book of Mormon going forward..
Aside from these new items, I am not aware of any other news from any Church website I regularly visit.. So for now, thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Church News Update
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.
2 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.
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Please continue to pray for all the people of Sierra Leone. And please pray for their families and friends and all members of the church and non members of the church in that country.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you covered everyone in that comment, Chris. Thanks. It is vitally important that we do keep such people in our prayers. What is interesting to me is that the Lord promised long ago he would never send a natural disaster that destroys everyone here on earth, but that does not mean that there are not large-scale natural disasters in various parts of the world. One of my greatest joys between 2006 and 2008 was to serve as a Welfare Services Missionary, working with the Humanitarian program of the Church in my local area. During that time, I saw so many people coming to help our efforts in the wake of natural disasters. It warmed and touched my heart. Therefore, if I may be allowed to do so, I would like to extend the scope of your comment to any who are in a position to help with such efforts to do so. For two years, I watched the members in that part of Utah County come to our Humanitarian Service Room and give of their time to help assemble kits that were then sent worldwide. The Church needs people who have that desire in their hearts to do so. I never once regretted my involvement with that work, and I'm sure anyone else who does so will feel likewise. So, in addition to praying, where you can, please get involved in that work. I have no doubt that the Church will need to send such kits to Sierra Leone in the wake of this disaster. What I don't know is how many Humanitarian Service Rooms there are in the US at this point. But the work of the Humanitarian program of the Church continues in various locations. They are out there. And they need helpers to assist them in what they do. To all who can, please get involved in such efforts. That would be my added plea in the wake of this disaster.
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