Church News Update

Hello again, everyone! After taking a couple of days to get some personal challenges handled, I wanted to post again now to pass along some Church News stories which have touched and impacted me. So let's get right into that.

First of all, continuing the series of articles on the new Church leadership announced almost a month ago, the Church News published this one to familiarize all of us with President M. Russell Ballard, who has been Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for just under a month now, and who, as noted late last week, will preside at the first temple-related event of President Nelson's administration (the private rededication of the Houston Texas Temple on Sunday April 22).

President Ballard, as some of you may know, was the final apostle called during President Spencer W. Kimball's prophetic administration, and his call came a year and a half after that of Presidents Nelson and Oaks (although, as noted, President Oaks had to wait just under a month to be ordained an apostle in view of his judicial obligations.)

It is interesting to me that the three most senior apostles all hold the title of "President" now, which we have not seen since late 2007, when Presidents Hinckley, Monson, and Packer filled identical roles as the three senior apostles now. In that previous case, the ordinations of the three were far more separated than those of Presidents Nelson, Oaks and Ballard. But since these newest three "senior apostles" have served side-by-side for so long, they are not only well-known to the Church, but will continue to work together to move it forward in their new roles and responsibilities.

That said, we now move on to the next bit of news. Some of you may be familiar with Jon M. Huntsman and his family, who are well-known in the Church in general and here in Utah in particular. He was a billionaire who more importantly had the heart of and acted foremost as a philanthropist. Amidst founding other organizations (including Huntsman Chemical Corporation, for which Elder Rasband worked professionally prior to his call to full-time Church service), he is perhaps best known for founding the Huntsman Cancer Institute, which he did with a view to eradicating cancer.

Though I had no idea it would be so at the time, the founding of that Cancer Institute wound up impacting me in a couple of ways. First, as I have previously noted, my pediatric neurosurgeon referred me to the neurologist I currently see, who also works for the University of Utah and for the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Second, if my memory serves me correctly, when a dear family friend was diagnosed with the cancer that eventually took her life, she spent some of her final days at the Huntsman Institute, where they ensured she was comfortable and well cared for.

So I found it more than fitting that when Jon M. Huntsman, who has the longest recorded tenure as an Area Seventy for the Church, passed away, his funeral was naturally attended by many Church leaders.

In addition to tributes from all but 2 of his children (one of whom preceded him in death and the other of whom is serving as a mission president), there were also addresses given by Presidents Nelson and Ballard.

Elders Uchtdorf and Rasband, at the family's request, gave the invocation and benediction respectively. The interesting thing to me about Brother Huntsman is that he married the daughter of Elder David B. Haight, and one of his daughters married a son of President Ballard.

So Brother Huntsman is well connected to the top leadership of the Church, and that was reflected in the fact that Elder Stevenson was also in attendance, in addition to many other general and auxiliary leaders.You can find more information on this noble servant of the Lord with a heart for humanity in this article.

Moving on to news stories that I hope to get through more quickly, this article covers auxiliary leaders who were invited to address women of various faiths in Wales, and this one describes how a Mormon Helping Hands Center was set up in Pyeongchang South Korea for use by athletes and people of all faiths who need it during the Olympics (which will likely be repurposed after the Olympics), this one shares enrollment numbers at BYU-Idaho which indicate that men outnumber women there, this one which focuses on new mission presidents called to serve in Nigeria and in my current city of residence, Orem Utah, and this one covering the Church's yearly musical production which pays tribute to the cultures and family histories of those born in Latin America.

And, rounding out this Church news update are this article, in which the Young Men General Presidency describes what led up to and what is hoped for in the recently-announced policy that priest-aged young men will now be able to baptize and serve as witnesses for baptisms for the dead, and this report of a guest lecture at BYU, wherein the presenter described ten simple ways in which Church leaders and members could create a sense of belonging for children and adults with disabilities.

In reference to that last article, I wanted to personally note (since I have dealt with lifelong disabilities) that I was blessed to grow up in wards where those disabilities were not seen as a reason to exclude me, and where inspired leaders instead regularly touched bases with both my parents and myself to determine how best to meet my needs, and how they could work around my situation. In short, these inspired leaders were following the principles mentioned by this guest lecturer long before they were being emphasized so strongly, and I am most grateful for that.

I apologize for the long post. There was a lot to cover. That does it for now. 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.