Church News Update: Part One--President and Sister Nelson Visit 3 Canadian Cities

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to post again right now to share some interesting and inspiring Church news which has been reported via the official Church website (lds.org), the official newsroom of the Church (which, for now, is still called Mormon Newsroom) and the LDS Church News (which has not yet been renamed yet either). We start with the Church News website, then will move on the other two resources. And if, on rare occasions, the stories are covered via more than one of those resources, I will note that.

We start right off the bat with one of those stories. This article shares some highlights of President Russell M. and Sister Wendy W. Nelson's recent visit to Canada. They were accompanied by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Kathy, and, for the final two meetings of the trip, by Elder Randall K. Bennett and his wife Shelley. Elder Bennett, as some of you may recall, is now serving as president of the North America Northeast Area.

The article referenced above mentions one of the members in attendance at one of those meetings, who was preparing to undergo heart surgery shortly after President Nelson became the Lord's prophet in January of this year. This member reported feeling uneasy about her upcoming procedure, until her research reminded her that the machine that would keep her alive during the procedure had been originally invented by then-Doctor Nelson during his days as a heart surgeon. This strengthened her faith in both the safety of the procedure she was about to undergo and her testimony that President Nelson is truly God's prophet on the earth today.

President Nelson joked that he could be making several Canadian trips because his wife was born in that nation, but noted that he chose that area because those short trips could be easily planned by his staff while he worked on pressing matters relating to the Church and the upcoming General Conference in October. Interestingly, Elder Bennett also grew up in Canada and recalls listening to Church leaders on the radio as he grew up.

The Nelson's trip also coincided with several youth conferences, so the youth in attendance at those devotionals were able to cap off their participation by attending the devotionals President Nelson held. A common theme of the devotionals was following the prophet, with most offering their personal witness of President Nelson's prophetic call. Elder Andersen's remarks expanded on that subject as he shared further insights into his experience meeting with the other apostles and feeling the confirmation that President Nelson was meant to serve as the Lord's prophet at this time.

Sister Nelson, meanwhile, reiterated how much more frequently President Nelson receives revelation since his new assignment began, and spoke particularly of how she received quiet assurance that his new role was directed by the Lord, with that confirmation coming two days before President Monson's passing, when most of the top Church leadership knew that prospect was imminent. Presdient Nelson focused his remarks on the need Saints in Winnipeg had to be prepared for the temple that is currently under construction in that city.

In the meantime, his remarks in Montreal and Hamilton focused, as previously noted, on the circumstances surrounding the release of the statement he made about the importance of using the Church's correct name. His remarks also focused on the "10 things [he] knows for sure" and, in speaking to children, emphasizing the fact that we are all children of God. He spoke in a couple of locations about the gathering of Israel as well, in addition to touching on the subject of diversity in the Church, and particularly the diversity of the Saints in Canada.

You can find out more about the highlights of teachings shared by President Nelson during this trip in this article (which focuses on his addresses given in Eastern and Central Canada) and this article (which contains a summary of his comments about his statement related to the name of the Church.

I had hoped to cover more Church news than just one story in this post, but will have to split the original content into at least one other post, which I will have published here later today. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.