Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom section on the official Church website recently released this article about President Nelson's visit to the Caribbean, which, as previously mentioned on this blog, took place yesterday and today. There were a few particular things I took away from that report, as follows:
1. President Nelson delivered the entirety of his remarks in Spanish. I had known about him learning Mandarin Chinese in response to a challenge from President Kimball, but he is apparently the first Church president who knows and utilizes two or more languages with fluency. I am feeling more and more lately that there is more truth than we might have realized in Elder Holland's assessment from the April General Conference, and I echo them. What a prophet indeed!
2. He talked a lot to the Saints about their ongoing efforts to recover from the aftermath of the hurricane that swept the Caribbean around one year ago, and he promised that more help was on the way from the Church, and invoked a blessing upon the Saints (particularly those in Puerto Rico) that they will continue to recover.
3. Some of the things he said (as quoted in the article) makes me more certain than ever that there is a high likelihood that Puerto Rico could have a temple announced in the near future. Is that likely to occur next General Conference? Time may tell. If President Nelson is planning a mass announcement of several temples to be built immediately (which seems to be the case), what better way to encourage the Puerto Rican members of the Church in their recovery than to announce that a temple will be built in their midst?
Again, these observations, for what they might be worth, are what I took away from this article, for what they might be worth to any of you. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will pass word of 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. 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.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
President Nelson Speaks to Saints in the Caribbean Area of the Church
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.
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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.
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Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post a correction & clarification of what I said in the post above. A Church News article about President Nelson's visit (to which I will share the address below) clarifies that President Nelson actually had a translator assist him with his main remarks, and then, when bearing his testimony, he graciously dismissed the translator and at that point gave his testimony, along with invoking an apostolic blessing, in Spanish.
ReplyDeleteEither way, it is impressive indeed that he speaks more than two languages. We have not had a prophet fluent in 3 or more languages before, and his skills in several languages will enable him to more fully be a prophet to the people as he testifies of the Savior and blesses Church members around the world. The web address of the Church News article follows below. Thanks again to you all.
https://www.ldschurchnews.com/global/2018-09-02/president-nelson-promises-puerto-rican-saints-that-better-days-are-ahead-after-last-years-deadly-hurricane-47908
It is amazing to see the power the Lord gives the prophet. I look forward to what is in store for Puerto Rico and around the world.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed. My mom stopped by to visit us today, and she and I got to talking about President Nelson's stamina, and primarily the fact that, as a heart surgeon, he would know how to take care of himself. She observed (quite rightly) that all heart surgeons know the right way to take care of themselves, but because President Nelson is a former heart surgeon who also happens to be a member of the Church, he has learned to discipline himself, his diet, and his lifestyle in such a way to live as long as he has. Other heart surgeons have chose not to take such precautions, and many of them died from preventable conditions because of it. But President Nelson daily makes decisions that have kept him going for almost 94 years (it will be exactly 94 a week from today).
ReplyDeleteIt is likewise interesting how many "new developments" have occurred already during President Nelson's administration. Although he has served for less than 8 months so far, he has definitely shown a willingness to get right down to business and take care of several important priorities.
Other resources (aside from this blog) have detailed quite a few major highlights in his presidency already, which may perhaps be considered as more significant than any 8-month period for previous Church presidents.
Two major changes about which I am anxious to learn more are based on things heard from his apostolic colleagues. I previously referenced how President Oaks spoke to young married couples in California and mentioned that something was in the works to reduce the demands on their time, which will then allow them to have more time together.
And of course, a lot has been said about President Nelson's great enthusiasm for the subject of temples, and many apostles have referenced that President Nelson has something in the works that will outpace and overshadow what we saw occur in the late 1990s and early 2000s under President Hinckley's smaller temple design.
I have since heard suggestions that those plans could involve again doubling (or perhaps more remarkably, even tripling) the number of temples worldwide in a 5-10 year period. If that proves accurate (especially given the fact that additional workers have been hired for the temple department), then we may indeed be in for a windfall of temple-related developments, which would be awesome.
And, most significant to me is the fact that, once we know how extensive those plans might be, I will be able to know how far to expand the list of near-future temples which I have previously shared here.
That said, a general note to any who read this comment: I continue to welcome new comments on the latest list to alert me of anything I have overestimated or in terms of the most imminently likely temple prospects which I may have overlooked. I really have no idea how thorough that list should be for now.
I have also set the arbitrary deadline for such comments as Monday October 1, which will give me around a week to refine, update, and annotate my list of those locations in preparation for General Conference the following weekend.
My thanks to you, Chris, and to all of you who read this, for your ongoing comments, and for your interest in the things about which I "sound off" here on this blog. I hope all my readers know how much I value and appreciate their attention and feedback.