Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! There have been some additional Church news stories reported, and all of them are well worthy of your attention, so I am pleased to both present them for your consideration, and to endorse each one of them without reservation or hesitation as deserving of your time. Let's jump right in to our discussion of those things.

We begin with an article published on the Church News website just around an hour ago. The article talks about the Hill Cumorah Pageant taking a "final bow" in 2020, and provides some context in terms of what has been determined for that and other productions.

We next shift our focus to the Church's Newsroom website, where it has been reported that President Oaks spoke at this week's BYU-Idaho Devotional. He discussed the interlinking roles of love and law, how they are related, how they differ, and how the Lord and His Church have tried to strike a careful balance between showing love for those of a differing viewpoint while still upholding the commitment to the laws and commandments of the Lord.

And interestingly enough, the Newsroom also provided a link to the full transcript of those remarks, which were also featured on the Newsroom. I have previously mentioned before how I can usually relate very well to what President Oaks says in such addresses, and that I like him approaching such topics in the same way he wrote legal briefs prior to his apostolic call, clearly differentiating when he moves on to the next point he wants to cover. I particularly appreciated how he explained the balance between loving everyone, while at the same time not condoning behaviors or practices which are displeasing to the Lord.

In the meantime, following the three dedicatory sessions for the Concepcion Chile Temple, President Nelson and Elder Stevenson sat down together for one interview, and Sister Nelson was featured in another interview. The Church provided both some written context and video highlights of that interview.

Since an earlier Church News article shared the portion of the interview with President Nelson and Elder Stevenson (including the remarkable statements by the prophet which I referenced in an earlier post on this blog), I wanted to focus my commentary in this post on some things Sister Nelson said during her interview. She talked about him de-aging as he speaks to Church congregations, and talked about his vim, vigor, and energy, and she provided more context into what she has observed day-to-day with her husband in the 9 months since he became President of the Church.

She particularly spoke more about her personal strong witness she has gained through first-hand observation of her husband day-to-day, and how she would be perfectly comfortable taking any witness stand in the world to attest to her husband's prophetic calling. She also mentioned that in many ways, he has been unleashed, meaning he is free now to do something about things which have concerned him for a while.

I want to interject some context here before going any further. From watching the video of Sister Nelson's interview, I don't think she meant to imply that he was unilaterally changing things. To the contrary, in remarks he has given, he has talked about things he has announced having been "under study/consideration for several months." It appears that she was referring to the fact that, at times, as an apostle, he felt impressions about things that needed to be done, but if any of those things were not within the scope of his assignment, he could not and would not act on or present them, since he did not yet have the authority to bring those things forward for consideration.

If he had done so, that may have been considered "going beyond the word of the Lord", which is something that would have been contrary to his nature. But particularly, if the declining health of his prophetic predecessor was such that the items which caused President Nelson concern could not be properly presented, encouraged, discussed, and decided upon, he would not have wanted to rock the boat or go beyond the authority he had.

Now that he is the prophet, with the authority to act on such impressions, he is free to take such action, with the full approval of his fellow apostles behind him. And I think that is what Sister Nelson meant: not that he was being previously hindered from doing what he felt impressed should be done, but that he wasn't comfortable doing so until he had the authority to ensure that such courses of action were in harmony with the Lord's will for His Church.

Sister Nelson also talked about how President Nelson's focus is on how best to prepare the Saints and the world for the Second Coming of the Savior, and that part of that process will involve a continuation of efforts to reduce and simplify the programs and practices of the Church to allow us as individual members to more fully focus on that as well in our personal lives.

She also talks about his consideration of how any decision will impact the Church on a global scale, and the impact such decisions will have on the way the world sees the Church. She also mentioned that he is most anxious to be out among the people as frequently as he can for as long as he can. President Nelson has talked about knowing that if he feels comfortable at home, he knows he is not doing what the Lord wants done. And she reiterated the idea that he will be doing much more traveling in the future.

I am grateful for prophets, seers, and revelators who are willing to put personal agendas and preconceived ideas aside to bring themselves into conformity with the Lord's will, and particularly for a prophet that recognizes a need for people everywhere in the world to be near him, who acts decisively and fearlessly in proclaiming what the Lord needs us to hear, even when that may not be what we want to hear, and for the wonderful wives of our apostles who fully and unequivocally support these "special witnesses of Christ" in their responsibility to minister to the Church and the whole world.

I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will, to the best of my ability, do all I can to keep bringing word of those developments 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, on any post at any time.

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.