Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone Passes Away at Age 87

Hello again, everyone! Less than an hour ago, the Church News reported that Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, an emeritus General Authority, passed away earlier today at the age of 87. For those not aware of who he is, he had served in the Presiding Bishopric for four years (1972-1976), and then served as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy for 25 years (1976-2001), and he was granted emeritus status in October 2001.

During his time in the First Quorum of the Seventy, among other assignments, he served for five years as the Young Men General President. He also had experiences serving as a mission president and temple president. During his tenure as a mission president, one of the missionaries who served under him was our current Young Men General President Stephen W. Owen.

The Church News shared this tribute to his life. During his almost 30-year ministry as a general authority, he served in variety of important assignments, and he had 18 opportunities to give addresses during General Conference. You can review any of those addresses (which covered a variety of subjects), here.

Funeral arrangements are pending. I will keep you posted with more details on this as I receive 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. 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.

Church News Report on LDS Teens Trekking to the Jordan River Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! The Church News shared this report earlier today, which highlights how the youth of the Jordan River Utah Temple District trekked from their local chapels or stake centers to the Jordan River Utah Temple. This was done to allow all youth to prepare for the rededication of that temple, which is set to occur one week from tomorrow.

The article notes that, for those organizing the events around the rededication, the difficulty was in determining how to enable all youth to participate. Participation in the cultural celebration was restricted to a certain number of youth from every stake in the district, so this walk was one of many ways in which leaders determined that all youth could feel as if they are participating in some way in the rededication events.

I will be carrying full coverage of the rededicatory events on this blog next weekend. In the meantime, it is worth reiterating a few points. First, as I have noted previously, this rededication will mark perhaps the last time that a cultural celebration will be held the night before a temple is dedicated or rededicated.

Although nothing official has been announced to indicate that cultural celebrations are being discontinued for such events, for the recently announced dedications of the Concepcion Chile, Barranquilla Colombia, and Rome Italy Temples, a youth devotional is set to be held during the time that has traditionally been reserved for those celebrations.

Additionally, since this is the first major temple event that will be held during President Nelson's prophetic administration, I am anticipating that he will be presiding over at least one or two of the three sessions. And since this is a temple in the Salt Lake Valley, I would anticipate that several Church leaders will be in attendance over the course of the three sessions.

I continue to monitor all temple news and developments and will pass 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. 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.

Vandal Strikes the St. George Utah Temple, Suspending Operations for a Few Hours

Hello again, everyone! The Church News has passed along this article, which details how, in the early hours of this morning, a vandal struck the St. George Utah Temple. The damage appears to be relatively minor, and normal operations resumed after a few hours. But the most interesting thing is that some of the temple workers were able to keep him there until police arrived without using much physical force or restraint.

While it is sad to hear of the vandalism occurring, I am grateful that those temple workers who were on duty at the time handled this situation so well. The article cites passages of the dedicatory and rededicatory prayers given for that temple, particularly those that are indirectly related to this incident. Just wanted to pass that along.

That does it for this post. 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.