Hello again, everyone! Breaking news from the Church was reported a short time ago: the release of 12 new hymns that will be included in Hymns—For Home and Church. The selections are as follows:
“Joyfully Bound”
“My Covenants”
“When I Am Baptized” (current children's song with updated lyrics
“The Power of the Holy Ghost”
“Elijah and the Still, Small Voice”
“Jesus Is My Shepherd”
“My Song in the Night”
“This Is My Father’s World”
“Build an Ark”
“Love Will Bless Our Home”
“Lord, Accept Our Humble Fast”
“Long Ago, Within a Garden”
The new releases in Hymns—For Home and Church now total 72 in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, with some of those hymns already being released in other languages. Aside from "When I Am Baptized", I am only familiar with "My Song in the Night" and "This Is My Father's World", courtesy of the many times those songs have been performed by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during "Music & the Spoken Word". But I look forward to learning these newest selections.
And speaking thereof, since many of the new selections are based on Old Testament stories, the new release of hymns includes comments from Sunday School General President Paul V. Johnson, in addition to comments from Primary General President Susan H. Porter. President Johnson offered the folllowing suggestions for implementing these newhymns in our daily lives:
Memorize the lyrics.
Listen to the prerecorded songs throughout the day.
Teach from and sing together as a family.
Sing enthusiastically at home and church.
Invite someone to play or sing as part of a lesson at church.
Aside from these notes, I will let the new releases speak for themselves otherwise. I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now.
All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates.
Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
The Church News has also covered the release of the latest batch of new hymns. In addition, today, the Church News also covered the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square's ministry commencement in Brazil, and the donation of new medical equipment to a hospital in Argentina. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe Mexico Area Presidency (Elders Moises Villanueva, Jose L. Alonso, and Brik V. Eyre) issued a statement about the current violence occurring in Mexico, urging all Church members to fast and pray for peace and harmony. That is a timely invitation, which I hope we will all take advantage of. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has shared one additional update that speaks for itself. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Friday, the Church News has introduced 8 new temple leader couples, all for currently operating temples, all of whom are replacing leaders who have served for around 3 years. I have updated my document tracking these changes. As his European ministry continues, Elder Dale G. Renlund has visited Romania. The Church News has also shared a video highlighting the Salt Lake Temple's west towers, from which scaffolding has recently been removed. And the latest edition of "This Week on Social" features social media posts from the following general Church leaders:
DeleteElders David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, Neil L. Andersen, Ulisses Soares (from whom two posts were shared), Gérald Caussé, and Clark G. GIlbert of the Quourm of the Twelve Apostles; Sister J. Anette Dennis, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency; Primary General President Susan H. Porter; and Young Men General President Timothy J. Farnes and his First Counselor, Brother David J. Wunderli (both of whom posted via Young Men Worldwide).
Above and beyond that, a new update on the Cleveland Ohio Temple indicates that preparation is underway to install the cupola stop that temple, which is the very last thing that needs to be done before major construction has been fully completed. A status update has also been provided on the Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News shared an additional report about the Tabernacle Choir's Brazilian ministry trip. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe ambassador of Estonia met with the First Presidency and Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at Church headquarters today. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd the Newsroom has shared this additional report. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has shared information about the upcoming 2026 RootsTech Conference. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Saturday thus far, the Church News has published this article by Mary Richards, which highlights the gift of a believing heart. And the next set of 16 biographies for incoming mission leaders has also been published. I will let that report speak for itself, but would just note that, as with the other sets of biographies, the incoming mission presidents and mission mothers have served extensively both separately and together in many Church-callings. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has covered a surprise guest at the Tabernacle Choir's performance in Brazil. Because the Choir is in Brazil, a previously-aired episode of "Music & the Spoken Word" will be shown, complete with this message, previously given by Brother Derrick Porter will be shown again for week 5,033 of the broadcast. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteIn light of the precarious situation in the Middle East, the Church has issued an official statement on the matter. Meanwhile, with the dedication of the Harare Zimbabwe Temple set to occur tomorrow morning, under the direction of Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a former Zimbabwean native who is returning for the temple dedication shares his thoughts on Zimbabwe's four decades of growth.
DeleteIncidentally, with Zimbabwe time 9 hours ahead of Utah time, the temple dedication will probably occur at 9 or 10 in Zimbabwe, which is midnight or 1:00 AM here in Utah. And when that temple is dedicated, it will be the Church's 214th operating temple. As of tomorrow, when that dedication does occur, that will leave the Church with 86 temples to dedicate in the 4.10 years between tomorrow (March 1) and the 200th anniversary of the Church's reestablishment (Saturday, April 6, 2030), if the Church's aim is to have 300 operating temples by that date.
Please note, insofar as I am aware, the Church has not set any such goal at any point. But it is interesting to think about for sure. Getting there would require the Church to dedicate just about 21 temples per year between now and then. Unless construction and dedications pick up considerably, that might not be possible, especially since the Church will not have any other temple dedications until May 3. I still have a wild hope that such a milestone could be reached, but time will tell how likely (or unlikely) that is. And even if the Church doesn't have 300 operating temples by that bicentennial date, I'm sure the bicentennial celebrations and observations will be monumental.
As just one other quick note, my next apostolic milestone update will be posted tomorrow as well, complete with the inclusion of Elders Caussé and Gilbert, who have significantly lowered the average ages of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the 15 apostles overall. I look forward to presenting that update to you all here. Thanks again, everyone!