Friday, August 25, 2017
Church News Includes Details on New Curriculum for Adults, Summary of Education Week
Hello, all! For a variety of reasons, I have not been able to do my initial check of the Church websites until just now. In checking the Church News, I found this article summarizing BYU's Campus Education Week, and this one which details the new curriculum that will be in place next year for adults to study during Priesthood and Relief Society, and which includes FAQs on the reasons for this curriculum change and what it will involve and entail. Among the tidbits I picked up is that the Church now has a Priesthood and Family Department (maybe they always did and I just didn't know about it), and that Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr., whose father was a GA Seventy during the tenure of either Presidents Benson or Kimball, serves as one of the assistant executive directors. I know that there have been mixed feelings about the new curriculum, but I for one am excited and overjoyed about it. I hope we will all be able to testify of the importance of these changes at some point, even if we cannot do so now. That does it for this blog post. Thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless all of us to enjoy these inspired changes. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.
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.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Elder Robert D. Hales Celebrates His 85th birthday
Hello, all! I am back, as promised three days ago, with a post written in tribute to Elder Robert D. Hales, who is celebrating his 85th birthday today. What has brought this man to this milestone? Let's explore that.
Robert Dean Hales was born on August 24, 1932 to John Rulon (an artist who worked in advertising) and Vera Marie Holbrook Hales in New York City, New York. He married Mary Crandall on June 10, 1953 in the Salt Lake Temple. They have two sons. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard. In between earning his two degrees, he served as a jet fighter pilot for the United States. He served several companies in many executive positions, both in and out of the United States.
His extensive Church service has included being a high councilor, a branch president’s counselor in Seville, Spain, a branch president in Albany Georgia; Weston Massachusetts; and Frankfurt Germany; bishop in Weston Massachusetts, Stake President’s counselor, president of the England London mission, and regional representative. He was sustained an Assistant to the Twelve on April 4, 1975 and to the First Quorum of the Seventy on October 1, 1976. While a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, he served as First Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency from July 1981-July 1985. He was called as Presiding Bishop of the Church on April 6, 1985. He was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 2, 1994, and was ordained an apostle five days later. He has served faithfully despite numerous health problems.
In fact, it would be very fair to say that the health problems Elder Hales has had over the years, and especially in recent years, have served to mold him into the wonderful servant of our Heavenly Father that he has become. Over the course of his ministry in general Church leadership, he has, if I have counted correctly, spoken 58 times in General Conference (with 15 of those given as a seventy and Presiding Bishop, and 43 given since his call to the apostleship). It should be noted that he has missed several General Conferences in view of his health issues: if it weren't for that, he would have a few more talks. Looking back at his speaking record, it appears that he last missed General Conference in April 2011. To review any of these 58 General Conference addresses by Elder Hales, click here.
Primarily because of his ill health in recent years, he has been the first apostolic speaker in whichever conference session he has spoken. The last time he was not the first apostolic speaker in a conference session was almost three years ago, in October 2014, when he spoke in the Sunday Morning session.
Because of his ongoing health issues, it is anyone's guess how much longer Elder Hales will be with us. That said, he has carried on much longer than many have expected. And because I have been in his shoes somewhat (in terms of having quite a few health challenges myself), I know that Elder Hales is one whose life has been extended by the grace of the Lord. It is obvious that Elder Hales still has things to teach us, through both his example and his conference talks. As with the words spoken by any of the Brethren, I hope that we will give heed to the wise counsel of Elder Hales. In the meantime, I hope he had a good day today.
That does it for this post. Though I fully expect to have additional things to post about before the end of this month, and that I will be doing several more posts in the first week of September, you can be sure that, if nothing else, I will be back on September 8 (15 days from now) and the day after that with birthday tributes to Elder Cook (who will mark his 77th on the 8th) and President Nelson (who turns 93 the following day).
In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.
Robert Dean Hales was born on August 24, 1932 to John Rulon (an artist who worked in advertising) and Vera Marie Holbrook Hales in New York City, New York. He married Mary Crandall on June 10, 1953 in the Salt Lake Temple. They have two sons. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard. In between earning his two degrees, he served as a jet fighter pilot for the United States. He served several companies in many executive positions, both in and out of the United States.
His extensive Church service has included being a high councilor, a branch president’s counselor in Seville, Spain, a branch president in Albany Georgia; Weston Massachusetts; and Frankfurt Germany; bishop in Weston Massachusetts, Stake President’s counselor, president of the England London mission, and regional representative. He was sustained an Assistant to the Twelve on April 4, 1975 and to the First Quorum of the Seventy on October 1, 1976. While a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, he served as First Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency from July 1981-July 1985. He was called as Presiding Bishop of the Church on April 6, 1985. He was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 2, 1994, and was ordained an apostle five days later. He has served faithfully despite numerous health problems.
In fact, it would be very fair to say that the health problems Elder Hales has had over the years, and especially in recent years, have served to mold him into the wonderful servant of our Heavenly Father that he has become. Over the course of his ministry in general Church leadership, he has, if I have counted correctly, spoken 58 times in General Conference (with 15 of those given as a seventy and Presiding Bishop, and 43 given since his call to the apostleship). It should be noted that he has missed several General Conferences in view of his health issues: if it weren't for that, he would have a few more talks. Looking back at his speaking record, it appears that he last missed General Conference in April 2011. To review any of these 58 General Conference addresses by Elder Hales, click here.
Primarily because of his ill health in recent years, he has been the first apostolic speaker in whichever conference session he has spoken. The last time he was not the first apostolic speaker in a conference session was almost three years ago, in October 2014, when he spoke in the Sunday Morning session.
Because of his ongoing health issues, it is anyone's guess how much longer Elder Hales will be with us. That said, he has carried on much longer than many have expected. And because I have been in his shoes somewhat (in terms of having quite a few health challenges myself), I know that Elder Hales is one whose life has been extended by the grace of the Lord. It is obvious that Elder Hales still has things to teach us, through both his example and his conference talks. As with the words spoken by any of the Brethren, I hope that we will give heed to the wise counsel of Elder Hales. In the meantime, I hope he had a good day today.
That does it for this post. Though I fully expect to have additional things to post about before the end of this month, and that I will be doing several more posts in the first week of September, you can be sure that, if nothing else, I will be back on September 8 (15 days from now) and the day after that with birthday tributes to Elder Cook (who will mark his 77th on the 8th) and President Nelson (who turns 93 the following day).
In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.
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.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Church News Update: BYU Education Week and More
Hello, all! I am back again today, this time to share a Church news update on items relating to the events of BYU-Provo Education Week and a couple of other developments. There is a lot to talk about, so let's get started.
Prior to talking about BYU-Provo Education week articles, I wanted to mention two articles that came to my attention that I have not focused on in prior blog posts. First, the Church News shared an article about how the Chickasaw Indian nation gave a medallion to M. Franklin Keel of Oklahoma, and inducted him into their Hall of Fame, in honor of his service and multiple contributions to that nation. You can read more on this here.
Then, earlier today, the main Mormon Newsroom website shared an article from the Pacific Mormon Newsroom, which described how Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met and discussed the subject of religious freedom with the president and prime minister of the island of Vanuatu. During the individual visits he had with these leaders, Elder Stevenson paid tribute to their efforts to encourage religious freedom and to enact laws in their nation that will continue to allow that to happen. You can find more on that visit here.
Aside from those articles, the rest of this blog post will be focused on summaries of articles relating to BYU-Provo's Campus Education Week. Ron L. Anderson, who is an LDS author and historian, focused his remarks at one session of Education Week on the fact that the restoration of the gospel 30-some-odd years prior to the Civil War kept the nation together and preserved the Constitution while the nation was divided over the subject of slavery. To read the Church news article summarizing his remarks, click here.
BYU Psychology Professor Scott R. Braithwaite spoke about how the gospel can help us when we have situations and circumstances in life that would otherwise test our faith, and how a testimony of the gospel can help us through any faith crises we may experience during such times. You can read more on what he said here.
This article describes the opportunity Education Week participants have to tour the newly renovated MTC. And an article highlighting the keynote devotional address given by Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Presidency of the Seventy, who focused his remarks on how taking responsibility for one's own life brings power, can be found here.
Hope you enjoyed this summary of these articles. Happy reading! In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.
Prior to talking about BYU-Provo Education week articles, I wanted to mention two articles that came to my attention that I have not focused on in prior blog posts. First, the Church News shared an article about how the Chickasaw Indian nation gave a medallion to M. Franklin Keel of Oklahoma, and inducted him into their Hall of Fame, in honor of his service and multiple contributions to that nation. You can read more on this here.
Then, earlier today, the main Mormon Newsroom website shared an article from the Pacific Mormon Newsroom, which described how Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met and discussed the subject of religious freedom with the president and prime minister of the island of Vanuatu. During the individual visits he had with these leaders, Elder Stevenson paid tribute to their efforts to encourage religious freedom and to enact laws in their nation that will continue to allow that to happen. You can find more on that visit here.
Aside from those articles, the rest of this blog post will be focused on summaries of articles relating to BYU-Provo's Campus Education Week. Ron L. Anderson, who is an LDS author and historian, focused his remarks at one session of Education Week on the fact that the restoration of the gospel 30-some-odd years prior to the Civil War kept the nation together and preserved the Constitution while the nation was divided over the subject of slavery. To read the Church news article summarizing his remarks, click here.
BYU Psychology Professor Scott R. Braithwaite spoke about how the gospel can help us when we have situations and circumstances in life that would otherwise test our faith, and how a testimony of the gospel can help us through any faith crises we may experience during such times. You can read more on what he said here.
This article describes the opportunity Education Week participants have to tour the newly renovated MTC. And an article highlighting the keynote devotional address given by Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Presidency of the Seventy, who focused his remarks on how taking responsibility for one's own life brings power, can be found here.
Hope you enjoyed this summary of these articles. Happy reading! In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.
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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