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Friday, October 6, 2017

More Information Provided on Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Renovation

Hello, everyone! I wanted to pass along some information that came to me today about the renovation process for the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple. Apparently, the main purpose of that renovation will be to alter the exterior appearance of that building. I am not sure of the extent to which that is planned, but wanted to note it anyways. To mark this information, a video presentation has been made available. Enjoy!

Report on Elder Hales' funeral

Elder Hales's funeral just ended a few minutes ago. I just wanted to post a brief report on that. President Uchtdorf conducted, as anticipated, and the Tabernacle Choir provided beautiful music for the service. Interestingly enough, at the beginning of the funeral, it was announced that President Monson and Elder Holland were both absent. The invocation and benediction were offered by seatmates Elders Neil L. Andersen and Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles respectively. Tributes were shared by Elder M. Russell Ballard, who was home taught by Elder Hales's father and who reminisced about ; President Russell M. Nelson, who reminisced about standing by when Elder Hales underwent heart surgery; and President Henry B. Eyring, who recounted how he served alongside Elder Hales in numerous assignments. We did not hear from anyone from the Hales family, but that is understandable. All in all, it was a beautiful service. I was glad to have seen it. That does it for this brief update. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you in all that you do.

Added 12:30 PM: The Church News offered this summary of the funeral proceedings. Thank you again for your kind attention.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Church News Stories I Missed Reporting On

Hello, everyone! I am back in the late hours of the night to share some Church news stories I almost missed reporting on.

Many of us mourned with the rest of the nation on Monday when we learned about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. It seems to be the object of each mass shooting perpetrator to make it the new "worst mass shooting in America's history". I was touched by this story sharing the Church's statement of condolence in the aftermath of the shooting, and this one about how Church members have reached out to help the victims of this senseless tragedy recover.

In the meantime, the Church News continued to honor the memory of Elder Robert D. Hales with this story that shared tributes to him from Church and government leaders. And the Deseret News, the parent paper of the Church news that also reports local and national news of both a religious and secular nature, reported how Senator Orrin Hatch, the senior Republican senator from Utah who is third in the presidential line of succession, offered a tribute to Elder Hales on the senate floor. It is amazing to consider that, though we haven't yet had a US President who is LDS, we have had Senator Hatch rise to be so high up on that line of succession.

And finally, at a devotional at BYU-Hawaii, General Authority Seventy Craig A. Cardon shared three items he said would help these students (and by extension, all of us) face today's challenges. You can read more about that here.

That does it for this update. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time. I will be back tomorrow after Elder Hales' funeral services with my thoughts about that event. Until then, I wish you all the best.