President Nelson Gives Address Opening the New Mission Leadership Seminar

Hello again, everyone! As many of you may know, new mission presidents and their wives begin serving in their new assignment on or around July 1 of every year. So generally, the Church holds a seminar for the newly called couples during the last week of June. This year was no different, as the 2018 Seminar kicked off yesterday with a Sacrament Meeting that featured an opening address from Church President Russell M. Nelson.

There is one significant change this year to the seminar that may have been long overdue. Whereas this event has previously been known as the "Seminar for New Mission Presidents", the Church will now refer to it as the "New Mission Leadership Seminar". This is a very appropriate change, as it acknowledges that the role of the mission presidents' wives are just as important, if not more so, than the role of the mission presidents themselves.

President Nelson highlighted the importance of the Book of Mormon in the conversion process, and the blessings that can come to missionaries worldwide as they continue to study it. He also spoke of the role that priesthood blessings have in the mission field, and mentioned that focusing missionary efforts on highlighting the doctrine of Christ yields the greatest results. You can read more about his specific remarks in this article from the Church News.

I will continue to monitor coverage of this seminar over the next week or so and will bring those and all other Church and temple developments to you all ASAP after 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.

CORRECTION: Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Status

Hello again, everyone! I am posting right now to correct inaccurate information I provided in an earlier post regarding the status of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. The last time I posted an update on that temple, I had reported that a construction fence had been put up in preparation for the commencement of full-scale efforts.

But in double-checking some information today, it appears that the earlier report should have noted that site grading and clearing was underway, and that it was only today that the construction fence was officially installed. I apologize for the unintentional misinformation and will do my best to report future developments correctly going forward. I continue to monitor all such developments and will bring word of those to you ASAP.

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 pot, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! There have been several additional Church News stories published within the last 12-24 hours that I have felt may be of interest to some of you. So this post will pass those developments along to you all.

The first piece of news I wanted to pass along relates to updates that have been added to the latest edition of Preach My Gospel. As some of you may recall, that volume was originally published in 2004, and since that time, several Church leaders have given additional insights into effective missionary work that have been included in the new edition of that volume.

The Church News section on lds.org has also shared this article highlighting the opening concert held during the Tabernacle Choir's "Classic Coast Tour"/Turning now to articles from the LDS Church News website, there are quite a few to discuss. In a word where there are many voices competing for our attention on a day-to-day basis, at times, it may be easy for some of us to doubt ourselves and the strength and depth of our faith. The Church News shared three responses about how to deal with those feelings when they come.

BYU holds a "Religious Freedom Annual Review" every year. This year, the keynote address was given by Elder L. Whitney Clayton, Senior President of the Seventy, who, as some of you may know, is a descendant of William Clayton, an early Saint and pioneer who wrote the hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints"/

Elder Clayton particularly touched on the importance of our faith in our identities, and discussed why Latter-day Saints have the responsibility to protect religious freedom for those of all faiths. There has also been an article published about the Saints in Rome Italy who are anxiously awaiting the opening of the temple in their city, an event that has been 45 years in the making.

Turning our attention now to the ministry of apostles past and present, Gerry Avant continues her series of articles taking a retroactive look back at her experiences and memories of Church News she has covered over her long and prestigious career. She wrote about how an unexpected comment from President Hinckley during the dedication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple not only changed the spirit of those sessions, but also served to verify that the veil between this world and the spirit world is at times very thin.

And finally, the "Inside the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles" series continued this week with statements and experiences cited from every member of the Quorum which demonstrates what it's like to be a prophet, seer, and revelator, not just to Church members, but to the world as a whole.

I hope that many of you have found this analysis of these developments helpful. 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.