Elder Quentin L. Cook Celebrates His 78th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! As mentioned at the end of my last post, I am back in the early morning hours of September 8 to share some thoughts about Elder Quentin L. Cook in honor of his 78th birthday today. Let's dive right into that subject.

Quentin La Mar Cook was born in Logan, Utah to J. Vernon and Bernice Cook on this day in 1940. He was a middle child, having an older brother and a younger sister. He grew up in a very gospel-centered home, although his father eventually lost interest in Church activity. At age 15, he had a discussion with his brother Joe that changed his life. 

Joe was unsure whether to put off medical school to serve a mission, with their father favoring the first option. During that conversation, they determined that either the gospel was true or it wasn't, and that if it was, serving a mission would be the best use of Joe's time. Joe’s decision to go resulted in  young Quentin accepting his own call to serve in the British Mission. 

One of his two mission presidents was, Elder Marion D. Hanks, who simultaneously served as a general authority. At one point during his mission, his companion was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Though the two didn't know it at the time, both would go on to serve as General Authorities and as colleagues in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Cook returned from his mission with a strong testimony of the Savior and a resolve to associate with people who love the Savior, both within and outside of the Church. He married his high school sweetheart Mary Gaddie in the Logan Utah Temple on November 30, 1962. Their posterity includes three children and numerous grandchildren.. 

He graduated from Utah State University with a degree in political science and from Stanford University with a juris doctorate degree. As a managing partner in San Francisco Bay area law firm, he specialized in business law. He later became president and chief executive officer of California Healthcare System, and vice chairman of Sutter Health Systems. 

His church service has included being a bishop, stake president’s counselor, stake president, regional representative, and area authority. While he was in the stake presidency, he was instilled with a love of people from all nations when he had responsibility for Spanish, Tongan, Samoan, Tagalog, Mandarin, and Cantonese congregations. 

He was named a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy on April 6, 1996, and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 4, 1998. He served as a member of area presidencies in the Philippines, the Pacific, and North America, in addition to serving as the executive director of the Church Missionary Department before being called to the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1, 2007. 

Just over two months later, October 6, 2007, he was sustained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he was ordained an apostle five days later. The apostolic vacancy had been created by the death of President James E. Faust, which in turn resulted in Elder Henry B. Eyring’s call to the First Presidency.

Elder Cook has spoken several times in General Conference. He spoke twice as a general authority seventy and has given 22 additional address since his call to the apostleship. You can review any of those here. Although he may never read this personally, I am grateful for his service as a special witness of Christ, and I wholeheartedly sustain him and the other apostles.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! A few additional Church news items have been reported recently, so I wanted to pass along the most significant ones. First, Church leaders, in recognition of the wide-spread problem of mental health issues and as a result of the National Weekend of Prayer for Faith, Hope and Life, are calling on Church members to join in prayer particularly on behalf of those who have mental health issues and/or are feeling suicidal.

Elder LeGrand R. Curtis, who is a General Authority Seventy and currently a counselor in the Utah Area of the Church, represented the Brethren at a media event held today in support of both the weekend of prayer and the Utah Governor's Teen Suicide Prevention Taskforce, on which the Church was asked to participate. You can read more about his remarks and the request for Church members' prayers on this issue in this article (from the Church News) and this one from the Newsroom on the Church's official website.

The Church News website also released the next edition of their article series "This Week on Social", which shared posts from Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, who also spoke on the subject of suicide and mental health issues; while President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, who shared an experience highlighting the importance of learning to surrender our personal wills to that of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Posts from three other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were also highlighted, including one from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in which he  reminisced about how he was able to overcome his doubts and fears about the future by listening to the wise counsel of his wife; while Elder David A. Bednar shared thoughts on repentance; and Elder Dale G. Renlund shared thoughts about traveling with President Nelson and watching him minister to Church members.

Saints in London England are celebrating 60 years since the temple in that city was dedicated, and this article highlights some interesting facts about that temple. With that temple having its' first rededication occur in October 1992, it may be another 4-20 years at minimum before another such renovation is  needed.

I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive word of them. Just a heads-up reminder: tomorrow and the day after will mark the respective 78th birthday of Elder Quentin L. Cook and the 94th birthday of our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, so be on the lookout for posts honoring these two men over this next weekend. I will also be bringing word of any weekend developments which may occur as well.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Dates Announced for 2019 Church-wide Events/Open House Begins for Concepcion Chile Temple

Hello again, everyone! Two big news items have been reported by the Church today. First, the schedule for the currently-set 2019 Church-wide Events has been announced. I say "currently-set" because there will be other events, such as Face-to-Face gatherings for youth and young adults that will be scheduled and announced at a later date. And more specific details, such as the speakers for the Worldwide Devotionals for Young Adults, the BYU-Provo Women's Conference, and the annual Evening with a General Authority for CES personnel, will be announced later on.

General Conference next year will be held on April 6 and 7 and on October 5 and 6, with the Priesthood Session continuing in April and the Women's Session in October. In an unusual move, the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional, which has typically been held on the first Sunday of December, will be held on Sunday December 8 next year. You can find a complete PDF list of the scheduled events here, with the list speaking for itself.

In the meantime, the other big news is that the open house is beginning for the Concepcion Chile Temple. Tours for VIP and members of the media are now underway, and the tours for the general public will begin a week from tomorrow. The Church has released these details about that open house.

Among the important highlights of those details is that the open house will be held between September 15 and October 13, Sundays and General Conference Saturday excluded. The Church has replaced the traditional cultural celebration with a planned devotional for youth, their parents, and their leaders, which will be held on Saturday September 27. The following day, the temple will be dedicated in three sessions.

I would assume that for the first new temple dedication of his presidency, President Nelson will preside at this event. And I would not in any way be surprised to learn that Elder Holland will accompany the presiding officer, since he served as president of what was then the Chile Area of the Church between 2002 and 2004. There may be others in Church leadership with a direct or indirect connection to Chile who may also attend, but I haven't done the research on who might fit that description.

Either way, it will be exciting to see how things unfold in the coming months with Church news and temple developments, and to the best of my ability, I will try to bring word of those developments to you as I become aware 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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.