Elder M. Russell Ballard celebrates his 89th birthday today

Hello, everyone! Hope you have had a wonderfully inspiring Sabbath Day. I wanted to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is celebrating his 89th birthday today. In two days' time, he will mark the 32nd anniversary of his call to the apostleship. So, what can I tell you about this remarkable special witness of Jesus Christ? I thought you'd never ask!

Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. was born on October 8, 1928 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Melvin Russell Sr. & Geraldine Smith Ballard. Both his paternal & maternal grandfathers (Melvin J. Ballard & Hyrum M. Smith) were apostles, and Elder Ballard is thus a direct descendant of the early leaders of the Church (Hyrum M. was the son of Joseph F., who was the son of Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith). It is interesting to note that the Church has, by tradition, had at least one apostle currently serving who has ancestral ties to the Smith family. It is further interesting to note that Bruce R. McConkie, who was the last apostle indirectly related to the Smith family (being the son-in-law of Joseph Fielding Smith, who was the son of Joseph F. who was the son of Hyrum, who was the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith), was the apostle whose death resulted in the apostolic vacancy that necessitated the call of M. Russell Ballard.

Elder Ballard served as a missionary in England, as has been noted in previous blog posts. Upon his return, he served in the US Army Reserves, where he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. As a result of obtaining his secondary education from the University of Utah, he met a young lady named Barbara Bowen, whom he married on August 8, 1951 in the Salt Lake Temple. They became the parents of 7 children, and one of their daughters, Brynn, married Peter Huntsman, whose mother, Karen Haight Huntsman, is the daughter of Elder David B. Haight, one of Elder Ballard's apostolic colleagues. It is interesting to see that additional relationship Elder Ballard has to other LDS apostles.

Elder Ballard worked professionally in auto sales. His Church service included serving as a counselor to his mission president, as a bishop twice, and as president of the Canada Toronto Mission. He completed the final year of that assignment as a General Authority Seventy, having received that call in April 1976. Less than four years later, on February 20, 1980, he was called to the Presidency of the Seventy. In the August 1985 Ensign, Church leaders reported that they had created an international mission, which would be supervised from Salt Lake City for the purpose of ministering to members in outlying areas in which no formal Church units had been formed. He served in that Presidency for just over 5 years. At the time of his call to the apostleship, he had become the third most senior member of the Presidency of the Seventy.

Elder Ballard, known and respected for the emphasis he has placed on missionary work in his apostolic ministry, has gone from being the 15th most senior apostle at the time of his apostolic call to now being the 4th in apostolic seniority. In his 32 years as an apostle, he has given 67 talks in General Conference: in addition to the 9 he gave in his previous capacities as a General Authority Seventy and in the Presidency of the Seventy, that brings his total number of General Conference talks to 76. To review any of those wonderful addresses, click here.

I am grateful that Elder Ballard has lived and served as long as he has, and I am likewise grateful for this opportunity I have had to pay this birthday tribute to him, though he may never read it. I testify that, just as the Lord directed his call to the apostleship 32 years ago, He has continued to move Elder Ballard up in apostolic seniority to the present time. He has served commendably. And I am grateful for his service. I share this birthday tribute to him with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Church News Publishes Two Articles about General Conference

Hello again, everyone! I thought I had reported on this already, but apparently I haven't. The Church News recently shared two articles about General Conference. This one gave an overview of how President Monson and Elder Hales, who were absent from General Conference, still had a profound effect on the messages given & the events that took place, in addition to sharing messages that verified that, even in these uncertain times, "the best days are yet ahead."

And this article, submitted by retired Church news editor Gerry Avant, who will still be contributing to the Church News in the wake of that retirement, but as "senior contributing editor", talks about the results of President Monson's birthday wishes of the past, as reflected in the words of those who enjoyed General Conference.

That does it for this brief news update. Any comments are welcome and appreciated, as always. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you all until my next post. Until that time, I wish you all the best.

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.

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.