A Mother's Day Tribute

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to take this opportunity to post a Mother's Day tribute. The Lord has repeatedly emphasized the high importance of women. There is a reason that the last of the Lord's creations at the beginning of this world was a woman. This was His crowning achievement in that process, and it is my opinion that He saved the best for last because He knew we would all need the influence of righteous women.

The scriptures and numerous talks in General Conference have contained numerous accounts of the influence of righteous women through all dispensations of the world. We read in the Book of Mormon of the sons of Ammon, who volunteered to help defend the Nephite lands, since their fathers had promised never to use their weapons of war. The sons of Ammon had the courage to fight because they had been taught by their mothers that God would deliver them, and "[they did] not doubt [their] mothers knew it."

The influence of righteous women cannot be overstated. President Gordon B. Hinckley gave this address six months after his wife passed away, which focused on a tribute to the women in our lives. In my own life, I have been blessed to be influenced by so many wonderful women.

Among those women, just to name a few, are my mother (who, as I have noted previously, raised my siblings and me to be who we now are, and who took special care of me as a result of my health issues) to my mother-in-law (whom I have yet to meet, but to whom goes most of the credit for the way all of her children, especially my sweet wife Amy, have turned out) to sisters and sisters-in-law who have also sacrificed much for their families, to the women I have worked with through Church callings and in my missionary and temple service, and to all other women that have, in their own ways, influenced me at various points in my life.

Church leaders have repeatedly emphasized that the influence of a righteous and good woman on those with whom she comes in contact cannot be overstated. The women in each of our lives freely put aside their own wants, hopes, dreams, and desires in favor of giving all they can to the betterment of those within the scope of their influence.

The Lord, through scripture and the words of His Church leaders, has not only emphasized how important women are, but has also warned us as men about what will happen if we mistreat the women in our lives, or if we knowingly make them unhappy. As I noted at the beginning of this post, the fact that the Lord's final creation was a woman should be a clear indicator of the importance of such women in our lives.

It is my prayer that all of us, especially the men, will recognize the truth of these things, and treat the women in our lives accordingly. The crowning creation of the Lord should rightly be honored and revered, on this Mother's Day and always. That it may be so for all of us is my paryer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone Passes Away at Age 87

Hello again, everyone! Less than an hour ago, the Church News reported that Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, an emeritus General Authority, passed away earlier today at the age of 87. For those not aware of who he is, he had served in the Presiding Bishopric for four years (1972-1976), and then served as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy for 25 years (1976-2001), and he was granted emeritus status in October 2001.

During his time in the First Quorum of the Seventy, among other assignments, he served for five years as the Young Men General President. He also had experiences serving as a mission president and temple president. During his tenure as a mission president, one of the missionaries who served under him was our current Young Men General President Stephen W. Owen.

The Church News shared this tribute to his life. During his almost 30-year ministry as a general authority, he served in variety of important assignments, and he had 18 opportunities to give addresses during General Conference. You can review any of those addresses (which covered a variety of subjects), here.

Funeral arrangements are pending. I will keep you posted with more details on this as I receive 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.

Church News Report on LDS Teens Trekking to the Jordan River Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! The Church News shared this report earlier today, which highlights how the youth of the Jordan River Utah Temple District trekked from their local chapels or stake centers to the Jordan River Utah Temple. This was done to allow all youth to prepare for the rededication of that temple, which is set to occur one week from tomorrow.

The article notes that, for those organizing the events around the rededication, the difficulty was in determining how to enable all youth to participate. Participation in the cultural celebration was restricted to a certain number of youth from every stake in the district, so this walk was one of many ways in which leaders determined that all youth could feel as if they are participating in some way in the rededication events.

I will be carrying full coverage of the rededicatory events on this blog next weekend. In the meantime, it is worth reiterating a few points. First, as I have noted previously, this rededication will mark perhaps the last time that a cultural celebration will be held the night before a temple is dedicated or rededicated.

Although nothing official has been announced to indicate that cultural celebrations are being discontinued for such events, for the recently announced dedications of the Concepcion Chile, Barranquilla Colombia, and Rome Italy Temples, a youth devotional is set to be held during the time that has traditionally been reserved for those celebrations.

Additionally, since this is the first major temple event that will be held during President Nelson's prophetic administration, I am anticipating that he will be presiding over at least one or two of the three sessions. And since this is a temple in the Salt Lake Valley, I would anticipate that several Church leaders will be in attendance over the course of the three sessions.

I continue to monitor all temple news and developments and will pass those along to you all as 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.

Vandal Strikes the St. George Utah Temple, Suspending Operations for a Few Hours

Hello again, everyone! The Church News has passed along this article, which details how, in the early hours of this morning, a vandal struck the St. George Utah Temple. The damage appears to be relatively minor, and normal operations resumed after a few hours. But the most interesting thing is that some of the temple workers were able to keep him there until police arrived without using much physical force or restraint.

While it is sad to hear of the vandalism occurring, I am grateful that those temple workers who were on duty at the time handled this situation so well. The article cites passages of the dedicatory and rededicatory prayers given for that temple, particularly those that are indirectly related to this incident. Just wanted to pass that along.

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.

Additional Church News Reported: Part Two--Other Significant Church News

Hello again, everyone! I am back as promised, with the second half of the update I started with my last post. Having shared the updates on the ministry of our apostles, we now turn to the other major stories from the Church News and from Mormon Newsroom. Let's get going on all of that.

LDS Charities, the humanitarian arm of the Church, has recently evaluated the refugee situation in Rome Italy, and this report highlights those needs, what is being done about them, and more about the continued assistance needed for the situation as well.

The Church News has also shared this text and video summary of President Nelson's worldwide ministry tour by the numbers. For all female members of the Church and friends of other faiths who feel inferior in any way about the fact that they are "just a mom", the Church News shared this article with a video and text that demonstrates mothers are so much more than that.

Next, those of us who were alive prior to July 2004 no doubt remember Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as an apostle and a wonderful wordsmith. He had a way of combining phrases that left all within the sound of his voice with an indelible impression. The Church News shared this look back at one such address which was given prior to his call as an apostle.

And from Mormon Newsroom, we have this report of an additional statement released by the First Presidency about Utah's marijuana initiative that may be on the ballot. I gather from reading it that many people raised objections about the Church objecting to the initiative, citing the argument that the Brethren are not qualified to voice an opinion on that, since few (if any) of them have worked with doctors who see the measure as important.

To quell those concerns, the Church reached out to a well-respected law firm for their input on that subject, and the result was that the law firm in question cited more specific reasons from a legal standpoint why the measure in its' current form is problematic. Their analysis in response to that request is featured with the release above.

In all honesty, I don't see why anyone takes issue with the Brethren weighing in on such matters. As I have stated before, when the Church feels a need or receives a request to comment on such subjects, official statements on the matter are only released after all the impacts of such measures have been studied, which has included, where needed, consultation with outside experts on those subjects.

And to me, this suggests a lack of understanding on that process from those who raise such objections. It is true that there are some issues that may be outside of the knowledge the Brethren have gained through their experiences. But in such cases, the potential impact of those issues on all people is considered, which often involves outside consultation with those who see a legal, ethical, or moral reason that will justify the Church needing to comment.

If those we sustain as such are truly prophets, seers, and revelators, and I testify that that is the case, then when the Brethren issue statements on such issues, it behooves us as members to give heed to whatever counsel they give. For me, that means that, as a Utah citizen, if this issue makes it to our ballot in November, it is my duty to vote no on that measure.

It has been said by some that when the Lord (and by extension, those He has called to be prophets, seers, and revelators) speaks, the debate should be over. All of us will surely be held accountable before the Lord for any failure on our part to respond to such counsel when it is given. I hope that all of us will remember that.

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.

Additional content posted at 7:40 PM:  Not long after I published this post, the Church News released this article sharing content posted on Facebook by several Church leaders. Particularly intriguing to me was the fact that the article passed along summaries of recent posts by Elders Gong and Soares.

Apparently, those posts marked the first time these leaders have added content to Facebook since responding publicly on that site to their apostolic calls. There were also posts from other apostles and general Church leaders regarding their ongoing worldwide ministry efforts. This latest article, like all of the others in this post and the previous one, are well worthy of your attention, and I can without hesitation give my endorsement to them. I continue to monitor all Church news, including temple developments, and will do my best to keep bringing you all word of those as I become aware of them. Thanks agian.