Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! While I have no desire to detract focus from the September 11 anniversary being marked here in the United States, I wanted to take an opportunity to pass along a few additional Church news stories which have been reported lately. So let's get right into all of that.

First, as Hurricane Florence, which is expected to be quite vicious, prepares to hit the southeast coast here in the United States, the Church News has released this look at the preparations that are underway. In the meantime, the Newsroom website on lds.org reports that all missionaries in that region are currently safe, and that mission presidents have been advised about what to do as the storm gets closer.

Where necessary, missionaries will be moved from the danger zone, and in the meantime, those serving in the area have been instructed to do what they can to help those who will not be evacuating. Leaders on all levels will monitor this storm and take any action as that becomes necessary. I would just add here that to whatever extent the storm impacts the North America Southeast Area of the Church, that might in turn impact the likely timing and prospect of future temples there.

In other news, national rankings are in for universities in the United States, and this article describes how the Church-owned BYU-Provo fared in those rankings. And the final news item I wanted to share is that the Mormon History Association has appointed a new executive director, a woman who is deeply familiar with the history and stories which that association has assembled and released.

I should add in relation to that story that this is one organization which likely won't be affected by President Nelson's statement reemphasizing the name of the Church. This is primarily because the term "Mormonism" refers to the larger movement of all the religious organizations which trace their origin to Joseph Smith and to the Book of Mormon.

I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all 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.

Some Thoughts About September 11, 2001

Hello again, everyone! While there have been several Church news stories which I feel deserve a mention on this blog, I wanted to pause for a moment and provide some thoughts about what occurred here in the United States on September 11, 2001, now 17 years ago.

Days before the terrorist attacks that would cause widespread devastation and significant loss of life, the September 2001 Ensign was delivered to my family's mailbox. I remember following my customary practice of opening it up as soon as I could to read the First Presidency message and get a sense of what I could share from it with those I home taught.

Typical of President Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet at that time, his message was one of optimism, hope, and faith, as he talked about living with and finding comfort from the courage of our convictions, and about how living what we believe, even in times of great trials & tribulation. His message truly was prophetic.

A few days later, when the terrorists hijacked several planes attempting (and in some cases succeeding) in trying to crash them into several national buildings, viewing their actions as a sacred mission, those of us witnessing this tragedy were devastated. But as I recalled the words of President Hinckley's timely message, the words I had read in the Book of Mormon a few days earlier came strongly to my mind:

"And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks—

"And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father; yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever; they shall be no more brought down into captivity; and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded."

We know from the words of prophets and apostles that, although any land in which the Church is strong can obtain the same promise, the passage above refers directly and specifically to the United States. This gave me reassurance to know that the Lord would preserve the United States, and I found the strength to carry on.

3 days after the attacks occurred, the leaders of the Church held a special service in the Tabernacle. An excellent summation of that service was provided earlier today by retired Church news editor Gerry Avant. It was an event never to be forgotten. But there was more to all of this than that for me.

I had been asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on September 9, 2011. When ward leaders learned that a family in the ward would be moving out that week, they asked if I would mind speaking the following week instead. Since that family had covered the topic on which I was originally asked to speak, I asked if it would be all right if I covered another topic, and my bishop at the time graciously accommodated my request.

I spoke on the comforting spirit of the Holy Ghost, and in my remarks, I shared the passage of scripture that had reassured me in the aftermath of the attacks, in addition to some thoughts from President Hinckley's First Presidency message that month. Many people thanked me afterward for those remarks, but the Lord led me to those resources, so I could not take credit for what I said.

As the days went by, many of us also found assurance in the words of the President of the United States, who at that time was George W. Bush. He correctly pointed out that our enemies (those who perpetuated the attacks) were a group of radical Islamic terrorists, not our Muslim brothers and sisters. Eventually, in trying to appropriately respond to this incident, the United States was thrust into a war on terror, which continues to some degree today.

The one thing that impressed me in all of this was that both our national leaders and the leaders of our Church stepped up in a big way to provide comfort, reassurance, and a fair and balanced perspective on all of this. Though the nation would not recover overnight, the promise that the Lord was aware of this nation and its' leaders, and the calming messages provided by both those leaders and to all of us individually as we sought for it was something I will never forget.

I hope these thoughts have been helpful to at least some of you. 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.

President Russell M. Nelson Celebrates His 94th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back once again, this time to share a post which will serve as a tribute to our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, who is celebrating his 94th birthday today (September 9, 2018). So let's talk about this wonderful man whom we sustain as the President of the Church and as a prophet, seer and revelator.

Russell Marion Nelson was born on September 9, 1924 (a day before his future predecessor to the Quorum Presidency, Boyd K. Packer) to Marion C. and Edna Anderson Nelson in Salt Lake City Utah. Though he grew up in a loving family, his parents were not active in the Church. As a teenager, he went looking for books about the Church at Deseret Book. His parents allowed him and his siblings to be baptized when he was 16.

In terms of his family, President Nelson married his first wife, Dantzel, in the Salt Lake Temple. They have nine daughters and one son. When his wife unexpectedly died in 2005, he described having "inconsolable grief" for a time. He married Wendy Watson, a BYU professor, the following April.

He studied at LDS Business College and went on to obtain his BA and MD at the University of Utah. He simultaneously trained as a surgeon and did doctoral studies at the University of Utah. He was part of the research team that developed the heart-lung machine that was used in 1951 on the first open-heart operation on a human being. He spent two years on medical duty for the US Army during the Korean War, then underwent another training period in Boston at the prestigious Harvard Medical School's Massachusetts General Hospital.

At some point in his medical career, the University of Chicago was anxious to get him to come and teach at their school of medicine, so the president of that university asked Dallin H., Oaks, a professor in the law school there, to try and persuade him. Then-Brother Oaks did his best to convince then-Brother Nelson to accept the offer. But Church President David O. McKay advised him not to go, so he rejected the offer.

In 1955, he accepted a teaching opportunity at the University of Utah School of Medicine. where he built his own heart-and-lung machine. Around a year later, he was on duty to perform the first pediatric cardiac operation. In 1960, he performed the first successful operative repair of a tricuspid heart valve. Being worried that a surgical procedure he had been asked to perform was too risky for anyone, he requested and received a blessing from President Spencer W. Kimball, who was one of his patients.

That surgery was a success, and he later w used the same technique to operate on President Kimball himself while the latter was serving as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which resulted in the Church being blessed for many additional years by the inspired counsel of President Kimball.

He has served in many positions on different hospital boards and has received several awards for his pioneering work. He likewise had many service opportunities in the Church. He served as a stake president for over six years, during which time he served alongside another future apostle, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. He also served as Sunday School General President (during which time, Brother Wirthlin would again serve alongside him) and in the now defunct calling of regional representative.

In the early 1970s, the Church was looking for a new president for BYU-Provo. Although Dallin H. Oaks was eventually appointed, then-Brother Nelson was also considered. In April 1984, with the advice and consent of President Spencer W. Kimball, President Gordon B. Hinckley, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency, called Brother Nelson to fill one of two vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Then-Brother Oaks was called to fill the other vacancy, and the two have sat side-by-side in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since that time.

Over the next 31.5 years, all the apostles that were junior to President Monson but senior to President Nelson passed away. When President Boyd K. Packer died on July 3, 2015, Elder Nelson became the de facto President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was officially set apart in that capacity 12 days later, on Wednesday July 15, 2015.

He was still serving in that role when the senior apostle, President Thomas S. Monson, passed away on January 2 of this year. President Nelson directed the affairs of the Church as the senior apostle for 12 days before his ordination as Church President. After meeting individually with each of the other 12 apostles, he selected his seatmate, Elder Oaks, and Elder Henry B. Eyring, who had served as a counselor to both Presidents Monson and Gordon B. Hinckley.

President Nelson took great care towards his Brethren in the apostleship. Many of you will recall how, in the midst of an address about charity, the pure love of Christ, that Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin began shaking uncontrollably, In a silent demonstration of what his colleague was talking about, Elder Nelson stood by and supported Elder Wirthlin until he closed his address, then gently helped him back to his seat.

And, of course, we heard recently how, following the Sunday Morning Session of the October 2017 General Conference, President Nelson followed a prompting to skip his lunch break and go immediately to the hospital to visit Elder Robert D. Hales, who passed away within a few minutes after President Nelson arrived.

President Nelson has demonstrated a keen intellect, a willingness to seek for and follow revelation from the Lord, and an undeviating loyalty and full commitment to his family, his Church, and his apostolic colleagues. We have seen him respond swiftly to such revelation, and perhaps the greatest details of the revelation he continues to receive regularly are yet-to-be revealed in the upcoming General Conference.

I have always been impressed and touched by President Nelson's remarks. He has given 75 addresses thus far in General Conference, including 5 last April in his first General Conference as Church President.To review any of those remarkable addresses, click here. He is also rising among the ranks of our other nonagenarian apostles, and he may very well live to become the oldest living apostle, which will happen in just under five years from now.

Though he may not ever read this personally, I am grateful for the chance to have paid this birthday tribute to President Nelson. He and the other apostles have my unequivocal support and sustaining vote. I know for myself that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God, that he will not lead us astray, that he speaks for and in behalf of the Lord and that we will be blessed by the Lord as we follow the counsel given by His chosen mouthpiece.

That does it for this post. Any comments are 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.

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.