President Nelson Visits the Pacific Northwest

Hello again, everyone! Before President Nelson was unexpectedly instructed by the Lord to visit the Caribbean Area of the Church during the first weekend of this month, he had set plans to visit the Pacific Northwest in company with his wife, Sister Wendy Watson Nelson and his Second Counselor, President Henry B. Eyring. He was in Washington State yesterday (Saturday September 15), speaking to what was the largest congregation who had yet heard him. The devotional gathering originated from a baseball field, a venue that held the largest gathering of Church members with the prophet to date.

A summary of his remarks (along with a video) can be found here. A couple of things stood out to me as I read and watched that just now: First, President Eyring correctly observed that although the Church tweaks programs, policies, and practices to better serve members worldwide, the basic doctrines of the Church have remained consistent since the gospel's restoration in 1830, and will remain so through the end of time.

Secondly, President Nelson cited a numerical figure of the number in attendance at that devotional during his remarks, which covered a wide variety of topics. As those in attendance prepared to sing the closing hymn, he stepped up to the pulpit again, mentioned that he believed in repentance, and then, with a twinkle in his eye, corrected the earlier figure he had provided, apologized for the error, and thanked everyone again for their attendance.

The one thing that has impressed me for several years now is how quick the Brethren are to acknowledge such errors and correct them in good spirits. Two such errors happened during separate times when President Eyring and then-President Uchtdorf led the Sustaining of Church Officers during President Monson's administration and inadvertently neglected to present some names on their lists, and we saw it happen again when President Oaks did the same just last conference.

It is moments such as this when the Lord reminds us that, although these men deserve our sustaining vote and undeviating support, they are no different than you or I are, and just as prone to moments of human error. The fact that they take quick action to correct such errors as soon as they can after they notice them is a humbling and gratifying process to see. It takes truly great individuals to admit when mistakes have been made, and I appreciate the candid way that President Nelson approached what others might see as a very minor error, but which he felt a need to clarify and correct.

Later today, the leaders journey to British Columbia, and I will post a report of their time there as soon as it becomes available. 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.

Miscellaneous Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! In the last several hours, additional Church news has been reported. So let's get right into it all. First, the Newsroom on lds.org recently shared this article about how the Saints in the Philippines are being prepared for an incoming storm. I cannot say for certain that this will be the case, but I could see the Church potentially holding off on further action relating to the Urdaneta Philippines Temple until the storms clear the region. It will be interesting to see.

In connection to what I reported days ago about how Latter-day Saints in the Southern parts of the United States are preparing for the incoming tropical storm, this article highlights relief efforts that are already underway as the storm prepares to land. And this article (from the Church News) highlights both the devastation from the storm and what has been and will be done to deal with it as it progresses.

Next, as those following the conversations on the LDS Church Growth Blog might be aware, there was some confusion about how to correctly refer to Church members and the organizations of the Church in light of the newly reemphasized guidelines about the name of the Church. In my opinion, some of those concerns can be answered by the next story.

The main Newsroom on the Church's website had periodically gathered a set of articles from their international counterparts in a segment that has been known as "Mormons Around the World". With another edition published in that series this week, the name of the series has changed to "Latter-day Saints Around the World". which signals that "Latter-day Saints" is now the preferred term which is to be used to refer to the members of the Church. The latest article published in that series can be found here, with a collection of inspiring stories from all over the world.

Next, from the Church News, we have a couple of stories about preparation for the incoming natural disasters: namely, this one (describing general conditions) and this one (in which former UVU President Matthew S. Holland, who is now a mission president in Raleigh, describes more fully what the situation of members currently involve, what they are further preparing for, and what is being done to keep missionaries safe.

In two stories relating to President Nelson, we have this article highlighting testimonies about his prophetic calling from each of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and this article which shares insights from the members of the Quorum of the Twelve who have recently traveled with President Nelson.

There were two other stories which I found significant. A new missionary for the Church put her doubts and fears about her adequacy to serve into a song, which she wrote in the MTC and received permission to record once she arrived in the field. You can read more about that here. At the LDS Institute of Religion in Salt Lake City, Sister Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, shared 17 suggestions to help us deal with times when we feel inadequate, overwhelmed, or discouraged.

All of these articles are well worthy of your attention. I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those 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.

An Apostolic Milestone and an Open House

Hello again, everyone! This weekend marks a couple of important dates in Church History. First of all, as many of you may be aware, the open house for the Concepcion Chile Temple is set to begin tomorrow (with tours continuing through October 13, with the exception of the relevant Sundays). This will, of course, mark the beginning of the first open house for a new temple in 2018.

Additionally, on Sunday September 16, President Dallin H. Oaks, who will have served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for 8 months and 2 days, will pass David O. McKay to become the 26th longest-serving Quorum President in Church History.

As I previously noted, President Russell M. Nelson appears to be in very good health still, and all who have watched him out among the Saints report that he has often appeared to be 20-30 years younger than his actual age of 94. With that in mind, it seems entirely possible that we will see a fulfillment of Elder Andersen's expressed hope that President Nelson "will be with us another decade or two."

If that does turn out to be the case, then President Nelson will be around to observe several age and tenure milestones, and the same will likely hold true for President Oaks as well, who also appears to be in good health.

Whatever might happen in that regard, I will be tracking it all, and you can depend on my passing it along to you all as I am able to do so. 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Articles About Elders Gong, Soares Will Appear in the October 2018 Ensign

Hello again, everyone! I have periodically been checking for the last few days for any word on early access to the October 2018 Ensign. Just now, it paid off. The HTML version of that Ensign will, as anticipated, include articles honoring Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares as the new apostles of the Church.

I previously referenced that Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Neil L. Andersen had been assigned as the respective mentors to these new Brethren. So it is fitting and proper that Elder Christofferson wrote the one honoring Elder Gong and that Elder Andersen wrote the one honoring Elder Soares.

As I have also previously referenced, Elder Gong married the daughter of Elder Richard P. Lindsay, who also served as a general authority seventy. But what I didn't know until now is that Elder Soares has several connections to former and current general authorities himself. Elder Soares' mission president was Elder Helio Da Rocha Camargo, who was the first Brazilian general authority appointed. But more than that, Elder Soares' wife's sister married Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, who has been a general authority since the mid-1990s.

The articles about the new apostles shared many unique insights into how the Lord prepared these men, including extensive comments from their family members and Church leaders who have worked with them and who talk about how well these men have maintained a balance between family life, professional careers, and service in the Church. They are well worthy of your time and attention.

I am grateful that the Lord has called Elder Gerrit Walter Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares to the Quorum of the Twelve, and that we have a chance to learn more about them through these articles. I wholeheartedly sustain them. The moment their names were announced in General Conference, the Spirit confirmed to my soul that the Lord had directed their calls.

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

BREAKING NEWS: President & Sister Nelson, President Eyring to Visit Langley British Colombia

Hello again, everyone! In a previous post, I referenced the fact that President Nelson has made several stops in Canada recently because these were quick trips his staff could arrange while he continues to prepare for General Conference. In this article from a newspaper in British Colombia, it was mentioned that President Russell M. Nelson, along with his wife, Wendy W. Nelson, and his Second Counselor, President Henry B. Eyring, will be making another such trip this weekend to speak at a member devotional in Langley, British Colombia.

Here's how recent this development is: I happened to hear of it before the news was ever covered by the Church News website. This continues another leg of President Nelson's World Ministry Tour, which is ongoing. I was pleased to hear of this news.

Now, I just wanted to interject a word here about potential future temples: Until the extent of President Nelson's temple-building plans are known (whether those are detailed more fully in either the October General Conference or at other points in the remaining 3.5 months of this year), I am not assuming, as I once did, that every city to which President Nelson pays a visit is in the running for a temple in the near future. I am working on trimming down my personal list for next October to a more reasonable amount, and time will tell how thoroughly, to what extent, and within what kind of timing those plans will be implemented.

As always, I continue to monitor any Church news and all temple developments and will do my best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of it. 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 feel 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.