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President Nelson speaks about using full, proper name of the Church during visit to Canada

President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, enter the Palais des congrès de Montréal auditorium prior to the start of the Aug. 18, 2018, devotional in Montreal. Credit: Scott Taylor, Church News, Church News
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, await the start of the Aug. 18, 2018, devotional in the Palais des congrès de Montréal auditorium in Montreal. Credit: Scott Taylor, Church News, Church News
From left, Sister Wendy Nelson, President Russell M. Nelson, Elder Randall K. Bennett, Sister Shelley Bennett, Elder Neil L. Andersen and Sister Kathy Andersen, prior to the start of the Aug. 18, 2018, devotional in Montreal held at the Palais des congrès Credit: Scott Taylor, Church News, Church News

MONTREAL — The name of the Church "is not negotiable, because the Lord has told us what his Church shall be called,” said President Russell M. Nelson while visiting Montreal on Aug. 18.

Speaking of his recent call to identify The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by its full, formal name, rather than nicknames and abbreviations, President Nelson said the direction does not constitute a name change but rather a course correction.

“We’re not changing names. We’re correcting a name — that’s important to note."

The Lord said in Doctrine and Covenants 115:4: “Thus shall my church be called … The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” he explained.

Speaking to a group of 4,000 in the Palais de congrès de Montréal, President Nelson testified of the truthfulness of the Church by using and emphasizing its full, formal name. “And I might add that it’s not the Mormon Church. It’s not the LDS Church. It’s not the Church of the Latter-day Saints,” he said.

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is accompanying President Nelson on the three-day trip, said the First Presidency and Quorum members are unified on the subject. “The president has spoken, the Lord has spoken to the president,” he said, “and this is going to be an extended, multi-year effort — but this will not be something that will be attempted and then pulled back from.”

Read the full story on deseretnews.com.

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