During the week of May 9-15, a new video highlights what President Spencer W. Kimball and President Russell M. Nelson shared about women in “You Are the Women He Foresaw.”
Ground was broken for the Deseret Peak Utah Temple in Tooele, Utah. In this week’s Church News podcast, Elder Craig C. Christensen, a General Authority Seventy and Utah Area president, explains about the Church’s geographic areas and directing the Utah Area through the pandemic.
A former Young Women general leader continues to serve women and girls worldwide in her new role at the United Nations. The Sunday School general presidency highlights a resource for studying the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Young Men general presidency offers guidance for busy bishops.
Also this week, the First Presidency has given approval for areas to establish gathering places for young single adults. The Church has donated food and other supplies to help resettled refugees in the Houston area. More than 3,100 youth volunteers helped with a massive cleanup in the St. George area.
Find links and read summaries of these nine articles below.
1. Watch a message from President Nelson and President Kimball: ‘You are the women he foresaw’
Scheduled to speak at a large women’s fireside that was broadcast throughout the Church, President Kimball was in a hard spot.
It was September 1979, and President Kimball was sick. From his room in LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, President Kimball wrote his talk and asked his wife, Sister Camilla E. Kimball, to deliver the message on his behalf at the event.
President Kimball’s message foretold the growth the Church would experience because of the faithfulness of the women of the Church. Video showing the diversity of sisters in the Church today is followed by President Nelson declaring, “The day that President Kimball foresaw is today.”
Watch the video here
2. Leaders honor faithful, unified members in Tooele Valley as they break ground for Deseret Peak Utah Temple
With the ceremonial turning of shovelfuls of soil, the Deseret Peak Utah Temple is now under construction and firmly entrenched in its location, following a name change and site relocation in northwest Tooele in the 25 months since the temple was first announced.
The temple will serve faithful Latter-day Saints in the Tooele Valley who have, for decades, been part of the Salt Lake Temple District.
With the namesake mountain serving as a fitting backdrop, Elder Brook P. Hales, a General Authority Seventy, presided at the Saturday, May 15, groundbreaking ceremony for the Deseret Peak Utah Temple.
Read more, plus see photos from the groundbreaking and interior and exterior artist renderings
3. Elder Craig C. Christensen discusses directing the work of the Church’s Utah Area during the COVID-19 pandemic
The Church’s Utah Area serves more Latter-day Saints than any other administrative area and geographically includes Salt Lake City and Church headquarters. Elder Christensen has observed over many years of full-time Church service how the global Church has influenced the Utah Area and how the Utah Area influences the other 21 areas worldwide.
Elder Christensen, joined by Scott Taylor of the Church News, is featured in this episode of the Church News podcast. Along with podcast host Sarah Jane Weaver, editor of the Church News, they discuss serving the large number of Latter-day Saints who live in the Church’s Utah Area and the challenges of directing that area during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen to this week’s episode and find out how the Utah Area both blesses and benefits from a global Church
4. How a former Young Women general leader continues to serve women and girls worldwide in her new role at the United Nations
In April 2019, Sister Carol F. McConkie and her husband, Elder Oscar W. McConkie III, were called to serve as government affairs missionaries for the Church at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland — where Sister McConkie has continued to serve women and girls in her cause as an emissary of the Savior.
Sister McConkie was recently elected vice president of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, Geneva. This nongovernmental organization, which has consultative status with the U.N. Economic and Social Council, promotes gender equality and the empowerment and defense of the rights of women and girls worldwide.
Discover more about her new role to help women and girls around the world
5. Read the backstory to the Doctrine and Covenants in ‘Revelations in Context,’ Sunday School general presidency says
The stories in “Revelations in Context” recount not only the message the Lord was giving, “but also the context in which the message was being received,” said Sunday School General President Mark L. Pace. These stories can also help Latter-day Saints apply the Doctrine and Covenants to their lives today.
Echoing President Nelson’s counsel to study the scriptures daily, the Sunday School general presidency encouraged Latter-day Saints to be aware of, use and enjoy “Revelations in Context” as they study the Doctrine and Covenants with “Come, Follow Me” this year.
Explore more about “Revelations in Context”
6. Young Men general presidency offers guidance for busy bishoprics
In 2019 there was an inspired announcement that “Young Men presidencies at the ward level will be discontinued” to better align with the revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 107:15. Since then, some bishops have struggled to juggle their responsibilities.
The Young Men general presidency members offer answers to questions they frequently hear, including their advice to bishops who are feeling overwhelmed, the roles of advisers and specialists and how members can help.
Read their answers to 3 frequent questions
7. Some areas to establish gathering places for YSAs, participate in pilot test
Continuing the Church’s emphasis on strengthening single adults, the First Presidency has given approval for areas to establish gathering places for young single adults based on local needs.
“Area presidencies and stake presidencies may begin discussing and seeking approval for gathering places in response to the needs of their members,” stated a May 6 notice from the Church’s Priesthood and Family Department.
A limited number of stakes have also been approved to participate in a pilot test of young single adult initiatives in 2021.
Find out more about gathering places for young single adults
8. Church donation helping to feed refugees settling in Houston
The Church recently delivered a large semitruck shipment of food, water and other provisions to a Houston-area facility operated by, among others, the Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston and Catholic Charities to help support resettled refugees.
“There is a tremendous need for cleaning kits, blankets, socks, underwear, hygiene kits, clothing and for food,” said Elder Art Rascon, an Area Seventy and veteran journalist in Houston. “The Church has been so generous in providing for the needs of so many and helping to fill the warehouse of these charities.”
Learn about this effort to help refuges
9. More than 3,100 youth volunteers and leaders ‘happy’ to sacrifice their Saturday morning for massive St. George cleanup
Ask most teenagers how they would feel about getting up early on a Saturday, leaving the house, spending four hours cleaning and collecting trash and not getting paid to do it — the word “happy” would likely not be among their first impressions and expressions.
But for the thousands of youth, young single adults and leaders from southwestern Utah participating in the recent “Youth Day of Service: A Gift to the Community,” the word “happy” proved to be a common refrain.
