During the week of May 30-June 5, President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks, spoke to Church Educational System teachers and administrators, and Elder James B. Martino presided at the groundbreaking of the Tallahassee Florida Temple.
The Church News published a video of Elder Quentin L. Cook’s thoughts about Nauvoo following the dedication of the Temple District of Nauvoo last weekend, and Church Historian Kate Holbrook joined the Church News podcast to talk about the early Saints in Nauvoo. The Young Women general presidency wrote an article about focusing on the path toward the temple, and Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, former Young Women general president, spoke at an Ensign College devotional.
Latter-day Saint Charities is donating $5 million to help refugees in the United States and is battling anemia in West Africa with a 2-inch iron fish. And two former mission companions from Finland remain connected in their service 40 years later.
Find links and read summaries of these nine articles below.
1. President Oaks speaks to 55,000 seminary and institute teachers around the world
In a time where youth and young adults struggle to navigate the pressures of worldly ideas and values, contentions in society and the isolation brought on by the pandemic, the Church’s second-most senior leader expressed his love, appreciation and a blessing to those who strive to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What President Oaks remembers best about his seminary teachers 70 years ago and how expanded online opportunities have created silver linings during the pandemic
2. Video: What Nauvoo, the temple and its history mean to Elder and Sister Cook
“There is something about Nauvoo that just really touches my heart, so I am happy to be back,” said Elder Cook. “I love the history. I love the ancestors. I love the houses. I love everything about it. But the temple is really what gives it the meaning doctrinally and is special.”
Watch the video
3. Church Historian Kate Holbrook on what we can learn from the early Saints in Nauvoo
Kate Holbrook, a historian, writer and the managing historian of women’s history in the Church History Department, joins the Church News podcast to talk about Nauvoo — how early Church members grew in faith amid the trials and triumphs they experienced along the muddy banks of the Mississippi River and how they are an inspiration to Latter-day Saints today.
Listen to Episode 33 of the Church News podcast
4. Ground broken for Tallahassee Florida Temple
“This temple will bless the entire land around it and the entire community,” Elder Martino said. “It will be a beacon of holiness and a place of peace for all to both see and feel. Here we will seek to draw closer to God, to hear His voice, and seek to follow His teachings.”
Read more about Florida's third temple
5. Battling anemia in West Africa
A wise, oft-repeated proverb teaches that if you give a person a fish, he or she will eat for a day — but if you teach them to fish, they will eat for a lifetime.
Apparently, there is also wisdom in teaching someone to cook with a fish — specifically, an iron fish. An ongoing effort between the Church and its humanitarian partners is helping families in many parts of western Africa battle anemia by teaching them to cook with a “lucky” iron fish.
Learn more about Latter-day Saint Charities’ effort to fight hunger
6. Latter-day Saint Charities donates $5 million to assist refugees in U.S.
More than 9,000 refugees and immigrants are expected to benefit from $5 million-worth of grants donated by Latter-day Saint Charities. The financial gift, announced Thursday, June 3, will be divided among nine refugee resettlement agencies which partner with scores of charitable organizations in the United States.
Read about this donation and what Latter-day Saint Charities is doing to relieve suffering in Sudan
7. Focus on the path toward the temple, Young Women general presidency advises
Like the families in the Book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, “how can we figuratively place our tents toward the temple each day and focus on our purpose, whether or not there is an actual temple in our view?” the Young Women general presidency asks. “In our day, we are blessed with many opportunities and options that can be powerful reminders of who we are meant to be and how we can, like the youth of Zarahemla, demonstrate our faith in Jesus Christ.”
How seeking and keeping a limited-use recommend puts us on the path toward the temple
8. Sister Oscarson speaks in Ensign College devotional
Covenants are evidence of Heavenly Father’s love for His children, taught Sister Oscarson at an Ensign College devotional June 1. “There is power and there are great blessings which come from being among God’s covenant people.”
Read more about how covenants are a manifestation of God’s love
9. Former mission companions from Finland continue to share the gospel together
In 1980, two Finnish young men — Ismo Määttä and Ville Kervinen — were called to serve in the Finland Helsinki Mission. They never expected how their lives would continue to intertwine for the next 40 years.
