During the week of Jan. 16-22, President Russell M. Nelson posted a message on social media in commemoration of the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The First Presidency published a letter encouraging faith and calm to members of the Church in Tonga following an undersea volcano eruption. And President M. Russell Ballard reflected on his time in seminary as a teenager during an online training broadcast for seminary and institute teachers across the globe.
In a BYU devotional on Jan. 18, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shared a story about faith, forgiveness and the Atonement of Christ. Elder Neil L. Andersen dedicated the new BYU–Hawaii Science Building and gave a devotional on the Laie, Hawaii, campus. And the Church has released a new 35-page pamphlet designed to enhance understanding between those of Muslim and Latter-day Saint faiths.
In episode 66 of the Church News podcast, BYU athletic directors Tom Holmoe and Liz Darger talk about the role of BYU sports with guest host Sheri Dew. A Church News article featured six maps of the locations of the Church’s temples. And thousands of Californians responded to a JustServe project to sew Days for Girls kits to send to Africa.
Read summaries and find links to these nine articles below.
1. President Nelson asks all to ‘labor together to abandon attitudes and actions of prejudice’
In commemoration of the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., President Nelson, posted a message on social media Monday, Jan. 17, asking all to “labor together to abandon attitudes and actions of prejudice.”
“The Book of Mormon teaches that ‘black and white, bond and free, male and female … all are alike unto God,’ (2 Nephi 26:33)” he wrote on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Read how President Nelson honored Martin Luther King Jr.
2. First Presidency sends message of love and hope to members in Tonga
Responding to the emergency in Tonga caused by a volcanic eruption Jan. 15, the First Presidency published a letter encouraging faith and calm to members of the Church in Tonga on Friday, Jan. 21.
“How we love you!” the letter begins. “Your deep and abiding faith in our Heavenly Father and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, is known and admired the world over.”
Learn more about the Tongan emergency update and how to help
3. How seminary blessed the life of President Ballard growing up in a family that didn’t attend church
During an online training broadcast on Jan. 21 for teachers of seminary and institute, President Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, shared his personal experiences with the seminary program as he offered counsel and encouragement to the Church’s 45,000 seminary and institute teachers around the globe during the online training.
Find out President Ballard’s and other Church leaders’ counsel for teaching youth
4. Elder Holland at BYU: What one family’s story of forgiveness teaches about the meaning of faith
In a BYU campus devotional on Tuesday, Jan. 18, Elder Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recounted one family’s experiences to illustrate the difficulty of life’s lessons and what it means to faithfully submit to what God allows. He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Patricia Holland, who also spoke. Thousands of students filled the Marriott Center and listened intently to Elder and Sister Holland’s heart-felt remarks.
Read more about Elder Holland’s message
5. Elder Andersen dedicates new building on BYU–Hawaii campus
The new Science Building at BYU–Hawaii will be home to math and science instruction on campus, or — as Elder Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles noted in his dedicatory prayer for the facility on Saturday, Jan. 15 — a place where worldly learning will be combined with the learning of heaven.
Elder Andersen also offered remarks at a campus devotional on Sunday, Jan. 16, about how to look at New Year’s resolutions.
Learn about the new building and read Elder Andersen’s advice for students
6. Church releases ‘Muslims and Latter-day Saints: Beliefs, Values, and Lifestyles’
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released a new 35-page pamphlet designed to enhance understanding between those of Muslim and Latter-day Saint faiths.
Beginning Thursday, Jan. 20, ”Muslims and Latter-day Saints: Beliefs, Values, and Lifestyles” is available online at ChurchofJesusChrist.org in six languages — Arabic, English, Farsi, French, Spanish and Turkish, with German and Russian versions will come later.
Find out more about the new pamphlet
7. BYU athletic directors Tom Holmoe and Liz Darger on excellence in sports, BYU’s Honor Code, gospel principles
BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe and Liz Darger, BYU’s senior associate athletic director/senior woman administrator and a member of the Young Women general advisory council, joined this episode of the Church News podcast.
The episode also featured guest host and avid BYU sports fan Sheri L. Dew, executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corporation and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency. They talk about BYU athletic programs and athletes and the role they play in the university and, by extension, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Listen to the podcast
8. Maps of the Church’s temples around the world
After previously employing two maps — a worldwide map and a United States map — to show temple growth, the Church News has plotted temples across six maps.
One map has dots representing each temple location across the globe.
Additional maps show the temples in tighter geographic breakdowns, with each of the 265 temples identified by name and current status — dedicated and operating or scheduled to be dedicated, dedicated but under renovation, under construction or scheduled for groundbreaking, or announced.
See the locations of the Church’s 265 temples across 6 maps
9. Days for Girls service project changes lives of givers and receivers
Karen and Brad Wilkes learned something while building latrines in Rwanda in 2012, as part of their humanitarian service in the Uganda Kampala Mission. Girls who did not have any hygiene products would have to miss school for several days each month during their periods. And disposable hygiene products were clogging up the latrines and jeopardizing their longevity.
While looking for solutions, the Wilkeses found out about Days for Girls, which provides sustainable, fabric menstruation products to girls and women in 120 countries across six continents of the world.
