During the week of March 6-12, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had a charge for the newly inaugurated BYU–Pathway Worldwide President Brian K. Ashton. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, as nearly 40,000 pounds of food donated by the Church arrived there.  Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Apostles spoke at the Missionary Training Center. 

Relief Society, Young Women and Primary general leaders shared about women who inspired and shaped them for International Women’s Day. The Young Men and Young Women general presidencies asked youth from around the world what it means to trust in the Lord during the Face to Face for youth. The Church History Symposium focuses on religious freedom. 

This week’s Church News podcast is about forging emotional resilience with David T. Morgan. Money raised by the #LightTheWorld Giving Machines is being distributed to global and local charities. Women are answering the invitation to serve in advance of the organization’s 180th anniversary. 

Find summaries to these stories below.

1. Elder Holland charges newly inaugurated BYU–Pathway president to both watch and make history in helping provide education worldwide

From left, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and President Dallin H. Oaks congratulate newly inaugurated BYU-Pathway Worldwide President Brian K. Ashton and his wife, Sister Melinda Ashton, during the March 10, 2022, inauguration ceremony at the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Elder Holland charged newly inaugurated BYU–Pathway Worldwide President Brian K. Ashton to not only watch history unfold but to make history — and to follow some of the new president’s own counsel he gave BYU–Pathway students in a devotional several years ago.

Read about Elder Holland’s instructions for President Ashton

2. Church works with Christian Cultural Center, food pantry to help support New York’s urban populations

Food is unloaded by Van Dyke Jones from a Deseret Transportation truck from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Christian Cultural Center in from the Brooklyn on Friday, March 4, 2022.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder Cook and his wife, Sister Mary G. Cook, visited the Christian Cultural Center and associated food pantry as the Church’s food donation — a truckload of nearly 40,000 pounds of donated goods from the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City — arrived at the Brooklyn, New York, center.

Watch a video about the donation and learn more about the center

3. Elder Andersen shares lists of scriptures, parables and testimonies — and asks missionaries to create their own

Elder Neil L. Andersen, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shakes hands with missionaries after speaking at a devotional at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Elder Andersen distributed a handout listing 12 scriptures of Jesus’ teachings, six of His parables, and 10 testimonies from Book of Mormon prophets about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He then directed the missionaries to go and create their own lists of scriptures, parables and testimonies — ones that could help shape their teachings and testimonies of Christ not only during missionary service but throughout life.

Explore the scriptures on his list and start creating your own

4. For International Women’s Day, read about 9 women who have inspired and shaped these Church leaders

This compilations shows images from the International Women's Day social posts by the Relief Society, Young Women and Primary general presidency members.

Screenshots from Facebook

In observance of International Women's Day, each member of the Relief Society, Young Women and Primary general presidencies published Tuesday morning on social media stories about women who inspire them.

See the social posts and learn more about these women

5. Worldwide youth Face to Face audience answering the query: ‘How do you trust in the Lord?’

Young Men General President Steven J. Lund interviews four cousins from the Philippines during March 9, 2022, Face to Face event.

Screenshot from Face to Face broadcast

During the worldwide Face to Face broadcast Wednesday, March 9, the Young Women and Young Men general presidencies asked young people from across the globe what it means to follow Proverbs 3:5 and place their trust in God. Youth co-host Joe Kennaley said that the broadcast is intended to go beyond simply reading from Proverbs. “We’re going to find out what it looks like, in your life and mine, to trust in the Lord.”

Discover more about trusting in the Lord

6. Church History Symposium panel: Defending religious liberty as both a Church member and citizen, and in societies around the world

W. Cole Durham Jr, Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU, speaks at the panel section with, from left to right, Gary B. Doxey, Sister Sharon Eubank, Michael O. Leavitt and Elizabeth A. Clark during the Church History Symposium at the Church Office Building.

Mengshin Lin, Deseret News

During a panel discussion at the Church History Symposium, centered on “‘Anxiously Engaged in a Good Cause’: Religious Freedom at Home and Abroad” and topics ranged from challenges religious freedom faces, religion in politics to religion in the Ukraine, plus five ways people can help build interfaith relationships.

Learn more about their discussion on religious freedom

7. Episode 73: Incorporating spiritual strategies to forge emotional resilience, with David T. Morgan

This episode of the Church News podcast features a licensed psychologist and Latter-day Saint who has spent his career helping individuals struggling with anxiety and mental illness. David T. Morgan, a counselor, author and motivational speaker, uses gospel insights and real-life applications to explore strategies — secular and spiritual — to forge emotional resilience. 

Listen to the podcast, plus learn about resources to help with mental health, including anxiousness and anxiety

8. How nearly $6 million in donations at 2021 #LightTheWorld Giving Machines showed ‘lovingkindness’

Representatives of five global charitable organizations smile at a reception to celebrate the 2021 Christmas season Light the World Giving Machines donations in New York City on March 9, 2022. The charities are: Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Church World Service, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WaterAid.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Some 300,000 people throughout the United States visited a Light the World Giving Machine between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, donating a combined $5.8 million. This year, the money benefited 44 charities in the United States and five global agencies. There were presentations around the U.S. recently with ceremonial handovers with large checks made out to each local charity partner.

Find out about the charity partners

9. Relief Society women answer the invitation to serve before organization’s 180th anniversary

Shelly Olivier left, Sara Stong right, volunteering at the donation/distribution center for fire victims in Boulder County, Colorado, February 2022.

Provided by Shelly Olivier

Women are following the invitation of the Relief Society general presidency to serve during the month ahead of the 180th anniversary of the organization’s founding. And as they do so, their lives are changing.

See what 6 different groups are doing to serve, from the U.K. to Hawaii