During the week of July 2-8, Church President Russell M. Nelson posted on social media about forgiveness. The Church News podcast highlighted the teachings of President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, when he spoke about defending and advancing religious freedom throughout the world. A new Church History Museum exhibit, “With This Covenant in My Heart: The Art and Faith of Minerva Teichert,” opened to the public. Young Men General President Steven J. Lund spoke at the 2023 Freedom Festival Patriotic Service devotional in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Brother Thomas E. Mullen, member of the Young Men general advisory council, wrote an article for the Church News detailing how camping can be a spiritual experience for youth, not just a fun activity. A Church News video noted how The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and Orchestra at Temple Square’s recent concerts in Mexico are part of a multiyear global tour to spread hope. The first Church facility to host For the Strength of Youth conferences in Asia opened outside of Manila, Philippines, and more than 300 young members and friends of the Church participated in Tanzania’s first For the Strength of Youth conference.
FamilySearch set up a station at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the largest annual cultural event in the U.S. capital, according to the festival’s website. Julie Richmond, an 83-year-old Latter-day Saint from Pocatello, Idaho, told Church News about her upcoming graduation from BYU–Idaho. Sara Lopez, a 24-year-old from Port Orchard, Washington, told Church News about her journey of faith, sacrifice, hard work and endurance that led to her successful qualification for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
Read summaries and find links to these nine articles below.
1. President Nelson: Forgive others ‘seventy times seven’
On World Forgiveness Day, President Nelson shared a message of forgiving “seventy times seven.”
In Instagram posts in English and Spanish, President Nelson wrote that the Apostle Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who had sinned against him, suggesting seven times. But Jesus responded not seven times, but “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22).
“Forgiveness is not just a one-time act but a continuous process that requires patience, compassion, and understanding. It is not always easy to forgive those who have hurt you. You can receive strength from Jesus Christ,” President Nelson said.
2. In celebration of United States’ Independence Day, read President Dallin H. Oaks and his call to protect religious freedom
In July 2022, President Oaks offered a historic address at the 2022 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Rome, Italy. He called for a global effort to defend and advance the religious freedom of all of God’s children in every nation of the world.
While he was in Rome in 2022, President Oaks participated in a Church News interview about religious liberty, saying “The most effective representation of religious liberty is a representation that stands up for people of faith or no faith.”
3. New Church History Museum exhibit features artwork and faith of Minerva Teichert
The new Church History Museum exhibit, “With This Covenant in My Heart: The Art and Faith of Minerva Teichert” — which opened Tuesday, July 6, and runs until Aug. 3, 2024 — is designed to show Teichert’s devotion to her faith and artwork.
“The art of Minerva Teichert plays a significant role in the history of Latter-day Saint visual culture,” art curator Laura Paulsen Howe said, “and we’re grateful to have the opportunity to ensure her work will endure for future generations.”
4. President Lund urges others to ‘come together as a nation’ and ‘look out for each other’
President Lund spoke Sunday, July 2, at the 2023 Freedom Festival Patriotic Service devotional in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
“The flag is a symbol,” President Lund said. “The Pledge of Allegiance is something of a covenant we make — promising loyalty to the ideas that are wrapped up in the ‘republic for which it stands.’”
5. Brother Thomas E. Mullen: How camping provides an ideal setting for teaching spiritual lessons
Brother Mullen wrote an article for the Church News detailing how camping can be a spiritual experience for youth, not just a fun activity.
“Camping, boating and ziplining produce fun and valuable experiences. However, with just a little extra effort, they can become much more than that,” he said. “They can provide spiritual lessons that will be remembered long after the experiences are over.”
6. Video: How the Tabernacle Choir shared a message of hope in Mexico
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and Orchestra at Temple Square’s recent concerts in Mexico are part of a multiyear global tour to spread hope.
“The message of hope was delivered,” Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt said of the June 13-19 tour. In this video, titled “Choir in Mexico,” President Leavitt shares three goals during the choir’s time in Mexico.
7. Two FSY firsts — a program in Tanzania and a facility in the Philippines
The first Church facility to host For the Strength of Youth conferences in Asia opened outside of Manila, Philippines, with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, dedication and tours on Wednesday, June 7.
Also, more than 300 young members and friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participated in Tanzania’s first For the Strength of Youth conference in the Africa Central Area.
8. How FamilySearch is participating in the U.S. capital’s largest cultural festival
FamilySearch set up a station at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the largest annual cultural event in the U.S. capital, according to the festival’s website. And, for the first time, full-time missionaries from the Church were allowed to provide service for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Elder Eric Baxter, an Area Seventy in Washington, D.C. and attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit focused on protecting religious rights, shared his perspective on religious freedom with Church News while volunteering with his family at the FamilySearch booth at the festival.
“Without freedom of religion, the other freedoms are less brilliant,” Elder Baxter said. “... Religious speech was one of the reasons people came to America, and so protecting religious freedom protects all of our other freedoms.”
9. Meet the 83-year-old woman graduating from Brigham Young University–Idaho
Julie Richmond, from Pocatello, Idaho, and soon-to-be BYU–Idaho graduate, was excited to earn her degree in general studies with a minor in English. She worked hard for her education, and her family is proud of her accomplishments.
But unlike most graduates, Richmond finished her education at 83 years old. She said, “We believe that we will take with us whatever knowledge we acquire on this earth. ... I think it’s just as important to [get my education] now because I’ll need whatever I’ve learned later.”
10. The story of faith and endurance that carried this Latter-day Saint runner to the U.S. Olympic trials
Sara Lopez, a 24-year-old from Port Orchard, Washington, told Church News about her journey of faith, sacrifice, hard work and endurance that led to her successful qualification for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
Lopez won the women’s 26.2-mile race at the Eugene Marathon in Oregon last April with a time of 2 hours, 33 minutes and 48 seconds. In the process, she qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, thanks to her sub-2:37:00 finish. That alone, to her, was a meaningful accomplishment.
She said, “Heavenly Father knows you. He knows what you want, and He wants you to feel joy. That’s what I have learned through this whole process. ... He has something better in mind for you, better than you could ever imagine, and that has brought me so much peace.”
