During the week of Sept. 1-7, the Church News podcast invited friends and family of President Russell M. Nelson to share their perspectives on his career, ministry and family. The podcast came ahead of President Nelson’s 100th birthday on Sept. 9.
In another interview for the Church News, President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, declared: “Keep the faith you have. But if there is faith you don’t have, great; join the human race, but keep the faith you have.”
The First Presidency announced the dates and sessions of the October 2024 general conference. The sessions will be open to all individuals, families and friends, according to a letter sent to general and local Church leaders. The upcoming 194th Semiannual General Conference is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5-6.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught Saints in Ecuador, concluding a 10-day ministry in the Church’s South America Northwest Area. Elder Bednar held leadership training meetings for leaders of multiple stakes and met with missionaries and young single adults. Workshops for missionaries focused on education, employment and entrepreneurship.
Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visited the Philippines. While there, he met with Philippines President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. during a 40-minute visit at Malacañang Palace in the capital city of Manila. Another temple in the Philippines is under construction, after ground was broken on Saturday, Aug. 31. The Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple will be one of 13 total houses of the Lord located in the Philippines. In other temple news this week, the First Presidency has adjusted the dedication of the Tallahassee Florida Temple. And the Church has released a rendering of the Vancouver Washington Temple.
Camping is blessing the lives of Latter-day Saint young men to build faith and strengthen their testimonies. The Church needs more online institute teachers, with online institute providing all of BYU–Pathway Worldwide’s religion courses starting in 2025. Latter-day Saints in New Zealand recently collected boxes of used scriptures to donate to congregations in Papua New Guinea.
Read summaries and find links to these nine articles below.
1. Podcast episode 205: Celebrating President Nelson’s century of service ahead of his birthday
History will be made in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Monday, Sept. 9, as President Russell M. Nelson turns 100 years old. He will be the first prophet of the Church’s restored era to become a centenarian. President Nelson was set apart as the 17th President of the Church on Jan. 14, 2018, after serving 34 years in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Before 1984, when he entered full-time Church service, President Nelson was a world-renowned heart surgeon, medical researcher and, most important, a husband and father. On this episode of the Church News podcast, learn more about President Nelson’s century of service with those who have known him personally. They offer perspective on his life, his career, his ministry and his family.
Listen to the full podcast episode here
2. ‘It is all true,’ President Holland testifies
The Savior is everything, President Jeffrey R. Holland said in an interview for the Church News podcast. “He is the beginning, and He is with me right now, and He is the end. It is His gift. It is His atoning gift, especially the gift of life and of happiness and marriage and the things we have, the highs and the lows. He knows all about it.”
President Holland has always had faith. He cannot remember a time that he did not believe. He has had serious questions also, but he knows Joseph Smith had a vision, Moroni delivered the plates and angelic visitors came to restore priesthood power. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, and he knows answers will come and gifts will be given to those who seek.
Read more of what President Holland said here
Listen to the Church News podcast to hear more of President Holland’s interview
3. First Presidency announces dates, sessions of October 2024 general conference
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the upcoming 194th Semiannual General Conference, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5-6.
“General conference provides an opportunity to receive personal revelation as general Church leaders give counsel and direction from the Lord,” wrote the First Presidency — President Russell M. Nelson and his counselors, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring — in a Sept. 5 letter to general and local Church leaders. “We encourage all to listen to, study, ponder and apply the counsel given.”
Read the announcement on the upcoming general conference here
Start preparing now for general conference by reading a talk a day
4. The gospel of Jesus Christ is one of joy, Elder Bednar teaches in Ecuador
Concluding a 10-day ministry in the South America Northwest Area, Elder Bednar said he saw many people are living the gospel joyfully.
“They are anxiously engaged in family history work. They are opening their mouths. They are joyful and sharing the gospel, so they understand what matters most,” he said in Guayaquil, Ecuador. “They have a remarkable desire to share what they know and what brings such joy into their lives.”
Read more of Elder Bednar’s recent ministry to Ecuador here
5. Latter-day Saint Apostle meets with Philippines president
Elder Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met with Philippines President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. during a 40-minute visit at Malacañang Palace in the capital city of Manila on Monday, Aug. 19, reported the Church’s Philippines Newsroom and ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“It was an honor to meet with President Marcos and learn more about his developing vision for the Philippines,” Elder Kearon said. “The president was gracious regarding the work the Church is doing to build individuals and communities and to assist in disaster response, particularly in relation to typhoons.”
Read about Elder Kearon’s visit to the Philippines
6. Temple news: Ground broken for new temple and photo rendering released of another in the U.S.
The construction phase for the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple has started, following the Saturday, Aug. 31, groundbreaking for the house of the Lord located along the north-central coast of Mindanao, the second-largest island in the Philippine archipelago.
The First Presidency of the Church has announced an adjustment to the number of dedication sessions of the Tallahassee Florida Temple, now at a single session. Elder Kearon will dedicate the Tallahassee Florida Temple on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, with the one dedicatory session at 10 a.m. to be broadcast to all units within the new temple district.
The Church has released a rendering of the Vancouver Washington Temple. The rendering’s release comes just six months after the site of the future house of the Lord was first published and just 11 months after a temple was announced for the Vancouver area in southwestern Washington.
Read more on the groundbreaking for the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple here
Read here more about the upcoming dedication of the Tallahassee Florida Temple
Read about the Church’s plans for the Vancouver Washington Temple
7. How camping is blessing Latter-day Saint young men to build faith and experience spiritual growth
“Young men need camps where they can gather away from worldly influences; build lasting, gospel-centered relationships; and strengthen their faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ,” Young Men General President Steven J. Lund said in a 2023 Church News article.
Some young men recently shared with Church News how their summer camping experiences have taught valuable lessons, strengthened testimonies and blessed lives.
Read more about what camping is doing to build faith
8. The Church needs more online institute teachers. Here’s how to help
Recently, the Church announced a new service missionary opportunity for qualified members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ages 26 and older: to increase the faith of students worldwide by serving as an online institute teacher.
Beginning in January 2025, however, all of BYU–Pathway Worldwide’s religion courses will be provided through online institute.
Read here about how you can help by becoming an online institute teacher
9. Latter-day Saints in New Zealand collect ‘pre-loved’ scriptures for needful congregations in Papua New Guinea
In what Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, a General Authority Seventy, dubbed “a perfect example of following Church President Russell Nelson’s invitation to minister to ‘the one,’” Latter-day Saints in Auckland, New Zealand, recently donated boxes of scriptures to congregations in Papua New Guinea.
During a visit to Papua New Guinea earlier this year, Elder Wakolo, who serves as first counselor in the Pacific Area presidency, noted that many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there did not have scriptures or the means to buy them.
