President Dallin H. Oaks was set apart as the 18th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
His life, example and leadership have been captured in many Church News videos. These videos, often filmed with his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks, showcase his experiences, his teachings and his testimony of the Savior.
Watch below.
President Oaks reflects on the teachings of women in his life
In this Church News video, titled “Teachings of Women,” President Oaks details the influence of his mother and grandmother during his childhood after his father died.
The influence of women in his life continued with his wife, Sister June Oaks, and then, after her death, with his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks.
“The most important teachers that I’ve had in the area of Church doctrine and service and family responsibilities — ranking right up there with the prophets of the Church — have been women,” said President Oaks.
What President Oaks has learned over 9 decades
President Oaks celebrated his 90th birthday on Aug. 12, 2022.
This Church News video, titled “Celebrating 90 years,” features President Oaks sharing some of the lessons he has learned over nine decades.
President Oaks speaks about his youth, education, legal career and calling as an Apostle of Jesus Christ.
President Oaks on establishing the Church in the Philippines
As an Apostle serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Oaks received the “unusual commission” to move to the Philippines and supervise the work there.
President Oaks served as the Church’s Philippines Area president from 2002 to 2004.
This Church News video, titled “Establishing the Church,” features President and Sister Oaks sharing their love for the Philippines.
When President Oaks experienced ‘the period of greatest learning’
“I often tell people that the greatest period of my growth as an Apostle was the two years in the Philippines,” said President Oaks. “I had never served as a bishop or a stake president or a mission president or a full-time missionary.”
This Church News video, titled “The Period of Greatest Learning,” features President and Sister Oaks reflecting on that time.
When President Oaks was in the Philippines, Sister Oaks said, he “really taught from the heart.”
What President and Sister Oaks learned in the Philippines about the strength and influence of women
President Oaks returned to the Philippines to dedicate the Urdaneta Philippines Temple on Sunday, April 28.
The Urdaneta temple was the third house of the Lord in the Philippines.
This Church News video, titled “Very Much Grateful,” features President Oaks and Sister Oaks speaking about what they observed about the strength and influence of Filipino women.
Teaching the women, he said, “was the only way to get the work to go forward.”
President and Sister Oaks speak on the blessings of ‘filling the temples’
“Returning to dedicate a temple is a wonderful thing,” President Oaks said in the days prior to dedicating the Urdaneta Philippines Temple.
In this Church News video, titled “Filling the Temples,” President and Sister Oaks testify of the need to fill temples, not just build temples.
With the construction of more temples around the world, President Oaks said that members of the Church should “be more diligent in teaching the doctrine of the Church, the temple covenants and worthiness.”
President Oaks calls temples a ‘great symbol of the continuity of life’
From the visitors’ center of the Rome Italy Temple, President Oaks called temples a “great symbol of the continuity of life.”
In this Church News video, titled “Meaning of Temples,” President Oaks recalls attending the dedication of the Rome temple with other senior Church leaders.
He was filled with exhilaration that the Church was able to “build a temple in this great city, which is the seat of Christianity in all the world.
Finding the middle ground on religious freedom
President Oaks offered a keynote address at the 2022 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit, held in Rome, Italy, on July 20, 2022.
Calling for “a global effort to defend and advance the religious freedom of all the children of God in every nation of the world,” President Oaks suggested steps to promote religious liberty.
This Church News video, titled “Understanding Religious Freedom,” features President Oaks’ plea to find the middle ground on this important issue.
Faith links all to preserve, protect, restore and defend religious freedom
Faith, legal, academic and government leaders gathered in Rome, Italy, for the 2022 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit. Those who care about religious liberty should link arms to preserve, protect, restore and defend religious freedom in the United States and around the world, they said.
This Church News video, titled “Religious Freedom Worldwide,” features interviews with leading advocates of the cause.
“The most effective representation of religious liberty is a representation that stands up for people of faith or no faith,” said President Oaks.
‘We are all descended from refugees’ President Oaks says in Rome
Members of the Church respect and believe in helping support and improve the lot of refugees, said President Oaks while in Rome, Italy, in July 2022.
The Joel Nafuma Refugee Center — located in the American Episcopal Church’s St. Paul’s Within the Walls building in Rome, Italy — serves refugees with the help of organizations like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This Church News video, titled “Descendants of Refugees,” features President Oaks, a few refugees in Rome and those working to help them become self-reliant in a new country.
What the ‘Forgotten Man’ painting means to President Oaks
When President Oaks was serving as president of Brigham Young University (1971-80), there was a painting in the school’s collection that he says “spoke to my heart.”
“Forgotten Man” by Maynard Dixon depicts a man down on his luck and sitting on the ground as others walk around him.
“And yet, you see the sun shining on his head,” President Oaks said in a Church News video titled “The Forgotten Man.” “His Heavenly Father knows he’s there.”
President Oaks explains how different perspectives strengthen a council
The Lord has organized His Church in a particular way, said President Oaks, “and that way gives rise to councils.”
President Oaks — who was interviewed as part of the Church News Inside Church Headquarters series — is featured in a this Church News video titled “His Council.”
He shared what it’s like to participate in the Council of the First Presidency as they each bring different perspectives and backgrounds.
Where to find Church News videos
Longer Church News videos can be found at TheChurchNews.com/videos, in the videos section of the Church News app and on the Church News YouTube channel in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Shorter videos such as shorts and reels can be found on the Church News YouTube channels as well as on the Church News social media accounts.
- Instagram: @thechurchnews, @churchnewsespanol, @churchnewsportugues
- X/Twitter: @the_churchnews, @churchnewses, @churchnewspt
- Facebook: The Church News, Church News en Español, Church News em Português
