This week on social media, Church leaders shared experiences from ministering to members following disastrous fires and an earthquake, teachings about temples and more.
President D. Todd Christofferson, second counselor in the First Presidency, taught that the words at the door of each temple, “Holiness to the Lord,” are both an invitation and a mandate for all who enter, both during the San Diego California Temple rededication and in a social media post on Aug. 23.
“Just as the temple is in the world and yet is a place apart, here each of us learns how to be in the world and yet not of the world.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, traveled with Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen, to Spokane, Washington, to minister to Latter-day Saints and others affected by the fires, on Aug. 23.
In an Aug. 26 social media post, President Uchtdorf wrote: “We were deeply impressed by the goodness of these people and their resilience in a moment like this. ...
“We will not forget you, and I know that God will not forget you.”
In an Aug. 24 video posted on the Young Women Worldwide social media accounts, the Young Women general presidency — President Emily Belle Freeman; Sister Tamara W. Runia, first counselor; and Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, second counselor — introduced resources that will be posted to help navigate upcoming changes to the youth program.
“We want you to know we’re here with you, we’re walking with you along the way,” President Freeman says in the video.
Each Tuesday, the presidency will answer questions from young women, and viewers can leave questions in the comments of these posts that could be answered the next week. And on Wednesdays, the presidency will post words of encouragement.
“However we can help, that’s what we want to do,” President Freeman said.
During his ministry to the islands of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his traveling group were faced with rainy and windy weather and choppy waves. “We had to decide if we would go to Tonowas or if we should not make the boat trip,” he says in a video posted on social media on Aug. 27. “And we wanted to go be with those Saints.”
Despite the wind and rain, they got in the boat. During the voyage, the rain let up and the wind wasn’t as strong. “The wind and the rain did not stop until we got in the boat,” he said.
Elder Bednar wrote in a caption accompanying the video, “When the Lord has a work for us to do, He does not always make it easy, but He does always make it possible.”
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a video clip from his April 2026 general conference talk in a social media post on Aug. 27.
“No matter the trial you face or the burden you carry, I invite you to hold fast to this comforting promise from the Savior: ‘Where I am, there ye may be also’ (John 14:3),” he wrote.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared an experience from ministering to Latter-day Saints in Cali, Colombia, affected by the recent 7.4 magnitude earthquake, in a social media post on Aug. 26.
Elder Stevenson wrote, “A young boy whose family was displaced from their home ran to the podium where I was standing as the congregation was singing ‘I Am a Child of God’ leading to this tender memory.”
Accompanying the post is a video of Elder Stevenson holding the boy at the podium as both sang the song in Spanish.
“The gospel of Jesus Christ is constant,” Elder Stevenson wrote. “It brings hope. Even when members are in need of comfort, they are comforting others around them.”
Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a video on social media on Aug. 23 in which he spoke about the Old Testament story of Job.
“Like Job, we need to trust in our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and remain faithful in all circumstances,” he wrote.
Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met with Christian and Jewish leaders in New York City and joined a group of faith leaders for a Shabbat service at Central Synagogue on Aug. 21.
In an Aug. 24 social media post, he wrote: “It was my first time attending a worship service in a synagogue, and I was deeply touched by the warmth, resilience, and unity of those gathered there. Throughout the service, messages of peace, love, and hope were shared. That experience stayed with me.”
In a social media post on Aug. 25, Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a video clip from his Aug. 18 BYU Education Week address.
“A truth I hope will sink deeply into your soul is that your best is certainly good enough, that you are loved more than you can imagine, and that it isn’t your achievements that define you, far less that determine anything about your worth or how you are seen by your Father in Heaven and His Son,” he wrote in the post accompanying the video.
In a video posted Aug. 23 on his social media pages, Elder Gérald Caussé of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a truth restored in the Church of Jesus Christ that is dear to his heart, which is “our understanding of the personal relationship we have with our God,” he said.
“I am so grateful to know that I can have a personal relationship with God,” he wrote. “He knows us. He is interested in us. He loves us. This fundamental truth has been a great blessing in my life.”
Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently met with the vice president of Sierra Leone and learned about the country’s Big Five Game Changers initiative, which is focused on education and building human capital.
In a social media post Aug. 28, Elder Gilbert wrote about the Church’s commitment to education and creating opportunities for God’s children through programs such as Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, Succeed in School and BYU–Pathway Worldwide.
“Of course, we also believe that the biggest game changer in the lives of God’s children is the gospel of Jesus Christ and rejoice in how it continues to guide our educational efforts of young people across the world,” Elder Gilbert wrote.
Brother Sean R. Dixon, second counselor in the Young Men general presidency, was featured in a video posted on Young Men Worldwide on Aug. 26.
“One of my favorite parts of serving with young men is watching them lead,” he wrote in the post.
“A simple question in a presidency meeting changed the conversation: ‘Who wasn’t in our quorum today?’ Sometimes leadership is simply helping young men see who needs them.”
“One of the blessings of the new schedule is that because Sunday School will be held every week, our personal and family scripture study will get weekly support at church,” Brother Gabriel W. Reid, second counselor in the Sunday School general presidency, said in an Aug. 23 video posted by Gospel Learning and Teaching on social media. In it, he explains some principles for how to make the most of teaching and learning in weekly Sunday School classes.
“With all the changes that are coming to our Sunday schedule, one of the important things that hasn’t changed is that gospel learning is home-centered,” he said.
