During the week of Jan. 22 to Jan. 28, the second video in a Church News video series titled “Five Years of Leadership” featured President Russell M. Nelson. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles held his second live Q&A on Instagram. Church leaders testified to students of the importance of and strength in making covenants with God at a BYU–Hawaii devotional.
Youth are invited to participate in a worldwide devotional with Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Young Men General President Steven J. Lund spoke at the Provo Missionary Training Center. The Church provided a recap of the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square renovation recently completing its third year of projects and progress.
The Anchorage Alaska Temple will be reconstructed and relocated. Elder Clark G. Gilbert, Church commissioner of education, highlighted five prophetic themes during the Jan. 27 Seminaries and Institutes of Religion annual training. The latest Church News podcast featured the Church History Department’s Matt Heiss on collecting, preserving and sharing records.
Read summaries and find links to these nine articles below.
1. Video: Favorite moments from Church President Nelson’s 5-year ministry Part 2
This second video in a Church News video series titled “Five Years of Leadership” features President Nelson as he speaks with the NAACP and the Rev. Amos Brown and reflects on the two temple dedications he participated in at Washington, D.C. He also is joined by Sister Wendy Nelson to discuss prayer and the Christlike love demonstrated by the Church’s COVID-19 response.
2. Elder Bednar Instagram Q&A
Elder Bednar held his second live Q&A on Instagram on Tuesday, Jan. 24, answering questions from social media followers and bearing witness of the Savior Jesus Christ.
Following the pattern of his first live Instagram question-and-answer session, Elder Bednar spoke from his office in the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City to thousands of people tuning in live.
3. Church leaders testify to BYU–Hawaii students of the importance of and strength in making covenants with God
Participating in the Tuesday, Jan. 24, weekly campus devotional of the seaside university in Laie, Hawaii, were members of the Church Educational System’s Executive Committee — including Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson; Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and the Church commissioner of education; and Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Presidency of the Seventy.
4. Youth invited to upcoming worldwide devotional with Elder Gong about doing ‘all things through Christ’
Youth are invited to participate in an upcoming devotional with Elder Gong, according to a November 2022 notice sent to ward and stake youth leaders.
On Sunday, Jan. 22, thousands of youth in the Salt Lake area attended the recording of the worldwide devotional with Elder Gong in the Conference Center on Temple Square.
5. ‘Shortest and surest pathway to happiness’ is through the covenant path, President Lund tells MTC missionaries
Relating anecdotes of President Nelson cheerfully responding to unplanned moments, President Lund spoke to missionaries in the Provo Missionary Training Center on Tuesday, Jan. 24. His wife, Sister Kalleen Lund, and Brother Bradley R. Wilcox, second counselor in the Young Men general presidency, both gave brief remarks as well, with all the messages centered on finding happiness through Christ, despite unplanned moments.
6. Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square renovation: Revisiting 2022 progress and projecting 2023 efforts
The latest update on the multiyear renovation project — linking to a Wednesday, Jan. 25, post on ChurchofJesusChrist.org — also included photographs of work this month and links to a video providing a full explanation of the Salt Lake Temple renovation and a lengthy detail on TempleSquare.org of the processes and projects.
7. Plans for Anchorage Alaska Temple — resizing, reconstructing and relocating
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the future reconstruction and relocation of the Anchorage Alaska Temple. The significantly larger temple will be built on the same property — but relocated to where a currently used meetinghouse now stands.
And during construction, which is expected to start in early 2024 and be completed by summer 2026, the existing Anchorage Alaska Temple will remain open and operational.
8. Church commissioner of education shares 5 prophetic emphases for teaching
In remarks broadcast during the Jan. 27 Seminaries and Institutes of Religion annual training, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and Church commissioner of education, highlighted five prophetic themes, which he encouraged educators to utilize in their curriculum and in the way they teach and minister to students.
9. Church News latest podcast features Church History Department’s Matt Heiss on collecting, preserving and sharing records
Matt Heiss is the manager for the Global Support and Training Division of the Church History Library in the Church’s seven areas in Europe and Africa. He is the guest on this episode of the Church News podcast. Since 1987, Heiss has worked with the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to acquire, manage and train others on collecting Church history.
