During the week of April 9 to April 15, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints received a peace prize at Morehouse College and with more than 2,600 in attendance. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was featured in the latest Church News video. Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC).
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at a devotional at Brigham Young University (BYU). Primary General President Susan H. Porter addressed Primary children in two Asian countries. The groundbreaking for the Port Vila Vanuatu Temple took place.
Photos of the new Saratoga Springs Utah Temple were released as its open house began. Church News published an explainer on the what and why of temple media days. A new episode of the Church News podcast was published which features music and testimonies of 10 international singers who performed with The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during general conference. Michigan football player Andrew Gentry shared what it is like serving as first counselor in a YSA bishopric.
Read summaries of these stories below.
1. Morehouse College honors President Nelson with peace prize, announces collaboration with Tabernacle Choir
Honored for his tireless efforts to build bridges of understanding, preserve freedoms of all humankind and carry the light of truth worldwide, President Russell M. Nelson was named the inaugural laureate of the Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize from Morehouse College on Thursday, April 13.
The WorldHouse Interfaith and Interdenominational Assembly at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, April 13, attracted an overflow audience of more than 2,600, including several leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
2. The Church announces 2023-2024 area leadership assignments
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the Church’s 2023-2024 area leadership assignments.
The area presidency changes will become effective Aug. 1.
The Church has 23 administrative areas — six that cover the United States and Canada and the remaining 17 outside of those two North American countries.
3. Video: How this is a ‘remarkable season’ of temple building, Elder Bednar says
This is a “remarkable season” of temple building for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
In this Church News video titled “Come to Zion,” Elder Bednar explains that the Church’s 315 dedicated, announced or under-construction temples are one of the great indications that the Restoration is ongoing.
4. ‘You will have no end to those you help to repent,’ says Elder Andersen to MTC missionaries
Elder Andersen spoke on Tuesday, April 11, to missionaries in the Provo MTC, with the devotional broadcast to MTCs around the world. His wife, Sister Kathy Andersen, spoke as well. Their messages centered on a missionary’s responsibility in doing, becoming, overcoming and sharing.
5. Elder Gong invites BYU students to write their own best story
In the last devotional of the winter semester, Elder Gong invited BYU students to write their own best story.
How do individuals write, or become, their “own best story”? The answers lies in connection and transformation, Elder Gong explained during the campus devotional held in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, April 11.
6. President Porter invites Primary children in 2 Asian countries to help lead others to Jesus Christ
President Porter spoke at devotionals for Primary children in Tokyo, Japan, and Daejeon and Busan, South Korea, during the March 11-20 ministry in the north Asia countries, reported the Church’s Korea Newsroom. She also spoke with young men and young women while in Busan.
7. Vanuatu’s president, prime minister join groundbreaking services for Port Vila temple
Postponements and delays didn’t dampen the spirit of the Saturday, April 8, groundbreaking services for the Port Vila Vanuatu Temple, with leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined by the president and prime minister of the South Pacific island nation and other local dignitaries.
8. See interior, exterior photos of the new Saratoga Springs Utah Temple, The what and why of temple media days
The doors to the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple opened both literally and figuratively Monday, April 10 — literally as leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted a media day at the start of the temple’s prolonged open-to-the-public period.
At the temple, the series of public tours began with the traditional “media day,” with the Church inviting members of news organizations to gather for an initial briefing with a handful of Church leaders and local Latter-day Saints living in the temple district. Then they tour inside the house of the Lord and then conduct interviews afterwards.
9. Episode 131: 10 international singers on performing with The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during general conference
For the first time in its 175-year history, participants living outside the United States joined the 360-voice Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during the 193rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The singers, part of a pilot program for the choir, sang with the storied choir in the Saturday morning session and both Sunday sessions of general conference on April 1 and 2, 2023. The 10 singers from six countries — Brazil, Mexico, Ghana, Malaysia, Philippines and Taiwan — join this episode of the Church News podcast to report on their visit to Salt Lake City and their experiences of testifying of Christ through music.
10. Michigan tackle Andrew Gentry is playing college football while serving in a YSA bishopric
Many know the story of how Andrew Gentry went from serving a Latter-day Saint mission in Utah to playing college football at the University of Michigan.
What many may not know is while attending classes and playing for one of the top programs in the nation, the 6-foot-7, 312-pound sophomore is continuing to serve at a rigorous pace in his young single adult ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I’m the first counselor in the bishopric,” he said. “It keeps me busy.”
