During the week of Nov. 10-16, President Russell M. Nelson dedicated the Deseret Peak Utah Temple on Sunday, Nov. 10 in Tooele, Utah. That same day, President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles addressed Latter-day Saints in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared a message of belonging in the newest video released by the Church News.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, locations for 106 cities in 13 countries on five continents — including the first ones in Africa and Asia — were announced for Light the World Giving Machines. The Church News reported on Elder Dale G. Renlund’s 10-day ministry in Africa.
On Monday, Nov. 11, dates for the dedication and open house for the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple were announced on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. The First Presidency also announced a December groundbreaking date for the Grand Rapids Michigan Temple. The exterior rendering of the San Jose California Temple was released Monday, Nov. 11.
One Nov. 13, the Genealogical Society of Utah, now known as FamilySearch International, celebrated its 130th anniversary. Elder Hans T. Boom spoke during a BYU–Idaho campus devotional on Tuesday, Nov. 12, in Rexburg, Idaho. In a Provo, Utah, devotional for seminary-aged youth and their parents, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and commissioner of Church education was joined by BYU President C. Shane Reese and his wife, Sister Wendy Reese, as well as BYU–Idaho President Alvin F. Meredith III and his wife, Sister Jennifer Meredith. Church History Department historians Scott Hales and James Perry were guests on the newest episode of the Church News podcast.
Read summaries and find links to these articles below.
1. The Prophet, age 100, dedicates the Church’s 200th house of the Lord — the Deseret Peak Utah Temple
The 100-year-old President Nelson dedicated the Deseret Peak temple as the 200th house of the Lord. He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, as well as Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Lesa Stevenson, Roughly 300 Saints and other Church leaders gathered for the temple’s dedication.
“I hope that our members in the Deseret Peak temple district will not just treasure the addition of a beautiful building to their community but will arrange their lives so that they worship and serve in the house of the Lord as regularly as possible,” President Nelson told the Church News, promising, “The temple is a place of peace and power, and spending time there will literally change a person’s life.”
Read more about this story here.
Read President Nelson’s dedicatory prayer here.
2. ‘Miracles still exist,’ President Jeffrey R. Holland testifies to Dominican Saints
As part of his four-day ministry to the Church’s Caribbean Area, President Holland — joined by Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband — spoke to more than 8,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
“I want the young people to know there are still miracles in this Church,” President Holland said. “The miracle that I represent with the restoration of my life is as real as any miracle in the Old Testament or the New Testament or the Doctrine and Covenants or the Book of Mormon. Miracles still exist.”
Read more about this story here.
3. Video: Elder Uchtdorf to the women of the Church — ‘We need you, and you belong’
Elder Uchtdorf spoke on the impact and importance the Relief Society has; as they focus on the two great commandments, they can bless those around them and generations to come.
“So whatever the role is, whatever your place is … the Lord needs you. The Church needs you. We need you, and you belong,” he said.
Read more about this story here.
4. Leaders share how Light the World Giving Machines are a manifestation of the Savior’s second great commandment
Elder Stevenson was joined by Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson and Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, as the locations of the Light the World Giving Machines were released. These machines not only allow for a fun and interactive way to give to those in need but are also a “manifestation of the Savior’s second great commandment — to love our neighbors as ourselves,” said Elder Stevenson.
He added: “The rising generation loves the opportunity to give in a nontraditional way, to find those who are really in need of the gift and find what it is that will bless their lives,” he added.
Read more about this story here.
5. Elder Renlund tells Latter-day Saints in Africa to walk with Jesus, prepare to live temple covenants
During his 10-day ministry, Elder Renlund, accompanied by his wife, Sister Ruth Renlund; Elder José A. Teixeira of the Presidency of the Seventy; and Bishop L. Todd Budge of the Presiding Bishopric, visited Saints in various parts of Africa including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Elder Renlund said he was there to bear witnesses of Jesus Christ and invited those in attendance to strengthen their personal relationship with the Savior. “If you walk with Christ, you will find joy in your life,” he testified.
Read more about this story here.
6. Temple News: San Jose California Temple/ Rapids Michigan Temple/ Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple
With its construction having started in late 2018, the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple is to be dedicated by Elder Rasband on May 25, 2025; the dedication and open house dates and times were released on Nov. 11, 2024. The Grand Rapids Michigan Temple, which will be the second house of the Lord in the state of Michigan, will have its groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 7.; Elder Mathias Held, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the North America Northeast Area presidency, is set to preside. An exterior rendering of the San Jose California Temple was also released, providing a first look at one of the newest of the 12 total houses of the Lord in the state of California.
Read more about the San Jose California Temple here.
Read more about the Rapids Michigan Temple here.
Read more about the Abidjan Ivory Coast here.
7. FamilySearch celebrates 130 years of ‘building the family tree of humanity’
Leading into FamilySerach’s 130th anniversary, Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Family History Department, and FamilySearch CEO Steve Rockwood, reflected on the milestone, FamilySearch’s growth, technological advances, inspiring experiences and how temples shape the future of family history work.
Read more about this story here.
8. Devotionals: Elder Gilbert + college presidents & BYU–Idaho with Elder Boom
Elder Boom and his wife, Sister Ariena Broekzitter Boom, shared three principles for balancing eternal and temporal priorities.
“We live in an interesting world with so much information coming our way... that we, at times, might find ourselves in a situation [in which] we don’t know what to do first or last,” he said. “This even might result in doing nothing at all and [becoming] discouraged and depressed. So let’s take a good look at what we could do to function well and accomplish what we need to.”
As the value of education seems to continuously decline, Elder Gilbert, BYU President Reese and BYU–Idaho President Meredith highlighted the importance of spiritual and academic education. Elder Gilbert promised students that the Lord would bless them in ways they never thought possible, if they make Him a partner in their educational efforts. He said that could be done at any school by prioritizing seminary and institute classes.
Read more about the devotional at BYU here.
Read more about Elder Boom’s devotional here.
9. Episode 214: Church History Department’s Scott Hales and James Perry on ‘Saints, Vol. 4′
Following the release of the fourth and final edition of the “Saints” historical series, Scott Hales and James Perry discussed the growing publication of the literary series, as well as the importance of personal historical narratives and the ever-expanding positive impact of the Church as it continues to roll forth in every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
