During the week of Jan. 26 to Feb. 1, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement reaffirming immigration principles on Thursday, Jan. 30. Read the messages shared by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as he spoke near the capital cities of Costa Rica and Colombia in January.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared the key objectives of the Missionary Executive Council during the 2025 Seminar for New MTC Leaders.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were joined by Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson in addressing BYU–Hawaii students during the weekly devotional.
On Thursday, Jan. 30, President Johnson was honored with the Global Service Leadership award from the Sundance Institute. President Steven J. Lund, Young Men general president, spoke to missionaries on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.
The First Presidency of the Church has set dedication and open house dates for the Syracuse Utah Temple.
A recent update on the California wildfires gives perspective on those affected by the disaster. In the latest Church News podcast episode, Matt Grow, managing director of the Church History Department, discusses a recent example of a depiction from the Church’s past that contributes to misunderstandings of the Church and its members today.
Read summaries and find links to these articles below.
1. Church reaffirms immigration principles: love, law, family unity
The Church’s statement offers three principles and guidelines that follow previous statements on immigration.
The Church’s Office of General Counsel has created and provided guidelines to help local leaders comply with federal laws where criminal charges may result from harboring, transporting or encouraging undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States, the statement read.
Read more about this story here.
2. Elder Uchtdorf ministers in Costa Rica and Colombia, invites seeking the Holy Ghost’s companionship
Elder Uchtdorf spoke to Saints, friends and missionaries in Bogotá, Colombia, and San José, Costa Rica, about the blessings of discipleship and keeping covenants.
He taught that one of the ways individuals can retain their knowledge of the gospel is to be obedient to the commandments in order to constantly have the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
Read more about this story here.
3. Elder Cook shares significant missionary objectives, emphasis
During the 2025 Seminar for New MTC Leaders, Elder Cook offered a historical look at the second edition of “Preach My Gospel.”
He also listed the Missionary Executive Council’s three key objectives in emphasizing the importance of missionary work and called attention to the fact that convert baptisms aren’t the council’s first or second priority. “We don’t jump immediately to baptisms,” he said. “We go to a great, powerful, spiritual experience.”
Read more about this story here.
4. Join the ‘spiritual aristocracy’ of ancestors, Elder Christofferson tells BYU–Hawaii students
Elder Christofferson honored the heritage of BYU–Hawaii and the surrounding area, urging listeners to keep its legacy of faith and build upon it during the Tuesday devotional.
“It is a serious, even sacred thing to build upon the work and achievements of those who have been diligent in their time. We take strength from our forebears. And now we must do our part. This is our day; this is our season,” Elder Christofferson declared.
Read more about this story here.
5. President Camille N. Johnson honored with Sundance leadership award
As President Johnson travels the world, she sees firsthand the efforts of the Church’s global initiative for women and children — which is led by the Relief Society and which has blessed the lives of millions of women and children around the world.
“Our name tells you just exactly what we do,” she said at a luncheon in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Jan. 30. “We are the Relief Society, and it has been our objective since 1842 to bring relief, both temporal and spiritual, to all of God’s children.”
Read more about this story here.
6. Remember the words of a prophet, seer and revelator, President Lund tells missionaries
After reiterating the words of President Russell M. Nelson from his landmark 2018 talk “Hope of Israel," President Lund shared, “These are words of a prophet, seer and revelator. He tells you who you are and why you are here. His talk was given directly, specifically, to you. ... As missionaries, I hope you will respond in every way possible to that divine identity as children of God.”
Read more about this story here.
7. Dedication, open house dates announced for Syracuse Utah Temple
It was announced that the Syracuse Utah Temple will be dedicated in a single session on Sunday, June 8.
President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Syracuse, Utah, on April 5, 2020. It was one of eight new locations for future houses of the Lord identified in the concluding session of the April 2020 general conference.
Read more about this story here.
8. Southern California Latter-day Saints ‘lost homes but not hope’ in wildfires
When Sara Keller thinks about the past few weeks since deadly and destructive fires began in Southern California, she says, “It’s been a shock, to be honest.”
Houses are gone as well as schools, stores, banks and businesses — more than 6,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged in that community.
“It’s the place where our children grew up, the community in that larger sense of who you run into at the market and who are on sports teams with your children and the people in the neighborhood you anticipated growing old with — all those memories in the Pacific Palisades,” Keller said.
Read more about this story here.
9. Episode 225: Church historian Matt Grow encourages peacemaking amid historical misrepresentation
In this episode of the Church News podcast, Matt Grow discusses a recent example of a depiction from the Church’s past that contributes to misunderstandings of the Church and its members today.
“Disciples of Jesus Christ have always lived in a world of violence, of contention, ... but I believe that we have the historical and the scriptural resources, the organizational capacity of the Church and the will of Latter-day Saints to truly be peacemakers in the world today," testified Grow.
