In October 2020, the Church News launched the Church News podcast. For the next 199 weeks, the podcast featured leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints talking about their experiences and sharing their testimonies of the restored gospel. In May 2024, podcast host Sarah Jane Weaver was named editor of the Deseret News. This appointment comes after nearly 30 years as a reporter then editor working to create “a living record of the Restoration” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Church News.
In her tenure at the Church News, Weaver has witnessed dozens of temple dedications, interviewed countless members around the world and written about living prophets and apostles. She now hands this podcast to Church News editor Ryan Jensen, who takes the reigns to interview her on her years of service and her insight into the inspired organization of Christ’s restored Church.
Listen to the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
Sarah Jane Weaver: After working to create a living record of the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 29 years, I think I know three things. The first is that the members of the Church are remarkable. They are good, and they are kind, and they are consecrated. The second is that the same can be said for our leaders. The organization of the Church is so inspired. And the third thing that I know is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Savior’s restored Church on earth, that from it comes goodness and grace and so many amazing things. And I’m so, so grateful to be a member of it and to have had the sacred responsibility to write about its going forth.
1:08
This is Sarah Jane Weaver, executive editor of the Church News, welcoming you to the Church News podcast. We are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In October of 2020, we launched the Church News podcast. For the next 199 weeks, the podcast featured leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints talking about their experiences and sharing their testimonies of the restored gospel.
As host of the podcast, I have treasured every discussion and learned from every guest. Now I am shifting my focus to a new opportunity as editor of the Deseret News. This appointment comes after nearly 30 years as a reporter and editor working with the sacred responsibility of creating “A Living Record of the Restoration” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In my tenure at the Church News, I have witnessed dozens of temple dedications, interviewed countless members around the world, sat with living prophets and apostles, and of course had the opportunity to host this podcast. Now I officially hand the podcast over to Church News editor Jon Ryan Jensen. In doing so, I am grateful he has asked me to share some of my memories of my time at Church News as a guest on this, the 200th episode of the Church News podcast.
2:36
Jon Ryan Jensen: Sarah Jane Weaver, thank you for joining us for this special 200th episode of the Church News podcast.
Sarah Jane Weaver: It is great to be with you, I think.
Jon Ryan Jensen: I hope. I hope it is good.
Sarah Jane Weaver: It comes with a lot of emotions. It’s been 200 episodes, and now we’re making a shift. And I’m happy to turn over the reins to you because I trust you, and I think this will be a great hinge point in the history of the Church News podcast.
3:07
Jon Ryan Jensen: Well, I’m excited for it. It is really humbling to do this. You’ve been doing it, as I mentioned, for 200 episodes. And after 200 episodes of hearing you ask the question of your guests, “What do they know now?” I’m excited to turn those tables on you today and ask you what you know now, what you’ve learned, what you’ve felt, what you’ve seen and what you’ve heard over about 30 years of creating a living record of the Restoration.
Sarah Jane Weaver: Yeah, I joined the Church News staff in June of 1995. So it has been 29 years this summer.
3:44
Jon Ryan Jensen: I took advantage of the opportunity to ask some of the Church News staff members who have worked with you for a while some of the questions that they would want you to answer in this kind of a setting. And granted, some of them are ones we probably won’t get to in this podcast. But they know, because they’ve heard you over the years share some of your experiences, they know how personal this endeavor is to you.
And so I want to lead, because one thing almost all of them said was something that you talk about as you go around the world and as you’ve seen members, and that is how much the Lord cares about each person. Can you share a little bit, maybe an experience or overall what you’ve seen as being the Lord’s hand in people’s lives as you’ve traveled the world, covering the Church?
4:35
Sarah Jane Weaver: It actually goes hand in hand with this belief that when someone joins The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when they make covenants, everything about their life is elevated. Now, we see God’s love for His children in all kinds of places, whether they’re members of the Church or not. We see it in the humanitarian aid, in one person’s goodness to another. I am not saying that you have to be a Latter-day Saint to feel the Lord’s hand in your life. God is ever present in the lives of all of His children across the globe. And I have seen that and felt that.
There is something very special that occurs when people join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it occurs in ways that are both temporal and spiritual. I remember being at an event at the United Nations, and it was the World Congress on the Status of Women. And the Church was doing a side event, and it was one of the first times the Church had participated with a side event at the United Nations in this particular congress.
And I asked one of the organizers why the Church had been invited to undertake such an endeavor. And she said, “Because when a woman joins your Church, she learns many, many things. First and foremost, she learns about hygiene and how to care for her family. And then she learns literacy and how to read. And then she’s given the opportunity to teach and to look after other women in her congregation. And pretty soon, she’s given the chance to lead and is expected to speak in meetings with men, often in countries where women don’t speak or share their opinion in the presence of men.”
And then she said this: She said, “And then she goes out into the community and serves.” And that process that happens so naturally for members of the Church. I remember after a typhoon and then a storm surge in Gulf Tacloban, I had stayed in Cebu and was flying over on a plane in the morning to write about that disaster, because there weren’t hotel rooms in Tacloban. And I was told, “When you get there —”
7:00
Jon Ryan Jensen: And these are on different islands in the Philippines, right?
Sarah Jane Weaver: Yes. These are two different Filipino islands. This is the worst storm to ever hit that country. Tens of thousands of people died. And now I’m on a plane to an airport and was told, “The bishop and one of his counselors will pick you up.” I didn’t have a cellphone. I didn’t know the bishop’s name. I didn’t know how I would know him.
And yet, when I landed in that airport — which was sort of an open-air airport, because of all the damage — I remember looking out across the parking lot and seeing two men and knowing that that was the bishop and his counselor. It wasn’t because they were dressed in white shirts. It wasn’t because they were driving a certain type of vehicle. It was because there was something about them that was undeniable. And it was a type of elevation that it’s hard to describe except for when you see it. And so, the Lord loves His children. But there is something special that happens to His children when they make covenants and they keep those covenants.
8:08
Jon Ryan Jensen: One of the most notable ways, especially for those who aren’t members of the Church, in which someone learns about the Church is through the Church’s missionary force. And this is one that kind of crosses lines for you. You’ve seen and covered missionary stories in different parts of the globe. But you also, during your time working here, had two daughters serve missions, very distinct missions from one another.
What is that like for you to both see missionaries where you go and see their sacrifice and dedication, young and old, and then to see that happen in your own home and see how missionary service affected your own family?
8:46
Sarah Jane Weaver: In my time at the Church News, as I had traveled, I had met missionaries all over the world. I had seen how missionaries live. I had experienced for myself what it’s like to go to a different country and try and learn a different language. And I had seen what a wonderful thing the missionary program of the Church is. Yet, I’m the mother of three daughters. I didn’t expect that I would be sending missionaries out myself. I never served a mission. I hope to serve a mission with my husband. My husband did not serve a mission. And so we did not have a missionary tradition in our little organic family. Now, we hope to spend our retirement years serving and serving and serving.
But our oldest daughter was a young teenager when President Thomas S. Monson changed the missionary age. I was in the Conference Center that day, and I remember feeling the electricity that went through that whole Conference Center in realizing, “This is going to change missionary work for the Church. This is going to be something special.” And my daughter went to BYU as a freshman, and she came home and said, “I’ve decided to serve a mission,” and we were thrilled. And she was called to serve in the Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission. And that was a country that I had not visited, I still have not visited. It’s a country where the Church is going to dedicate a second temple later this year, which is so exciting to every missionary that has ever served there, plus all of us who care about temples and the growth of the Church. But that was such a fun time for our family. While she was out, the Church changed the policy that missionaries can call home.
So, here’s my one advice to missionary families. We have a very beautiful record of the first half of her mission because we exchanged emails and wrote back and forth. We have less of a record of the second half of her mission. Still encourage your missionaries to write home even though they can call home. And I saw how that changed her life. I saw how the relationship with her amazing mission leaders changed the direction, and she saw herself and her potential differently. It was what we were talking about earlier; it was as if, in that time — which was so hard for her; she only served with one companion that was North American — and so she spent her time learning to love a culture and a people. She learned the language quickly. I think there were times when she felt isolated, but she also learned how much the Lord loves her and how much He loves Honduras.
11:40
And I was a little worried about her going to Honduras. And the way the Lord’s timing works is beautiful. There are miracles that occur in our life. And I had, before her mission call, been assigned to write a story about Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. And he was going with Elder Gerrit W. Gong to a tour through Central America. Now, I was not with them on that assignment, but when they got home, I met with these two leaders in their office. At that time, Elder Gong was in the Presidency of the Seventy and had not yet been called to the Quorum of the Twelve.
And I remember being in their office on a Thursday afternoon. And something just stuck in my mind. Elder Cook said, “You know, you hear a lot about Honduras, sometimes feeling like it is a dangerous country.” And he says, “But when you are there, it does not feel dangerous at all.” He says, “It is a family people. It is a faith-filled people.” And I thought, “What a beautiful thing to say.” He talked about never being afraid while he had visited not just Honduras but other Central American countries. And my daughter’s mission call came that weekend. And when she opened it, I could hear those words back in my mind: “It’s a family-centered country. It’s a faith-filled country. These are people who the Lord cares so much about.” And we were so happy for her to have that experience.
Our second daughter was a COVID missionary. She had the best of all missions because she got to spend the first half of it in Cincinnati, Ohio, and she spent the second half of it in Fortaleza, Brazil. And what a lucky, lucky missionary. I know the Lord expected a lot of COVID missionaries because they had to do so much adapting and have so much flexibility. But I think they also learned that the Holy Ghost can direct their efforts. And a lot of those missionaries got two very distinct missionary experiences. And my daughter loved them both. And as a family, we prayed for two missions and two sets of mission leaders. And we loved them all.
And so, I don’t know what to say except for I have such a strong testimony of missionary work. One of my last assignments for the Church News was to participate in and cover the 2024 Seminar for New Mission Leaders. We did a podcast on this. And I saw all of those amazing couples who are willing to give up three years of their life to help missionaries like my daughters, and I felt so much gratitude for them, for a Church that cares so much about young people, that they can have them and help them have these really important faith-building experiences.
14:30
Jon Ryan Jensen: So, you talked about that seminar, and in that seminar, you have all 12 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaking, all three members of the First Presidency speaking. You talked about meeting with Elder Cook and with Elder Gong. You’ve seen Church leaders in a variety of circumstances that most members will not get to see them in.
And for the few years that I’ve been here, I’ve heard this question a hundred times, so I’m sure you’ve heard it 30 times that, which is: “What are the Church leaders really like when they’re not at a pulpit, when they’re not there with cameras in front of them?” So, Sarah, for the world, what are the leaders really like in this Church?
15:11
Sarah Jane Weaver: Well, I am so happy to answer this question. First of all, if you ask me what I know now — which you may ask me later in this podcast — but I marvel at the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve and sustain them as prophets, seers and revelators. And each of those 15 men come from different backgrounds.
And it’s interesting to see how the Lord prepares them — how President [Russell M.] Nelson can work as a surgeon and then lead the Church through a time when he’s needed to be most definitive when decisions have to be made quickly. And that’s undoubtedly a skill he learned holding human hearts. And President Dallin H. Oaks, who comes from a legal background, and now can advise and contribute to the First Presidency at a time when the Church would be facing legal challenges, when religious liberty is threatened. And I love that President Henry B. Eyring has this background that includes serving in the Presiding Bishopric and working as an educator and living in Stanford in a really nice house, and walking away from it to go to Rexburg, Idaho, where he lived in a double-wide trailer where they built the president’s home at what was then Ricks College.
And you can go on and on with every single member of the Quorum of the Twelve. They have backgrounds in law and medicine and education and business that perfectly prepared them to serve the Church at this time, to lead the Church at this time. But if you had to ask me what one quality was that they all share, it would be kindness. They are all kind. Now, they all have different methods of management. Their experiences have been diverse. You have some that were raised, like Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder Ulisses Soares and Elder Patrick Kearon, in different countries. You have many who have a proclivity towards language.
And I could go on and on and on. But at the end of the day, the thing that is most remarkable is that these men are kind. And, Ryan, I wish I could tell you that I’ve learned this because I’ve always done my job well, but oftentimes, I’ve learned this because I’ve done my job less than well, and there needed to be some sort of correction or shift in what we published, or they needed to say, “Hey, I thought we were going to do that different.”
I tell the story of working on a project not too long ago with President Nelson, and he gave me some direction, and the newspaper went to press. And I woke up the next morning and realized I hadn’t followed the direction in what was created. And I remember sending him an email, and the email that I got back is one that just changed my life. Again, it’s feeling God’s love for you through His Prophet. But it was one that was — it was short, he said he understood, he knew that the job that we have in front of us is difficult. And then he expressed confidence in me. And I thought, “Isn’t that amazing that we have leaders of the Church that see people not for who they are in the moment but for who they have the potential to become?”
And that is something that defines the leadership of our Church. It’s not just President Nelson, it’s all of them. They take time to shake hands in airports. I cannot imagine how sometimes they do that after long, long, long travel days when they’re tired themselves. They always seem to be able to make time for one more blessing, or one more greeting, or, you know, one more opportunity to share their testimony of Jesus Christ.
And that is the second thing that they all share, is this firm and steadfast and sure witness of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and their commitment to follow Him with every living breath that they have.
19:30
Jon Ryan Jensen: That pattern that you talked about with them showing Christlike kindness I think is something that perhaps you wanted to come through when the Church News in the last couple of years did a series on the councils of the Church and showing how counseling with each other can help the Church be elevated and get to that higher and holier place that President Nelson has talked about with us. Has that changed how you interact with them or with others? Because this is not a calling. This has been a job. You’ve had callings within your own ward. Again, you have responsibilities with your family as well.
So, can you talk about how you take that example of Christlike kindness and counseling into other spheres of your life?
20:11
Sarah Jane Weaver: Well, in the first place, it’s a hard act to live up to. These are unique men called at this time. But we all want to be a little better when we observe them and when we have the chance to learn from them and when we feel the Spirit confirm the truths that they teach from the pulpit. You think of all of the hours that I have sat in a congregation and listened to a member of the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve give a talk. And I am amazed at the depth and the breadth of their teachings. I am constantly amazed at their commitment and testimony of Jesus Christ.
And I, a few years ago, had the opportunity to travel with President Jeffrey R. Holland and Sister Patricia Holland. It was the last trip that Sister Holland would take before her death about six months later. But we went to Germany and Sweden and Finland. And in that trip, I worried about President Holland’s health. And I remember thinking, “I don’t know how he’s going to have the energy to speak tonight.” And then he would stand up, and he would speak for an hour. And I knew the Lord was sustaining him. And I knew that he was giving his all and that the Lord was maybe helping him physically, because his health has been tenuous since then, and we’ve seen the Lord sustain him still. He spoke about it at general conference. And I always think, “I’m going to listen more carefully to him,” because he has to rely so heavily on the Lord to just physically get up and speak.
And I think that we see that with everyone. We should be listening to all of them just a little more carefully because they have specific experiences that led them to prepare remarks for this very day, for this very time. I think of Elder Quentin L. Cook, and he’s spoken so much about religious liberty and building bridges and reaching out to those of other faiths. And, wow, this is the time when we need to be building bridges, when we need to be linking arms with people who also feel accountable to God. And he has modeled that for us. And that is something that he has done his entire life that has so much relevance right now, in this period in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
22:48
Jon Ryan Jensen: I don’t know if you’ve counted it out how many Apostles you have had a chance to cover, but specifically with Presidents of the Church, you’ve had the opportunity to cover President Gordon B. Hinckley and then President Thomas S. Monson and now President Russell M. Nelson.
As you step into a new role, is there one thing from each of them that you kind of have on the bulletin board of “This is the thing that I will always remember about each of the three of them”?
23:20
Sarah Jane Weaver: I will start with my first experience. I joined the Church News staff, I was young, I was almost right out of college, and it was the Utah Centennial in 1996. And there was a wagon train wending its way across the state, and it ended up at Cove Fort. And so there are thousands of people gathered at Cove Fort. I was sent down there on my first out-of-the-Wasatch-Front assignment, I drove to Cove Fort, which is kind of in central Utah. And it was a stopping point for early Church members who were going from Salt Lake down to St. George, and they could spend the night at Cove Fort.
And it was a hot summer day. And when I was leaving, my editor said to me, “I just have two things to say to you, Sarah: Get a good story, and stay out of President Hinckley’s face.” He was saying, “Don’t make yourself part of the story. Don’t be noticed. Just get down there and do your job and get back.” And that’s an ethic that we always try and do at Church News. We hope no one notices we’re there. And so I drove down, and the wagon train was late, and these two senior missionaries said, “Will you come in and sit down in our house?” And it was cool, and I went in, and I sat down on the couch.
And a few minutes later, in come President and Sister Hinckley. And President Hinckley sat by me on the couch, and Sister Hinckley sat in a chair right next to me. And I was so awestruck. I’d never been in the same room as a Prophet before. And we had not been there very long, when I was asked if I had any questions for President Hinckley. Now, I’m a Church News reporter, this is the President of the Church; I should have had a very, very long list of questions. And I got so nervous, I could not think of anything. I remember feeling my face turn red hot. I tried to think of a question. I felt a little dizzy. I finally just gave in and looked at the Prophet and said, “No, I don’t have any questions.”
And President Hinckley looked at me with great empathy. He obviously knew a good reporter would have a question too. And he said to me, “Would you like to know about my family’s history at Cove Fort?” And that is how the interview continued, with President Hinckley both asking and then answering the questions. “Would you like to know about this?” And it went on for about 10 minutes. And then he said, “That ought to do it.” And, talk about kindness. I remember that it wasn’t too long that President Hinckley went out and spoke to thousands. It was the largest crowd ever convened at Cove Fort. And all I could think about as he talked to all those people was that he also cared about the one.
Now, you asked about memories with President Monson, and that is something that is so present in my mind with President Monson. He always cared about the one.
Jon Ryan Jensen: He always talked about going to the rescue.
Sarah Jane Weaver: Yeah. He was so willing to spend time and to join with people and give them time and energy and speak to them. Once, we had him take pictures with a deacon and a teacher and a priest for a special story on priesthood ordination that the Church News did. And when the photos were over, he had each of those young men stay with him for more than an hour, and he talked to them, and he gave them direction. And that is something that was just very, very tender.
I remember on one occasion, I was scheduled to do an interview with him on Welfare Services. And it had been 25 years since the historic fast that happened in 1984, where the Church had a Churchwide fast and then sent aid into Ethiopia. And that, in essence, started Latter-day Saint Charities and the Church’s really aggressive, full-force welfare initiatives across the globe. And so, President Monson had always cared about welfare, and he agreed to do an interview. And so, when I got to his office, a lot was going on. And that interview got delayed and delayed and delayed and didn’t start for more than an hour after it was supposed to start. And I went in, and we did the interview.
And when the interview was just winding up, a Church security guy came in, and he said, “We’re going to lock the front door of the Administration Building. Would you mind exiting through the parking garage in the basement?” And I said, “Absolutely. That is not a problem at all.” And when that security guy left, President Monson turned to me and said, “Tell me about yourself.” Now, I know this is crazy, but I was not accustomed to talking about myself. And I suddenly had this wave of insecurity come over me. And I thought, “Maybe I’m not good enough to be sitting in this chair interviewing a Prophet.” And I didn’t know how to talk about myself.
I said, “Well, I went to BYU, and I majored in journalism.” And he said, “Are you married?” And I said, “Yes, I’m married.” And he said, “Do you have children?” And I started to almost cry because I didn’t know how to tell the Prophet that I was a working mother and that my husband and I had made a choice for a lot of reasons that I would work outside the home. And we had a daughter, and I started to say, “Yes, I’m a working mother. But my husband and I try and work different schedules, and we’re doing the best we can.” And he held up his hand, and he called security and said, “You are going to need to open the front door of the Administration Building.” And there was a pause, and then I heard him say, “Because she is a mother.”
And when he hung up the phone that day, he said to me, “Never put a disclaimer on that important role. When someone asks you if you are a mother, the answer is, ‘Yes, I am a mother.’” And I have thought about that. And it’s not just motherhood, but there are roles that come to us that matter more, that are eternal. I’m a sister, I’m a daughter, I’m an aunt. I’m one of many, many things. And we shouldn’t put disclaimers on those roles, because those roles matter more than anything else. And that is the lesson that I learned from President Monson.
30:24
And then I have spoken a lot about the ministry of President Russell M. Nelson. And I have seen President Nelson in large gatherings and in small gatherings. As a member of the media team that followed him across the globe during his worldwide ministry trips, I saw President Nelson in 35 countries in a matter of 19 months. And he is a remarkable, remarkable leader. But the thing that he did for me is something that is so much more personal than any of those. And I can share dozens and dozens of examples of how he interacted with the one or how he reached out or how he blessed a nation. Some of those we’ve spoken about on this podcast. But for me personally, the thing he did that changed my life was ask each of us to be in the temple as often as we could. That’s not an invitation that was unique to me; he offered it to every single covenanted Latter-day Saint.
And I wasn’t sure that I had time to do that. I wasn’t sure that I really believed that that could actually help me. But he made a promise; he said, “It will bless your life like nothing else can.” And he talked about us being able to make better decisions if we spent more time in the temple. And I was tired and busy and had family responsibilities and Church responsibilities and aging parents, and I had work responsibilities that felt sometimes overwhelming and had gone back to school to do some graduate studies. And I felt like I just was desperate for more blessings in my life. So I remember saying, “OK, he wants me to be in the temple. He said it will change my life and influence my life in a way nothing else can.”
And so, as the pandemic [restrictions] ended and we were able to make appointments, I made a commitment to go to the temple at least once a week. And sometimes when I’ve traveled, that meant going in other locations. Sometimes that meant going two times in a week because I had to miss a week. But I have felt the fulfillment of those promises in a way that I can’t really articulate, other than to say I believe that President Russell M. Nelson is a Prophet and that those promises are sure. I think nothing has helped me in recent years like more time in the temple.
33:08
Jon Ryan Jensen: You talk about a historic moment, like his global ministry tour. You’ve been a part of — as an observer, as a reporter — many historic moments in the Church, and one of them involves temples in a different kind of way. And that’s the dedication of the temple in Rome, Italy. That was historic for a lot of reasons, but one of them is because it’s one of the rare times when all of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency were together. And I know that that is something rare. But why was that special? Why did that moment matter in the history of the Church?
33:47
Sarah Jane Weaver: Well, in the first place, Rome is such a significant place in the history of the Church and in the history of Christianity. And we knew it was special. And we knew it was significant that there was a temple there. And it was so sweet that President Nelson let every member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve attend and participate in that dedication. I remember he explained that he just felt like they all needed to be there, that that was a moment that they could share in and then take with them as they participated in their own global ministries across the earth.
34:29
Jon Ryan Jensen: And this might be something that a lot of members don’t know. They don’t get to choose which temple dedications they go to. This had to come as basically an assignment from him, right?
34:37
Sarah Jane Weaver: Yeah. So, no senior leaders — in fact, no leaders of the Church — get to choose where they go or what they do. One of them was joking at the mission leadership seminar and said, you know, the song “I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” has new meaning. They do belong to the Church. They have consecrated their life to the Church. And so they wait for assignments, and then they fulfill them. And this came as an invitation for all of them to gather in Rome. And there was an interview in Rome where President Nelson says, “This event, this moment, is a hinge point in the history of the Church.”
Now, a couple of really amazing things happened. First of all, in the Rome Visitors’ Center, there’s a statue of the Savior and the ancient apostles, and they gathered in front of those statues and took a historic picture of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. And, you know, Sheri Dew — who’s the executive vice president of Deseret Management Corporation, who also has responsibility for content for all of the media companies that the Church owns, including Deseret News and Church News — she had been working on a Deseret News photographer and also a Church photographer to take that picture. And in the process, some committee members had gone before President Nelson and asked him if they wanted other pictures, you know. We could take a picture of the full quorum, we could take a picture of each of the leaders and their spouses, we could take a First Presidency picture. And President Nelson said, “No, I am only interested in a picture of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve together.” Now, think what that says about unity.
And so, they’re all there, and they feel the Spirit of that event and the energy. I remember they took the picture in dark suits, and then they all went, and they changed into whites. And they came out of the various places where they had changed their clothes and were walking across the temple grounds. And there was a Spirit that was tangible as you realize, “This is the governing body of the Lord’s restored Church.”
And when you think about a hinge point in the history of the Church, President Nelson has announced 48% of the current temples that are either announced, under construction or dedicated on the earth today. It’s a total of 350 temples. And so, from that moment very early in his presidency, temple growth and temple emphasis and temple construction has just exploded. And that was the hinge point. He said it, “This is the hinge point,” and every member of the Quorum of the Twelve could feel it and now can testify of it. And I think that is beautiful.
37:39
Jon Ryan Jensen: It seems as we look back through those three Presidents of the Church, there are some commonalities too, which would lead me to believe that there are some things that the Lord expects of us right now. You talked about temples and the houses of the Lord.
That was a big emphasis with President Hinckley, as well, as he made the push toward the first 100 temples that we had, and now we’re nearing 200 temples. And the ministry, one by one, which now President Nelson has expressed as his one desire that members will engage in in anticipation of his 100th birthday, which is another historical mark. He is, every day that he wakes up, the oldest President of the Church that we have had in this dispensation. And yet, there is, over this 30-year arc, that desire that the Lord has that we be in His house and covenant and learning about him.
As you move into this new role as editor of the Deseret News, can you share with us your feelings about the responsibility of sharing that light and that truth that comes from Heavenly Father and the responsibility that you have with that and your team, and the way that maybe members and other individuals can learn how to receive light from diverse sources in an age of changing technologies?
38:56
Sarah Jane Weaver: Well, the first 29 years of my career were spent writing about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to active members of the Church. And now, I move to a role where I’m leading the Deseret News, which wants to do something similar, but to a much broader and much more diverse audience. And the Deseret News hopes that information can make better human beings and that with the right information, they can make decisions that will impact their families and their communities and the nation. And this is a very complicated time in the history of the world.
Now, we’ve heard a lot recently that it’s not without precedent. This country went through a civil war. There’s been other very dark times. But this is a time that’s polarized and dark and confusing, and there has never been a greater need for light and for truth. And that is the Deseret News’ opportunity, that we can create content that will allow people to have the truth that they are seeking so that they can make the decisions that they have to make every day. And these are decisions not just about raising families or about faith, but decisions about how to vote and decisions about making choices in an altered economy, and in some nations a struggling economy. And so, there’s all kinds of forces that come together in the world, and we hope that the right information can be a light in a dark place.
40:44
Jon Ryan Jensen: I have a couple of questions that may or may not get kept in the podcast. But I think that it would be fun to let you choose whether or not you answer them. A couple of the staff members have pointed out that there are funny moments that you’ve experienced as well, some of them involving the mud in Manaus or planter boxes and saving cameras.
Do you have any particular funny moment that stands out to you, or embarrassing moment, of “I can’t believe that happened” and “Glad we made it past that”?
41:19
Sarah Jane Weaver: You know, there are lots of times when you do this job that people see you close up and you’re not always at your best. And one of those incidents was as I was covering the Manaus temple dedication in Brazil. Now, Manaus is an isolated city, it’s surrounded by the Amazon rainforest, you can really only get to Manaus by boat or by plane. It’s very hard to maneuver unless you drive north up through Venezuela to get into Manaus by car.
And so, everything is a little damp, and I was taking pictures. At that time, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was dedicating the temple. He was then the second counselor in the First Presidency. And he came out of the temple, and there were crowds and crowds of people all around. And I stepped off the path and found myself in a place where they had — it was like a utility box that had sort of, with all the moisture, sort of sunk in, and I was up to my knees in mud.
And I remember President Uchtdorf, and he was accompanied by Elder Quentin L. Cook, and the two of them instantly, you know, paid attention. I screamed as I went down. And I said to them, “Don’t worry, don’t worry, the camera’s fine,” because when you’re focused on getting the story, that’s where your thought goes. I managed to climb out of that and was no worse for wear. Nothing hurt but my pride, and we moved on. They have been gracious enough to not bring that up again.
43:10
Jon Ryan Jensen: When you’ve traveled, you’ve seen a lot of people at their best as well. Someone else on the staff brought up the fact that you have been to places after earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, major disasters. Is there one thing that you’ll take away from having been there and seen people in those extreme circumstances that they’ve had to go through?
43:30
Sarah Jane Weaver: You know, one of the most remarkable experiences of my career was covering the rededication of the Fiji temple. And at the time that temple was first dedicated, there was a coup in Fiji, and the country went to martial law. And President Hinckley flew in to dedicate that temple and flew out in the same day. Now, we can talk about prophets and what an incredibly brave and amazing thing that was for him to go into a place where there was so much political instability and drive to dedicate the temple so that there would be a dedicated temple in the land when the people needed a refuge. And it was a time when that refuge meant everything to them. And what a kind and gracious thing.
And so, fast forward, that temple was renovated and needed to be rededicated. And Elder Quentin L. Cook — who had been at the first dedication with President Hinckley as a member of the Seventy; he was president of the Church’s Pacific Area — and now, fast forward, was assigned to go to that temple rededication with President Henry B. Eyring. And Elder Cook was accompanying him as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. And Elder Cook said, “This is going to be such a significant temporal rededication. We are going to take the asterisk off the name of the Suva Fiji Temple,” which was dedicated in a private session. It was the only temple since Nauvoo that was dedicated in a private session. And we thought, “What a great opportunity now; the members can have their temple dedication.”
And yet, the day before the temple dedication, we had gotten word that a storm was coming. And it was a big storm. In fact, it was such a big storm that President Eyring and Elder Cook had received word that this storm might hit Suva about the time that the temple was going to be rededicated. And President Eyring talked about having an opportunity to pray and say, “What should we do? Should we go to Fiji?” And they knew that if they went there, they may not be able to leave for a few days, because flights were going to be canceled and whatnot. And so President Eyring told missionaries in a missionary meeting the Saturday before the Sunday dedication that he got this feeling, that he felt like Nephi going to get the plates, that he should just move forward, not knowing beforehand the things which he should do.
46:10
And so, these leaders come to Suva during the cultural celebration. I remember watching them and feeling like, “Wow, they feel really peaceful. They feel really happy.” And the wind was swirling outside. And I had this moment that we all have, where I doubted, and I thought, “OK, President Eyring is a prophet and a seer and a revelator, but I am not sure he knows very much about weather.” And I wasn’t sure why things were going the way they were going. And all of the members had come from all of the outer islands. And it felt like everyone who was a Latter-day Saint in Fiji was now in the stadium for the cultural celebration.
And the cultural celebration had to be cut short because curfews were enacted in the nation. And all of the members were put on buses, and they went to our meetinghouses, and they went to the Church College of Fiji, and they went to the primary school there, and everyone found a place. And I went to the temple grounds. And the next morning, the storm was over, but power was out across the nation, and trees were down. And for the second time, the temple had to be rededicated without people being able to participate in that rededication the way that they’d hoped. And I wondered, really, should they have gone forward with this dedication.
And a few days later, I had the opportunity to go with a local stake president and some humanitarian missionaries for the Church and go out into the outer villages, and there was some really beautiful assessments of needs and how much damage was done. And they talked to the leaders of different communities, and we’re determining how the Church should do a humanitarian response. But I started to notice a pattern. And I would ask people, “Tell me what it was like to be in the storm.” And they would say, “Oh, we were at the cultural celebration. We got in a bus and went to the chapel,” or “we were at the school.”
And suddenly, as you see that pattern over and over again, you start to realize that the Saints in Fiji were protected not in spite of the cultural celebration but because of it. Because President Eyring pressed forward, because he went forward not knowing beforehand, because he had faith, they were gathered together, and they ended up in buildings that were secure and safe. And that’s when you know that the Lord loves His members. That’s when you see the Lord’s love. It’s not whether or not they get to participate in the temple dedication, it’s that they have a dedicated temple in their land. It’s that those blessings that President Nelson has promised us will lift and strengthen them in their communities and, ultimately, the entire nation.
49:14
Jon Ryan Jensen: Thanks for sharing that. It’s a great story, among many great stories that you’ve shared.
So, Sarah, I mentioned at the top of the episode, you have asked people about 200 times what they know now. And as someone who 200 episodes ago was downloading this podcast not as a member of the staff but just as a regular member to listen to on his runs, and now as someone on the staff and now the host of the Church News podcast, thank you for everything that you’ve done to share these stories of the ongoing Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And I will let you have the last word, as you have with others. What do you know now?
49:54
Sarah Jane Weaver: After working to create a living record of the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 29 years, I think I know three things. The first is that the members of the Church are remarkable. They are good, and they are kind, and they are consecrated, and they lift their communities, and they work hard to strengthen their families. And as it is for all of us, Life is not easy for them, but they are amazing. There is nothing that has blessed my life like getting to know the members of this Church in nations across the world.
The second is that the same can be said for our leaders. The organization of the Church is so inspired. I am so grateful for a First Presidency and a Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and prophets, seers and revelators who sacrifice and consecrate their lives for the good of the kingdom, who spend every living breath they have testifying of the surety of Jesus Christ. They are wise and smart and kind. And I am grateful to know that the Church, in its organization and in the execution of that organization, in the literal men who are called to lead it, are in the best of hands.
And the third thing that I know is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Savior’s restored Church on earth, that it is rolling forth, that from it comes goodness and grace and so many amazing things, that people are better after they enter the waters of baptism, that families are stronger, and that there are so many experiences where I’ve seen that being a member of the Church does not protect you from all of the trials and ills that come through the mortal experience. But it does give direction, and it is a light, and it is something that provides peace and comfort and surety during all of those times.
And I am grateful that the Savior’s Church is on the earth. And I’m so, so grateful to be a member of it and to have had the sacred responsibility to write about its going forth. When I started at the Church News, there were 9 million members of the Church. And now three decades later, we’re coming up on 17 million and 350 temples in a time when we have more missionaries than before in the history of the Church. And these things are growing and expanding because the world is dark, and it needs light, and because the Savior lived and He taught His gospel, and that gospel was restored by Joseph Smith. And it’s led today by prophets, seers and revelators. And I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
53:33
Sarah Jane Weaver: You have been listening to the Church News podcast. I’m your host, Church News executive editor Sarah Jane Weaver. I hope you have learned something today about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by peering with me through the Church News window. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast so it can be accessible to more people. And if you enjoyed the messages we shared today, please make sure you share the podcast with others. Thanks to our guests; my producer, KellieAnn Halvorsen; and others who make this podcast possible. Join us every week for a new episode. Find us on your favorite podcasting channels or with other news and updates on the Church on TheChurchNews.com.
