With the Mesa Arizona Temple open house underway, Church leaders are encouraging people of all faiths and backgrounds to visit the newly renovated building. In an opinion piece for The Arizona Republic, President Dallin H. Oaks explained that the temple “creates a connection among members of the greater Mesa community.”
In a recent Facebook post, Sister Reyna I. Aburto also shared her appreciation for the Mesa temple. She explained that when the temple was first built in 1927, it was the closest temple to Latin America. Sessions were therefore offered in Spanish as well as English beginning in 1945, which encouraged families to make a trip to the temple—even at great sacrifice.
“Gratitude fills my heart for the temple workers who learned the ceremonies in Spanish, for the Mesa families that welcomed the traveling Saints in their homes, and for the members who came to make covenants with God and to be endowed with power from on high. Their consecrated efforts helped establish the foundations of the Church in Latin America and allowed the work of the Lord to flourish in that region,” Sister Aburto wrote.
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Additionally, Elder Gerrit W. Gong said his experience at the open house reminded him how we learn much from each other.
Read more about what Church leaders have been saying this past week and see other social media posts below.
In op-ed published by The Hill, Elder Rasband tells world leaders that faith in the economy begins with faith in society
By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose challenges for public health and private business and as poverty rates continue to rise, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is calling for elected officials to protect the religious freedoms of faith organizations.
In an op-ed column published today by The Hill, titled “Religion and the G-20: with faith, we can move mountains,” Elder Rasband wrote about participating in the annual G-20 Interfaith Forum in Bologna, Italy.
The forum assembled a host of religious leaders, government officials and experts from nonprofit organizations. Attendees shared an array of viable, sustainable solutions for the world economy that include anchors in faith.
Read more about the op-ed at Church News. Read Elder Rasband’s column at The Hill.
By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News
The Mesa Arizona Temple has been an anchor in its community for decades.
Now as the public open house for the renovated temple begins, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wants people to see it, wrote President Dallin H. Oaks in an op-ed article published today in the Arizona Republic.
“Temples are dedicated as ‘Houses of the Lord’ to allow members of the Church to receive sacred religious instruction, to seek answers for their lives and to enter into eternal family relationships,” wrote President Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency. “For the communities where temples are built, they are a place of peace and a beacon of unity.”
Read more about President Oaks’s piece on Church News. Read his op-ed article at azcentral.com.
By Sydney Walker, Church News
Looking over a group of missionaries gathered in a St. George meetinghouse on Saturday morning, Oct. 16, an emotional and compassionate Elder Jeffrey R. Holland testified of what his mission as a young man meant to him.
“I want you to know that it has meant everything to me for nearly 60 years, and it’ll feel the same way in 660 years and beyond,” said Elder Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“You are doing the most important thing in the universe—you are engaged in the salvation of a human soul. That is at the heart of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is the most important thing we can do in time and eternity.”
As he addressed some 200 missionaries of the Utah St. George Mission, Elder Holland reminded them of the apostolic nature of their call as full-time representatives of the Savior Jesus Christ.
Read more of Elder Holland’s address to missionaries at Church News.
Holy Ghost is the best study companion, President Johnson teaches during BYU-Pathway devotional
By Valerie Walton, Church News
The Lord has taught that “the glory of God is intelligence” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:36), which means that education makes one more like Heavenly Father.
“And what are we to learn?” Primary General President Camille N. Johnson asked. Doctrine and Covenants 88 teaches that Church members are to “teach diligently and be instructed in the doctrine of the kingdom and the law of the gospel,” she said, “what I would call spiritual learning.”
During a BYU-Pathway Worldwide devotional broadcast on Tuesday, October 19, President Johnson spoke about the need for students to gain as much education and training as they can.
Read more about the devotional at Church News.
Church Leader Social Posts
President M. Russell Nelson
President Henry B. Eyring
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Ronald A. Rasband
President Jean B. Bingham
Sister Susan H. Porter
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