Apostle Gerrit W Gong Celebrates Family Ties
Apostle Gerrit W. Gong speaks at General Conference on Saturday, April 2, 2022.
Gerrit W. Gong, who was named four years ago as the churchs first Asian American apostle, asked listeners to connect with their families.
From their trials and accomplishments, we gain faith and strength, he said Saturday. From their love and sacrifices, we learn to forgive and move forward. Ties with ancestors increase family closeness, gratitude, miracles.
Gong also said sometimes family relationships cause abandonment, embarrassment and hurt. At those times, he said, community can also become family.
The church leader said people can honor family members by gathering photos, journals and other items that make memories real. They can also do temple work for deceased ancestors, and gather key names, dates and experiences.
Let the adventure of family history be intentional and spontaneous, he said. Call your grandmother. Look deeply into the eyes of that new baby. Make time discover eternity at each stage of your journey. Learn and acknowledge with gratitude and honesty your family heritage. Celebrate and become the positive, and, where needed, humbly do everything possible not to pass on the negative. Let good things begin with you.
Mission By Year Of Formation
The following is a list of missions listed in order of creation date. The first mission president’s name and previous names the mission is also provided. Discontinued missions are typically the result of missions being consolidated with missionary efforts still continuing. Although, occasionally missions will be discontinued as a result of government restrictions, military conflict and/or other issues affecting the safety of missionaries serving in the area.
Apostle Dale G Renlund Talks About Mother In Heaven
Apostle Dale G. Renlund speaks at General Conference women’s session on Saturday, April 2, 2022.
In a speech that echoed what he said earlier this year, apostle Dale G. Renlund discussed four foundational truths he finds in the Young Women theme particularly the churchs distinct doctrine about Heavenly Parents.
Very little has been revealed about Mother in Heaven but what we do know is summarized in a Gospel Topic found in our Gospel Library application, Renlund said as the final speaker at Saturdays womens session. Once you have read what is there, you will know everything that I know about the subject. I wish I knew more. You, too, may still have questions and want to find more answers.
Seeking greater understanding is an important part of our spiritual development, but please be cautious, the apostle warned. Reason cannot replace revelation. Speculation will not lead to greater spiritual knowledge, but it can lead to deception or divert our focus from what has been revealed.
Renlund repeated the instruction he gave in his earlier presentation that Jesus had taught his disciples to pray unto the Father in my name.
Latter-day Saints follow this pattern and direct our worship to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, and do not pray to Heavenly Mother, he said. Ever since God appointed prophets, they have been authorized to speak on his behalf. But they do not pronounce doctrines fabricated of own mind or teach what has not been revealed.
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Restoration Of The Church Of Jesus Christ
While Jesus Christ was on the earth, He established His Church. Following His death and the deaths of His Apostles, some of the precious truths He taught and His sacred authority were lost for a time.11 This time period is known as the Great Apostasy.
In the spring of 1820, a young man named Joseph Smith prayed to God with great concern for the salvation of his own soul and to know which church he should join. God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph12 and began to prepare him to bring back the precious truths and the sacred authority that had been lost from the Church Jesus Christ formed while on the earth. Under the Lords direction, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830.
Through the power of God, Joseph Smith translated an ancient record written by prophets who lived on the American continents and taught and testified of Jesus Christ.13 This ancient record is called the Book of Mormon and stands alongside the Bible as another testament that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind.
New Womens Leaders Chosen And 17 New Temples Announced
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square performs a hymn during General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Sunday, April 3, 2022.
During the two days of the just-completed 192nd Annual General Conference, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints feasted on spiritual sermons from their leaders, highlighting distinctive doctrines of heaven and hell, as well as urging members to resolve personal conflicts, to hold fast to Jesus Christ, to follow Gods divine plan, to shun evil, and to maintain balance.
Contemporary topics included suicide prevention, abuse survivors, the role of Heavenly Mother, the impact of the pandemic, the dangers of the internet, the war in Ukraine, and the churchs continuing opposition to same-sex marriage.
Several speakers addressing the crowd in the half-full Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City or millions more watching on televisions or the internet emphasized the churchs expectation for young men to serve full-time missions, for whom it was termed a priesthood responsibility, and encouraged young women to do so as an optional opportunity.
Five women delivered sermons, compared to dozens given by men. The church also announced new leadership for the worldwide womens Relief Society and childrens Primary, including the first-ever Black woman to serve in a churchwide general presidency.
Here are notable speeches from the five sessions:
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Church Opening Six New Missions In 2023
SALT LAKE CITY The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Wednesday that they will be opening six new missions overseas in 2023.
Five of those missions will be in Africa, while the sixth will be in Europe.
The Church of Jesus Christ will create six new missions in 2023.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The missions are:
- Cote dIvoire Abidjan North Mission a division of the Cote dIvoire Abidjan East Mission, with some areas currently within the Abidjan West Mission.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo Kananga Mission a division of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission.
- Nigeria Aba Mission a division of the Nigeria Owerri Mission with areas also within the Nigeria Benin City and Nigeria Enugu Missions.
- Nigeria Abuja Mission a division of the Nigeria Lagos Mission.
- South Africa Pretoria Mission a division of the Botswana/Namibia and South Africa Johannesburg Missions, with areas of the South Africa Durban Mission also impacted.
- Romania Bucharest Mission a division of the Hungary/Romania Mission, which will become the Hungary Budapest Mission.
According to a news release from the Church, mission presidents and companions will be announced in Jan. 2023.
Come July, when those new missions officially open, the Church will have 416 missions worldwide.
Church Announces 2 New Missions + 1 New Area In Europe
On April 7, 2022, the First Presidency announced new area leadership assignments. With this announcement also came the news of the creation of two missions and a new area of the Churchall on European soil.
New Europe Area Alignment
According to Newsroom, the former Europe and Europe East areas are being realigned, resulting in the Europe Central, Europe North, and Europe East areas. There will now be 23 areas in the Churchsix in the United States and Canada and 17 additional areas outside of those two countries.
The new Europe areas will be comprised of the following:
- Europe Central Area: Germany, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
- Europe East Area: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
- Europe North Area: United Kingdom, Cape Verde, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.
Newsroom also stated that, at this time, Ukraine and Moldova will be separately overseen by Elder Kyrylo Pokhylko, who is from Kyiv, Ukraine, in his role as an Assistant to the Europe North Area Presidency.
New European Missions
You can read the full release on Newsroom.
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Mission Of The Church
The mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to help all of Gods children come to Jesus Christ3 through learning about His gospel, making and keeping promises with God , and practicing Christlike love and service.4
Members of the Church believe in helping individuals and families fulfill the commandments to love God and to love your neighbor.5 Members do so by living the gospel of Jesus Christ,6 caring for those in need,7 inviting all to receive the gospel,8 and uniting families through family history and temple work.9
Primary Leader Amy A Wright: Christ Is The Healer
Amy A. Wright, second counselor and soon-to-be first counselor in the Primary general presidency, speaks at General Conference on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Jesus Christ will help believers successfully navigate the things in our lives that are broken, no matter our age, said Amy A. Wright, second counselor and soon-to-be first counselor in the Primary general presidency. He can heal broken relationships with God, broken relationships with others, and broken parts of ourselves.
Christ knows everyones complete story and exactly what we suffer, as well as our capabilities and vulnerabilities, Wright said Sunday. … He is the source of healing all that is broken in our lives. As the great mediator and advocate with the Father, Christ sanctifies and restores broken relationships most importantly our relationship with God. “
Wright has spent many hours at a cancer treatment facility united in my suffering with many who were yearning to be healed. Some lived others did not, she said in her sermon. I learned in a profound way that deliverance from our trials is different for each of us, and therefore our focus should be less about the way in which we are delivered and more about the deliverer himself. Our emphasis should always be on Jesus Christ. Exercising faith in Christ means trusting not only in Gods will but also in his timing. For he knows exactly what we need and precisely when we need it.
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President Dallin H Oaks: Gods Plans For Marriage Will Win Out
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the governing First Presidency, speaks at General Conference on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
To reach the highest degree of celestial glory in the afterlife, mortals must follow the churchs revealed doctrine and established commandments, including faithfulness to the covenants of an eternal marriage between a man and a woman, Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the governing First Presidency, said Sunday afternoon.
That is why the Utah-based faith teaches, Oaks said, that gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal and eternal identity and purpose.
It is also why God has required the church to oppose social and legal pressures to retreat from his doctrine of marriage between a man and a woman, he said, and to oppose changes that confuse or alter gender or homogenize the differences between men and women.
The churchs positions on these fundamentals frequently provoke opposition. We understand that, Oaks said. Gods plan allows for opposition in all things, and Satans most strenuous opposition is directed at whatever is most important to that plan.
The devil seeks to oppose progress toward exaltation by confusing gender, distorting marriage, and discouraging childbearing, he said. However, we know that in the long run the divine purpose and plan of our loving Heavenly Father will not be changed.
Who Are The Audiences
The church long has welcomed new forms of communication as a way to advance its message more widely and rapidly.
Think of the now-defunct Im a Mormon campaign .
Some of the two-minute videos were produced by the church, but members were encouraged to make ones for themselves, unfiltered by the higher-ups, says Spencer Greenhalgh, who teaches information technology at the University of Kentucky.
These days the Latter-day Saint professor has been reading and writing on the tensions between how the church works and how these online platforms work, he says. In short, what is authoritative on a technology/media platform doesnt always line up with what is authoritative from the churchs point of view.
After watching some of the videos on Instagram and TikTok. Greenhalgh notes that some missionary accounts are using the videos as an outward-facing tool. Others are Mormon-facing accounts that are using the same videos not so much for proselytizing but as sort of a collective bonding around the idea and experience of missionary work.
Many of those are posted on sites like Instagrams missionarychannel that also sell missionary garb and modest clothing, so its unclear about the target audience.
I wonder if theres a connection there with the idea that Latter-day Saint missions are there to convert the missionaries, not just the investigators, Greenhalgh says, by creating a connection with the religious culture.
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List Of Missions Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operates 411 missions throughout the world. Most current missions are named after the location of the mission headquarters, usually a specific city. The geographical area a mission actually covers is often much larger than the name may indicate most areas of the world are within the jurisdiction of a mission of the church. In the list below, if the name of the mission does not include a specific city, the city where the mission headquarters is located is included in parentheses.
As of July 2022, there are 411 missions in the church.
Apostle Jeffrey R Holland: Death By Suicide Is Not The Answer
Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland speaks at General Conference on April 2, 2022.
Focusing his remarks particularly to the faiths young people, apostle Jeffrey R. Holland issued an emotional plea Saturday to listeners to resist the idea that ending ones life represents a solution to lifes struggles.
To any of our youth out there who are struggling, whatever your concerns or difficulties, death by suicide is manifestly not the answer, Holland said. It will not relieve the pain you are feeling or see yourself causing.
He emphasized the worth of each individual not only in the sight of God but also to Gods family.
In a world that so desperately needs all the light it can get, he said, please do not minimize the eternal light God put in your soul before this world was.
Instead, he called on listeners to seek help.
Talk to someone. Ask for help, he said. You are loved and valued and needed.
Holland also directed his remarks to those who might know someone in need of help, calling on them to watch for signs of depression, despair, or anything hinting of self-harm and offer help, listen, and intervene as appropriate.
How to get help
If you or people you know are at risk of self-harm, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24-hour support at 1-800-273-8255.
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How These Skills Help Missionaries Now And Later
Across the globe, many of thechurchs 400-plus missions have embraced social media tools, even choosing certain missionaries to develop them.
Emily Bishop Miners son serves in North Dakota, and he was involved in music and sound editing for the mission.
The videos were successful because they gave missionaries a spiritually related purpose during the pandemic when it was hard to do traditional missionary work, Miner writes on Facebook, and to the extent they involved members and had high production values, they were able to spread locally.
Samantha Bird, who is serving in Minnesota, says the videos she makes on her social media profile are stories sharing a restored truth like the Book of Mormon, and on the story I have something interactive like a poll or question box. I usually get a few responses.
Savannah Cobb of South Jordan is in charge of social media for her mission in Cape Verde, a group of islands off the west coast of Africa.
Savannah does three things with respect to social media. She creates content. She brainstorms campaigns, writes scripts, films, edits and produces social media-ready videos. She also trains other missionaries, says her father, Jay Cobb. She created training aids and over the course of time she trained other missionaries how to create compelling content. She also helps the other missionaries assigned as Facebook page coordinators post and keep up with social media.
Videos Range From Playful To Preachy
Latter-day Saint folklorist Christine Blythe is optimistic about this new direction.
The shift towards digital missionary labor is obviously a major departure from traditional form. And breaks in tradition can be hard. Weve long perceived solemnity what we refer to as reverence as a reflection of ones spirituality, and TikTok videos are anything but reverent, Blythe says. But it has, in my opinion, allowed missionaries to be more authentic representatives of Christ. Its allowed them to uniquely showcase their talents and personalities.
Sure, some of it is cheesy, the folklorist says. Not everyone is going to be swayed by an elder in a white shirt and tie dancing with the Book of Mormon in hand. But Ive loved the fact that we are seeing 18- to 24-year-old men and women, acting like 18- to 24-year-old men and women. I dont think that undermines the mission of the church or minimizes the incredible sacrifice that LDS missionaries are making to put their lives on hold for 18 to 24 months to serve God.
Church leaders may be worried about social media disasters, and there may be some down the line, Blythe says. But many have been moved by the diverse expressive testimonies being presented on TikTok. I think overall, its a worthwhile experiment.
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