President Russell M. Nelson, President Dallin H. Oaks & President Henry B. Eyring
New Apostles
Elder Garrit W. Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares
The first two session has gone by and it was full of wonderful messages from on high. This was also a cool experience to see and participate of the Solemn assembly. I felt the Holy Spirit so strong because we sustain a new prophet and apostles. I hope to continue to feel the spirit and gain more guidance and spiritual guidance through the these wonderful men and women. I will keep you posted with more inspirational message tomorrow. Have a blessed and wonderful Easter weekend!!
April 2018 General Conference News and Announcements
31 MARCH 2018
President Russell M. Nelson speaks during general conference.
NOTE: Check this page often for important news and announcements made during each session of the 188th Annual General Conference.
New temples
During the Sunday afternoon session, President Russell M. Nelson announced seven new temples will be built in Salta, Argentina; Bengaluru, India; Managua Nicaragua; Cagayan de Oro, Philippines; Layton, Utah; Richmond, Virginia; and a major city yet to be determined in Russia.
During the Sunday afternoon session of April general conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced that the separate programs of home teaching and visiting teaching are now a coordinated effort called “ministering.”
Ministering replaces home teaching and visiting teaching.
Sister Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society General President, said ministering is “becoming part of someone’s life and caring about him or her” and may include Laurels and Mia Maids as companions to Relief Society sisters, and priests and teachers continue as companions to Melchizedek Priesthood holders.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that ministering brothers and sisters will counsel with leaders in a quarterly ministering interview about the needs and strengths of those they are assigned. The number of interviews leaders had during a quarter is the only formal report that will be made.
The leaders explained that ministering does not include a set monthly message in the Church magazines nor a prescribed way to keep in contact each month—but visits are important when possible.
During the general priesthood session Saturday evening, President Russell M. Nelson announced that the ward (or branch) high priests group and elders quorum will now be combined into one elders quorum. Stake high priests quorums will be based on current priesthood callings.
High priests and elders are now part of one elders quorum.
Watch the video of President Nelson's announcement about the restructuring of the Melchizedek Priesthood groups and quorums.
The ward elders quorum will be led by a presidency that may be comprised of elders and high priests, explained Elder Christofferson. The elders quorum president will report to the stake president and meet regularly with the bishop. Priesthood offices will remain the same. The current elders quorum presidency will be released and the stake president will call a new elders quorum presidency, explained Elder Rasband.
The stake high priests quorum will continue to function, with the stake presidency continuing to serve as the presidency of that quorum. However, this quorum will include only those high priests currently serving in the stake presidency, in bishoprics, on the high council, and as functioning patriarchs, Elder Rasband said.
Temples dedicated during 2017 (Paris France, Tucson Arizona, Meridian Idaho, Cedar City Utah)
4
Temples rededicated during 2017 (Idaho Falls Idaho)
1
Temples in operation at the end of 2017
159
New Young Women General Presidency
President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency announced that Bonnie H. Cordon will serve as General President, Michelle Craig has been called as the First Counselor, and Becky Craven will serve as Second Counselor.
Young Women General Presidency
Primary General Presidency
Counselor in Primary General Presidency
Sister Lisa Harkness was called as the new First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency.
Watch President Oaks's announcement of new leadership calllings.
President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency announced the calls of two new members of the Presidency of the Seventy, eight General Authority Seventies, and 55 Area Seventies during the Saturday afternoon session of the April 2018 general conference.
Presidency of the Seventy
Called to the Presidency of the Seventy are Elder Carl B. Cook and Elder Robert C. Gay.
General Authority Seventies
Eight new General Authority Seventies were announced in the Saturday afternoon session: Elder Steven R. Bangerter, Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, Elder Jack N. Gerard, Elder Mathias Held, Elder David P. Homer, Elder Kyle S. McKay, Elder Juan Pablo Villar, and Elder Takashi Wada.
Area Seventies
The following newly called Area Seventies were announced: Richard K. Ahadjie, Alberto A. Álvarez, Duane D. Bell, Glenn Burgess, Víctor R. Calderón, Ariel E. Chaparro, Daniel Córdova, John N. Craig, Michael Cziesla, William H. Davis, Richard J. DeVries, Kylar G. Dominguez, Sean Douglas, Michael A. Dunn, Kenneth J. Firmage, Edgar Flores, Silvio Flores, Saulo G. Franco, Carlos A. Genaro, Mark A. Gilmour, Sergio A. Gómez, Roberto Gonzalez, Virgilio Gonzalez, Spencer R. Griffin, Matthew S. Harding, David J. Harris, Kevin J. Hathaway, Richard Holzapfel, Eustache Ilunga, Okechukwu I. Imo, Peter M. Johnson, Michael D. Jones, Pungwe S. Kongolo, George Kenneth G. Lee, Aretemio C. Maligon, Edgar A. Mantilla, Lincoln P. Martins, Clement M. Matswagothata, Carl R. Maurer, Daniel S. Mehr II, Glen D. Mella, Isaac K. Morrison, Yutaka Nagatomo, Allistair B. Odgers, R. Jeffrey Parker, Victor P. Patrick, Denis E. Pineda, Henrique S. Simplicio, Jeffrey H. Singer, Michael L. Staheli, Djarot Subiantoro, Jeffrey K. Wetzel, Michael S. Wilstead, Helmut Wondra, and David L. Wright.
During a solemn assembly of Church members worldwide March 31, 2018, President Russell M. Nelson was sustained as prophet, seer, and revelator and president of the Church. President Dallin H. Oaks was sustained as First Counselor and President Henry B. Eyring as Second Counselor in the First Presidency.
President Russell M. Nelson, the 17th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor (left), and President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor (right), during the solemn assembly March 31, 2018.
Two new Apostles
Two new members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were also announced during the Saturday morning session. Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares were sustained as Apostles, filling vacancies left by the deaths of President Thomas S. Monson and Elder Robert D. Hales.
Elder Gerrit W. Gong
Elder Ulisses Soares
Watch the video of President Eyring conducting the solemn assembly.
Elder Gong was serving as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy at the time of his call to the Twelve. He became a General Authority of the Church on April 3, 2010.
Elder Soares was also serving in the Presidency of the Seventy since January 16, 2013. He became a General Authority of the Church on April 2, 2005.
The new Apostles will address the worldwide Church audience during the Sunday afternoon session of general conference. They will be ordained during the week following general conference and begin their service in the Quorum of the Twelve immediately.
For the past 5 years now, we've catered for a group of retired missionaries for their Great Britain LDS Mission here in Sugarhouse Utah. Every year its been a simple delight to help provide for for them as they come together before the Latter Day Saints General conference which will be held tomorrow and Easter sunday. They've all served their LDS mission back in the 1940's-50's. I hope we continue to bring good food and joy to them and their families every April to come!
Birthday shoutout to my smart and adorable niece Abi! Have a wonderful day sweetie!! We love and Miss you!
I pray that as you serve the Lord in Guam, that you fill blessed that you are doing his work on your special day. Know that every good deed that you do will come back and bless you 10x! What a blessing to know that you are doing well and pressing forward with God's important work. Your mission will strengthen you to become the best you can be. May you have a wonderful birthday and enjoy that tropical weather!
Happy Birthday Grant!!
With love,
Aunty Jay & Uncle Mika
Hello Family! This week so so awesome! Sister Minton and I are having SO much fun being on bikes! We've fallen off a couple times this week lol but we were able to dust off our shoulders and move forward! We met a lot of people this week!!!!
Late Night Miracle!
It was getting late and Sister Minton and I didn't know where to go. Our appointments had fallen through and we had tried all of our back ups. It was around 8pm and we still had an hour before we had to be home. It was dark and cold and I really just wanted to go home and do book work. We decided to pray for the Lord to help us know what to do. We both decided to go down the street and knock on the doors with lights on. No one answered. We got on our bikes and rode around trying to find people that we could talk to. With no luck we decided to head home for the night. As we approached a stop sign at an intersection. I saw a figure of a man sitting near the side of the road. I said to my companion, "Let's go talk to that guy!". We went and pulled up to him on our bikes. We asked how he was doing and then we introduced ourselves. He said his name was Wayne and he was born and raised here in Fallon. After talking with him for a while he asked why we were riding bikes in dresses. We explained what we do as missionaries. He said he is Christian but he does not belong to a church. We asked if he would be interested in us coming by his home to share more and he said yes!! He gave us his address and phone number and then we went on our way! That experience was so cool because God placed us exactly where we needed to be! Wayne actually lives in the Elders area so we will definitly have to keep in touch to see how his first lesson goes!
Collin
Sister Minton and I went to a home of a less active member and we found Collin who is not a member. He said that the person we were looking for doesn't live there anymore. We talked to him for a while about Fallon. He said he just moved from California and loves it here. He is not religious but said we could come back!
Ian!!
So our goal this week is to talk to EVERYONE! As we were riding our bikes to a lesson we passed by a lady. But fear got the best of me and I didn't talk to her..I felt so bad so I said I am going to talk to the next person for sure!! I saw a guy sitting in front of a building so we rode over to talk to him. His name is Ian and he is homeless. He has dreadlocks. I was kinda scared to talk to him. we asked him if he could use a message about Jesus. He said said not really. We asked him a bunch of questions just trying to get to know him. He told us his whole life story of how he became homeless. As he was talking I felt my heart break for him. He has gone through a lot! We bore our testimonies of how this gospel can change lives. He thanked us for stopping to talk to him. We gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and a Book of Mormon!! We told him we were sorry didn't have food or money to give him but that the book of mormon would give him more happiness than anything else in the world. I was so happy after talking to Ian. And I made a promise to myself that I will never pass up another opportunity to talk to someone!
Jimmy
We had another awesome lesson with Jimmy! He asked us more questions concerning the Prophet. He still has a hard time believing that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. We decided to go back to lesson 1 and teach him the Restoration again. We encouraged him to pray and ask God If Joseph smith is a prophet of God. He then asked us why God gives us trials. He said that he feels like God is punishing him for the sins that he has made. We were able to turn to the Book of Mormon and read one of my favorite scriptures, Alma 38:5, If you put your trust in God, he will deliver us out of whatever trial we are going through. He really loved that and he said that scripture made his day! But Jimmy is still doing so good!
Well this week has been good! I love this gospel so much! This week I have learned more about the power of prayer! God really does love us and answers our prayers! I am so excited for this upcoming week and the chance we will have to hear from our prophet and apostles! I have been reading the Living Christ every day in preparation for celebrating Easter! I hope you all have a Great week! and a Happy Easter!!
Sister Tupuola :)
How has everyones week been???
This week was super busy for us! We both are so exhausted!! Sister Minton and I have been on the go trying to get to know the people here in Fallon. Our goal is to talk to EVERYONE the lord puts in our path! We are truly blessed to be in a biking area!! We are able to stop and talk to everyone to and from our appointments. We have met a lot of people interested in hearing our message! We will see how our appointments go this upcoming week!
Paiute/ Shoshone Reservation!
Its not that easy to bike to the Reservation, but we were able to get a ride out there! Elder and Sister Vaa'ivaka drove us out this week to visit some people. We knocked on so many doors but no one seemed to be home. We were out there for a few hours and no one was answering. We finally decided to try one more door. Sister Vaa'ivaka pointed to a house and we went and knocked on the door. A woman in her 20's opened the door. She said she was getting her daughter ready for school but that we could come in. We were able to get to know her a little bit more. Judy Austin is part of the Shoshone tribe here in Fallon. She is not a member but said she has family members that are Mormon but she likes to stay away from that side of the family. She likes to go hunting with her family. She is really nice. We talked about what we do as missionaries. We invited her to come to church and she said we could come back to visit her. We will be meeting again with her on Wednesday!
Yesslith Family
We had an awesome FHE lesson with the Vaa'ivakas and the Yesslith family. It was so fun!! The Yessliths made Indian frye bread! We ate and then we shared a short message about the importance of the temple and family history! The Yessliths want to go into the temple to be sealed together as a family. But they have some things that they need to work out. We invited them to do their family history work. They bore powerful testimonies of their ancestors. They want to learn more about their ancestors but don't know where to start. We are going to help them set up their Family History account this Wednesday.
Auction Miracle!
Sister Minton and I were out in a sketchy part of our area at night. (auction road) Our lesson with a less active member went longer than we expected. So after getting out of the lesson, we went back to where we locked our bikes and Sister Mintons key would not work. We were stressing out and needed to get home. We tried to get her bike off of the rail but her lock would not unlock. We said a prayer for the lord to help us and right when Sister Minton put in the key in,The lock drops! It was a miracle! We then rushed home and we made it back safely!
Lost Keys
We were coming home from a long day and we realized that we didn't have the key to get into out home! We dumped our bags and couldn't find it anywhere! We called some of the people that we saw earlier that day to see if they had seen it. Hannah (a member) said she found our keys in her car but she was headed to Reno so she couldn't bring it to us. So we tried to break in our home using a card. We couldn't get in. So we said a prayer and then we slid the card in. The door opens!!! MIRACLE! The power of prayer is real guys!
Jimmy D
Jimmy is recovering well from his surgery. We were able to take some food to him yesterday. He expressed how much his life has changed since the first time he went to our church. (a month ago) He loves this gospel and already considers himself a "Mormon." He is excited to get baptized. We went over and had another lesson with him. We taught him more about Prophets because he is still confused about how there could be a living prophet today. We invited him to come with us to watch General Conference at a members home. He is really excited!
Lang family
We met with a less active family and we shared a message with them. The Lang family are orignally from California and the love horses. They are an older couple in their 70s and they have 2 kids but are all grown up and moved out. Brother Lang has been a member all of his life but doesnt go to church. His wife is a convert but also doesnt come to church anymore. He mentioned that he has never read the Book of Mormon. So we shared our testimonies of how important the Book of Mormon is. We shared Helaman 5:12 and told them that the book of mormon can help us have peace and resist the temptations of Satan. We were with another active member and we all shared powerful testimonies and the spirit was so strong! We then asked them if they would read just a verse out of the Book of Mormon every day. And they both said, nope! We asked what was keeping them from reading it and they wouldn't give a specific answer other than "just because". It was kinda sad, As a missionary, all I can do is invite. Invite others to come unto Christ. I pray that they will one day soften their heart and read the book of mormon.
Well I cant tell you all how much fun it is being on a mission. Today is my 8 month mark!! Time is going by toooo fast! I love this gospel! and I love the Book of Mormon! Thank you everyone for your love and support! Have a great week!
Be safe and have a jolly good time with good company!
Mika and I went to his sister, Jen's ward Fiafia Night in Highland and it was entertaining and fun. Good food and performances from all the auxiliaries in their ward. Great job everyone, especially to my nieces who danced beautiful Samoan numbers with their Young Women and Relief Society.
I'm really loving this month BoxyCharm box!! There are so many amazing products that I've been waiting to test out for quite some time. If you haven't heard of Boxycharm and what they are, check out their website at www.Boxycharm.com. It's a month subscription of $21.00 and you get 4-5 FULL SIZE products! the products range from makeup, beauty, skin care, hair care and nail care. I've been a subscriber for 1 year now and I'm enjoying every month full of awesome goodies. Dont forget to check out their other social media platforms: Facebook, instagramming, Snapchat & Twitter!
PÛR THE COMPLEXION AUTHORITY
#PURBAE
EYESHADOW PALETTE
MSRP: $36.00
This palette has some many beautiful colors that will bright up your daily makeup routine. If you're in the mood for some summer/spring vibes, this palette is for you. There are a variety of shimmer shades a few matte and a few satins. I'm really exited to test this out more and give my thoughts. By the way, this palette is very pigmented, so a little goes a long way!
BUTTER LONDON
#BUTTERLONDONBAE
DOUBLE DECKER LASHES MASCARA
MSRP: $20.00
I'm really liking this luscious mascara that I got in the box. The bristles are wide and thick, to capture your lashes and coat it well. Looks pretty good to me so far now I'm going to test it throughout the day to see how well it last.
SOUTH MANE BEAUTY
#SOUTHMANEBAE
UNDER EYE GELS
MSRP: $10.00
Under eye gels has been a favorite of mines, so this will be fun to test out since I've been looking like hell! lol I hope is moisturize my under eyes so I can look alive again!
THE VINTAGE COSMETICS COMPANY
#VINTAGECOSMETICBAE
SMOKEY EYE MAKEUP BRUSH SET
MSRP:$23.15 (GBP/USD at 1.40)
I'm really liking this cute eye brush set that is in this months box. The cutest thing I notice about these brushes is that they have labels to help you know which one to use step by step with your eye makeup. I think thats really cool! Since I've been in the smokey eye look, I'm excited to try these brushes.
PRETTY VULGAR
#PRETTYVULGARBAE MAKE THEM BLUSH MSRP: $26.00
What a pretty color that I received! It has a pinkish fuchsia tint that is on the cool side. I'm really happy to get this blush to add it to my summer/spring collection!
