This week in Church history
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50 years ago
President Ezra Taft Benson presided over and spoke at a flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. Capitol where 15,000 people had gathered on Independence Day, July 4, 1979. He also offered the invocation at an "Honor America Day" program in the nation's capital among several events during his trip there, according to the July 14, 1979, Church News.
President Benson, then president of the Quorum of the Twelve, spoke to 3,000 at the Washington D.C. Stake Center on July 3.
He told the gathering, according to the article, that "America is the Lord's base of operations in these latter days, and from this base the gospel will go to all the world. We must keep this base strong. The gospel can flourish only in an atmosphere of freedom."
He also said, "It's not enough just to elect intelligent men; they must be morally clean."
