2010 Year in Review: Events reflect Church growth
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TEMPLE NEWS
President Thomas S. Monson announced Jan. 25 that a new temple will be built in Payson, Utah, a once agrarian area located in southern Utah County. Once completed the temple will be the 15th in Utah and serve approximately 78,000 Church members living in 22 stakes from Spanish Fork to Nephi, Utah.
The Church announced plans Feb. 17 to give the Ogden Utah Temple a major renovation and face-lift from the circular design to a more contemporary style mimicking the Draper Utah Temple dedicated in 2009.
On May 2, President Monson dedicated the Vancouver British Columbia Temple, located in Langley, some 30 miles east of Vancouver, in three sessions. The temple is the seventh operating temple in Canada and the 131st temple worldwide. In the dedicatory prayer, President Monson said: "May the beauty of this edifice never be marred by careless or evil hands. May it stand strong against the winds and storms that will beat upon it. May it be a beacon of peace and a sanctuary of solace to those whose burdens are heavy and who seek Thy consoling comfort."
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy broke ground for the Kansas City Missouri Temple on May 8. The temple is located on a 9.33-acre lot in Kansas City near the city of Liberty where the Church operates the historic Liberty Jail Visitors Center.
On May 15, Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy broke ground for the Calgary Alberta Temple, the third temple in Alberta and the eighth in Canada.
The 132nd operating temple in the Church and the third temple in Arizona — The Gila Valley Arizona Temple — was dedicated May 23 in three sessions. In the dedicatory prayer offered by President Monson, he said: "Wilt Thou hallow this house and sanctify it. May Thy presence be felt here, and may Thy Holy Spirit abide constantly within its walls. May all who enter feel of that Spirit. May it be a house of prayer, a refuge from the cares of the world and a place of peace and love."
The Cebu City Philippines Temple — the 133rd temple of the Church and the second in the Philippines — was dedicated June 13 by President Monson. It is the first temple in the Visayas islands group and will serve more than 200,000 members in Visayas and Mindanao. In three dedicatory sessions, members were able to hear President Monson offer the dedicatory prayer in which he said: "We are grateful for the completion of this Holy House. Wilt Thou bless those faithful members here and throughout the world who have contributed their tithes which have made possible this magnificent edifice for Thy name's honor and glory and for the blessing of all who enter herein."
In the shadow of the historic Box Elder Tabernacle, ground was broken July 31 for the new Brigham City Utah Temple by President Boyd K. Packer, president of the Quorum of the Twelve.
On Aug. 29 the first temple built in a nation of the former Soviet Union — the Kyiv Ukraine Temple — was dedicated by President Thomas S. Monson in three sessions. The temple will serve 31,000 members in nine Eastern European countries including the former Soviet Union countries of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine; the Balkan or Southeastern European nations of Bulgaria and Moldova; and Romania, which was occupied by the Soviets. The Kyiv Ukraine Temple – the 134th temple in the Church and the 11th in Europe – was built and dedicated only 20 years after the first missionaries arrived in Ukraine in 1990. The first branch in the country was organized a year later in 1991. Not since the early days of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has a temple been built so soon after the Church was established in a nation. At the cornerstone ceremony, President Monson described the day of dedication as "a day of freedom, a day you will have all the ordinances of the gospel."
During the Saturday morning session of the 180th Semiannual General Conference on Oct. 2, President Thomas S. Monson announced plans for five new temples, to be built in Hartford, Conn.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Tijuana, Mexico; Urdaneta, Philippines; and Lisbon, Portugal. The announcement brings the total number of temples worldwide to 157, with 134 in operation, seven under construction and 16 in various stages of planning.
On Oct. 23 President Monson broke ground for the Rome Italy Temple. The future Rome temple will be number 12 in Europe, and another has been announced for Lisbon, Portugal.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve presided over the Oct. 30 groundbreaking for the Cordoba Argentina Temple. The temple will bless the lives of more than 95,000 members from nine provinces.
Elder Claudio R.M. Costa of the Presidency of the Seventy broke ground for the Gilbert Arizona Temple on Nov. 13.
President Monson rededicated the Laie Hawaii Temple on Sunday, Nov. 21, following renovation. The Laie Hawaii Temple, which is situated on land adjacent to BYU-Hawaii on the northeast shore of Oahu, was originally dedicated Nov. 27, 1919 by President Heber J. Grant. In offering the prayer of rededication, President Monson said, "This beautiful temple has been a haven of peace. It has been the House of the Lord to all who have entered and have felt of its spirit and partaken of the blessings found here. We thank Thee for it and for the accomplishment of Thy divine purposes through it. It has served well."
HUMANITARIAN RELIEF
More than 40 Latter-day Saints were killed Jan. 12 and several hundred others injured when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake leveled much of the Caribbean island nation of Haiti, leaving an estimated 200,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. In the two weeks following the disaster, the Church distributed more than 1 million pounds of food, water and other necessities to thousands of people. In addition, the Church shipped more than 2,000 tents for families forced to leave their homes; provided medical doctors, medicine and wheelchairs for the injured; and opened the doors of nine meetinghouses in and around the capital city of Port-au-Prince, providing refuge for some 5,000 people, of whom only 20 to 30 percent were Church members.
Seven members of the Church were killed, nine others were hurt, and more than 430 LDS families were left homeless when a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck the central coast of Chile on Feb. 27 — the second devastating quake in the Western Hemisphere in as many months — claiming the lives of more than 800 people. Just hours after the early-morning quake hit, the Church began sending in food and emergency supplies. In all, the Church donated some 100 tons of food and supplies. A bishops' storehouse in the heavily damaged city of Concepcion provided food and other provisions to more than 1,000 members and others in need, and each of the 30-plus stakes in Santiago collected clothing and goods for impacted communities. Twenty-three meetinghouses were used to shelter member families whose homes were destroyed or seriously damaged. The vast majority of Church-constructed buildings weathered the disaster well, but five buildings were severely damaged.
On April 22, Presiding Bishop H. David Burton announced that the Church was donating $1 million to the capital campaign at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City that will help build a much-needed outpatient services building at the hospital. The hospital was owned and operated by the Church for several decades, but in 1975 the Church divested itself of its 15 hospitals in three western states and turned them over to a non-Church, non-profit organization.
An estimated 1,200 Guatemalan members were "significantly impacted" by a double disaster that struck the Central America country. Guatemala's Pacaya volcano erupted May 27, spewing lava and rocks and blanketing sections of Guatemala City in ash debris. Two days later, Tropical Storm Agatha made landfall, dumping more than a foot of rain and triggering deadly landslides in El Salvador and Honduras, where some 400 members were impacted, as well as in Guatemala. Authorities and priesthood leaders in the Central America Area went into action at the first sign of trouble.
The Church announced Aug. 25 it was distributing emergency supplies in Pakistan that were purchased in the country after monsoon rains during the past month caused catastrophic flooding that claimed the lives of more than 1,600 people and left millions homeless. The Church also filled 10 tractor-trailers with 400,000 pounds of humanitarian supplies that were shipped via sea to Pakistan.
GROWTH IN THE CHURCH
The first stake in Uganda, a small semi-tropical country in East Africa, was created in the capital city of Kampala by Elder Paul E. Koelliker of the Seventy on Jan. 17. The Kampala Uganda Stake is the 25th stake in the Africa Southeast Area.
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve became the first apostle in this dispensation to visit the island of Borneo when he presided over and spoke at the Miri East Malaysia District conference during a tour of Southeast Asia, Feb. 20-28.
On May 12, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve, on a tour of the Pacific and Asia, was believed to have been the first apostle to visit the Pacific island of Chuuk, formerly known as Truk, where he dedicated the Namoneas Chuuk District Center in the Federated States of Micronesia.
To better align resources and adjust to ever-changing needs of the Church, 10 new missions were organized in July in Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico, Philippines and the United States. In addition, 14 other missions in Europe, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, and the United States were combined with neighboring missions. The resulting number of missions throughout the world was 340.
On Sept. 6-9, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve pronounced blessings upon six Balkan nations in southeastern Europe including Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosina-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia.
Two African countries were dedicated for the preaching of the gospel by Elders Jeffrey R. Holland and D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve. Elder Holland dedicating the country of Burundi for missionary work on Oct. 19 and Elder Christofferson pronounced a blessing upon the country of Angola on Oct. 20.
MAJOR EVENTS
As of January, a new youth-oriented Internet site launched by the Church is seeking to unite Latter-day Saint youth around the world by giving them a sense of the gospel rolling forward. The new site is youth.lds.org.
Speaking on March 27 at the General Young Women Meeting in the Conference Center, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, told more than 20,000 young women, their mothers and leaders that none is exempt from adversity. "Adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise," he said. "Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy." Also speaking at the meeting were Elaine S. Dalton, Young Women general president, and her counselors, Mary N. Cook and Ann M. Dibb.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated the Mormon Battalion Historic Site in San Diego's Old Town on March 26 after extensive renovation and modernization.
Presiding Bishop H. David Burton and his first counselor, Bishop Richard C. Edgley, on April 27 helped unveil to the media the first solar-powered LDS meetinghouse in North America at a new stake center in Farmington, Utah. The building is a prototype designed to evaluate the feasibility of solar power in Church meetinghouses.
Speaking in general conference on Easter morning, April 4, President Thomas S. Monson titled his address, "He Is Risen," and said because of the Resurrection, "The most glorious, comforting and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place — the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed."
Four new members of the First Quorum of the Seventy and three new members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy were sustained on April 3 — Elders Kevin R. Duncan, Gerrit W. Gong, Patrick R. Kearon and Juan A. Uceda in the First Quorum, and Elders Larry R. Lawrence, Per G. Malm and Jairo Mazzagardi in the Second Quorum. In addition, a new Primary general presidency was sustained. Rosemary M. Wixom was sustained as president, with Jean A. Stevens, first counselor, and Cheryl A. Esplin, second counselor.
On April 24, more than 50,000 volunteers participated in 450 projects during the Second Annual Day of Service throughout the North America Southeast Area.
More than 14,000 women, some coming from countries around the world, attended the two-day Women's Conference at BYU on April 29-30. Speakers at the conference included Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve and his wife, Kristen Oaks; and Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president. Elder Oaks spoke on the importance of this year's theme, "Choose ye this day to serve the Lord."
Ground for a new 535,900-square-foot Bishops' Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City was broken on May 18. Presiding Bishop H. David Burton presided at the event and offered the dedicatory prayer.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir celebrated 100 years of musical recording June 10 as it announced to the news media assembled in the Salt Lake Tabernacle the release of a new album of recordings — a three-disc set, "100: Celebrating a Century of Recording Excellence." The first Tabernacle Choir recording was made on Sept. 1, 1910.
A new, 10,000-square-foot, high-tech Family History Library, which replaced 24 smaller, limited-use family history centers previously housed in local meetinghouses that had served some 90 stakes, opened in Riverton, Utah, on June 21 in southern Salt Lake Valley.
More than 10,000 LDS youth, in seven western Africa countries, representing seven stakes and 32 districts, participated on Aug. 28 in simultaneous dramatic productions of "A Mighty Change" to celebrate the 180th anniversary of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and to hear a special recorded message from President Thomas S. Monson.
Elder M. Russell
Ballard
President Thomas S. Monson's biography, titled To the Rescue — a title fitting the man who has devoted his life to going to the rescue of those in need — went on sale.
Store.lds.org— a new Church online shopping site — opened with more than 21,000 items. The new Online Store replaced the old LDS Catalog.
During the Saturday afternoon session of the 180th Semiannual General Conference on Oct. 2, five members of the First Quorum of the Seventy were granted emeritus status — Elders Spencer J. Condie, Bruce C. Hafen, Kenneth Johnson, Glenn L. Pace and Lance B. Wickman. Also, two members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, Elders Spencer V. Jones and Wolfgang H. Paul, were released.
In his address, "The Divine Gift of Gratitude," President Monson said: "Do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love."
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's program "Music and the Spoken Word" was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Nov. 6.
The Church introduced a new administrative handbook during a worldwide leadership training meeting Nov. 13. Church leaders say that one of the major aims of the new handbook is to reduce the administrative workload on bishops.
Beginning Nov. 30, the official Church website lds.org was upgraded. The upgrade includes a new design and several new features.
