Church Provides Context on Handbook Changes Affecting Same-Sex Marriages

Salt Lake City, UNITED STATES -

In a video interview Friday in Salt Lake City, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reaffirmed the Church’s position on marriage and outlined handbook changes in Church policy affecting same-sex couples and their children.

The interview will help Church members, the media and the public better understand the context and purpose of the changes, which have been discussed extensively in the news media, on social media and elsewhere.

Read more including a transcript of the interview at the global edition of Mormon Newsroom.

Understanding the Handbook

Salt Lake, USA -

By Michael Otterson, Managing Director, Church Public Affairs.

If there’s one thing that virtually all Christians agree on, it’s Jesus Christ’s tender love of children. Both the Bible and Book of Mormon deliver touching accounts of His love for “little ones,” blessing them and forbidding His disciples from keeping children from Him.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family is reverenced and children are its centerpiece. Yet last week an instructional letter from Church leadership addressing the sensitive topic of how to respond to same-sex relationships sparked a wave of inquiries from Church members. Most of the questions were about children.

Read more.

Focusing on Family Trees in Fiji

Vanua Levu, Fiji -

Members of a newly organized congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Fiji village of Nakawakawa are working together to upload their family histories to the Internet.

Recently, Church members from the small but growing congregation located in a remote mountain village on Vanu Levu, brought their written and mental lists of ancestors to the meetinghouse they built themselves.

Read more at Pacific Mormon Newsroom.

Mission Accomplished For Pioneer Alipate Tagidugu

from The FIJI SUN | Thursday November 5th, 2015

Church leaders (from left): Sister Martha Johansson, Area Authority Elder Adolf Johansson, Mission President Larmar Layton, Sister Lynette Layton, Stake president Alipate Tagidugu, Daniele Vavaloa and Lote Qoroya in front of their new chapel in Davetalevu, near Korovou, Tailevu.

For several years Alipate Tagidugu commuted from Raiwaqa to Davetalevu to attend a small church gathering every Sunday.

He was then a Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the Raiwaqa ward.

“I would finish our meetings in Raiwaqa then rush off to Tailevu to organize a small meeting in Davetalevu, near Korovou,” he said.

“I had a vision that one day there will be a full phase chapel in the village attended by more members of the church.”

Today there is a beautiful chapel on a hill surrounded by lush green forest, overlooking Ovalau and the outlying islands of the Lomaiviti Group.

The chapel light at night provides a point of reference or beacon for mariners in a dark stormy night.

For the church members in Tailevu who go there to worship, it is a place of reverence, peace and tranquility. Literally, it is a refuge from the storm. During a natural disaster it can be an evacuation centre for Davetalevu villagers and those who live in the interior looking for shelter. Its solid build and safe location make it an ideal refuge.

A lot of hard work and sacrifice had gone into establishing the church in this area.

Bishop Tagidugu was later called as Stake President of the Nausori Fiji Stake. During his term, President Tagidugu helped established new units from Korovou to Ra.

Hundreds of members attended the Nausori stake bi-ennial conference in Davetalevu, Korovou, last weekend.

He said the strength of the church had grown in Tailevu because of the good example of the members. He said the church had a lot to offer in terms of its teachings and doctrines.

“The restored gospel of Jesus Christ teaches people to work hard, become self reliant temporally and spiritually, be tolerant of those not of the same faith, love everyone irrespective of their background or ethnicity, be compassionate to the poor and the needy and prepare themselves to enter the temple in Samabula,” he said.

The Nausori Stake, which covers, Tailevu, Rewa and parts of Naitasiri, is on the verge of dividing.

The latest figures show that the church membership for the stake since 2011 has risen from 3113 to 4005 up to last month. There are enough members to form two stakes.

The proposed new unit will be a smaller version of the stake and it will be called Korovou District.

President Tagidugu, a former National Fire Authority officer, farms his land close to the chapel.

“Despite the initial challenges I have seen the hand of the Lord in the growth of the church that I have seen. Nothing is impossible when you put your trust in God.”