Wednesday, March 4, 2020

“Come, Follow Me” and the coronavirus

I interviewed or received information from people in 10 countries on Sunday and Monday to provide you with a comprehensive look at what church members did to worship Jesus Christ on Sunday in places where meetings were canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.The first thing they all said, without being asked, was that the “Come, Follow Me” program was divinely inspired for this time.

Here’s the start of the story:

Travelers walked through the doors of a church meetinghouse in Singapore on Sunday expecting to find a typical Sunday worship service of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Instead, the building was empty.

The coronavirus outbreak caused church leaders to cancel all meetings this week in the city-state of Singapore and disrupted at least some church activities in 15 other countries.

Not everyone got the message, though.

Read the rest of the story here.

My Recent Stories

New letter clarifies update to BYU’s honor code following weeks of confusion (March 4, 2020)

Coronavirus: Church asks members to follow WHO, CDC health recommendations (March 3, 2020)

President Ballard at BYU: Apostle invites students to ‘live the two great commandments’ (March 3, 2020)

COVID-19 gives Sunday church service a whole new meaning from Italy to Mongolia and beyond (March 2, 2020)

Church closes 2 more temples as members and missionaries try to do their part to curb the coronavirus (Feb. 27, 2020)

Church discourages international members from traveling to April general conference out of ‘abundance of caution’ over coronavirus (Feb. 27, 2020)

Washington D.C. Temple: Renderings released, open house dates announced (Feb. 27, 2020)

What I’m Reading ...

This audio series on the First Vision is fantastic. It’s super simple to listen to, and I highly recommend it. If you think you are tech-challenged, don’t worry. You can simply click this link and then click on an episode. If you are tech-savvy enough to use podcasts, the link also provides ways you can listen to the episodes on the go via iTunes or Apple or the Latter-day Saint Channel and more.

While researching the Washington D.C. Temple, I found a delightful piece from 2016 about repair work done on the statue of the Angel Moroni. I promise you’ll like it.

The final paragraph of this piece is a quote about serving a difficult mission that is well worth sharing.

What if Mike Trout had been on the 2017 Astros? One of my favorite baseball writers, Sam Miller, says it could have happened.

Behind the Scenes

After I covered President M. Russell Ballard’s devotional talk at BYU on Tuesday, I went looking through the Marriott Center basketball offices for my brother-in-law, who is a trainer for the BYU women’s team. I didn’t find him — he was busy getting the team ready for practice and this weekend’s conference basketball tournament. This photo doesn’t show how this sailor Cougar logo rotates in a circle around the floor, but, in one hallway, it is lit from the ceiling and does just that — rotates around and around. It’s pretty cool.

On a cold Thursday morning last week, I was on my way to the Assembly Hall on Temple Square for the announcement that LDS Business College will change its name in the fall to Ensign College. As I walked, I passed by the Salt Lake Temple again. The view from this side shows how much of the south wall has been taken down and that the South Visitors’ Center is, well, gone.

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