Young men from Lehi’s Eaglecrest 3rd Latter-day Saint Ward stand in front of the Payson Utah Temple on May 31. The Payson temple was one of eight temple stops along the group’s bicycle “Tour de Temples,” covering more than 300 miles from Lehi to St. George, Utah.
Ryan and Kristin Kirby
A line of young men and a few adult leaders on bicycles, all in matching white shirts, black shorts and helmets, pedaled triumphantly into sunny St. George with sore muscles and fatigue Wednesday afternoon.
As the group rolled to a stop near the St. George Utah Temple, another youth walked among them, aiming a water gun and squirting cool liquid on each rider.
Deseret News
Share this story
Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox weekly.
When the leader they honor as a prophet of God describes a revelation, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints listen intently.
That leader, President Russell M. Nelson, delivered a video message on Saturday in which he spoke of prayerful thought, study, pleadings, respondings and feeling impressed both to modify the church’s initial plans for the Manti Utah Temple renovation and to build an Ephraim Utah Temple 7 miles away.
Watch what he said here.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles then stood, grasped the tiny wooden pulpit in the Manti Tabernacle in both hands and told the church members in central Utah who were watching the livestreamed broadcast that President Nelson’s announcement was an example of the Biblical saying that God will do nothing without revealing it first to his prophets.
X-ing out the MX
Forty years ago Wednesday, the church helped shoot down controversial plans to base a nuclear missile system in Utah’s West Desert.
In a detailed, descriptive and impassioned 700-word statement issued May 5, 1981, the governing First Presidency decried the arms buildup, the destabilizing nature of the proposed MX deployment, and the impact the weapons plan could have on the environment, the economy and all of humanity.
“By way of general observation, we repeat our warnings against the terrifying arms race in which the nations of the earth are presently engaged,” then-church President Spencer W. Kimball and his counselors wrote. “We deplore in particular the building of vast arsenals of nuclear weaponry.”
Mormons petitions help to save historic artwork in Manti Utah Temple washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The historic murals in the 133-year-old Manti Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will remain inside the pioneer-era edifice, a change from plans announced earlier.