What temple dedication assignments reveal about Latter-day Saint global leadership

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Two years ago, we noted in this space that President Russell M. Nelson was taking an unprecedented step by assigning temple dedications to every member of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

We also shared what he said was his reason for doing it.

Related

• Why President Nelson is assigning apostles to dedicate temples

“Have you ever been a father? Taken the children on a fishing trip?” President Nelson said. “Are you happy catching fish? Are you happier watching your children catch fish? I get more joy out of the fact Ulisses Soares dedicated the Fortaleza Temple than if I’d done it. I really do. I’m so happy he’s had that experience.”

Of course, that’s a description of President Nelson’s love for his fellow apostles. For example, last month President Jeffrey R. Holland told the Deseret News what it meant for him to have President Nelson select him, a St. George boy who married a St. George girl, Sister Patricia Holland, in their hometown, historic St. George Utah Temple 60 years ago.

Sister Holland died last summer, and President Holland dealt with serious health issues in April and this fall. The day before President Holland rededicated the temple on Dec. 10, he expressed his feelings for President Nelson’s assignment.

“We talked about it clear last spring, before I was ill, before I lost Pat,” he said. “He had given me, at least tentatively, the assignment that I would come. I think it was last April or so. So I had a number of months to think about it and hope for it and work toward it.”

Then of course, in the fall, President Holland was hospitalized.

“First of all, I’m grateful for the privilege of being alive, that I was so close to death for so many weeks, and then to be healed and to come back and have President Nelson indicate that I would be the one to dedicate the St. George Temple,” he said.

“I’ll be indebted to him forever for that courtesy. He has given me time off from other assignments to get well and do as much as I can to be ready to come, and here I am, so that part is a very tender part of my story. I say mine, but I don’t claim any role in it. I was kind of a third-party observer to this healing and renewal process, but I’m the beneficiary of that and I’m eternally grateful I have another chance, I have another chapter that I’ve been given. I’m very grateful.”

Elder Patrick Kearon made a statement Tuesday in an interview with the Deseret News on what was a reminder of that style of leadership amid the vastness of the task of administering to an international church with 17 million members.

Elder Kearon was the senior president of the Presidency of the Seventy for the past three years before he was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Dec. 7. The three-member First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve rely heavily on the Presiding Bishopric and the seven presidents of the Seventy, who oversee dozens of General Authority Seventies.

Elder Kearon said this late Tuesday morning as he talked about his transition to the apostleship:

“I was in that (weekly meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve) this morning, and the seven presidents were there, and they were reporting on something, and what I felt was extraordinary love. Love for them. Love for my successor and love for each one of them. That’s what I feel. I know what they do. I know how hard they work. I know. I know their yearning to assist the Twelve. And as they shared their report, as those thoughts were being shared, I just felt overwhelming love for them.”

President Nelson has assigned every member of the First Presidency and Twelve to a temple dedication or rededication except for, of course, the newest apostle, Elder Kearon. Here is a list of who has dedicated temples during President Nelson’s administration. Bolded names represent the first time a leader participated in dedicating or rededicating a temple.

Italics and asterisks mark rededications:

2018

• Houston Texas Temple* — President M. Russell Ballard

• Jordan River Utah Temple* — President Henry B. Eyring

• Concepción Chile Temple — President Nelson*

• Barranquilla Colombia Temple — President Dallin H. Oaks

2019

• Rome Italy Temple — President Nelson*

• Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple — Elder Dale G. Renlund

• Memphis Tennessee Temple* — Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

• Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple* — President Eyring

• Fortaleza Brazil Temple — Elder Ulisses Soares

• Oakland California Temple* — President Oaks

• Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple — Elder David A. Bednar

• Lisbon Portugal Temple — Elder Neil L. Andersen

• Raleigh North Carolina Temple* — President Ballard

• Frankfurt Germany Temple* —Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

• Asunción Paraguay Temple* — Elder D. Todd Christofferson

• Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple* — Elder Quentin L. Cook

• Arequipa Peru Temple — Elder Soares

2020

• Durban South Africa Temple — Elder Ronald A. Rasband

2021

• Winnipeg Manitoba Temple — Elder Gerrit W. Gong

• Pocatello Idaho Temple — President Ballard

• Mesa Arizona Temple* — President Oaks

2022

• Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple — Elder Gary E. Stevenson

• Yigo Guam Temple — Elder Bednar

• Praia Cape Verde Temple — Elder Andersen

• Hong Kong Temple* — Elder Gong

• Tokyo Japan Temple* — President Eyring

• Washington D.C. Temple* — President Nelson

• Hamilton New Zealand Temple* — Elder Uchtdorf

• Belém Brazil Temple — Elder Renlund

• Quito Ecuador Temple — Elder Cook

2023

• San Juan Puerto Rico Temple — Elder Christofferson

• Richmond Virginia Temple — President Oaks

• Columbus Ohio Temple* — President Ballard

• Helena Montana Temple — Elder Stevenson

• Saratoga Springs Utah Temple — President Eyring

• Brasília Brazil Temple — Elder Andersen

• Bentonville Arkansas Temple — Elder Bednar

• Moses Lake Washington Temple — Elder Cook

• McAllen Texas Temple — Elder Uchtdorf

• Feather River California Temple — Elder Soares

• Bangkok Thailand Temple — Elder Rasband

• Okinawa Japan Temple — Elder Stevenson

2024

• 2023 St. George Temple* — President Holland

• 2024 Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple — Elder Christofferson

• 2024 Orem Utah Temple — Elder Christofferson

Remaining dedications planned for 2024 so far

• March 24 Red Cliffs Utah Temple — President Eyring

• April 21 Manti Utah Temple Rededication — TBA

• April 28 Urdaneta Philippines Temple Dedication — President Oaks

• May 19 Puebla Mexico Temple Dedication — Elder Gong

• June 2 Taylorsville Utah Temple Dedication — Elder Gong

• June 9 Cobán Guatemala Temple Dedication — Elder Renlund

• June 16 Salta Argentina Temple Dedication — Elder Christofferson

• June 16 – Layton Utah Temple Dedication — Elder Bednar

My recent stories

• Elder Patrick Kearon on being the first adult convert called to be an apostle in 119 years (Jan. 23)

• Community of Christ, formerly the RLDS church, announces next prophet-president (Jan. 18)

• Church announces new senior president for Presidency of the Seventy, replacing Elder Patrick Kearon (Jan. 17)

About the church

• President Nelson posted a video message that was a “‘reel’ invitation to ‘think celestial.’”

• Elder D. Todd Christofferson dedicated the Orem Utah Temple, calling it a “milestone in the progress” of God’s kingdom. Read his dedicatory prayer here.

• President Jeffrey R. Holland traveled to meet with Arizona church leaders and said, “This is the work of Almighty God in the lives of his children.”

• Elder David A. Bednar conducted a live Q&A on Instagram last week. See what he said about belonging, peace and Jesus Christ.

• Reservations are available for the Manti Utah Temple open house.

• The church released an exterior rendering of the La Paz Bolivia Temple.

What I’m reading

• This reporter wrote a captivating article about the process she went through to discover how the United States paid for the development of the atomic bomb.

• Latter-day Saint Ken Niumatalolo is the new head football coach at San Jose State University. Congratulations, Coach Ken!

• Steve Young and Brock Purdy sat down to talk about football. They focused on faith instead.

• Elder Larry Y. Wilson, an emeritus General Authority Seventy, wrote a piece for the Deseret News about why C.S. Lewis said there is so much value in “reading old books,” from Shakespeare to the scriptures.

Behind the Scenes