During the week of July 23-29, the Church News podcast featured members of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the Missionary Executive Council teaching from the updated “Preach My Gospel” manual. A funeral service was held for Sister Patricia Terry Holland — the wife of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a former counselor in the Young Women general presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — who died Thursday, July 20, at the age of 81.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles served as the grand marshal of the Days of ‘47 Pioneer Day parade, and Elder James W. McConkie III, a General Authority Seventy, spoke at the Days of ’47 Sunrise Service. Primary General President Susan H. Porter spoke at a devotional for missionaries at the Provo Missionary Training Center.

Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, spoke about her experience moving to San Francisco in a Church News video titled “Guided by the Lord.” The First Presidency released the site location for the Bakersfield California Temple and the exterior rendering of the Cleveland Ohio Temple.

A combination of actors and family cast members performed in the Nauvoo and British pageants in historic Nauvoo, Illinois. The city of Chula Vista, California, proclaimed July 11 as Jayson Jesperson Day in honor of an athlete who represented the United States in golf at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games. Seventy-three people were baptized in an unprecedented baptismal service.

Read summaries and find links to these nine articles below.

1. Church News podcast: The second edition of ‘Preach My Gospel’ is for every member and missionary

President Russell M. Nelson and other senior Church leaders teach about the second edition of Preach My Gospel on the Church News podcast, episode 146.

Screenshot from YouTube

President Russell M. Nelson announced the second edition of “Preach My Gospel” in June 2023, explaining that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a sacred and covenant responsibility to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. President Nelson’s message was shared during the four-day 2023 Seminar for New Mission Leaders at the Provo Missionary Training Center.

This episode of the Church News podcast, the first of two special episodes, features members of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the Missionary Executive Council teaching from the updated manual.

2. Sister Patricia T. Holland is remembered for her faith, testimony, loving heart and example

Sister Pat Holland’s casket is taken from her funeral at the Conference Center Theatre in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

During a funeral service on a warm summer day, family, friends and Latter-day Saints around the world remembered Sister Patricia Terry Holland for her faith, testimony and dedication to her husband and children and to the Savior and His Church. 

“Sister Patricia Holland is exactly what a celestial woman looks like,” said President Russell M. Nelson. “We weep today for the passing of one so beloved by her family — and that family is the whole population of the world, really. However, we rejoice because of the celestial life she lived.”

The Holland family also held a graveside service on Saturday, July 29, in St. George, Utah.

3. Elder Christofferson and Elder McConkie participate in Utah Pioneer Day festivities

Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Sister Kathy Christofferson, ride in the Days of ‘47 Parade in Salt Lake City on Monday, July 24, 2023.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Elder Christofferson served as the grand marshal of the Days of ‘47 Pioneer Day parade in downtown Salt Lake City on Monday, July 24

The same day, Elder McConkie spoke at the Days of ’47 Sunrise Service at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. He shared stories of three pioneer women who boldly prepared the way for others to follow: Eliza R. Snow, Emmeline B. Wells and Gwendolyn Bitner Wirthlin.

4. Be ‘firm and immovable, sure and steadfast’ says President Porter

Primary General President Susan H. Porter speaks during a devotional at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

President Porter shared four witnesses for missionaries so they will not be shaken in their faith in a devotional at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Tuesday, July 25.

“I never want to leave the light that emanates from the Savior,” President Porter said. “I want to be firm and immovable, sure and steadfast, in my testimony of and devotion to Him and to my Heavenly Father. In times of trouble or distress or spiritual darkness, may we all find a place where the light and influence of the Savior can be felt, and stay there until help comes.”

5. Sister Yee’s journey of faith and how she is ‘Guided by the Lord’

In the Church News video “Guided by the Lord,” Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general counselor, learned when she moved to California as a teenager the importance of the influence of the Holy Ghost helping her along the way.

Screenshot from YouTube

As a teenager, Sister Yee knew what she wanted and made decisions she thought would help her achieve her goals. One of those decisions was to move away from her family in Idaho to San Francisco, California.

Now serving as the second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, Sister Yee looks back at that time and sees how important it was to have the influence of the Holy Ghost helping her along the way.

“I needed light. I needed Him,” she said in the Church News video titled “Guided by the Lord.”

6. Site location announced for Bakersfield California Temple, rendering released for Cleveland Ohio Temple

Exterior rendering of the Cleveland Ohio Temple.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The First Presidency released the site location for the Bakersfield California Temple and the exterior rendering of the Cleveland Ohio Temple.

The Bakersfield and Cleveland temples are among the 50 new houses of the Lord identified by President Russell M. Nelson in the past 16 months. 

7. British and Nauvoo Pageants celebrate Latter-day Saint pioneer stories

Actors and family cast members perform during the Nauvoo Pageant in historic Nauvoo, Illinois, in July 2023. The pageant shares the story of early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who settled in the community in a bend on the Mississippi River in the late 1830s until leaving in 1846. The pageants run from July 11-Aug. 5, 2023, and the Nauvoo Pageant is on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Alan Gibby

A combination of actors and family cast members perform in the Nauvoo and British pageants during several weeks in the summer in historic Nauvoo, Illinois.

The British Pageant is narrated by an actor playing a character named Arthur Ashton, who explores the beginnings of the Church in the British Isles and the impact of the British members’ abiding faith. The Nauvoo Pageant celebrates the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the community the early members built in a bend of the Mississippi River in Nauvoo, Illinois.

8. California city honors Latter-day Saint Special Olympics athlete with day named after him

Jayson Jesperson, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Chula Vista, California, competes at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, Germany, June 17-25, 2023. Each day Jayson would write a family member’s initials on his ball.

Provided by Jay Jesperson

The city of Chula Vista, California, proclaimed July 11 as Jayson Jesperson Day in honor of an athlete who represented the United States in golf at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, Germany. 

Jayson Jesperson received a formal proclamation from Mayor John McCann and gave a brief acceptance speech in front of the city council.

9. 2 days in a month, 2 cities in Nigeria results in 110 people baptized

New members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Makurdi, Nigeria, June 24, 2023.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Months of work from a new Makurdi Nigeria District presidency, full-time missionaries and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this West African nation resulted in an unprecedented baptismal service on June 24.

That day, 73 people were baptized. And 37 were baptized on another day in the Jos Nigeria District.

“Great miracles were recorded although the adversary fought back,” said Iniembe Hembadoon Linda of the Makurdi district. “We overcame all our challenges by the power of the Holy Ghost, who actually led this great work.”