Elder Cook and Elder Callister visited Venezuela, located on the northern coast of South America, on Aug. 16-18. During an adult devotional to a large congregation that was broadcast throughout the country, Elder Cook left an apostolic blessing on the people and country that face many challenges. He also bore witness of the Savior and the Atonement.

Note: It is a pleasure to have Margaret Blair Young contribute to JI’s monthlong series on issues of Race and Mormonism. Margaret Blair Young has written extensively on Blacks in the western USA and particilarly Black Latter-day Saints. Much of her work has been co-authored with Darius Gray. She authored I Am Jane. The first staged reading of I Am Jane was on the Nelke theater stage at BYU. It was the climax of a playwriting class, and met some deserved criticism. It was, as I recall, about 120 pages. Too many words. The first draft I wrote used a clichéd convention: rebellious teenager dreams about/ learns about/ re-enacts the life of a heroic ancestor and gains self-respect and courage. But such a play is more about the teen than the character whose life I wanted to explore. And I was researching it even as I was scripting the play.

The music of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been heard around the globe, and this Easter it was heard on a new CD titled "He is Risen." Released on April 1, it gained a lot of listeners during the Easter week, and filled the number one spot on both the Classical Albums Billboard chart and the Traditional Classical Albums chart.

Deadline recently featured the first trailer for The Other Side of Heaven 2: Fire of Faith," saying, "Almost two decades after The Other Side of Heaven became one of the buzz titles that would help propel the faith-based movie market, original director Mitch Davis and star Christopher Gorham are ready to take the wraps off the sequel."

Major Brent Taylor, who was killed in an insider attack Saturday in Kabul, was "the personification of love of God, family, and country," Gov. Gary Herbert said. The Taylor family released a statement Sunday through Jennie Taylor's sister, Kristy Pack, expressing appreciation "for the outpouring of love and support during this unspeakably difficult time," according to the Deseret News.

"We gathered around Maddy, and it was like a spiritual oasis in the midst of all this worldly chaos and oppression," Elder Stevenson told the Church News. "We were there, in that hospital room, enjoying the fruits of the Comforter."

The Church currently has 162 dedicated temples around the world with 12 more under construction and another 35 announced, including 8 announced this past conference weekend. There is no doubt the work of the Lord is moving forward in all of His holy temples around the world. As President Russell M. Nelson said during his closing remarks of April 2019 general conference:

For a quick overview of the sessions, watch this video of highlights from the April 2014 general conference.

Photo from LDSchurchtemples.com, courtesy of Steven M Reyes Originally dedicated in 1972 and closed for renovation in April 2011, the Ogden Utah Temple will re-open to visitors starting Monday, July 21st. The open house will last until September 6th. At that time, the temple will close for its rededication in three sessions later in September.

What is wrong with talking about Mormonism when talking about Mitt Romney and his run for the Presidency? On CNN last Sunday, David Axelrod, President Obama’s strategist, promised that his campaign did not consider Romney’s faith “fair game.” The implication, there, is that Mormonism is a weak point to be exploited—a card that one would only expect the Obama team to play from the bottom of the deck. And given that suspicions about Mormonism are widely thought to have cost Romney votes in the South, there may be good reasons for thinking so. Romney has also said, rightly, that some matters of faith are properly private. It might be that, in the interest of civility and electoral prudence, neither Obama nor Romney can initiate a conversation about what it means to be Mormon in this country. But perhaps the rest of us should, because the story is complicated, fascinating, and utterly American.