President Nelson offered five suggestions to help Latter-day Saints develop that faith and trust: When the major renovation to the Salt Lake Temple is complete, there will be no safer place during an earthquake in the Salt Lake Valley than inside that temple, said President Nelson during October 2021 general conference. And do these beliefs also apply to the COVID-19 vaccine? Please do all you can to protect yourself and others so the work of the Lord on both sides of the veil can move forward, they wrote. Updated: Jan 19, 2021 / 10:43 AM MST. Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. "I remember my husband was like 'dang we need to get the vaccine and follow the prophet,' and I was like, 'you know, you're right. He told me this because I had been vaccinated against polio and would never understand what things had been like otherwise. Elder Gerrit W. Gong, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, recovered from a COVID-19 infection in October 2020. Mormon vaccine push ratchets up, dividing faith's members - AP NEWS the PRRI/IFYC findings are sobering. A while ago, the newspapers published a photo of LDS President Russell M. Nelson getting his COVID-19 vaccination. Work for it. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. My professional and ecclesiastical experiences convince me that vaccinations administered by competent medical professionals protect health and preserve life. Donate to the newsroom now. He called the vaccines a "godsend" in a January social media post after he received his first vaccination shot. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Fourth, partake of sacred ordinances worthily. I was underwhelmed by Nelsons initial news conference, last weeks Brigham Young University headline, trying to reconcile staying a Latter-day Saint when he is now out of the closet, then-Elder Nelson was the one who most publicly defended the exclusion policy as Gods will, the church changed its endowment ceremony to give more authority to women, women and girls could be official witnesses, two new apostles who were not white men from the U.S. or Europe, missionaries were only permitted to call home twice a year, taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously from the very beginning, a lot of flak for this from right-wing members, just two months into Nelsons tenure, the church changed this policy, I left feeling the church probably should have discontinued it years ago, LDS Church Announces new First Presidency Counselors, takes questions on women and LGBT Mormons. All rights reserved. Though ultimately, the official policy says the decision is up to the members, with divine guidance. We find ourselves fighting a war against the ravages of COVID-19 and its variants, an unrelenting pandemic.