President Gordon B. Hinckley

On Thursday, December 23, 2005, while in Sharon, VT for the commemoration of the 200th year of Joseph Smith's birth, President Hinckley was joined by one of his sons, six of his grandchildren and two great-grandchildren when he paid an early visit to the 38 1/2-foot monument built for Smith. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built and dedicated the monument -- one foot of granite for each year of his life -- in 1905.

Elder W. Rolfe Kerr

Elder W. Rolfe Kerr, Commissioner of the Church Educational System and a member of The First Quorum of the Seventy, accompanied Elder Packer to the BYU-Hawaii commencement and told the graduates they had the opportunity to study at a "special institution that was created under prophetic vision."

First Presidency

Bishop George Niederauer, currently the Bishop of the Utah Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, who is about to become the new Archbishop of San Francisco, was congratulated by the First Presidency on his new assignment.

President Boyd K. Packer

President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was in Laie, Hawaii on December 17, 2005 giving a commencement address to over 250 BYU-Hawaii graduates.

Elder Packer used some of his own experiences in the Pacific 60 years ago to emphasize the increasing need for personal revelation in modern times.

Presidents James E. Faust and Thomas S. Monson

As mentioned below, President Hinckley will be in Vermont for the fireside celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Friday, December 23.

The rest of the First Presidency, President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor, and President James E. Faust, Second Counselor, will be at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

Elder F. Arthur Kay

Elder F. Arthur Kay, 89, a former member of the First and Second Quorum of the Seventy, died Dec. 13, 2005, in Kirkland, Wash.

President Gordon B. Hinckley

The television broadcast celebrating Joseph Smith's birthday will originate from the Joseph's birthplace, Sharon, Vermont, on Friday, December 23, 2005. President Gordon B. Hinckley will be at the Vermont site. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will provide music from the church's conference center in Salt Lake City.

Elder J. W. Marriott, Jr.

Elder J.W. Marriott, Jr. conducted the Christmas light ceremony on November 30, 2005 at the Washington D.C. Temple.

Elder Monte J. Brough

Elder Monte J. Brough of the Presidency of the Seventy and Church Education System Administrator Roger Christensen were the featured speakers during fall graduation at Brigham Young University-Idaho on Friday, Dec. 16.

Elders Michael J. Teh and Edgardo E. Fernando

Members of the Third Quorum of the Seventy (Phillipines Area) Elder Michael J. Teh and Elder Edgardo E. Fernando, were interviewed on December 11, 2005 regarding the Christmas lights on the Manila Phillipines temple.

Sister Susan W. Tanner

On Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005, Southern Virginia University was privileged to host John & Susan Tanner who visited campus as special guest speakers. Dr. John S. Tanner is the Vice-President of Academics at Brigham Young University, and Sister Susan W. Tanner is General Young Women's President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Donald J. Butler

Donald J. Butler, member of the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy (Utah South area), was mentioned in an article by the Deseret News regarding the assistance of the LDS Church of local food drives in the Salt Lake area.

Elder Alexander Morrison

International Conference on Prejudice and Conflict was conducted in Salt Lake City last week. At the conference, Elder Alexander Morrison, executive director of the local Alliance for Unity and an emeritus general authority of the LDS Church, opined that Utah's religious divide is not really about religion, but about power and who wields it. Below is a picture of Elder Morrison:

Elder Gary J. Coleman and D. Chad Richardson

Elder Gary J. Coleman (member of the First Quorum) and D. Chad Richardson (member of the Sixth Quorum, North America Southwest Area) were at the Friendswood, Texas Stake on the weekend of December 3-4, 2005 selecting a new stake presidency.

The new Stake President is Jonathan S. Schmitt, an attorney practicing with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Houston, TX.

Elder Russell M. Nelson

Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke at the Orem Institue of Religion on the campus of UVSC on November 18, 2005. He spoke about the importance of families and how this will be the first Christmas without his wife, who passed away earlier this year.

Lagos Nigeria West Stake President Charles Oyewole

Although it doesn't appear any general authority attended this event, Lagos Nigeria West Stake President Charles Oyewole, attended an event where the Church was congratulated for its humanitarian service to the Nigerian people.

Elder Sheldon F. Child

Elder Sheldon F. Child, a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, was in Accra, Ghana on December 6, 2005 for the Christmas lighting program at the Accra, Ghana temple.

Elder Robert C. Oaks

On December 1, 2005, Elder Robert C. Oaks, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, spoke at a news conference in Salt Lake City and gave a statement in support of World AIDS Day.

Schedule of General Authorities during Christmas season

So who knows the Christmas season schedule for the apostles and general authorities? Do they get the week off? What are your thoughts? Anyone have any first-hand visual experience with this?

Elder Ronald A. Rasband

Elder Ronald A. Rasband gave a fireside to the students at LDS Business College on November 30, 2005.

First Presidency Devotional

Last night was the First Presidency Devotional. Of course, the entire First Presidency was there, along with most other general church officials.

There was much emphasis on the Book of Mormon and its testimony of Christ.

Besides the inspiring words from the speakers was an interesting event immediately before the devotional began.

It went unnoticed by many, but some lady, right as Pres. Hinckley stood up to begin the meeting, stood up, shouted something about her being a descendant of Joseph Smith, and him allegedly being a false prophet, blah, blah, blah.

In the corner of the screen, you could see church security pounce on her immediately.

News reports say that church security immediately determined she had no weapon, and was handed off to city police. The police charged her with a couple of misdemeanor and let her go.

She told the police she had missing pages of the Book of Mormon that she meant to deliver to Pres. Hinckley. I got the impression the police thought this lady was a bit senile.

Although last night's episode was pretty minor, it brings back memories of Cody Judy and the Marriot Center incident where Judy said he had a bomb and asked Pres. Hunter to read a statement annointing Judy as Prophet.