News events from the week of Oct. 15-21: Sister Kathleen Johnson Eyring, 82 — the wife of President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency — died in her home in Bountiful, Utah, surrounded by her family. Her funeral was held on Saturday, Oct. 21. The First Presidency announced changes to the Sunday meeting schedule for worship services on Christmas Eve. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at a Snow College devotional.

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, spoke to students in a BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional. The First Presidency announced the details of the groundbreaking for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple and dedication and open house dates for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple. Students taking part in the fall 2023 program at the BYU Jerusalem Center will be returning home on Tuesday, Oct. 31, the center announced on Oct. 18.

In honor of the school’s 148th birthday, The Church News compiled nine quotes from Church leaders about BYU. The latest episode of the Church News podcast features Ronald K. Esplin, director of the Brigham Young Center and of the Brigham Young Papers project. The Morehouse College Glee Club and Spelman College Glee Club are traveling to Salt Lake City to perform live with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for “Music & the Spoken Word” on Sunday, Oct. 22.

Read summaries and find links to these nine articles below.

1. Sister Kathleen J. Eyring, wife of President Henry B. Eyring, dies at age 82 following a life of deep conviction to the gospel

President Henry B. Eyring and his wife, Sister Kathleen Eyring, arrive Saturday morning for the second day of the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple, Aug. 22, 2009, in South Jordan, Utah.

Gerry Avant, Church News

After consecrating her life, talents and great spiritual maturity to her family and the gospel of Jesus Christ, Sister Kathleen Johnson Eyring, 82, died Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, in her home in Bountiful, Utah, surrounded by her family.

The latest Church News video, a memorial tribute to Sister Eyring, features an excerpt from President Eyring’s October 2018 general conference address, titled “Try, Try, Try,” along with music from The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

Friends, family and other loved ones gathered in Bountiful, Utah, on Oct. 21 for the funeral service of Sister Eyring, celebrating her love of and commitment to her family as well as her quiet ministering, consecrated discipleship, and enduring and powerful dedication to the Savior Jesus Christ. 

In a written tribute, President Russell M. Nelson described Sister Eyring as “a true woman of God.” 

“We admire her remarkable life,” President Nelson wrote. “I speak for all members of the Church in expressing to you our deepest love and compassion at this sacred time.”

2. What is the Latter-day Saint Sunday meeting schedule for Christmas Eve 2023?

The First Presidency has announced Sunday meeting schedule adjustments for Christmas Eve 2023 and New Year’s Eve 2023.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

With Christmas Eve falling on Sunday in the upcoming holiday season, the First Presidency has announced changes to the Sunday meeting schedule for worship services that day.

For Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, the First Presidency said Church services and administrative and council meetings on that day should be limited to sacrament meeting in each ward and branch.

The adjustment was released in an Oct. 11 First Presidency letter distributed to general authorities and general officers, Area Seventies; stake, district and mission presidents; bishops; and branch presidents. The letter was signed by President Russell M. Nelson and his counselors, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring.

3. Press forward with faith, Elder and Sister Bednar tell Snow College students in Ephraim

Elder David A. Bednar, Quorum of The Twelve Apostles, gives a hand heart to the students after the devotional at the Ephriam Institute at Snow College in Ephriam, Utah on Sunday October 15, 2023. Elder David A. Bednar, Quorum of The Twelve Apostles, gives a hand heart to the students after the devotional at the Ephriam Institute at Snow College in Ephriam, Utah on Sunday October 15, 2023.

Adam Fondren, for the Deseret News

Speaking during an institute devotional on Sunday, Oct. 15, in Ephraim, Utah, Elder and Sister Bednar promised students at Snow College that they can look forward with faith.

“I am a witness that God the Eternal Father, through the merits, mercy and grace of His Beloved Son and His atoning sacrifice, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, will bless you in remarkable ways,” said Elder Bednar. “I hope that begins tonight.”

Capacity crowds filled the Church’s institute building, located adjacent to the Snow College campus, for the devotional.

4. Like Moses, God will give His children the vision needed to accomplish His work, Sister Browning testifies

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, speaks to BYU–Pathway Worldwide students during a devotional broadcast on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.

Screenshot from byupathway.org

Sister Browning spoke in a BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional on Tuesday, Oct. 17, sharing the story of Moses’ experience with God in the Pearl of Great Price. 

“Much of what we know about the creation of our world, the heavens and all life is revealed to us through Moses and was given to him ‘face-to-face’ with his Creator,” Sister Browning observed in the devotional broadcast.

5. Red Cliffs Utah Temple dedication and open house dates announced; Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple groundbreaking scheduled

A rendering of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple.A rendering of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The First Presidency announced the details of the groundbreaking for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple and dedication and open house dates for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple.

Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai, General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s Asia Area, will preside and offer the dedicatory prayer at the groundbreaking of the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple. On Sunday, March 24, President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, will dedicate the Red Cliffs Temple — the second house of the Lord in St. George, in Utah’s southwest corner. 

6. BYU Jerusalem Center students returning home at the end of the month

BYU Jerusalem Center

Photo by John L. Hart

Students taking part in the fall 2023 program at the BYU Jerusalem Center will be returning home on Tuesday, Oct. 31, the center announced on Oct. 18.

The students and faculty were evacuated to Greece — arriving in Athens on Sunday, Oct. 15 — after attacks and ongoing military conflict in southern Israel that occurred on Saturday, Oct. 7.

A security update posted Wednesday, Oct. 18, stated: “Students will be returning home from Greece on Tuesday, October 31st.”

7. Today is BYU’s 148th birthday. Here are 9 quotes from Church leaders about its prophetic destiny

The entrance sign to BYU on July 17, 2017.

Credit: Nate Edwards, BYU

Brigham Young University, originally known as Brigham Young Academy, was founded on Oct. 16, 1875, by President Brigham Young. 

In 1875, Karl G. Maeser, a prominent Utah educator and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was commissioned by the Prophet Brigham Young to go to Provo and establish an academy “in the name of the Church — a Church school.”

Since its earliest days, prophets and leaders have shared direction and outlined the role of Brigham Young University in the world and in the Church. In honor of the school’s 148th birthday, the Church News compiled nine quotes from Church leaders about BYU.

8. Ronald K. Esplin, other historians discuss the upcoming Brigham Young Papers project and the prophet’s life and legacy

Ronald K. Esplin and other historians join the Church News podcast to share what they have learned about the Prophet Brigham Young.

Screenshot from YouTube

Brigham Young served as the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in other governmental positions from 1844 to 1877. As a result, sorting through the library of his written word, images, lectures, journals and other documentation is a mammoth task.

Still, the scholars at the Brigham Young Center are set to tackle this task with the upcoming Brigham Young Papers project.

This episode of the Church News podcast features Ronald K. Esplin, director of the Brigham Young Center and of the Brigham Young Papers project. He is joined by his fellow contributors Gerrit J. Dirkmaat and Brent M. Rogers, who also worked on the Joseph Smith Papers project.

9. Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs to perform with the Tabernacle Choir in ‘Music & the Spoken Word’

Morehouse College Glee Club and Spelman College Glee Club sing at an award ceremony honoring President Russell M. Nelson with the inaugural Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, April 13, 2023.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

When the Rev. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. — dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College — presented President Russell M. Nelson the Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize in April, he hinted at a future collaboration between the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs and The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if these three choirs could perform together?” the Rev. Carter said that evening. “All I can say is, stay tuned. The best is yet to come.”

This idea is becoming a reality as the Morehouse College Glee Club and Spelman College Glee Club are traveling to Salt Lake City to perform live with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for “Music & the Spoken Word” on Sunday, Oct. 22.