Of the “heartland” and the world

The latest iteration of my biweekly Deseret News column appeared the other day.  I may or may not have called attention to it here:

“A Latter-day Saint presence in the Holy Land”

Latter-day Saints have been coming to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and seeking to participate in the life here, since before the first pioneers entered into the Salt Lake Valley.

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The online appearance of my immediately prior Deseret News column was much delayed, owing to reasons beyond my control, but it has finally been published:

“What 2 Engineers Discovered After Using Statistical Analysis to Determine Whether the Book of Mormon Was Fiction”

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The industrious Stephen Smoot has commenced publication, on his blog, of an evaluation of a principal recent effort from advocates of the so-called “Heartland Model” of Book of Mormon geography.  It looks as if it’s going to be well worth a read:

“A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 1)”

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President Russell M. Nelson, 94, who is just back from a ministering tour of the Pacific, will relatively shortly be leaving on a similar tour to Latin America:

“President Nelson Ministry in Latin America Announced: Elder and Sister Cook to accompany the prophet and Sister Nelson”

I’ve seen a few comments from particularly cynical critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about the supposedly lavish “vacations” that President Nelson has undertaken.

I’m guessing that these complaints come from folks who never travel.  Anybody who imagines that virtually daily major speeches and major flights, interspersed with visits with government officials and inspections of potential temple sites, constitute a “vacation” — especially for a man who is midway through the tenth decade of his life — really needs to get out in the world a bit more in order to see what reality is like.  On these trips, President Nelson is keeping a schedule that would be difficult and grueling for a man half his age.  It’s really nothing short of remarkable — and it’s been a great blessing to Saints around the world.

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I’m very proud (in a good sense, I hope) to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Here’s a news item out of the South Island of New Zealand:

“Lending a Helping Hand to Families Impacted by March Attacks: ‘Boxes of Love’ filled with much needed food items distributed to families”

Posted from En Gev, Israel