Whatever happened to fasting among the Latter-day Saints?

Here’s a video of Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve inviting the general public to attend the impending open house of the newly renovated Frankfurt Germany Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and encouraging members of the Church to attend the temple as often as possible after its rededication:

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/frankfurt-germany-temple/videos/

I must say that Elder Uchtdorf’s German is really quite good.  One might even call it “native.”

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In other Church-related news:

“Primary General President Offers Prayer at White House: Sister Jones joins in National Day of Prayer”

“General Presidents Answer Questions in Live Sister-to-Sister Broadcast: Elder and Sister Christofferson conclude BYU Women’s Conference”

And, last but not least,

“Sister Eubank Speaks at UN Conference in Geneva: Latter-day Saint Leader addresses protection of refugees and religious minorities”

I really like her declaration that the best antidote to hate speech, religious intolerance, and the discrimination perpetrated by religious groups is better religion. “The best answer to Islamic extremism will be authentic Islam, just as the solution to Christian extremism will be authentic Christianity.”

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I was a bit puzzled by this piece:

“Whatever happened to Mormon fasting?”

I agree with Jana Riess that fasting is a very important part of the Latter-day Saint tradition, and I have no particular reason to reject her claim — for example — that the practice has been mentioned relatively rarely in recent General Conference addresses.  But, honestly, I haven’t sensed at all that fasting is being deemphasized or devalued in recent years.  Does anybody else out there have the feeling that it is?

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In 1841, Orson Hyde, an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was sent to Palestine, the Holy Land, to dedicate the land for the return of the Jewish people. Part of this dedicatory prayer reads as follows:

[I] dedicate and consecrate this land unto Thee, for the gathering together of Judah’s scattered remnants, according to the predictions of the holy Prophets. . . .  Incline them to gather in upon this land according to Thy word. Let them come like clouds and like doves to their windows. Let the large ships of the nations bring them from the distant isles; and let kings become their nursing fathers, and queens with motherly fondness wipe the tear of sorrow from their eyes. (History of the Church 4:456-57.)

Posted from Tiberias, Israel