The following is excerpted from the Deseret News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE. 

President Russell M. Nelson challenged Latter-day Saints to change a contentious world by modeling peacemaking and dignified dialogue, then announced plans for 15 new temples on Sunday at the 193rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The new temples will be built in eight new countries. The church now has 315 temples announced, under construction and in operation or under renovation.

A major hallmark of President Nelson’s half decade as church president is the consistent calls for civility, bridge building and unity. His Sunday morning talk was a ringing crescendo for his elevation of peacemaking and condemnation of contention, which he labeled “evil.”

“Contention is a choice,” he said. “Peacemaking is a choice. You have your agency to choose contention or reconciliation. I urge you to choose to be a peacemaker, now and always.”

He asked Latter-day Saints and others to act to change the world one interaction at a time.

  • “How? By modeling how to manage honest differences of opinion with mutual respect and dignified dialogue,” he said.
  • “Let us as a people become a true light on the hill — a light that ‘cannot be hid,’” he said. “Let us show that there is a respectful way to resolve complex issues and an enlightened way to work out disagreements.”

To read the full article, CLICK HERE.