Line upon Line

I teach institute on Zoom for the largest university of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—BYU-Pathway. It is a worldwide university with about 80,000 students. I have taught students in Brazil, Jamaica, Barbados, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Nigeria, Venezuela, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Turks and Caicos. The only language I speak somewhat fluently is English, and I have done four years of Spanish on Duolingo. Hablo un poco de español, pero no mucho.

One day, I was preparing a lesson on Article of Faith 11, with emphasis on religious freedom. At the time, I had students from the Caribbean, Nigeria, and Venezuela. I wondered how much freedom of religion they have in their countries. I went to the United States State Department International Freedom of Religion site and looked up each of their countries. Venezuela received a negative assessment about the dictator, corruption, human rights violations, and food shortages, to name a few of the concerns. The assessment included the warning to American travelers that the United States does not have an embassy there.

I looked up the history of the Church in Venezuela. In 2004, a major political revolution occurred. New laws were enacted to prevent most non-Venezuelans from preaching in the country. At the time, there were four missions. It appeared, due to the lack of members who could take over the leadership of the missions and because there were not enough Latter-day Saints Venezuelan youth of mission age, the missions would have to be closed. “But Venezuelan Saints, committed to the Church’s continued presence in the country, assumed leadership of the missions, and young men and women across the country accepted callings as missionaries…. The four missions have remained open since 2004, with no outside leadership or staffing support” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/facts-statistics/venezuela?lang=eng).

Later, when I read a Venezuelan student’s essay on religious freedom, I was surprised to read: “I am blessed to live in a country with religious freedom.” He served a mission, of course, in Venezuela, and has been part of this continuing legacy to keep the Church alive and growing. Today, there are over 177,000 members in 177 wards, 58 branches, and 61 family history centers. Using the religious freedom they do have, the Venezuelan Saints are mighty examples of faith, foresight, testimony, and perseverance.

Thanksgiving Perspective: This Thanksgiving, I’m going to give thanks for valiant Latter-day saints around the world who work within the laws of their lands to build the Church. I will also celebrate my religious freedoms as stated in the United States Constitution. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” (Bill of Rights, First Amendment). 

One day, I was teaching about temples dotting the earth. I was careful to be sensitive to students who must go long distances at significant expense to get to a temple. I can commiserate but not fully appreciate because with an hour’s drive I can be at a temple in Taylorsville, Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain, Draper, Bountiful, Layton, Syracuse, Mount Timpanogos, Saratoga Springs, Orem, and Provo City.

A student in Barbados commented on the expense and time to travel to the closest temple, which is in the Dominican Republic. There are no ferries. The only practical way is to fly. The cheapest ticket is $658. There are no nonstop flights. The flight with the shortest travel time is 7 hours and 55 minutes.

At this point in the class, a woman who lives in Jamaica raised her hand. She confirmed that there are no ferries to get to the temple in the Dominican Republic, except perhaps a luxury yacht with prices from $20,000 to $100,000. Like Barbados, the only practical and somewhat affordable way is to fly. The flight takes about two hours and costs about $450. She said she was endowed in the Dominican Republic temple and expressed gratitude for the temple. But, she said, “Our branch meets for sacrament meeting in a tent. I would be so grateful for a building to meet in.”

Thanksgiving Perspective: As I marvel at the temples around me, and more coming within an hour’s drive, this Thanksgiving, I am going to be thankful for the blessing of meetinghouses around the world. These buildings are dedicated places to worship, gather for activities, and house family history centers. I am especially going to be aware of Saints in Hebersham, Australia; Grand Blanc, Michigan; Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand; and Mont-Dore, New Caledonia because their meetinghouses were destroyed or damaged by fire in October 2025. (I was unable to find a photo of the New Caledonia building.)

In mid-October of this year, I was Zoom-teaching students in the Caribbean. The topic was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We were discussing physical, emotional, and spiritual preparation for this great and dreadful event. A student from the Virgin Islands said something like, “All of us who live on islands in the Caribbean don’t need to discuss physical preparation. We all experience loss of power and contaminated water when storms come, especially during hurricane season, June 1 to November 30. Everyone tries to keep supplied with essentials.” Other students agreed. A student from Jamaica said how blessed she felt because her area hadn’t had a major hurricane since 2012.

On October 28, news came that Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and gusts up to 200 mph. It was the most powerful hurricane ever to strike Jamaica. The destruction this category 5 hurricane could cause was increased by the fact that Melissa was slow-moving and stayed over the western part of the island for a long time before moving on to Cuba. According to the Associated Press, “The U.N. said that Hurricane Melissa left ‘tremendous unprecedented devastation’ in Jamaica and called on nations to help support the country in its recovery.”

Thanksgiving perspective: This Thanksgiving, I’m going to give thanks for courageous individuals who experience devastating losses, such as category 5 hurricanes, and rebuild their lives and infrastructure.

This term, I am teaching Foundations of the Restoration. It is my favorite class to teach because it includes the Great Apostasy, the First Vision, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, priesthood keys, and the organization of the Church. In one class, I taught about the ten different versions of the First Vision and showed the video, “Ask of God,” the six-minute video that reenacts the First Vision. Since I teach on Zoom, I could watch students’ reactions as they watched the video. What I saw before I started the video was thirteen people in faraway northwest South America. A few seconds after I started the video, I saw that some of my students had children or grandchildren nearby whom they immediately gathered around their computers to watch the video and vicariously experience the First Vision together, even though it was in English.

Thanksgiving perspective: Can we ever be thankful enough, often enough, for that lovely morning in early spring of 1820 when God our Eternal Father stood above a fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith and said, “Joseph, this is my Beloved Son. Hear Him.”

This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the privilege of teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ on Zoom, which collapses miles and expands perspectives on gratitude.