LDS Church update: Church leader visits Ecuador after earthquake

LDS Church update: Church leader visits Ecuador after earthquake

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SALT LAKE CITY — Each week, KSL.com updates its readers on the latest news happening in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. See the following information for an update.

Church leader visits Ecuador

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell of the Presiding Bishopric of the LDS Church visited Ecuador following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that took place April 16, the LDS Church reported.

“It looks like a war zone,” Bishop Waddell said in a statement.

While he was in Ecuador at the end of April, he comforted and ministered to people who were affected by the earthquake. Bishop Waddell walked with people as they showed him their damaged homes, went to distribution centers, met with government officials and spent time with LDS Church leaders and members in the area, the church reported.

“My feelings after being with members here in Ecuador is one of gratitude for who they are, for their faith,” Bishop Waddell said.

“I feel humbled after being with them in the earthquake disaster zone and seeing how they’ve reacted, how they’ve served others, their worries not only for their material and personal needs, but their worry to help others out,” he said. “It’s magnified my faith in humanity and in members of the church.”

The LDS Church gave humanitarian aid immediately after the earthquake, and the church’s Welfare Department is working with government leaders in Ecuador to deliver help to people affected by the earthquake, according to the LDS Church.

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell of the Church's Presiding Bishopric traveled to Ecuador at the end of April to assess damage and visit with victims following an earthquake. (Photo: © 2016 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved)
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell of the Church's Presiding Bishopric traveled to Ecuador at the end of April to assess damage and visit with victims following an earthquake. (Photo: © 2016 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved)

The earthquake killed 11 Latter-day Saints, but none of the church’s missionaries were hurt. Ecuador’s government estimates the earthquake caused $3 billion in damage.

According to the LDS Church, “The Presiding Bishopric oversees many of the temporal affairs of the church, including welfare and humanitarian aid.”

“The church has collaborated, and thank you for the attention that the Mormons have given us,” Santiago Armas, an army colonel in Portoviejo, Ecuador, said in a statement.

Portoviejo Ecuador Stake President Leonida Toala was encouraged by Bishop Waddell’s visit, according to the LDS Church.

“His words of comfort allow us to see that the future is bright and promising. The gospel of Jesus Christ will allow us to move forward, (and) everything will be fine,” Toala said in a statement.

The Joseph Smith Papers

On May 9, the Church Historian’s Press released another volume of the Joseph Smith Papers Project titled “The Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Volume 4: April 1834–September 1835,” according to the LDS Church.

“The new book contains 93 documents, including minutes of meetings and correspondence relating to major events in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” the church reported.

The book includes information about when the Kirtland, Ohio, temple was constructed, when Joseph Smith’s revelations were published in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, when the first members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were called, and the expedition to reclaim LDS properties in Jackson County, Missouri.

In an effort to reclaim the lands, Joseph Smith led a company of about 200 to Missouri in May 1834 to help the Latter-day Saints living there, the church reported.

“This volume shows Joseph Smith confronting one of the church's first major setbacks — the Saints' expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri,” Matthew C. Godfrey, co-editor of the book, said in a statement.

The book “covers a time period in church history when Joseph Smith and the church (were) really facing some severe financial problems,” Godfrey said.

For more information about this edition of “The Joseph Smith Papers,” visit the website.

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