Barranquilla Colombia Temple Is Dedicated (LDS Newsroom) (December 10, 2018)
The Barranquilla Colombia Temple was formally dedicated Sunday, December 9, 2018, in three sessions by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Colombia’s Newest Temple Is Already Helping Area Youth Make “the Right Choice” (The Church News) (December 10, 2018)
Latter-day Saint youth here had to make a tough choice Saturday night. The local professional soccer team, Junior, was competing for the national club finals against vaunted rival Medellin.

Elder Bednar Dedicates New High-Tech BYU Engineering Building (Church News) (December 10, 2018)
A “new season” has begun for engineering students at Brigham Young University after the dedication of a 200,000-square-foot building and research lab for the college.

Holiday Service Project Brings Christmas Gifts to Temple Square Missionaries (Church News) (December 10, 2018)
“Mom, please stop sending me so many packages.” That’s a phrase not many mothers of full-time missionaries expect to hear—but that’s the message Jerri-Ann Sturzenegger received from her daughter, Blakely, while Blakely was serving full-time in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission in December 2016. The reason? Blakely noticed her companion, Sister Yi Yi Liu, was being left out.

Salt Lake County is now minority Mormon, and the impacts are far reaching (Fox 13 - Utah) (December 10, 2018)
With major implications on everything from the classroom to the church pews, from the Capitol to the dinner table, an unrelenting demographic shift has hit a major milestone: Fewer than half the people living in Salt Lake County are on the rolls of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

First Presidency 2018 Christmas Message (LDS Newsroom) (December 7, 2018)
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, offers to us four incomparable gifts—the capacity to love others, the ability to forgive, the blessing of repentance, and the promise of life everlasting.

Elder Soares visits Central America during first solo trip as an Apostle (The Church News) (December 7, 2018)
Reading from the pages of his mother’s journal, Elder Ulisses Soares recently learned much about his parents’ conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Full-time Peruvian missionary dies from illness while serving in Bolivia (The Church News) (December 7, 2018)
A full-time missionary from Peru serving in Bolivia passed away Wednesday, Dec. 5, following a brief illness. Elder Brian Lezama Sanchez, 26, of Cajamarca, Peru, who had been serving in the Bolivia La Paz El Alto Mission since August 2017, died while being transferred to a hospital after receiving medical treatment at another hospital. The exact cause of death is undetermined.

This week in Mormon Land: BYU students embrace evolution, a new string of excommunications stirs questions, church’s political stances draw scrutiny (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (December 7, 2018)
Two days before Election Day, Marty Stephens, a Latter-day Saint stake president and the church’s chief lobbyist on Utah’s Capitol Hill, took to the pulpit and urged his congregations to “Follow the prophet” and, in so many words, vote against the ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana.

Fun vs. joy: Elder Bednar speaks at BYU about finding true happiness (The Church News) (December 6, 2018)
During a “spiritually powerful testimony meeting” recently, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles listened intently as a woman declared great joy because of the Father’s plan of salvation.

Church makes final decision on pageants. See which 3 productions made the cut (The Church News) (December 6, 2018)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced officially which pageants will continue following the Church's Oct. 27 statement that "the goal of every activity in the Church should be to increase faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to share His gospel message throughout the world."

How Caribbean Church members are staying vibrant and energized post Hurricanes Irma, Maria (The Church News) (December 6, 2018)
Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s recent Caribbean visit placed an exclamation point on a monumental year here for Latter-day Saints. Decades from now, when Caribbean members study their history, they will surely find multiple chapters written on a period bookended loosely by the autumn of 2017 to the autumn of 2018.

New $85 million BYU Engineering Building is high tech with research labs, project space. Here are highlights from the dedication (The Church News) (December 6, 2018)
A “new season” has begun for engineering students at Brigham Young University after the dedication of a 200,000-square-foot building and research lab for the college. Known for their impressive innovation with energy-efficient vehicles, self-flying drones, rocketry, and developments in wheelchair capabilities, the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology has a new place to call home — one that is now equipped to accommodate more creativity and growth than ever before.

An Apostle's perspective on the 'universal' nature of the gospel (Church News) (December 5, 2018)
Sitting in his office overlooking the grounds of Temple Square after returning from a nine-day visit to the South America South Area, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reflected on a recent experience he had of witnessing the ongoing fulfillment of a prophecy made more than 180 years ago.

Light the World (mormon.org) (December 5, 2018)
Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, spent much of His ministry caring for individuals, one by one. Join us this Christmas as we follow His example and find ways to share our time, love, and resources with those in need.

Elder Holland joins ambassador of Paraguay to switch on Christmas lights in D.C. (The Church News) (December 4, 2018)
In the midst of World War II, two small groups of soldiers — one American and one German — lost their way and ended up in the home of the Vincken family on Christmas Eve 1944.

Gov. Herbert signs medical marijuana compromise into law (KSL - Utah) (December 4, 2018)
The Utah Legislature on Monday signaled overwhelming support for a sweeping medical marijuana compromise bill fraught with complexity and political risk, but which nonetheless enjoyed broad support among key groups both for and against Proposition 2.

Giving machines #LightTheWorld in Arizona this Christmas season (The Church News) (December 4, 2018)
Sunny Arizona got a little brighter this holiday season. Gilbert is located in the southeast part of the Phoenix metro area and is home to about a quarter of a million people.

Stream Christmas Music All Day Every Day (Church News) (December 4, 2018)
If you need to add a little Christmas cheer to your workday, try streaming free, uplifting Christmas music now through Christmas Day.

Bill Gates’s best books of the year have a New Age twist (Washington Post) (December 4, 2018)
Here are Gates’s choices, in his own words (edited for length and clarity): 1. “Educated,” by Tara Westover (Random House). I never thought I’d relate to a story about growing up in a Mormon survivalist household, but Tara Westover is such a good writer that she got me to reflect on my own life while reading about her extreme childhood. Westover, who never went to school or visited a doctor until she left home at 17, ended up getting a Ph.D. from Cambridge University.

More theft charges filed against Latter-day Saint artifacts collector (KSL - Utah) (December 4, 2018)
Additional criminal charges were filed Monday against an Orem collector of Latter-day Saint artifacts accusing him of stealing rare photos from university libraries. Kevin Mark Ronald Schuwer, 29, is charged in 4th District Court with engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony, plus theft and theft by deception, both third-degree felonies.

BYU student jumps from 4th floor of Tanner Building (Daily Universe - Utah) (December 4, 2018)
A BYU student was critically injured when she jumped from the fourth floor of the Tanner Building on Monday, Dec. 3. The university confirmed later in the day the incident was an attempted suicide.

Gifts From the Savior Focus of First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional (LDS Newsroom) (December 3, 2018)
“Jesus Christ is God’s transcendent gift — the gift of the Father to all of His children,” said President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional. “That birth we joyfully celebrate each Christmas season.”

First Presidency Honors the Life of US President George H. W. Bush (LDS Newsroom) (December 3, 2018)
We are grateful today for the life and service of President George H. W. Bush. We honor him as a devoted husband, father and grandfather, a man of deep conviction who dedicated his life in service to country, family and faith. We express our love to the Bush family. We have been blessed by his legacy of service and devotion, and we pray they will be granted God's peace as they remember and celebrate his remarkable life.

Latter-day Saint Leaders Discuss Religious Intolerance at Baghdad Conference (LDS Newsroom) (December 3, 2018)
Two leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined more than 200 global religious leaders, politicians and experts in Baghdad, Iraq, November 10–11, 2018, for a conference designed to raise worldwide support to end religious persecution.

What historians, scholars and Church members are saying about the Joseph Smith Papers on its 10th anniversary (LDS Church News) (December 3, 2018)
In the fall of 2008, then Church Historian and Recorder Elder Marlin K. Jensen, called the Joseph Smith Papers project "the single most significant historical project of our generation." "Nothing we could do could surpass in importance making available in a collected way the life's work of Joseph Smith," Elder Jensen told the Church News in 2008.

Man with knives injures four at Latter-day Saint worship service in Brazil (Deseret News - Utah) (December 3, 2018)
A 28-year-old man with knives wounded four people in a Latter-day Saint chapel during worship on Sunday morning after he threatened the congregation, according to news reports and a church statement.