President Oaks welcomes the G20 Interfaith Forum to Salt Lake City. Speaking Thursday at the forum's opening ceremony in the Tabernacle, President Dallin H. Oaks praised efforts to build peace while respecting differences in belief and said the Church wants “to be part of your efforts.” Leaders from Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Hindu, Jewish and other traditions took part, and The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square performed. The forum, held in the U.S. for the first time, closes today at the Cathedral of the Madeleine (Newsroom).
Elder Soares: “Let us build bridges without abandoning conviction.” Closing the Forum on Faith at New York University on Wednesday, Elder Ulisses Soares compared people of different faiths to the Solimões and Negro Rivers, which flow side by side before merging into the Amazon. “True belonging and genuine unity do not demand uniformity,” he said. More than 800 faith leaders attended (Newsroom).
2027 youth theme gets its music album. The Church released the full album of eight new songs for the 2027 youth theme, “Rejoice in Christ” (Philippians 4:4), on Friday, Oct. 16. It's on Gospel Library, the Strive to Be YouTube channel, Spotify and Apple Music in English, with other languages to be added. The theme is the same as the Salt Lake Temple Celebration's, and the 2027 youth theme video is due in January (Newsroom).
How to “disagree better.” The G20 forum's opening session turned to a practical question: how do people with deep differences live together? Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said communities can address division “one conversation, one disagreement, one neighbor, one act of service at a time.” Former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley said, “When you break bread with someone, it's hard to hate them,” and Martin Luther King III recalled that his parents “understood that we could disagree without being disagreeable.” Earlier, Elder Gary E. Stevenson told a dinner of religious leaders to remember Christ's two great commandments to love God and neighbor (Newsroom).
“People of goodwill, compassion, and a desire to understand and help one another — without demanding a compromise of distinctive commitments — are at the core of peacemaking.”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, G20 Interfaith Forum opening ceremony, Salt Lake Tabernacle, Oct. 15, 2026 (Newsroom)
Oct. 17, 1901: Joseph F. Smith was ordained and set apart as the sixth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church's own history chronology lists the date, and his presidency lasted until 1918 (Church History Chronology, Teachings of Joseph F. Smith).
📖 Doctrine Deep-Dive: Peacemakers and the two great commandments
This week's headlines share one thread: people of different beliefs choosing to build peace without pretending the differences away. Jesus taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Elder Stevenson pointed leaders to the Savior's two great commandments, to love God and to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:36–40), and said that people of many faiths around the dinner tables “have already begun to live them together.” In New York, Elder Soares added that “a community that prays for peace must also practice patient acceptance of others if its prayers are to be answered.” Neither calls us to water down what we believe; both call us to treat every person as a child of God (Newsroom).
Reflect: Who in your life believes differently than you do, and what is one small way you could break bread with them this week?
🏛️ Temple of the Day: Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple
With the BYU game in Provo today, here's the city's original temple. Plans for the Provo Utah Temple (now named the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple) were announced Aug. 14, 1967, ground was broken Sept. 15, 1969, and President Joseph Fielding Smith dedicated it Feb. 9, 1972, at 2200 Temple Hill Drive. Church News reports President Harold B. Lee read the dedicatory prayer and that the ceremony was broadcast to buildings on the BYU campus; it was the sixth temple dedicated in Utah. Provo's second temple, the Provo City Center Temple, was dedicated March 20, 2016 (Newsroom, Church News Almanac, official temple page).
Three protesters, one debate marathon. Latter-day Saint creator Hayden Carroll (Let's Talk) posted a roughly 91-minute video on Oct. 12 titled “They Protested Mormonism… So I Debated All 3.” We haven't watched it in full and the video description doesn't summarize the arguments, so we can't say who argued what; judge it for yourself.
▶️ They Protested Mormonism… So I Debated All 3, from Let's Talk w/ Hayden Carroll. Watch charitably. Everyone in a debate is defending what they sincerely believe.
Today’s question: BYU's only win over an AP No. 1 or No. 2 team came at home in 1990. Which team did the Cougars beat?
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🎉 Fun Finish
ESPN says today's College GameDay includes a feature on “The Music Bachs,” the acoustic folk country trio of BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier, his brother and receiver Tiger Bachmeier, and their uncle's gift of a small wooden guitar that started it all (ESPN Press Room).
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