During the week of April 30 to May 6, the Church News reported on changes announced to “Come, Follow Me” for 2024. President M. Russell Ballard, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and Elder Quentin L. Cook — all members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — were featured in a new Church News video. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reflected on his ministry in the Holy Land.

Women gathered in person at BYU’s Women’s Conference during the week. Three years later, the untold story of the Richmond Virginia Temple groundbreaking was published. The Toronto Ontario Temple is to close for renovations in fall, and two new temple locations were announced.

Dean Brigitte C. Madrian of the Marriott School of Business was featured on the latest Church News podcast episode. BYU–Hawaii President John S.K. Kauwe III spoke at the campus’s opening devotional for the spring semester. Hunter Cragun, a young man with special needs, is finding joy and inspiring others in his Utah ward.

Read summaries of these stories below.

1. Changes coming to ‘Come, Follow Me’ in 2024

The Kirby family gathers for a gospel study at home using “Come, Follow Me — For Individuals and Families: Book of Mormon 2020.”

Deseret News archives

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints notified local leaders to expect changes to the 2024 version of “Come, Follow Me,” including a single resource instead of separate manuals for Primary, Sunday School, Young Women classes and Aaronic Priesthood quorum meetings.

2. Video: Missionaries should ‘let the world know who you are,’ President Ballard says

President M. Russell Ballard, center, Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, right, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, speak to missionaries from the England Missionary Training Center, in the Parish Church of Saint Leonard in Downham, England.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

At the conclusion of their ministry in England, President Ballard, Elder Holland and Elder Cook — all members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — took a few minutes to speak with current missionaries serving in the area decades after the Apostles served their own missions in the same country.

3. A latter-day Apostle in the Holy Land: What it meant to Elder Uchtdorf

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles looks into the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem on Saturday, April 22, 2023.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

“Amazing,” “beautiful” and “overwhelming” were words used by Elder Uchtdorf as he concluded meetings during April in Jerusalem and visited significant locations throughout the Holy City, around the Sea of Galilee area and beyond.

4. BYU Women’s Conference returns

Women listen to a presenter at BYU Women’s Conference in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, on Thursday, May 4, 2023.

Joey Garrison, BYU

One of the largest gatherings of Latter-day Saint women in the world kicked off Wednesday evening, May 3. BYU Women’s Conference was back and in-person on the Provo, Utah, campus.

“You women are a glorious sight,” Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said during the opening keynote session. “You are women who are distinct and different in happy ways — preparing yourselves and the world for the Second Coming of our Savior. Thank you for your goodness, your kindness, your courage and your light.”

5. The untold story of the simple Richmond Virginia Temple groundbreaking — 3 years later

The attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Richmond Virginia Temple on the temple site in Glen Allen, Virginia, on April 11, 2020. From left to right, Elder J. Matthew Scott, Area Seventy; Sister Allyson Scott; Sister Shelley Bennett; Elder Randall K. Bennett, General Authority Seventy and North America Northeast Area president; Glade Knight, groundbreaking committee co-chair; Sister Michelle Dudley; and Elder Michael M. Dudley, Area Seventy.

Cindy Jones

Under clear, blue skies on the morning of April 11, 2020, eight people quietly, respectfully and reverently gathered in a grove of trees in Glen Allen, Virginia, trying to avoid both curiosity and wariness.

They came together for a simple yet sacred groundbreaking ceremony for the Richmond Virginia Temple, which had been facilitated in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic by an earlier meeting between Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Virginia’s governor.

6. Temple in Canada to close this fall for renovations, Locations for 2 new temples released — 1 each in Scandinavia, West Africa

The Toronto Ontario Temple

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced that the Toronto Ontario Temple will close later this year for extended renovations.

The First Presidency also announced the locations for two new temples — the Kumasi Ghana Temple and the Oslo Norway Temple.

7. Episode 134: Dean Brigitte C. Madrian of the Marriott School of Business on the positive influence of BYU

Dean Brigitte C. Madrian of the Marriott School of Business joins the Church News podcast on May 2, 2023.

Screenshot from YouTube

After spending years researching and teaching behavioral economics and household finance at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and the University of Chicago, Brigitte C. Madrian accepted a position as the ninth dean of the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University.

She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this episode of the Church News podcast, discussing the importance of faith-based education, ethics and empathy in economics and business, and the positive influence of BYU.

8. Seek for covenant belonging, BYU–Hawaii president encourages students

BYU–Hawaii President John S.K. Kauwe III and his wife, Sister Monica Kauwe, pose for a photo following the opening devotional for the semester on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in Laie, Hawaii.

Monica Saenz, BYU–Hawaii

Today, at the Church’s university in Laie, Hawaii, “we continue to resemble that diverse group [Church] President [David O.] McKay encountered more than a century ago,” BYU–Hawaii President John S.K. Kauwe III commented during the opening campus devotional for spring semester.

9. How a young man with special needs is finding joy and inspiring others in his Utah ward

Standing next to Joni Walton, Hunter Cragun, a young man with special needs, leads the music during singing time in Primary at the Inverness Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints in Syracuse, Utah, on April 30, 2023.

Ryan Sun, Deseret News

Less than six months ago, Joni Walton was asked to serve as the Primary music leader of the Inverness Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Syracuse, Utah.

Of course, Walton was willing to lead out during the children’s singing time, but she had a request.

Would the bishop consider calling Hunter Cragun, a young man with special needs, to serve as her assistant music leader?