Latest from Mormon Land: ‘Initial’ impressions of the three newest apostles; meet ‘normal guy’ Ken Jennings

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Let’s cut out the middle, man

What do Ulisses Soares, Patrick Kearon and Gérald Caussé have in common?

Yes, they were all born outside of the United States. They are all in their 60s. And they are all Latter-day Saint apostles.

But here is something else the latest trio to join the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shares: Unlike the 13 apostles above them, none of them uses a middle initial in their church callings.

The propensity for top church leaders to include middle initials in their official biographies, duties and references is a phenomenon that has drawn attention — and even mild-mannered criticism — from observers, including our own Gordon Monson.

“It sounds and looks and is pretentious,” the Tribune columnist wrote in 2023. “...Using extra initials among leaders has become something of a joke among many members, self-importance transformed into sarcasm, a bit of cultural overlay that is unnecessary. …Church leaders don’t need, nor should they rely on the extra letter for an authoritative lift.”

Perhaps the Soares-Kearon-Caussé continuum — cutting out the middle, man — will catch on and become a trend among general authorities.

Folks like Gordon A. Monson, er, uh, Gordon Monson can only hope.

King of ‘Mormon nerds’

We profiled “Jeopardy!” whiz kid Ken Jennings back in 2021, introducing readers to his love of Lego bricks, atlases, long novels and, of course, trivia.

The game-show-champ-turned-host offered these tidbits recently about his Latter-day Saint faith to the Daily Express U.S.:

“I had the best time on my mission [to Spain]. It was one of those experiences that’s so dense and intense that you can’t really believe how much happened in such a short time,” he told the news outlet. “Even the hard or dull times have acquired a rosy, nostalgic glow in hindsight, just because of how valuable the whole experience was to me.”

Jennings noted he was once asked on the show if he was going to pay tithing on his winnings. So there he was, “talking about tithing on national TV.”

“I decided that early on the only thing I could do was just be myself,” he explained. “And if there’s some lingering impression that this fairly normal, if not slightly nerdy guy, and yet is Mormon, then I think that’s OK. That was sort of my goal all along — to be just the normal guy who was also Mormon.”

The giving season

The church’s Light the World Giving Machines — those big red kiosks of kindness that raise money for hundreds of nonprofits around the world — will pop up this holiday season in a record 126 cities across 21 countries and on six continents.

With the simple swipe of a credit card, these vending machines make buying a blanket for a child or food for a family as easy as snagging a Snickers or a Sprite.

Since 2017, a news release notes, the project has raised nearly $50 million for charities.

‘Education for eternity’

To celebrate Brigham Young University’s 150th anniversary, two past presidents of the Provo school recently recorded their reflections on leading the faith’s flagship campus. Here are snippets of what the Cougar graduates (you may have heard of them) said:

Dallin Oaks • “Coming as I did from a professor of law at a great university (The University of Chicago), I had no experience with balancing the spiritual. The rest of [university administration] I was familiar with, but it was a struggle for me all the time I served at BYU to watch the thermometer registering spiritual temperature. I think the university [today] does it much better than I, in my struggles, was trying to do it.”

Jeffrey Holland • “We come there to study and to take degrees — and it’s everything from art to zoology. But running through it is a foundation and a theme that these are children of God. We’re to teach them for eternity. ‘Education for eternity’ is a phrase that we use.”

Latin American celebration

The church’s annual Latin American culture celebration, called “Luz de las Naciones” (Light of the Nations), again drew tens of thousands of attendees to the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

“This event is magical,” soloist Lucy Polido said in a news release. “It touches the hearts of everyone through our music, through our folklore.”

The finale — with performers carrying flags from across Latin America — stood out to Jaime Ninataype, a Peruvian in Ogden.

“This is what I believe ‘Luz de las Naciones’ really celebrates,” Ninataype said, “our strength through our diversity.”

A new African MTC

Apostle Ronald Rasband dedicated a new Missionary Training Center last week in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the church is booming.

From The Tribune

• Church President Dallin Oaks elevates Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé to apostle, and the Frenchman discusses the global faith, its finances, the environment, women and LGBTQ+ issues, along with his new lifetime calling — in an interview with The Tribune.

“The church is not a business. It’s not a financial institution, it’s not an education organization, it’s not even a humanitarian organization,” he said. “It is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and so all the resources that are available — I’m not even talking about money only — all of this is to accomplish the [gospel] work. There is no other purpose.”

• Religion News Service columnist Jana Riess likes the choice of the new apostle — with one cautious caveat.

• Harking to then-church President Spencer Kimball’s opposition to the MX nuclear missile, Utahns call on President Oaks to speak out against the Sentinel ICBM being developed in Utah.

• Tribune guest columnist Eli McCann recalls a memorable encounter he had in Moscow with an accordion-playing stranger.