“These opportunities to get closer to India are very precious to me,” said President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as he reached Bengaluru, India, Thursday, April 19, 2018, the fifth of eight cities on his “Global Ministry Tour. The prophet traveled to Asia following a series of meetings in Europe and Africa.
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President Nelson is joined on the worldwide tour by his wife, Wendy, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Patricia. President Nelson first came to India as a Heart Surgeon in 1966, again as an apostle in 1992 and most recently in 2015, and each time increased his love with the country and its people.
With the recent announcement of a temple to be built in Bengaluru, the first in India, Pres. Nelson stated, ”It was a thrill for me to receive the real impression that I should announce that there will be a temple here in India because this will bless not only the people of India but in neighboring nations who now have to travel so far.”
President Nelson, met with more than 1,000 people in Bengaluru and hundreds more participated by broadcast to congregations throughout India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. President Nelson encouraged the membership with his prophetic counsel. ” Now we will have a temple in India. We will have to give up contention. We will have to learn to love one another even better than we now do. We'll have to keep the commandments to be honest. We'll have to be fair. We all have to be covenant keeping people and then we will be ready to enter the temple.
Elder Holland shared his witness of Pres. Nelson’s call as a prophet. “It is my witness before God that Russell Nelson was called and prepared before the foundation of this world to be the 17th president of this church. To accept the keys and pursue the apostleship, and to provide the leadership that in our dispensation began with Joseph Smith. I want you to know that I know that that is of God, was of God, and this is a man of God, for our day.”
The senior Church leaders, who stand as witnesses of the Savior, Jesus Christ, are traveling to eight cities on three continents in 11 days. The tour began in the United Kingdom with a stop in London on April 12. Other cities have included Jerusalem, Israel, and the African destinations of Nairobi, Kenya, and Harare, Zimbabwe. This is the first official trip for President Nelson outside of the United States since he was named the Church’s 17th prophet in January.
“I think our church is growing fast in our country and this will bring many blessings to our nation,” said Paul Vijayakumar, who served a mission in the area in 1988.
“The temple is coming. I'm so happy,” said Mercy Lyuas, who also expressed her excitement to see President Nelson. “I'm really excited to see the prophet myself, in my own eyes.”
Global Ministry Tour
The “Global Ministry Tour” runs from April 10-23, 2018. The senior Church leaders are visiting eight cities in 11 days in Europe, Africa and Asia. The next stop on the tour is Bangkok, Thailand, where President Nelson will meet with members. Other destinations include; Hong Kong; and Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.
Global Church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, has more than 16 million members around the world. There are more than 1.1 million Latter-day Saints in Asia. India is home to more than 13,000 Mormons in over 40 congregations. Unofficial missionary work began in India in the 1850s. The country’s first meetinghouse was dedicated in February 2002. The first temple to be built in India, in Bengaluru, was announced by President Nelson on April 1, 2018.