LDS to boost emphasis on helping the needy; Salt Lake Temple not closing

Blog postings reported that \"to care for the poor and the needy\" would receive increased emphasis in the next edition of the Church Handbook of Instructions, due to be released in 2010. The manual

In the upcoming handbook, caring for the poor and the needy will be stated as one of the church's purposes, along with its well-recognized, three-fold mission statement.

\"Caring for the poor and needy has always been a basic tenet of the Church,\" said LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter. \"The language reference is simply a description of the purposes of the church to be included in the next edition of the Church Handbook.\"

The three-fold mission of the LDS Church was first taught at the April 1981 General Conference by then-President Spencer W. Kimball, who said it was the inspired product of the church's First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.

As stated, the aspects are:

• \"To proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.

• \"To perfect the Saints by preparing them to receive the ordinances of the gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain exaltation.

• \"To redeem the dead by performing vicarious ordinances of the gospel for those who have lived on the earth.\"

Caring for the poor and the needy has long been preached in the LDS Church. In the same April 1981 General Conference, President Kimball said, \"We all have opportunities to render service to others. That is our calling and our privilege. In serving the needs of others, we are mindful of the words of the Savior: 'Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'\"

In the October 2009 General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson — long lauded for his legacy of charity and compassion — echoed a similar theme, calling on LDS members to not only intend to be charitable but to act on those intentions.

\"I am confident it is the intention of each member of the church to serve and to help those in need,\" he said. \"At baptism we covenanted to 'bear one another's burdens, that they may be light.' How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often has day-to-day living interfered and you've left it for others to help, feeling that 'Oh, surely someone will take care of that need.'\"