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Russell Nelson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died last Saturday.

He was 101. He was 93 when he took on the role, and people weren't really expecting the church

would enter this era of remarkable change. His wife said he had been unleashed, and sure enough,

he got right to work revising church programs and

re-centering its focus. The historian Benjamin Park said Nelson embraced the role of LDS

prophet as being charismatic and transformational. He was a reformer, Park says. He was a peacemaker,

and of course, he was a temple builder.

Among the 200 temples that Rethel M. Nelson announced during his presidential tenure was the Rome-Italy

temple that was dedicated in March 2019. There had been rumors about this temple for decades, but due to the number of circumstances

that often are related to temples in big and important cities, this one was long delayed,

but it was finally dedicated on Russell M. Nelson's watch.

This was in many ways the LES Church's entrance into the global community of Christendom,

given the significance of the city of Rome.

Perhaps recognizing that significance,

Russell Nelson decided to fly the entire First Presidency

and the Corm of the Twelve Apostles to Rome.

Now, this is rare.

I can't think of another temple in recent history

that featured multiple LDS apostles and first presidency members, let alone all of them.

As part of the dedication festivities, they all gathered in the new visitor's center next to the temple.

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