The Daily Deseret — Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026

🗞️ This Morning in the Church

First Presidency prays for Pope Leo XIV. After the pope had surgery Tuesday to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, where cancer was found, President Dallin H. Oaks and his counselors, Presidents Henry B. Eyring and D. Todd Christofferson, sent a message of concern and prayer. "We join with people of faith around the world in praying that heaven will bless and sustain him during this time," they wrote. Vatican News reported Wednesday that his recovery is going well (Newsroom, Deseret News).

Pope Leo XIV on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica after his election in May 2025 — Pope Leo XIV, May 2025. Photo: Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Modesto California Temple open house is underway. Media and invited guests toured the newly completed temple starting Tuesday. Public tours run Oct. 16–31 (closed Sundays) at 4310 Dale Road, Modesto, and no reservation is needed. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve will dedicate it on Sunday, Nov. 22 (Newsroom, open house details).

The Modesto California Temple under construction in April 2024 — Modesto California Temple under construction, April 16, 2024. Photo: Epachamo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

President Eyring will dedicate the Montpelier Idaho Temple this Sunday. The dedication is Oct. 18 at 10 a.m. MDT, with a rebroadcast at 2 p.m., and it will be shown to every congregation in the temple district (Newsroom, Church News).

Main Street in downtown Montpelier, Idaho, with brick storefronts — Downtown Montpelier, Idaho, July 2017. File photo of the town; the temple is not shown. Photo: wilson44691, CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication), via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

🐝 Deseret Dispatch

What counts as gambling? After President Christofferson called gambling "morally wrong" at conference, KUER asked Utah Latter-day Saints where the line falls between investing, fantasy football, and betting. BYU finance professor Jason Kotter offered a two-part test: an activity is gambling if it's risky and zero-sum, meaning your winnings come from someone else's losses. He noted that stock investing, by contrast, funds companies that create value. Springville addiction therapist Joe Tenney said the brain chases the occasional win no matter the odds (KUER). President Christofferson's full talk, "O Be Wise," is in Gospel Library.

Slot machines at an airport gate — Slot machines at a Reno-Tahoe International Airport gate, 2021. Generic illustration of gambling, not related to Utah or the KUER story. Photo: Sdkb, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

💬 Prophetic Words

"In the temple we become more Christlike, more kind, forgiving, repentant, patient and holy."
— Elder Ronald A. Rasband, dedicating the Ephraim Utah Temple, Oct. 11, 2026 (Newsroom)

Portrait of Elder Ronald A. Rasband in a dark suit and red tie — Elder Ronald A. Rasband, file photo (not from the Ephraim dedication). Photo: Leslie Nilsson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

📜 On This Day

Oct. 15, 1898: Just a month after becoming the Church's fifth President, Lorenzo Snow announced that the Church would issue bonds to lighten the burden of its debt. The next spring in St. George, he renewed the Church's emphasis on paying tithing, which members had been neglecting (Church News chronology).

Black-and-white portrait of Lorenzo Snow as an elderly man with a white beard — Lorenzo Snow, 1898 portrait (copyrighted 1898, now public domain). Photo: Charles Roscoe Savage, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

📖 Doctrine Deep-Dive: Gathering Israel on both sides of the veil

At the Ephraim dedication, Elder Rasband explained that we gather Israel on the other side of the veil through temple work and on this side through missionary work (Newsroom). The idea runs deep in scripture. Malachi promised that Elijah would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers (Malachi 4:5–6), and that promise was fulfilled in the Kirtland Temple (D&C 110:13–16). Joseph Smith taught that the salvation of our ancestors is essential to our own: "they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect" (D&C 128:15).

Exterior of the Kirtland Temple in Ohio, a white building with a bell tower — The Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, March 2024 (southern and eastern sides), where D&C 110 says Elijah appeared. Photo: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Reflect: Which side of the veil could you help gather this week, a family name or a friend?

🏛️ Temple of the Day: Montpelier Idaho Temple

When President Eyring dedicates it Sunday, the temple at 534 Washington Street in Montpelier becomes the Church's 225th operating temple. More than 15,000 members in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming are in its district (Newsroom). Photos are on the Church's official temple page.

📷 See photos of the Montpelier Idaho Temple

⚔️ The Debate Corner

Saved by grace, or by works? Latter-day Saint apologist Jacob Hansen (Thoughtful Faith) and Christian debater Micah Kunkle argue over whether the Book of Mormon brings readers closer to the Jesus of the New Testament and his gospel. Hansen points to passages like 2 Nephi 2, Alma 22:14, and Moroni 7 to argue that the book teaches salvation by grace through faith. Kunkle argues that Moroni 10:32 and 2 Nephi 25:23 set an impossible standard of perfection. Hansen answers that the phrase "after all we can do" also appeared in evangelical writing about grace in the 1830s.
▶️ Jacob Hansen vs Micah Kunkle: Saved by Grace or Works?, from Micah Kunkle's channel (about 25 minutes).
Watch charitably. Both men are wrestling sincerely with what it means to come unto Christ.

A Bible lying open on a dark surface — Generic image of an open Bible; not from the debate. Photo: Ken Horn, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

❓ Daily Trivia

Yesterday's answer: The 36 speakers at October 2026 general conference came from 16 countries (Newsroom).

Today’s question: Montpelier will be Idaho's eighth dedicated temple. Which of these is NOT a dedicated temple in Idaho?

Reader Trivia

Tap your answer

Tap an answer. We will share the correct answer in tomorrow’s issue.

(Answer in tomorrow's issue.)

😂 Meme of the Day

A woman gestures to an empty bookshelf while a seated man looks on. Speech bubble: "This is where we keep all of biblical references for our foundational doctrines of Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Cessationism, and the Trinity." — Shared in good humor. The Daily Deseret curates memes that poke fun at ideas, never at people.

🎉 Fun Finish

Reader Poll

Have you ever toured a temple open house with a friend of another faith?

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If you're near Modesto, public tours start tomorrow.