Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Russell M. Nelson celebrating 100th birthday

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Russell M. Nelson is celebrating his 100th birthday on Monday, Sept. 9. He is using the historic moment to highlight a lesson about service and love as he becomes the first-ever LDS Church president to reach 100 years old.

President Nelson refers to a place in scripture where Jesus Christ uses the number 100 to teach exactly this lesson. The teaching — found in the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18 and Luke 15) — uses the example of the shepherd who cares for his sheep. It looks at the way a caring shepherd would be there to aid the one sheep lost out of a flock of 100.

“Though 99 of his flock were safely by his side, the shepherd went in search of the 1 who was lost,” Nelson said in a social media post 100 days before his birthday.

Nelson asked that people commemorate his birthday by reaching out to “the one” in need.

President Nelson had this to say regarding his birthday, Sept. 9:

One spiritual offering that would brighten my life is for each of us to reach out to ‘the one’ in our lives who may be feeling lost or alone. Over the coming months I invite you to consider prayerfully: who do you know who may be discouraged? Who might you need to reconcile with or ask for forgiveness? Has one name been on your mind lately, though you haven’t quite known why? As you bring these questions to the Lord, He will inspire you to know how you can reach out and lift one who needs help.

In a press release about the event, the Church states that we all have friends we’ve lost track of over the years — is there one who keeps popping into your mind? Nelson encourages you to reach out to that person, whether it be with “a memory, a joke, or just a hello.”

Instagram users can share their “99+1 experiences” online by tapping the sticker icon in Instagram Stories and typing “99+1” into the search box. You can then choose from “99+1” Instagram stickers to add to your post.

The Church will host a birthday broadcast in honor of President Nelson at 4 p.m. MDT on Monday, Sept. 9. The 75-minute broadcast will celebrate his life and teachings.

You can watch the live stream on the Church’s website here or on their YouTube channel here .

Live interpretation will be available in Arabic, Cantonese, Cebuano, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog and Tongan.

If you would like to learn more about Nelson’s work in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, here is a comprehensive list of announcements and changes that have been put forth during his presidency.

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