Latter-day Saints' leaders urge forgiveness after shooting

• "Even when persecuted, your voice catches as you repeat, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,'" he said.

Similar messages were shared by other leaders, with Neil L. Anderson, another member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, crediting Jesus' compassion for "forgiving sin and ... healing the wounds caused by the sins of others."

• Anderson predicted "incomparable love and grace" would bless the faithful in Grand Blanc, Michigan, where a shooter opened fire on the congregation, killing four and wounding another eight on Sept. 28 before he died in a shoot-out with officers.

Catch up quick: Friends and acquaintances of the shooter say he professed virulently anti-Mormon views.

Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, a church officer known as one of the General Authority Seventies, said members can overcome violence and pain "because Jesus took the bitter cup of trembling, the cup of fury, for me, for my family, for all of us."

Between the lines: A fundraiser organized by church members had collected nearly $375,000 for the shooter's family as of Sunday afternoon.

The big picture: The attack has left many Latter-day Saints frightened and grieving, particularly while mourning Russell M. Nelson, the church's top leader, who died the day before the shooting at age 101 in his Salt Lake City home.

• Investigators have not reported any connection between Nelson's death and Sunday's attack.

What's next: Dallin H. Oaks, who served as Nelson's First Counselor in the First Presidency, is expected to become the next president.

• Oaks spoke in Nelson's place for the final talk on Sunday afternoon, discussing the "purpose of marriage and the value of children" in the church.