Drifting wrote:CFR from an official source!
In his 2010 overview of the new handbooks, Oaks referenced the threefold mission of the church but suggested that it will no longer serve as the mission statement it once did.
In 1981, the First Presidency made its first reference to a “threefold mission” of the Church—proclaiming, perfecting, and redeeming. At that time, the First Presidency declared that these three applications are “part of one work—to assist our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, in Their grand and glorious mission ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.’ (Moses 1:39)” (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, Apr. 1981, 3; or Ensign, May 1981, 5). However, since 1981, some have given excessive attention to definitions and boundaries among these three applications of the Lord’s work, at times overlooking their common doctrinal foundation and excluding other essential elements, such as caring for the poor.
This new handbook restores the original emphasis on one foundation of spiritual doctrine to describe the Church’s overall “purpose.”
Instead, the three priorities and the new fourth priority are spelled out in a paragraph in Handbook 2 under the heading, The Purpose of the Church.
In fulfilling its purpose to help individuals and families qualify for exaltation, the Church focuses on divinely appointed responsibilities. These include helping members live the gospel of Jesus Christ, gathering Israel through missionary work, caring for the poor and needy, and enabling the salvation of the dead by building temples and performing vicarious ordinances.