SALT LAKE CITY — LDS Church leaders congratulated President-elect Donald Trump and urged Americans to pray for him in a statement released Wednesday.
Meanwhile, voters in western states passed three ballot measures opposed by the church.
"We invite Americans everywhere, whatever their political persuasion, to join us in praying for the president-elect, his new administration and for elected leaders across the nation and the world," said the statement issued by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. "Praying for those in public office is a long tradition among Latter-day Saints. The men and women who lead our nations and communities need our prayers as they govern in these difficult and turbulent times."
The statement commended Hillary Clinton and others who ran for national and local offices.
Last month, LDS leaders asked church members to oppose four ballot measures in western states. On Tuesday, Arizona voters rejected a proposition to legalize recreational marijuana, but voters legalized it in California and Nevada and approved assisted suicide in Colorado.
The First Presidency said in an Oct. 12 letter to Mormons in Arizona, California and Nevada that it opposed legalizing marijuana on grounds that it is dangerous to public health and safety, with recent studies showing it poses risk to brain development in young people.
Arizonans rejected Proposition 205, 52 percent to 48 percent. In California, Proposition 64 passed by a margin of 56-44. Nevada voters agreed to Question 2 by a vote of 54 percent to 46 percent.
Massachusetts voters also passed a recreational marijuana measure by a similar margin on Tuesday. Another race in Maine was still tight on Tuesday afternoon and opponents were weighing a recount, according to the Bangor Daily News.
If the Maine results hold up, marijuana will be legally available for recreational use in eight states, with California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada joining Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
An average of 7,000 additional people have begun using marijuana each day since the first states legalized it three years, according the Centers for Disease Control. Last month, a Pew Research Center survey found 57 percent of Americans say marijuana should be legal, and a Gallup poll measured support at 60 percent. Millennials fuel the largest portion of that support.
The First Presidency sent a letter to Colorado Mormons 28 days before the election asking them to oppose physician-assisted suicide or "medical aid in dying." Church leaders said "life is a sacred gift and should be cherished even in difficult circumstances."
Colorado passed Proposition 106 on Tuesday by a wide margin — 65 percent to 35 percent. The measure will allow mentally competent adults with fewer than six months to live due to terminal illness to take life-ending, doctor-prescribed sleeping medication.
Opponents vowed to keep fighting, the Denver Post reported. Assisted suicide is in place in California, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont.
Mormons had joined Catholics in opposing the Colorado proposition. The Archdiocese of Denver donated $1.1 million to the campaign against it. Opponents expressed concern that the law does not require a doctor to be present at time of death or prevent "doctor shopping." There also is no safeguard against an heir plotting the death of a relative to gain inheritance, opponents said, according to the Post.
LDS Church leaders annually encourage members to vote and engage in the political process. They also have insisted on the right of both the church and its members to speak out on political issues. In both letters last month, the First Presidency asked members "to let their voices be heard."
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