Stokes Sounds Off: General Conference Predictions--Final Version

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Saturday, March 25, 2017

General Conference Predictions--Final Version

As the General Women's Meeting gets underway in about two hours, I am posting the final version of my General Conference predictions, complete with the final list of my temple predictions. After quite a bit of feedback that has molded my choices in that regard, I have rounded it off to be the best I feel it can be. I have also reorganized it and prioritized it better. So I have no doubts that I will have some things right, and I am also very certain there will be lots of surprises as well. It will be great to see what happens.

That said, here it is. Stay tuned later on tonight for my report of the general women's meeting. As always, comments are welcome. I appreciate the feedback and support.

April 2017 General Conference Predictions
Speaking Order (Text in brackets indicated what actually happened.)
Session
Conducting
Speaker
General Women’s
Linda K. Burton
Bonnie H. Cordon


Linda S. Reeves


Carol F. McConkie


President Henry B. Eyring
Saturday Morning
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
President Henry B. Eyring


Ulisses Soares


Linda K. Burton


President Russell M. Nelson


Elder O. Vincent Haleck


Elder Weatherford T. Clayton


Elder David A. Bednar
Saturday Afternoon
President Henry B. Eyring
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Sustaining of Church Officers)

Church Auditing Department Report, 2016
Kevin R. Jergensen

Statistical Report, 2016
Brook P. Hales


Elder Robert D. Hales


Elder M. Russell Ballard


Elder Larry Y. Wilson


Elder Ian S. Ardern


Elder Ronald A. Rasband


Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Saturday Priesthood
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Elder Dale G. Renlund


Douglas D. Holmes


President Dieter F. Uchtdorf


President Henry B. Eyring


President Thomas S. Monson
Sunday Morning
President Henry B. Eyring
President Thomas S. Monson


Elder L. Whitney Clayton


Joy D. Jones


Elder Neil L. Andersen


Bishop Gerald Causse


Elder Dallin H. Oaks


President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Sunday Afternoon
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Elder Gary E. Stevenson


Elder Gary B. Sabin


Elder Yoon Hwan Choi


Elder Quentin L. Cook


Elder Jose A. Alonso


Elder S. Mark Palmer


Elder D. Todd Christofferson


Changes in General Church Leadership
General Authority Seventies: New General Authorities sustained from Area Seventies or Church at large.
NOTE: Since the Church has stopped differentiating between those of the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy, any new General Authorities will simply be sustained under the general title of General Authority Seventies.
RESULT:
Relief Society General Presidency: Linda K. Burton, Carole M. Stephens, and Linda S. Reeves released as Relief Society General Presidency, new Relief Society General Presidency sustained.
NOTE: It has been customary of late for general presidencies to be changed every 5 years. Since the above-named individuals have served since 2012, it would make sense if they were released and a new presidency called. It is anyone’s guess, however, as to if any of the current presidency will be retained in a new presidency.
RESULT:
Area Seventies: Releases and sustainings.
NOTE: It has been customary for most changes in area seventies to take place in April, when President Uchtdorf leads out in the sustaining vote, and for only a few to take place in October, when President Eyring leads out in the sustaining. Since we are talking about an April General Conference, it would make sense if a lot of changes happened this go-round.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: The following Area Seventies have been called to serve as mission presidents and will be among the many releases: Pedro U. Adduru, Angel H. Alarcon, Winsor Balderrama (Sejas) and Abenir V. Pajaro.
RESULT:

2016 Statistical Report
Stakes
3,266
Missions
421
Districts
545
Wards and Branches
30,207
Total Church Membership
15,932,508
Increase in Children of Record
114,655
Converts Baptized
310,646
Full-Time Missionaries
90,517
Church Service Missionaries
33,410
Temples Dedicated during 2016 (Provo City Center, Sapporo Japan, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Fort Collins Colorado, Star Valley Wyoming, Hartford Connecticut)
6
Temples Rededicated during 2016 (Suva Fiji, Freiberg Germany)
2
Temples in Operation by the end of 2016
155

Temple Predictions:
3+ temples announced in any of the following locations (first in alphabetical order of the Church’s geographical areas under which they fall, then by city and country):

Africa Southeast: Nairobi Kenya
Africa West: Freetown Sierra Leone; Lagos Nigeria; Kumasi Ghana
Central America: Managua Nicaragua
Europe: Budapest Hungary; Vienna Austria
Idaho: Pocatello Idaho
Mexico: Puebla Mexico
North America Central: Missoula Montana; Rapid City South Dakota; Des Moines Iowa; Madison Wisconsin;
North America Northeast: Richmond Viriginia; Augusta Maine
North America Northwest: Salem Oregon
North America Southeast: Bentonville Arkansas; Jackson Mississippi
North America Southwest: Fort Worth Texas;
Pacific: Port Moresby Papua New Guinea
South America Northwest: Santa Cruz Bolivia;
South America South: Neuquen Argentina; Valparaiso Chile
Utah North: Layton Utah
Utah South: Lehi Utah

NOTE: Temples in Brazil are usually a great possibility, given the ongoing, extensive rate of growth there. However, with one currently under construction (Fortaleza); one with construction pending (Rio de Janeiro); and one announced (Belem Brazil), a new Brazilian temple doesn’t seem likely for at least a couple of years. I won’t rule it out, but it seems others might take precedence. When new Brazilian temples are next announced, the most likely order for the next four or five temples are: Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Salvador; and/or a second for Sao Paulo, which is the fastest growing Brazilian city with the strongest Church presence. Additionally, a temple in Kampala Uganda seems warranted at some point in the near future, but the temple in Nairobi Kenya would serve the Saints in both countries for at least a few years. I wouldn’t rule out a Ugandan temple by 2030 if not before, and I will keep an eye out on things and make a determination on that later. I anticipate at least one temple announcement in the United States, because we have one under renovation in Utah, and two more US temples scheduled for renovation, but the dedications that will happen later this year mean that we will have no US temples in any stage of construction after the Cedar City Utah temple is dedicated in December. And that would be a first in a very long time, assuming it has happened at all previously.


RESULT: The following (# of temples goes here) were announced, much to my great delight:

2 comments:

  1. Your convert baptism prediction was way off, and unfortunately not in a good way. No temples announced so far either.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for your comment. I have a formula in place by which I make such calculations, but the one flaw of it is that I cannot predict with any degree of accuracy how many will be converted every year. That is between the Lord and the individual. I can offer my predictions based on research, but I hope everyone knows that my testimony is never shaken when I am proven to be way off base with some of them. The good news is that a missed prediction in one area helps me refine and fine-tune things for the following year. Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete

In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.

At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.

I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.

And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.

Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.