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Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Where to find continuing coverage of President Monson's Passing

Hello again, everyone! This will just be a very brief post, but since there have been so many resources released within the last 24 hours since President Monson's passing, rather than flooding this blog with every update, I will instead direct any reading this to the following sources, the Church News, the News & Events page from the Church's official website, and Mormon Newsroom. I will be sure to post again when funeral arrangements are officially announced, whenever that may be, but other than that, these are far better resources for the Church's coverage than anything I offer here. If you would like to do so, I also refer you to KSL's website, which, as many of you may be aware, is owned by Bonneville Communications, which in turn is owned and operated by the Church. There will be much more to talk about in the coming days ahead, but that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

More News Stories Released in Honor of the Life and Ministry of Thomas S. Monson

Hello again, everyone! In continuing my coverage of resources released in tribute to President Thomas S. Monson. this article is the Church News coverage of the statements released by his counselors and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This article contains highlights of his teachings, this one reiterates the news release from Mormon Newsroom about the process of prophetic succession, this article is a compilation of photos of the prophet from a wide variety of settings and gatherings, and this one describes a mantra he often voiced, about how when people are suffering, he likes to be there to assist them.

This is a man who practiced what he preached, and who literally wore out his body, mind, and spirit with the extent of his ministry. We Church members were blessed to have him at the helm of the Church for almost the last decade. I will continue to keep an eye out for any additional coverage (and will catch up on reading it all myself ASAP), and will continue to post updates as I become aware of them.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

1000th Blog Post Some Thoughts About Prophetic Succession and Upcoming Scheduled Church Events

Hello again, everyone! I am back (with my 1000th post on this blog) to pass along some thoughts about prophetic succession and upcoming scheduled Church events. In doing so, I begin by sharing something that first occurred to me early on last night following the breaking news of President Monson's passing. When he became President of the Church, at that February 3, 2008 meeting in the temple, there were four apostles appointed during the presidency of his predecessor that were participating in that process for the first time, Elders Eyring, Uchtdorf, Bednar and Cook, and the reorganization that will likely occur in the next little while will be their second such opportunity.

Whenever the First Presidency is reorganized again, the five apostles appointed during President Monson's almost-10-year administration (Elders Christofferson, Andersen, Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund) will be part of that process for the first time. That means that 9 of the 13 have had their calls to the apostleship within the last 10 years alone. That is pretty significant.

Again, while I am not sure at all (with official information still pending, as this occurred over the last 15 hours or so) how soon the funeral arrangements for President Monson may be announced, I am thinking, if the precedent of the past holds that we could see the funeral be set for either Saturday this week or the following Monday.

If the funeral is held this Saturday, I feel safe in assuming that, as was the case when President Hinckley died just about 10 years ago, then the reorganization of the First Presidency will likely take place this Sunday, January 7, with the newly constituted First Presidency meeting the press the following day, in company with the 10 remaining members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

I also wanted to mention a couple of other things: As I previously posted on this blog when these events were first announced, President Uchtdorf and his wife had been announced as the speakers for the January 2018 Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, which was scheduled to occur on Sunday January 14.

The Church also recently announced that Elder Christofferson has been asked to represent the Brethren at the annual broadcast for religious instructors serving in Seminaries and Institutes of Religion on Friday January 26, and President Nelson and his wife had been asked to represent the First Presidency in the worldwide Face-to-Face event for the youth of the Church that has been set for Saturday February 3.

My reason for mentioning all of this is to note that new Church presidents almost always honor such arrangements that were originally made by their predecessors. There was, however, one notable exception that occurred in 2008. Because of President Hinckley's death on January 27, the apostles, under the leadership of President Monson as Quorum President, announced that the Rexburg Idaho Temple dedication, which had originally been set for February 3, would be pushed back to the following Sunday to allow the 14 remaining apostles to make funeral arrangements and to reorganize the First Presidency.

That said, while our current 13 apostles under the leadership of President Nelson are certainly at liberty to alter both the sequence and circumstances of these upcoming events, I imagine President Nelson will want to honor those assignments that were given with President Monson's consent. And whether or not the funeral occurs near the end of this week, whenever such arrangements are announced, you can count on my bringing them to you here.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Continuing Coverage of President Thomas S. Monson's Death

Hello again, everyone! Continuing now my coverage of President Monson's passing, the Church News released this story about how President Monson enjoyed the counsel he once heard to take an older person to lunch. and this story in which his counselors have released a statement. That is not, in my recollection, something we have seen with the passing of previous Church presidents, and it is great to hear from them. The First Presidency, as noted last night, is now dissolved. With funeral arrangements still pending, but with the Church generally having a precedent of not waiting too long to announce such arrangements, it will be interesting to see ongoing developments in this regard, and I will do my best to bring all of that to each of you. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Added at 12:40 PM Utah time: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has released this statement, and it is great to hear from them. And it probably goes without saying, but the Church has also released this article outlining the procedure through which the Church presidency passes from a deceased prophet to his successor. It is always amazing to see that occur. I did want to note that, in recent transitions, President Hunter died on March 3, and President Hinckley became Church President 9 days later, on March 12. Then following the passing of President Hinckley on January 27, 2008, the First Presidency was reorganized on February 3, 2008. While it is up to President Monson's family how soon his funeral will be held, 9 days between the passing of one Church president and the ordination of another has been the longest such period in recent years. So we will have to see how soon it all take place. Stay tuned for more here on that as I learn it. Thanks again.

Additional resources on the passing of President Thomas S. Monson

Hello again, everyone! I had originally added a bit to my post about President Monson's passing, as I found a link to an article written about him. But as I found several others as well, I thought I would include them all here in another post. So here goes!

From the Church News; this article is the introduction to the others. This article spoke of his ministry as a bishop to the widows of his ward. this one discusses his love for the people of Germany, this one  pays tribute to his time as a bishop, aside from his care for the widows in his ward, this one talks about his childhood, this one contains tributes from his family members, this one pays tribute to his service in the First Presidency, including his prophetic tenure, this one discusses his work on the Scripture Publication Committee, and this one is a Church news viewpoint containing even more tributes to him.

This is the summary article from the Church News & Events page on LDS.org, in addition to this one about his youth, this one (which may be a duplicate from the Church News about his service to the widows in his ward), and this one, likely a duplicate about his time on the scriptures committee. And this will contain Mormon Newsroom's coverage, which will no doubt be wide-spread in coming days, so you can catch the latest there.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: President Thomas S. Monson Passes Away

Hello again, everyone! I am here with some late-breaking news. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has confirmed a report that President Thomas S. Monson has passed away. With his passing, the First Presidency is now dissolved, and President Nelson and the remaining 12 apostles take over Church leadership, which will more than likely involve a reorganization of the First Presidency, probably within the next week.

Since this is a very late-breaking development, more information about the circumstances of President Monson's passing will be forthcoming. For now, I pass along this article, published by KSL. It appears his passing occurred at 10:01 PM, though the announcement came just barely over the airwaves, and I had just by chance pulled up KSL's website. I am sure more developments will be made known tomorrow, once the Church has a chance to process this news . And we will look for President Nelson to be sustained as the new Church President in General Conference next April. But he will have to act to fill two apostolic vacancies now.

With President Monson's passing, our most senior apostles are those three appointed during President Kimball's administration. How blessed it must be for this wonderful man to be free of his mortal mission to lead the Church, from which he stepped back less than one year ago today. He did not have to suffer long.

I could go on to share my feelings about our beloved prophet's passing, but I want to get this posted. So that does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, but I would ask that we all remain respectful of this man's wonderful life and those Brethren who will now have to carry on without him. May God bless the memory of our prophet dear, and prosper those left to carry on without him, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Estimated 2017 Year-End Church Statistics

Hello again, everyone! On this second day of 2018, and at a time when Church and temple news has slowed somewhat in view of the Christmas and New Year holidays we have recently observed (though there are two meaningful articles from the Church News that were published earlier today, which I will cover in a post later on tonight), I am pleased to bring you my estimates for the 2017 year-end statistics of the Church.

There is some information among these estimates that will likely be spot on, since the figures were pulled from sources in the public domain. Others, by the same token, are more guesstimates which I have ventured based on both observed trends and averages from the statistical reports of previous years during President Monson's presidency.

As a quick sidenote, he and his counselors will be marking a full decade of service together in just 3.5 weeks (which is exactly 32 days from today), and they will thus become only the third First Presidency in the history of the Church to serve together for 10 years. While it will be 32 days until they reach that decade mark for their service together, they have already become the third longest continuously-serving First Presidency, having marked that milestone less than six months ago, on Monday July 31, 2017.

But in getting back to the statistics, I hope you enjoy reading what I have put together in terms of how the 2017 Statistical Report might look. You can find those statistics in the table below. I look forward to any feedback you might have, which is always welcome and appreciated.

That does it for this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

2017 Statistical Report (some figures projected)

Stakes
3,341
Missions
421
Districts
540
Wards and Branches
30,510
Total Church Membership
16,149,214
Increase in Children of Record
107,166
Converts Baptized
225,859
Full-Time Missionaries
56,745
Church Service Missionaries
35,974
Temples Dedicated during 2017 (Paris France, Tucson Arizona, Meridian Idaho, Cedar City Utah)
4
Temples Rededicated during 2017 (Idaho Falls Idaho)
1
Temples in Operation by the end of 2016
159


Monday, January 1, 2018

Some Additional Thoughts Regarding the Location of the Southwest Salt Lake Valley Temple Referenced by President Hinckley

Hello again, everyone! As I have waited for other comments to come in this weekend on my coverage of potential temple locations, I wound up doing some additional research about a few locations I have referenced in passing. One of the most intriguing ones that required a fair amount of research was the location of the temple for which President Hinckley had stated in 2005 that land was being held in reserve to serve the Saints of the Salt Lake Valley.

As some of you may know from following the thread of comments on the post I did about the Salt Lake Valley particularly, one comment pointed to the idea that this  land could be located in Bluffdale or Riverton. On the basis of that general location, I dug a little deeper and found this article, which stated that the location of the land was within the boundaries of Bluffdale city.


While the Church has yet to issue a statement on that identification, in digging a little more deeply into the history of the site referenced in that article, it appears that the land in question, which was part of Bluffdale, was the subject of an ownership dispute between Bluffdale and nearby Herriman (as the distance between the two is a mere 6.5 miles). Although the door remains open for Bluffdale to challenge that decision, the result has been that the land in question is now part of Herriman city.

So that means that, if my research is correct, the land referenced in 2005 is now part of Herriman. A temple there does make a lot of sense. Friends of my family relocated to Herriman when the land on which their home in Alpine sat was sold to make room for a housing development. And while I don't know whether or not this was the case in between the years when Herriman was incorporated and when these friends moved there, I do know that in the years since they made the move, Herriman has experienced a boom in its' growth.

With that said, I want to make one thing absolutely clear: In all the research I did to try and figure out the probable location for that temple site that was referenced by President Hinckley almost 13 years ago, even after I discovered the information pointing to Herriman as the likely location of that site, I never once found information from the Church that officially confirms that the site in question is in Herriman, or that such a site is the one President Hinckley referenced. In every article I have found on the subject, the Church has declined to comment on this issue.

So while the site may indeed be in Herriman, until the intent of the Brethren to build a temple in that city is officially announced, the confirmation of the site is only as good as can logically be concluded, and based on information on which the Church has declined to comment in the 11 or so years since the publication of the sources I have explored for this information. With all of that said, I will be watching the Herriman/Bluffdale/Riverton area with great interest, and I will try to pass along anything I discover further that may substantiate this.

In the meantime, this new information does raise some important questions: Is there enough to go on from sources not sanctioned or verified by the Church to put a potential temple for Herriman in the section I have for the Salt Lake Valley? And if the Church confirms at any point that the site in Herriman is the one referenced by President Hinckley 12 years ago and an announcement is made for a temple there, will that in turn impact the likelihood that Tooele will get a temple? It appears the two cities are roughly 38.7 miles apart, so I cannot rule out both getting a temple at some point. Of the two, which might be a more imminent possibility? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Yet Another Update Reported on Construction of Arequipa Peru Temple

Hello again, everyone! While I last reported a status update for the Arequipa Peru Temple just last Friday, when I was double-checking for any additional progress on temples anywhere in the world, I found yet another update had been reported for that temple. So it would appear that things are moving along very well indeed for that temple's construction.

The update shows that temporary windows have been installed to enclose the structure, which will allow for interior work to make progress. Additionally, that temple's steeple framework is currently being assembled as well. With all of this progress that this temple has seen in such a short time, I feel more confident than ever that we will see a dedication for it take place before the end of 2019.

Since there are no other temple updates to report at this time, that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Happy New Year 2018

Hello again, everyone, and Happy New Year as we welcome the start of another year (though technically speaking, the time zone off of which my blog operates appears to be an hour behind Utah time). As a Latter-day Saint, one of the things I love about the gospel of Jesus Christ is the opportunity each of us has to repent of those things we have done which are wrong, and to make a resolution that we will do better in the future. All of us are given the regular opportunity to be made worthy again, and to declare anew our resolve to do and to become better to the best of our abilities. So we have as many opportunities as we might need to declare anew our commitment to the process of repenting an changing for the better.

For that reason, each of us who accept the validity of Christ's atonement can, in a very real sense, make goals and commitments which, by the world's definition of them, can be seen as "New Year's resolutions", or as we might more effectively term them, "Renewed Us Resolutions". And while it is up to each of us as individuals and in our families to determine what those changes we need to make should be, the gospel gives us a solid basis upon which each of us are able to effectively go through that process to become the best we can be.

In that regard, I hope that all of us will be able to determine what that process will involve for each of us and our families, and that whether on these New Year's Days or at any other time, we will always find ourselves willing to continue to do so.

That said, with 2017 having ended, I wanted to renew my commitment to all of you that one of my New Year's resolutions which I don't see myself failing to keep is that for my part, I will continue to do my level best to bring you the latest Church news and developments as they occur this year, just as I will be counting on all of you to keep your great comments coming with your responses to the information I share.

With 2017 having been my biggest year for blogging since I started to do so, and with no chance whatsoever that Church or temple news will be slowing down at all during this new year, I will do my level best to continue to stay on top of it all, and to bring you the latest ASAP after I hear about it.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.