President M. Russell Ballard Marks His Second Nonagenarian Milestone Today

Hello again, everyone! Today marks Elder Dale G. Renlund's 66th birthday, and I do have a post in the works to pay tribute to him, but I wanted to mention here first that President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, is observing his second nonagenarian milestone today. His first such milestone was, of course, marked just over a month ago when he celebrated his 90th birthday, on Monday October 8, and in doing so, he became the 19th apostolic nonagenarian.

As of today, the length of his life is as long as that of J. Reuben Clark, but since President Clark is no longer living and President Ballard is, the latter has officially become the 18th oldest apostle. Since President Ballard, by all accounts, appears to be in fairly good health, I have no doubt that he will be around to observe several more milestones as a nonagenarian apostle. His next such milestone will be observed on Wednesday February 20. 2019, at which point his lifespan will match that of President Thomas S. Monson.

Interestingly enough, by the time President Russell M. Nelson observes his next nonagenarian milestone (which will occur on Friday July 5, 2019), President Ballard will not only have observed the milestone described in the above paragraph, but 2 others as well. Then, President Ballard will observe one other milestone as well in July 2019. More details will be provided on the specifics of those milestones closer to the time.

I do continue to monitor all apostolic age and tenure milestones, along with any Church news and temple developments, and will be doing my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive 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.

If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post (which should come within the next few hours or less and will provide the afore-mentioned birthday tribute to Elder Renlund), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Temple Construction Updates Noted

Hello again, everyone! After taking a four-day hiatus from blogging to give myself time to recover from ongoing illnesses, I am pleased to bring you the first of two posts to share the latest temple construction updates and Church news stories. This post will focus on the former subject. So let's get right into all of that. First of all, I wanted to update something I have noted previously: I have spoken about my feeling that the Church could easily have 200 operating temples by or before the 200th anniversary of the Church's restoration (which will occur on Saturday April 6, 2030).

With 40 temples to complete in the 11.40 years between today and that day, the Church would just need to complete 3.51 temples per year. And with three temples set to be dedicated within roughly the next 5 months (give or take a few days or so), there are four others that will likely be dedicated within the next 15 months, and up to 3 more that could be dedicated in the first 6-8 months of 2020.

I would also anticipate that at least 6-10 temples could potentially have construction begin by that time. So that average number is more than likely to go down quite a bit as the next 18-24 months pass. I will be keeping an eye on those averages and continue to bring you reports on those as changes occur.

In the meantime, we turn to the one update I have on temple under construction. At the Lisbon Portugal Temple site, it has been reported that gold plating has been attached to the temple spire, while stone cladding nears completion on the exterior walls, and meetinghouse gardens continue to be planted.

There have also been updates reported on two of the temples undergoing renovation which are anticipated to be completed in 2020. At the Tokyo Japan Temple, exterior and interior renovations continue at a steady pace. And for the Washington D. C. Temple, the interior has been completely dismantled, while renovations continue on the temple's exterior.

I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to keep bringing word of those to you all here as I receive it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Miscellaneous Church and Temple News

Hello again, everyone! A couple of additional Church news stories have been reported, along with some new temple developments. There's a lot to talk about, so let's get right into all of that. We start with the temple news. In a First Presidency letter dated November 5 of this year, a change was announced for the dedication dates of the Rome Italy Temple.

Rather than being held over an 8-day period (from Sunday March 10-Sunday March 17) as originally announced, dedicatory services will now be held over a 3-day period (from Sunday March 10-Tuesday March 12). Nothing has changed in terms of the announced dates or plans for the open house or the youth devotional. I will look forward to seeing if any reason is given for this change. It will be interesting to find out about.

Our second and final piece of temple news comes courtesy of the Ghana Mormon Newsroom. As previously noted, ground was broken earlier today (at around 3:00 AM Utah time) for the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple. Still no word yet on an estimated completion time-frame, but I have offered my thoughts (based on what I now know) that a dedication could take place in mid-to-late 2021. I will provide more information on that as I learn of it.

Having covered the temple news, we turn in conclusion to the Church news I mentioned. President Henry B. Eyring, who has accumulated a collection of personal watercolors, now has the opportunity to showcase his work through a new art exhibit called "A Virtual Journal" which is now on display at the Church History Museum. The Church News shares an article about that, while the Newsroom provides some additional details.

I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments, and am committed to bringing word of those to you all on an ongoing basis as I receive it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Temple Updates Noted

Hello again, everyone! I am back again to pass along some newly-reported temple developments. In getting right into those, I wanted to share that the length of time between today and Saturday April 6, 2030 (when the Church will observe its' bicentennial anniversary of its' reestablishment) now stands at 11.41 years. In order for the Church to have 200 operating temples by that bicentennial, 3.51 temples will need to be dedicated per year to make that possible. And with 6 or 7 temples anticipated to be dedicated within the next year (3 of which are already scheduled), by this time next year, that average will be much lower. Therefore, I see no reason not to believe that the Church will have 200 operating temples by that date, and would not be shocked if there were more than that at that time. In the meantime, at the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, interior finish work is underway, and I would not be shocked if the announcement of the open house and dedication for this temple were to occur within the next month or less. And at the site of the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple, final preparations are underway for tomorrow's groundbreaking ceremony.

Turning now to temples undergoing renovation, at the Raleigh North Carolina Temple, stone cladding has progressed to the front exterior walls and tower. And in Oakland California, shipments are arriving of materials which will be used to rebuild the interior. For the Washington DC Temple, interior and exterior renovations continue, including ongoing work on the spires. And while the window removal and grading of the grounds continues for the Mesa Arizona Temple, the work of clearing the Visitor's Center site has begun.

I will keep monitoring all Church news and temple developments to the best of my ability, and am committed to passing word of all such developments on to you all here as I receive it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.