BREAKING NEWS: First Presidency Adjusts Sunday Meeting Schedules

Good evening, everyone! Tonight, the First Presidency announced a major adjustment to the Sunday meeting schedule. Effective September 6, 2026, the Church block will consist of a 1-hour Sacrament Meeting, a 5-minute transition to classes, 25 minutes of Sunday School, and 25 minuttes of Elders' Quorum/Relief Society.

Sunday School General President Paul V. Johnson noted the following: “Gathering weekly in every class helps deepen gospel learning by connecting it more closely to personal and family study. It also enhances the spiritual support that members get. Though the schedule looks different, the amount of time spent learning together remains the same.”

Sunday School classes will continue to use "Come, Follow Me". Aaronic Priesthood quorums and Young Women groups will be taught from "For the Strength of Youth." And adults will continue to learn from General Conference talks in Priesthood/Relief Society.

Of the new scheduled, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson stated: “There is additive strength that comes when we meet each week to counsel, learn, and support one another, When we gather in His name, the Spirit is there to teach us, testimonies are strengthened, and we lift each other in discipleship. This weekly time for connection will help us draw closer to the Savior and each other. We find joy in walking the covenant path together.”

Of strenghtening worship in Sacrament Meeting, the news release states: "While the length of sacrament meeting remains unchanged, leaders are encouraged to deliberately consider ways to strengthen the quality of worship and help sacrament meeting become more central in the lives of Latter-day Saints. Members are invited to seek meaningful ways to enrich their own worship experience. Sacrament meeting is a time of joy, reverence, and welcoming fellowship centered on the Savior Jesus Christ.

"The fifth Sunday in August 2026 will be dedicated for preparation and discussion by youth, their parents, and their leaders. Additional preparation and discussion for members will take place during the second hour on September 6, 2026. Resources, training materials, and answers to common questions will be made available in the coming weeks."

I am grateful for this landmark adjustment and testify that it is inspired by the Lord. I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

UPDATED: April 2026 General Conference Adjusted Speaker Lineup Predictions

Hello again, everyone! Given the recent confirmation that the Sunday Morning Session of the April 2026 General Conference will more particularly focus on messages about the life, ministry, mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have once again revised my predictions for the speaker lineup for General Conference weekend. 

Based on the aforementioned source, I now believe the Sunday Morning Session will include talks from each member of the First Presidency, alongside a couple of members of the Quorum of the Twelve and other general Church leaders.For that reason, I now believe that 4 members of the Quorum of the Twelve will speak on Saturday Morning, 3 each on Saturday Afternoon and Sunday Afternoon, and the remaining 2 on Sunday Morning, along with the First Presidency and a couple of other general Church leaders. 

I have adjusted my predictions accordingly.  And if, as I am projecting, the entire First Presidency speaks on Sunday Morning, President Oaks will likely close out the final session with brief concluding remarks rather than a full-length address. It is also possible that President Oaks could speak briefly before or after the Solemn Assembly is held, but I am less convinced that will be the case. And if the entire First Presidency speaks during the Sunday Morning Session, neither of the current counselors in the First Presidency will need to speak in any of the other sessions.

For all of these reasons, the adjustments make sense to me. I hope the revised speaker lineup predictions prove insightful to all who view them here. And again, I have no insider knowledge regarding the speaker lineup. This is my analysis based on past patterns. The elimination of a Saturday Evening Session  is a game-changer for sure. And whether I'm right or wrong about any such projections, I will still enjoy following along with what actually happens over General Conference weekend.

You can count on my analysis of any major news that will be announced during General Conference weekend. And leading up to that, I will have the final version of all predictions relating to the conference posted here on Thursday night at 10:00 PM (36 hours before the first session begins). I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now.

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates.

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

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Renderings Released for the Vienna Austria & Culiacán Mexico Temples

Hello again, everyone! As anticipated, the First Presidency made its customary Monday announcement at the top of this 2:00 PM MDT hour. Today, the renderings were released for the temples in Vienna Austria and Culiacán Mexico, and a new location was announced for the Charlotte North Carolina Temple.

We start in Vienna Austria, where the site location was announced in late October 2021 and the temple was originally announced the previous April. The release of this exterior rendering means a lot to my wife, who served in the Mission (which also covered parts of Germany).  Groundwater has been measured at that temple site, but grass has been resown over the boreholes in question. I don't know how close the Vienna Austria Temple might be to a groundbreaking, but I have promised my wife I will find a way to get her back there when the temple in question is dedicated, which may be 4-5 years out.

We now turn to the Culiacán Mexico Temple. The release of its' exterior rendering follows the site location confirmation in mid-February of last year, which in turn followed that temple's announcement in October 2021. Given the size of the edifice in question (around 10,000 square feet), it may or may not wind up being a modular temple. Given that temples in Mexico generally get approvals faster than European temples, I think the construction will only take 2-3 years once it's underway, unless this temple is modular, in which case it may only take 18-21 months to construct.

No reason was given for the altered site location of the Charlotte North Carolina Temple. The temple's original site was announced in late May 2023, following that temple's original announcement in April 2023.  The single-story edifice of approximately 30,700 square feet will now rise at 5926 Mathews-Mint Hill Road, Mint Hill, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Unless there is a later change, it will retain the Charlotte name.

So far, for the 106 announced temples, 1 has a groundbreaking scheduled, site locations have been confirmed for 56 more (all but 16 of which have also had renderings released), and 50 other temples are awaiting confirmation of any official information. So the queue of announced temples is moving along nicely. That said, I had hoped another temple dedication or two or one or two groundbreakings would be announced.

But I am not disappointed in the news that we got pertaining to these three temples, and hopefully, with one more Monday left prior to General Conference, we will see temple dedications and/or groundbreakings announced. Whatever happens in that regard, you can count on my covering it. In the meantime, I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I can after I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates.

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