BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Date Announced for the Huntsville Alabama Temple

Hello again, everyone! As anticipated, the First Presidency made the next major temple construction announcement a few moments ago. The groundbreaking ceremonyt has been set for the Huntsville Alabama Temple. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, August 15, under the direction of Elder John D. Amos of the United States Southeast Area Presidency, who is a native of Alabama.

This will be the third straight groundbreaking in three weeks, and the tenth overall for 2026. I hope the First Presidency can continue to set one groundbreaking per week over the next few weeks. That said, I am a little surprised that we only got 1 groundbreaking announcement today. I had hoped for additional dedications to be set, but apparently that's not in the cards this week. With yesterday's announcement of the first leaders for the Modesto Californina and Knoxville Tennessee Temples, I am reasonably certain both of those temples will be dedicated by the end of this year.

There are now a total of 6 temples for which dedications might be set soon. I had mentioned that the Church might be having difficulties adding the necessary finishing touches to some temples outside the Americas. Whether or not that is the case, obviously scheduling a temple dedication is easy once those fnal touches are taken care of. So hopefully the 6 temples with major construction completed (or in one case, nearly completed) might soon have dedication announcements.

I was also surprised by the announcement of this groundbreaking, as I was only estimating it to occur either in the late months of this year or in the early months of 2027. But that just goes to show that, as always, the Lord's ways and thoughts are higher than my ways and thoughts. While this post was being prepared, the Church News also covered today's groundbreaking announcement.

I am grateful we got this announcement today. 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: Current Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data roughly every 7 weeks. Having last done so on Sunday, April 19, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 18 Church Presidents (including our current prophet, President Dallin H. Oaks), in addition to updated information on the tenure lengths for each of the 30 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (including current Quorum President, Henry B. Eyring). 

The first document likewise notes information on the tenure length rankings for three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (with the current First Presidency not even making that list for the next 6 years), the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). The tenure clock on the current groups (the Quorum of the Twelve and the 15 apostles overall) reset when Elder Gilbert was ordained.

Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the same data for the combined First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to the average ages of each group, plus apostolic nonagenarians (with 2 of the current 15 apostles being on that list), and a final table showing the remaining time between today and when each of the other 13 apostles will become nonagenarians and join that list.

With these updates being published every 7 weeks, the next one will be provided here on Sunday,July 26. Hopefully, this post is of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. 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. 

Initial Predictions for the October 2026 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! Having previously covered the results of my April 2026 General Conference predictions, I am pleased to now present my initial predictions for the October 2026 General Conference, consisting of my projected speaker lineup, my predictions for changes in general Church leadership, and my masterlist of all prospective locations in which I believe a temple could be announced.

The projected speaker lineup could use a little more explanation. It used to be that we'd hear from members of the Presidency of the Seventy and the Presiding Bishopric during every General Conference. The last time a member of the Presiding Bishopric spoke was when then-Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé spoke in April 2025, and that was the same conference in which we last heard from a member of the Presidency of the Seventy (Elder S. Mark Palmer, who, as we know, will be released from that Presidency and granted emeritus status on August 1 of this year). 

I've been wondering if the Church has decided to put members of the Presidency of the Seventy and the Presiding Bishopric on the same speaking rotation schedule as the other General Authority Seventies. If so, then it's almost certain we will hear from a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, based on the fact that Elder Edward Dube last spoke in April 2021, and all of the other GA Seventies who last spoke in April 2021 spoke in April of this year.

I don't know what that might indicate about the Presiding Bishopric, but I have included both Elder Edward Dube and Presiding Bishop W. Christopher Waddell in e predictions just in case. Also, ordinarily, when a smaller number of GA Seventies is sustained in April, almost all or all of them speak in October. Given that I'm including both Elder Dube and Bishop Waddell in my predictions, there wasn't room in this lineup for all 8 of the new GA Seventies named in April.

As far as the changes in general Church leadership go, barring anything unexpected, only changes in area seventies appear likely to occur this time around. And although I do not anticipate any new temples being announced in General Conference, my masterlist shows those candidates that might be announced in between now and the weekend of the October 2026 General Conference.

Other than these notes, the predictions speak for themselves. I gladly welcome any questions or comments on them. Just to reiterate, this is my initial draft of these predictions. I could see other iterations published if much clarification or correction is needed. 

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.