Hello again, everyone! I was just reminded that both the Church News and Mormon Newsroom have provided articles reviewing the news and developments relating to the Church and its leaders in the last week or so. Click here for the article from the Church News and here for the Mormon Newsroom article. There has been so much Church news this year, and so much good the Church has done.
We have seen extensive coverage of the ministry of our apostles (which has included coverage of the death of Elder Hales and President Monson stepping back from an active role in Church leadership, in addition to the apostles' increased presence on social media) developments in the Church's missionary program (with changes in mission rules about scheduling and attirees, missionary safety surveys, and the Church's expressed intention to decrease the number of missions and allow utilization of technology for missionaries in the remaining missions to find religiously-minded people) so much temple news (including 4 temples dedicated, 1 rededicated, 4 others closing for renovation, 3 temple groundbreakings, and 5 new temples announced for Brasilia Brazil, the greater Manila Philippines area, Nairobi Kenya, Pocatello Idaho, and Saratoga Spring Utah), the establishment of BYU-Pathway Worldwide, the consolidation of General Conference sessions, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing at both General Conferences, President Trump's inauguration, and Pioneer and Christmas Day Concerts, President Trump visiting Welfare Square and praising the Church leaders with whom he met for all the Church does to help its members.
There was also, of course, one negative development, in the excommunication of Elder James J. Hamula in August. But I find it hard to believe that will be the end of his experience as a Church member. In fact, I fervently hope that he has begun or will begin the process of preparing himself to have his blessings restored at the proper time.
And through the news, both good and bad, relating to the Church, I have had the honor of bringing such information to all of you as soon as I have been able to after I have received it. At a time when both my wife and I are having health issues that currently prevent us from living the fullest quality of life we can, the one constant I could count on has been that, whatever I have "sounded off" about, there are so many of you willing to not only read and comment on such subjects, but also to read my responses to such comments, which has, I hope, allowed the opening of a dialogue about important issues.
Some of my favorite posts have been those when I have been able to pass along the latest apostolic statistics, and also the many developments that are occurring on an almost daily basis for temples that are or may soon be under construction. And capping my favorite posts of the year have been the series that is still ongoing about future temple prospects I see in the near future for each of the Church's areas. The thoughtful feedback on all of it has been amazing to see.
What a year it has been for the Church, and for me personally as well. I will continue to do my best to bring you Church and temple-related news and updates as I find out about them. And while I fully intend to do a few more posts as I have time to do so prior to Christmas and, after that, before 2018 is rung in, I just want you all to know how much I have appreciated your readership, especially with all of these reported developments.
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 for a happy, safe, and very Merry Christmas, and pray that the Lord will not only bless each one of you in everything you do, but that you and your families will be especially blessed during this Christmas season to remember that Christ is the reason for the season. This is my heartfelt prayer for each of you.
Friday, December 22, 2017
2017 News In Review
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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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.
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Just wanted to note one change I made to this post after I originally published it. In the original version, I had forgotten when speaking of temple developments to mention the five announced temples. Once I realized that earlier today, I inserted that information in the post. Sorry about that unintentional omission, and again, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
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