Minor Church News Update

Hello, all! This post will serve as a minor update about Church news that has been released in the last 3 days or so. First, in apostolic news, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (who serves both as an LDS apostle and as a member of the BSA National Executive Board) spoke to Aaronic Priesthood age scouts about their roles with the Sacrament. He was joined by the Young Men General Presidency. Brother Stephen W. Owen spoke at that meeting as well, and his first counselor, Douglas D. Holmes, conducted the meeting. Read that article here.

At the Seymour Institute Seminar on Religious Freedom in Princeton, New Jersey, Elder Quentin L. Cook spoke about how foundations supporting faith are being marginalized to a certain degree in an increasingly secular world. Click here for a summary of his remarks.

I am pleased to see the Church's ongoing efforts to emphasize the importance of religious freedom and to address that issue more frequently. Most of the apostolic news updates I have posted this year have included some mention of an apostle addressing this subject. It is obvious the Church and its leaders feel strongly about this subject. I am likewise pleased to be able to report frequently on how the Church has been reaching out to establish greater partnerships with other religions and leaders of nations. This shows that the Church is becoming more well-known, and its membership more widely respected and understood. I look forward to being able to continue to report on ongoing developments of this sort .

In the meantime, the other two articles I wanted to mention here were written in conjunction with the annual Mormon night which is held at Dodger Stadium every July. This year, Elder Steven E. Snow, a General Authority Seventy who also serves as Church Historian and Recorder, represented the Church in throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, which was caught by Elder Bruce E. Ghent, an Area Seventy who resides in the Los Angeles area. These brethren were accompanied by their wives, Sisters Phyllis Snow and Kathryn Ghent.

For those unaware, Mormon Night is the largest and longest running community event in Los Angeles, and it has been held each year for 40+ years and counting. Mykel, an up-and-coming LDS music artist from Highland, Utah, sang the national anthem. For more on the history of this event, including a list of past participants, click here.

In conjunction with Mormon Night, many partners of JustServe (which administers the Church's service initiative) were honored during Mormon Night with the Padres. For more on that, click here.

That does it for this Church news update. I am working on a few projects, which I hope to post sometime this weekend. Comments continue to be welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. All the best.

Update on Construction of the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple

While no significant developments have been reported regarding other temples that are under construction, undergoing renovation, or announced, I am pleased to report that I heard today of a change in status for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple. The exterior walls have now been completed, plywood is being attached to the roof trusses, and support is being poured for the baptismal font. I have also learned recently that the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple is anticipated to be somewhat comparable in design and layout to the Kinshasa DR Congo, and that both temples are among those of a more modest size that allows them to generally be built more quickly. Since construction in Kinshasa will have spanned roughly 2.58 years (2 years and 7 months) by the time of its dedication (if my estimates are correct), an estimate of 2 years and 7 months feels reasonable for the completion of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple, which would put its completion sometime during either June or August 2020.

Whatever happens going forward with temple-related developments, the one thing upon which you can depend is that I will do my level best to keep track of it all and pass information along as I become aware of it. Thanks to you all for the privilege of your time, and your ongoing interest and support. I will post again soon. Until then, all the best.