Revised Predictions for the October 2018 General Conference: Part One--Preliminary Thoughts

Hello again, everyone! Although I will be posting with a report on President Nelson's remarks to the Saints in Vancouver British Columbia as soon as that comes in (which may not be until sometime tomorrow), I wanted to post the fully-revised predictions I have put together for the October 2018 General Conference. They include revised thoughts about the speaking order, an updated version of the potential changes in Church leadership, and a revised list of temple prospects that has been expanded and consolidated a few different ways.

These predictions are based on extensive research of patterns, a consideration of what is currently known, and projections about what could potentially occur. Some may consider these predictions to be speculative in nature, but these are far more than wild guesses. In previous General Conferences, I have noted prevailing patterns and applied those to data I have assembled on each aspect of those predictions.

The biggest unknowns for this General Conference are how having the Women's Session in the spot that has traditionally featured the Priesthood Session might affect the typical speaking patterns, the extent to which previous patterns of releasing general authorities and area seventies might hold true this go-round, whether or not any major announcements will alter typical patterns as was true last conference, and if and how the backlog of 19 announced temples which have not had a groundbreaking might impact how soon, in what manner, and to what extent President Nelson's temple--building plans might be revealed.

There are a few definitive certainties: Barring anything unexpected, President Nelson will open and close the conference, his counselors will almost certainly speak at the conclusion of the Saturday Morning Session and to open the Sunday Morning Session, at least one member of the First Presidency will speak during the Women's Session (regardless of who else might do so), all members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles should speak, and the Sustaining of Church Officers will almost certainly occur in its' traditional spot at the beginning of the Saturday Afternoon Session.

Also, although there have been a few exceptions in recent years, the Church has generally released General Authority Seventies in the October General Conference of the year of their 70th birthdays. Additionally, given that Brook P. Hales, Secretary to the First Presidency, was called as a General Authority Seventy in May, his call should be ratified by sustaining vote during the traditional sustaining.

4 current Area Seventies have been serving since July as mission presidents for the Church, while 6 others have been called to serve as temple presidents starting in November, and there are 5 or 6 others who have served for 7 years or more who may also be released. And if a large-scale temple plan is unfurled (which certainly appears to be more likely than not), there are a minimum of 20 locations (but certainly more) that I could see being announced during General Conference.

There is also a possibility that, in a similar manner to the announcement last conference that Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums would be restructured, the Church's 6 area seventies Quorums could also be significantly restructured and the seventies quorums as they now stand could be divided further. I say that because, if I have the distribution of the 5th and 6th Quorums correct on my personal list, then those two Quorums, along with the 3rd and 4th, are each within 20 members or less of a total of 70. And with the Church being more global, it might make more logistical sense for Quorum meetings if the geographical distribution of those Quorums was streamlined.

Right now, those area seventies residing in Europe and Africa comprise the 3rd Quorum of the Seventy. Those area seventies serving in Latin America comprise the 4th and 7th Quorums. The North American area seventies comprise the membership of the 5th and 6th Quorums. And those area seventies currently serving in Asia, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands comprise the 8th Quorum.

As I noted previously, the area seventies serving in Utah (with confirmation having been provided that the state is now a single area rather than 3 separate ones) comprise the bulk of the membership of the 5th Quorum, regardless of whichever other areas fall under that Quorum. There has also been a substantial increase in the number of area seventies serving in Africa and through South America. So I can definitely see why the Church might consider creating another Quorum or two for the area seventies of the Church.

I have opened up a new thread on the Church growth reddit to more fully discuss that prospect, so I would welcome any input on that through either the reddit or the comments on this blog. I had intended to conclude this post with the fully-revised predictions I have put together for the upcoming General Conference, but this post has become a little lengthier than I intended, so I will do so in a follow-up to this post in a few minutes.

Therefore, 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, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.