Hello again, everyone! After a 3-day hiatus to catch their breath (which was needed after being in three different time zones within the last week), Church President Russell M. Nelson and his traveling companions (his wife, Wendy W. Nelson and Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Lesa) had the opportunity of meeting with missionaries and members in Uruguay, which is the second-to-last location they will be visiting prior to the end of the tour. The Newsroom on the Church's official website reported on their visit to Uruguay.
With them having concluded that part of their tour, they now have a one-day hiatus during which to travel to Concepcion Chile, the final stop on that tour, where the Church leaders will tour the temple for a final inspection prior to the youth devotional on Saturday and the dedication of the temple on Sunday. As I mentioned earlier, it seems that President Nelson is discontinuing the previous tradition of cultural celebrations in favor of allowing Church leaders in attendance at future temple events to address and encourage the youth on the night before future temple dedications or rededications are held.
That said, it appears that, when appropriate, cultural events will still take place in such regions, but not in conjunction with a temple dedication. And if Church leaders visit certain areas in the future, I can see a cultural celebration being held in conjunction with those visits as time and circumstances allow. It will be interesting to see what occurs in that regard.
In the meantime, I wanted to provide advanced notice of something I figured out earlier this week. The dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple this weekend will mean the Church will have 160 temples in operation. But that also means that the Church is another temple closer to having 200 operating temples by the 200th anniversary of the reestablishment of the Church (which will, as noted, occur on Saturday April 6, 2030). So, on Sunday, with 40 temples remaining to be dedicated in the 11.44 years between then and the Church's bicentennial, the average number of temples needing to be dedicated will shrink to an average 3.5 per year.
While only one other temple (the Barranquilla Colombia Temple) set to be dedicated before the end of this year, 2018 falls below any previous averages I have offered. But 2 temples have already been set to have a dedication occur during the first third of 2019, and there are a grand total of 4 others which will almost certainly be dedicated during the remaining two thirds of 2019. So with a total of 6 temples almost certain to be dedicated next year, 2018 and 2019 will even out to an average 4 temple dedications per year.
And within the first 6-8 months of 2020, 3 other temples are on track to have their dedications. So by this time in 2020, the average number of temples needing to be dedicated will have decreased significantly. I also cannot and will not rule out the prospect that several of the temples which will have a groundbreaking or otherwise see their construction processes begin within the next 8-10 months might also have their dedications occur during 2020.
I hope these thoughts will prove helpful to at least some of you who read them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. 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.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
President Nelson & Companions Counsel Missionaries and Members in Uruguay/Temple Musings in Conjunction with the Imminent Conclusion of This Leg of that Tour
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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