Additional Church News Updates

Hello again, everyone! While the update on the Kinshasa temple and the death of Elder Morrison warranted their own blog posts here, I am back to cover other Church news stories that are significant, and I think I can cover the remainder of those stories in a single post. If that changes, I will let you know. So let's get right into all of that.

Many of you living in the United States are no doubt aware of the shooting that was reported as taking place at a high school in Florida. The Church News shared that two young women who were members of the Church were among those killed in this attack, and the First Presidency released this statement about the shooting.

Next, the Church News reported that missionaries have returned to Puerto Rico after they and others who have since concluded their service were evacuated following Hurricane Maria. I will be evaluating how (if at all) this development changes my previous assertion that a temple in Puerto Rico would likely be delayed. If any of you have thoughts on that matter, I'd love to hear from you.

Continuing her series of articles highlighting her time as a reported and editor of the Church News, Gerry Avant wrote this article to share her interviews over the years with Presidents Benson, Packer, and Faust and Elders Perry and Haight containing their reminiscences about their calls to the apostleship.

And the Church News also wrote about new mission presidents called to serve in England, Brazil, and the DR Congo, which you can read about here.  Finally, we have this report of how, following inspired counsel from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, local Church leaders in Mississippi came together to assist in needed refurbishment for the local offices of the NAACP.

It was great to read of all the good the Church has done as reflected in these articles, and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to share them with you herein. I will be keeping my eyes open for any further updates and Church news and will pass those along to you as I become aware of them.

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 and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Emeritus General Authority Elder Alexander B. Morrison Passes Away At Age 87

Hello again, everyone! I mentioned in my last post that there had been a lot of Church news today. One such item is that Elder Alexander B. Morrison, an Emeritus General Authority, has passed away. You can find the Church News report on his life, Church ministry, and funeral arrangements here, and review any of the four addresses he gave during General Conference over the years of his ministry (which are well worth a review) here. From a quick review of those sources, I can tell Elder Morrison is a wonderful man, and that the Church was blessed to have his voice in Church leadership. 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 and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Update Provided on the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple

Hello again, everyone! There have been some exciting Church and temple developments to report today, but in view of my need to take care of a few personal matters, I have not been able to post about them before now. It is time to rectify that.

Earlier today, an update was reported on the status of the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple. I last reported an update on that temple on Saturday January 27 of this year. That update can be found here. New information today indicates that this temple has its' steeple, roof shingles,  and exterior paint nearing completion, and that an adjoining guardhouse is being built.

It may be a while yet before we know for sure, but this update gives me hope that we could see this temple dedicated before the end of this year. However, I will not alter my latest estimates again until I can prove that will be the case.

Again, it is good to see how temple progress can be made on a day-to-day basis, and I will continue to monitor, track, and report these developments as they occur. 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 and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.