Hello again, everyone! As some of you may be aware, when Elders Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund were called as apostles in 2015, there was quite a bit of backlash from the general public about the fact that all of them were born within the US. But many blogs and newspaper articles pointed out (quite correctly) that Elder Renlund's father was born in Finland, his mother was born in Sweden, and he grew up speaking Swedish in his home, although he spoke English everywhere else he went. From those who wrote about that, the general consensus was that Elder Renlund's bilingual experiences qualified him as an apostle with international appeal.
My purpose in mentioning all of this is to note this inspiring story from the Church News, which shares how Elder Renlund recently returned to very familiar territory. On assignment to Italy to speak at a conference on the subject of religion and health, he found he had an unassigned Sunday. So he checked with Elder Paul V. Johnson, Europe Area President, to see if he could be of use somewhere.
Quick sidenote here: The fact that Elder Renlund reached out to the area president to know where he might be needed is another in the series of examples we see of how general Church leaders cooperate with and defer to other general or local leaders in their travels. Elder Renlund could easily have opted to determine for himself where to go, but he recognized that Elder Johnson would be in a better position to know where he might be needed on that day, and he took the opportunity to ask. That was awesome to hear.
Since Elder Johnson knew of Elder Renlund's connection to Sweden (born of his familial ties in addition to his missionary service in Sweden), his suggestion was that Elder Renlund should visit the Saints in that nation. Not only did this enable Elder Renlund to speak to those members of the Church in their native language, but it also gave him the opportunity to reconnect with many members of his extended family, who still reside in that nation.
It was awesome to hear of this opportunity Elder Renlund had. His willingness to seek out and defer to the suggestion of the area president was inspiring, and enabled him to have a very personal experience in a place to which he had such a strong familial connection.
I continue to monitor all Church news and will pass those developments along to you all as I receive word 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.
On this blog, I, James Stokes, share insights and analysis covering the latest news and developments reported about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My specific emphasis and focus is on the ministry of our current apostles, General Conference, and up-to-date temple information. This site is neither officially owned, operated, or endorsed by the Church, and I, as the autthor thereof, am solely responsible for this content.
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Thursday, May 24, 2018
Church News Report: Elder Dale G. Renlund Returns to Sweden
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.
Additional New Temple Presidents Announced
Hello again, everyone! The Church News continues to report the calls of new temple presidents. With those announced today, there have been 50 new temple presidents called this year so far. As I mentioned previously, the Church generally notes new presidents for roughly 1/3 of all operating temples. Since there are 159 operating temples (which will go up to 161 by the end of this year), it will be interesting to see how many other temples get a new president.
I would imagine we will shortly hear of the first presidents for at least the Concepcion Chile and Barranquilla Colombia Temples, which are set to be dedicated before the end of this year. And it wouldn't surprise me to learn of the first presidents for other temples anticipated to be dedicated in the early months of next year.
As has happened a few times this year, with this latest group of new temple presidents, there was one temple (Suva Fiji) which was not originally on my list of those that might get a new president, but one has been called for that temple.
The updated list follows below. I continue to monitor all developments of this sort and will bring word of those to you all as I receive 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.
I would imagine we will shortly hear of the first presidents for at least the Concepcion Chile and Barranquilla Colombia Temples, which are set to be dedicated before the end of this year. And it wouldn't surprise me to learn of the first presidents for other temples anticipated to be dedicated in the early months of next year.
As has happened a few times this year, with this latest group of new temple presidents, there was one temple (Suva Fiji) which was not originally on my list of those that might get a new president, but one has been called for that temple.
The updated list follows below. I continue to monitor all developments of this sort and will bring word of those to you all as I receive 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.
New presidents have been called for the following
temples:
1.
Manaus Brazil
2.
Boise Idaho
3.
Denver Colorado
4.
The Hague Netherlands
5.
Oquirrh Mountain Utah
6.
Helsinki Finland
7.
The Gila Valley Arizona
8.
Brigham City Utah
9.
Stockholm Sweden
10. Palmyra
New York
11. Accra
Ghana
12. Papeete
Tahiti
13. Sao
Paulo Brazil
14. San
Jose Costa Rica
15. Albuquerque
New Mexico
16. Provo
City Center
17. Recife
Brazil
18. Cardston
Alberta
19. Payson
Utah
20. Porto
Alegre Brazil
21. Brisbane
Australia
22. Kansas
City Missouri
23. Oaxaca
Mexico
24. Regina
Saskatchewan
25. Cebu
City Philippines
26. Boston
Massachusetts
27. Colonia
Juarez Chihuahua Mexico
28. Billings
Montana
29. Houston
Texas
30. Sydney
Australia
31. Guatemala
City Guatemala
32. Hermosillo
Sonora Mexico
33. Montevideo
Uruguay
34. Indianapolis
Indiana
35. Laie
Hawaii Temple (the new president of this temple is the older brother of General
Authority Seventy Elder Donald L. Hallstrom)
36. Las
Vegas Nevada
37. Atlanta
Georgia
38. Buenos
Aires Argentina
39. Redlands
California
40. Draper
Utah
41. Tijuana
Mexico
42. Sacramento
California
43. Monticello
Utah
44. Bountiful
Utah
45. Freiberg
Germany
46. Oakland
California
47. Villahermosa
Mexico
48. Manti
Utah
49. Suva
Fiji
50. Vancouver
British Columbia
The first presidents will likely be announced for the
following new temples:
1.
Concepcion Chile
2.
Barranquilla Colombia
3.
Rome Italy
4.
Kinshasa DR Congo
5.
Fortaleza Brazil
6.
Port-au-Prince Haiti
New presidents may also be announced for the following
temples:
1.
Cordoba Argentina
2.
Fukuoka Japan
3.
St. Louis Missouri
4.
Taipei Taiwan
5.
Tegucigalpa Honduras
6.
Trujillo Peru
7.
Veracruz Mexico
8.
Washington D. C. Temple (Note: The Church may
opt to wait on calling a new president for this temple until 2020 when it is
rededicated)
Labels:
General Church News
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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