Stokes Sounds Off: 09/13/18

Search This Blog

Leaderboard

Thursday, September 13, 2018

BREAKING NEWS: Articles About Elders Gong, Soares Will Appear in the October 2018 Ensign

Hello again, everyone! I have periodically been checking for the last few days for any word on early access to the October 2018 Ensign. Just now, it paid off. The HTML version of that Ensign will, as anticipated, include articles honoring Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares as the new apostles of the Church.

I previously referenced that Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Neil L. Andersen had been assigned as the respective mentors to these new Brethren. So it is fitting and proper that Elder Christofferson wrote the one honoring Elder Gong and that Elder Andersen wrote the one honoring Elder Soares.

As I have also previously referenced, Elder Gong married the daughter of Elder Richard P. Lindsay, who also served as a general authority seventy. But what I didn't know until now is that Elder Soares has several connections to former and current general authorities himself. Elder Soares' mission president was Elder Helio Da Rocha Camargo, who was the first Brazilian general authority appointed. But more than that, Elder Soares' wife's sister married Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, who has been a general authority since the mid-1990s.

The articles about the new apostles shared many unique insights into how the Lord prepared these men, including extensive comments from their family members and Church leaders who have worked with them and who talk about how well these men have maintained a balance between family life, professional careers, and service in the Church. They are well worthy of your time and attention.

I am grateful that the Lord has called Elder Gerrit Walter Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares to the Quorum of the Twelve, and that we have a chance to learn more about them through these articles. I wholeheartedly sustain them. The moment their names were announced in General Conference, the Spirit confirmed to my soul that the Lord had directed their calls.

I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those along to you all as I receive it. 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.

BREAKING NEWS: President & Sister Nelson, President Eyring to Visit Langley British Colombia

Hello again, everyone! In a previous post, I referenced the fact that President Nelson has made several stops in Canada recently because these were quick trips his staff could arrange while he continues to prepare for General Conference. In this article from a newspaper in British Colombia, it was mentioned that President Russell M. Nelson, along with his wife, Wendy W. Nelson, and his Second Counselor, President Henry B. Eyring, will be making another such trip this weekend to speak at a member devotional in Langley, British Colombia.

Here's how recent this development is: I happened to hear of it before the news was ever covered by the Church News website. This continues another leg of President Nelson's World Ministry Tour, which is ongoing. I was pleased to hear of this news.

Now, I just wanted to interject a word here about potential future temples: Until the extent of President Nelson's temple-building plans are known (whether those are detailed more fully in either the October General Conference or at other points in the remaining 3.5 months of this year), I am not assuming, as I once did, that every city to which President Nelson pays a visit is in the running for a temple in the near future. I am working on trimming down my personal list for next October to a more reasonable amount, and time will tell how thoroughly, to what extent, and within what kind of timing those plans will be implemented.

As always, I continue to monitor any Church news and all temple developments and will do my best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of it. 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 feel 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.

Media Interview President Nelson and Elder Renlund/First President Called for the Lisbon Portugal Temple

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to report two major Church news developments which have come to my attention within the last hour or so. First, while President Nelson and Elder Renlund were in the Caribbean Area, they made themselves available for an interview with different media outlets. The Church News shares this article highlighting the answers the two apostles gave in the interview done by the Church News.

The other major development is that the Church has once again announced the first president for a new temple anticipated to be completed next year. This week, the Church announced the identity of the first president of the Lisbon Portugal Temple, a man born and raised in the country. This brings the total number of temples which have had a new president called this year to 65, and the only temples remaining on my personal list are Fortaleza Brazil (for which a first president will likely be called in the near future) and Washington D. C. (although that temple is currently closed for renovation, the Church announced earlier this year a new president for the Asuncion Paraguay Temple, which is also closed for renovation, and which, as far as I know, has not had that process begin yet).

Given the number of new presidents that have been called over the last 4-6 weeks or so, I wanted to again share my full list of those temples which have had a new president announced. Before doing so, I did want to note one thing: Although it is fantastic that the Church has announced the first presidents of all temples anticipated to be dedicated next year (except for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple), unless something is occurring for each which no one knows about, it is more likely than not that none of those temples will be dedicated any sooner than previously indicated. As a refresher, I include a list of the latest general estimates I have available for the time-frames within which temples anticipated to be completed next year will be dedicated (or rededicated, for those that have been closed for renovation):

Kinshasa DR Congo, Fortaleza Brazil, Frankfurt Germany (rededication): Early-to-mid 2019
Port-au-Prince Haiti, Lisbon Portugal, Oklahoma City (rededication), Memphis Tennessee (rededication): Mid-2019
Durban South Africa, Baton Rouge Louisiana (rededication), Raleigh North Carolina (rededication): Mid-to-late 2019.
Oakland California (rededication): Late 2019-early 2020

I would anticipate that, at least for the Kinshasa and Fortaleza Temples, their dedications may be announced within the next 4-6 months, with the same being true for the likely rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple.  I continue to monitor all of this and will pass along any updates to previously-offered estimates, whether general or more specific, as that becomes necessary.

In the meantime, my updated list of temples that have or may yet have a new president announced follows below. So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will end here as I always do. 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.


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
51.  Tegucigalpa Honduras
52.  Fukuoka Japan
53.  St. Louis Missouri
54.  Trujillo Peru
55.  Asuncion Paraguay (not anticipated)
56.  Cordoba Argentina
57.  Taipei Taiwan
58.  Kinshasa DR Congo (first president)
59.  Concepcion Chile (first president)
60.  Barranquilla Colombia (first president)
61.  Rome Italy (first president)
62.  Durban South Africa (first president; not anticipated)
63.  Port-au-Prince Haiti (first president)
64.  Veracruz Mexico
65.  Lisbon Portugal (first president)

The first presidents will likely be announced for the following new temples:
1.      Fortaleza Brazil

New presidents may also be announced for the following temples:
1.      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)