BREAKING NEWS: Sister Barbara Ballard Passes Away at Age 86; First Presidency Announces Dedication Information for Kinshasa DR Congo Temple

Hello again, everyone! Though these breaking news developments are a few hours old, in view of some personal illness that has kept me from doing my first check of the Church websites until now, I only found out about two major developments a few moments ago.

First of all, Sister Barbara Bowen Ballard, wife of President M. Russell Ballard,, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, died earlier today after struggling with many health issues, one of which was Alzheimer's. Further information about her life and thoughts from her family about her legacy can be found in the Church News and via the Newsroom on the Church's official website. Those sources speak for themselves, so I will say no more about them, except that funeral services will be held a week from today, and that I am sorry those will coincide with his birthday, though perhaps that was President Ballard's choice so he could share one last birthday with her. My condolences go out to the Ballard family at this time.

While I don't want to overshadow that news, I am also pleased to report that the First Presidency has announced the open house and dedication dates for the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple. The official release about that notes that a public open house will begin for that temple on Tuesday March 12, and will go through Saturday March 30, with the exception of the Sundays of March 17 and 24.

The Church, which will continue the tradition of having a youth devotional instead of a cultural celebration, will have such a gathering for the youth in Kinshasa on Saturday April 13, with the temple dedication to be held the next day in 3 sessions, and will be broadcast to all Saints living in the Kinshasa temple district. But here's the thing that intrigued me most: The release also notes: "Additional details regarding the temple dedication will be announced at a future date." What that means exactly, I don't know.

I would just like to add here that the timing of this dedication was just about when I estimated it would be. When I last posted my estimates for known temple events, I had shared my feelings that this temple could have a dedication in mid-April. But I should also note that I thought that the next big temple news would be either the confirmation of the groundbreaking for the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple or the rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. There is still time for both of those to be officially confirmed in the near future.

With my thanks to those who commented here earlier today to share these developments with me, and my thanks to all of you for your ongoing interest and support, that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any subject at any time. Thank you for the ongoing additional privilege of your time.

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