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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Sunday, January 27, 2019
Current Apostolic Statistics: Part Two—Updated Ages, Averages & Apostolic Nonagenarians
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.
7 comments:
In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.
At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.
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Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News published an article earlier today that features more details about the groundbreaking ceremony that was held for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple on January 16. The article included thoughts from Elder Holland (who presided at this event), the Philippines Area Presidency, and local members and friends of other faiths who shared their reactions to this temple. The one thing I'd like to note about that article is that it mentions that construction is anticipated to take 3-5 years to complete, and that seems to be a direct contradiction of the official Newsroom release which noted that a period of 2-3 years would be the time-frame for this temple's construction. I am assuming the Church News writer who authored the article is estimating a worst-case scenario, but my personal hope is that both the Urdaneta Philippines and Bangkok Thailand Temple could have full-scale construction begin within the next 2 weeks, if not sooner than that. I continue to keep my eyes open for temple updates and any additional Church news and will keep passing word of those along to you all here as I receive it. The web address for that article follows below. Thanks again, everyone!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-01-27/it-will-be-majestic-filipino-latter-day-saints-celebrate-groundbreaking-of-new-temple-48859
Various sources indicate the area of Pangasinan Province where the temple will be located, apparently off a major road going south of Urdaneta, has major groundwater issues, and I seem to have heard this site they are going to build on was not the first site, they had to possibly abandon plans at that earlier one and it is possible others for the same reason.
DeleteThe extra time may be needed to deal with whatever the issues at the site they will build on have been or are found.
James Anderson, thanks for reminding me of that. I seem to recall hearing that extensive preparation was needed to ready the site for a groundbreaking (due to its' swampy nature), and that may indeed be hindering construction from beginning. That said, I also know that it is not uncommon for any temple to have a two-week period minimum, but sometimes longer, between the time of the groundbreaking and whenever formal construction can begin. I assume that is because it is easier to ready a site for a groundbreaking than it is to begin construction on that site following a groundbreaking. As we saw with the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, sometimes it can take a year or longer for a temple to begin its' construction process. And we can't forget how the Fortaleza Brazil Temple experienced a five-year wait between its' groundbreaking and when construction was able to begin. I am hoping that most (if not all) of the temples announced during the last 3 sets of temple announcements will be able to have work begin soon after their groundbreakings. For some of those locations, the Church seems to be allowing more time for pre-planning prior to a groundbreaking. I still remain optimistic that 2019 will be a record year for temple groundbreakings, and it will be interesting to see if that occurs, and for which temples. The 3 groundbreakings which have already taken place or been set to occur by the end of the first half of this year are on par with the total number of temple groundbreakings held in the entirety of 2017, and will be a 300% improvement on what we saw during the entirety of last year. And if what I have heard from many of my sources is any indication, this year is more likely than not to be record-breaking in that regard by comparison to other years. Thanks again, James Anderson, for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you./
DeleteAnd the Church News also recently shared a report from its' editor, Sarah Jane Weaver, who detailed what she learned from watching the victims of the Paradise Campfire being ministered to by and ministering in turn to President Nelson, who came to personally assess the situation merely two days following the death of his daughter Wendy. That article is well worthy of your time, and can be found at the following web address:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-01-27/what-i-know-now-that-i-didnt-know-before-camp-fire-48870
My ongoing thanks to you all.
And here I am again. Just by way of reminder, the public open house for the Rome Italy Temple begins tomorrow, and is set to run through February 16. The dedication of that temple will follow between Sunday March 10 and Tuesday March 12. And the last day of that temple's dedication will coincide with the beginning of the open house for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple. Still no word on any additional temples which will have a groundbreaking this year, and I would assume no other temple dedication or rededication announcements will be forthcoming for at least the next couple of months, unless something unexpected occurs. I will keep my eyes open for any information in that regard and post it on this blog as I learn about it. Thanks again for your time, interest, and support.
ReplyDeleteWanted to mention one other thing. Today marks 11 years since President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away, and next Sunday would have marked President Monson's 11th year as Church President if he were still living. Just thought that prophetic trivia would be helpful to some of you. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! I have conclusively verified that the public open house tours for the Rome Italy Temple officially began earlier today. More details on that can be found in a special section of the Church News highlighting the articles that have been written about that temple at the web address below:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/category/italy-temple
It appears that the following additional articles have been published about the Rome Italy Temple, but have not yet been added to the page I mentioned above:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-01-28/its-all-in-the-details-what-makes-the-rome-temple-piazza-very-italian-and-why-it-will-continue-to-draw-members-from-across-europe-48849
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-01-28/8-stories-to-know-about-the-rome-italy-temple-as-the-public-open-house-starts-48888
Another article, sharing more details about the groundbreaking held on Saturday for the Bangkok Thailand Temple, can be found at the web address below:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-01-28/bangkok-thailand-temple-groundbreaking-brings-joy-hope-to-latter-day-saints-48886
And when the US Congress convened, there were only a total of 10 lawmakers who are Latter-day Saints, resulting in the lowest number of Church members in government within the last several years. Read more about that in the article below:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-01-28/these-10-latter-day-saints-hold-positions-in-us-congress-and-thats-the-lowest-number-in-nearly-a-decade-48868
I continue to monitor all Church and temple news and will be sure to pass word of those developments along here as I receieve it. THanks again, everyone!