Hello again, everyone, and Happy New Year 2019! I wanted to post right now to provide an overview of known projects which will be published on this blog throughout this year. In addition to ongoing updates on the ministry of our apostles, major Church news and temple developments, General Conference, scheduled Church events (including temple dedications, rededications or groundbreakings), and any other breaking news, I intend to do specific posts on or around the following days for the following reasons:
First half of 2018:
January 14: One-year anniversary of President Nelson's prophetic administration.
January 24: Elder Christofferson's 74th birthday.
January 27: First 2019 apostolic milestone update.
February 6: Elder Rasband's 68th birthday.
February 20: President Ballard's first 2019 nonagenarian milestone.
March 10: Second 2019 apostolic milestone update.
April 9: President Oaks' first 2019 Quorum President milestone.
April 21: Third apostolic milestone update.
May 15: President Ballard's second 2019 nonagenarian milestone.
May 31: President Eyring's 86th birthday.
June 2: Third 2019 apostolic milestone update.
June 15: Elder Bednar's 67th birthday.
Second half of 2019:
Preliminary note: Since the July milestones will, as detailed below, are so close together, I may do a single post marking all of them after they pass rather than on the day each is observed.
July 3: President Nelson's first (and only) 2019 Church President tenure milestone.
July 5: President Nelson's first ever (and only) Church President age milestone/first (and only) 2019 nonagenarian milestone.
July 7: President Oaks' second 2019 Quorum President milestone.
July 9: President Oaks' third 2019 Quorum President milestone.
July 14: Fourth 2019 apostolic milestone update.
July 31: President Ballard's fourth (and final) 2019 nonagenarian milestone.
August 6: Elder Stevenson's 64th birthday.
August 9: Elder Andersen's 68th birthday.
August 12: President Oaks' 87th birthday.
August 25: Fifth 2019 apostolic milestone update.
September 8: Elder Cook's 79th birthday.
September 9: President Nelson's 95th birthday. (Since this is a milestone birthday, there may be an official Church event in honor of this milestone).
October 2: Elder Soares' 61st birthday.
October 6: Sixth 2019 apostolic milestone update.
October 8: President Ballard's 91st birthday.
November 6: Elder Uchtdorf's 79th birthday.
November 13: Elder Renlund's 67th birthday.
November 15: President Oaks' fourth 2019 Quorum President milestone.
November 17: Seventh 2019 apostolic milestone update.
December 3: Elder Holland's 79th birthday.
December 14: President Oaks' fifth (and final) 2019 Quorum President milestone.
December 23: Elder Gong's 66th birthday.
December 29: Eighth (and final) 2019 apostolic milestone update.
As you can see, 2019 will be jam-packed just with these posts. If scheduled Church events (including temple groundbreakings, dedications and rededications) are taken into account, and we also add in General Conference coverage, breaking news, and any major Church news or temple developments, then 2019 will be quite a year for this blog and for me personally.
At the outset, if you will allow me to do so, I want to interject a personal note here. I could not provide ongoing coverage of everything I post about on this blog if it were not for my knowledge that such posts will be read and commented on in the way they have up to this point. In point of fact, without each of you, my readers, I would be doing nothing more than posting for my own benefit. Because I know there are readers who have come to trust my reports of such developments as they occur, I am continually motivated to do so. Thank you all for that.
I appreciate that the audience which this blog reaches is expanding. Within the last 24 hours, I have had readers from the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, an unknown region, Venezuela, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, and Turkmenistan. When my all-time views are considered, my audience also includes readers from Canada, Portugal, the Ukraine, and Spain. I know also that a number of those who read my blog come from Mexico and other countries in South America, Europe, and Africa, among other continents, which is very humbling to me. I hope the message of the content on this blog, though written in English, serves as an inspiration to all who read what I "sound off" about.
Likewise, thanks to all who contribute thoughtful feedback relating to the comments posted on this blog. I made a decision as the number of comments picked up here that I would do my best to provide a personal response to thank each individual for commenting, and to provide any additional insight or clarification as needed. By way of reminder to my newer readers, any comment I add is generally not meant to end the discussion. If I see any discussion headed in a direction with which I am not comfortable, I will mention that and steer it either back on track or to a good conclusion, but other than that, ongoing comments are always welcome and appreciated.
With renewed commitment to cover whatever lies ahead for the Church, and a promise that I will continue to do my best to bring word of those developments to you all as they occur, that does it for this post. Any and all comments continue to be, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines.
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 for a happy, safe, healthy, and prosperous 2019, and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Happy New Year 2019!
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.
13 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.
I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.
And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.
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.
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Hello again, everyone! It has just been reported that the First Presidency has released an official statement on temples. You can find the statement in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-01-02/church-releases-statement-on-temples-48702
The statement, as currently written, seems deliberately ambiguous in some ways to me, by which I mean that no further details have been provided, at least not yet. At the same time, if something is on the horizon which will, as the statement notes, change "language, methods of construction, communication, and record keeping", then that will be something to watch out for in the days ahead.
I have mentioned the possibility that the Church could, in order to expedite construction of some temples, utilize a smaller design than we have heretofore seen. My wife and I have pictures of a few different temples featured prominently in our home. One of them is of the Kona Hawaii Temple. When a visitor came to our home last Sunday, he commented that he had been inside the Kona Temple, and that it was designed with a similar (albeit much smaller) floor plan comparable to the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple.
The announcements made by President Nelson in 2018 have, as previously observed, been centered on simplifying the programs and practices of the Church, with a view of focusing on what is most important and needful. So it is my theory that at least some of the 28 temples which have not gone beyond an announcement could either utilize a floor plan similar to the "new design" the Church has used on most (if not all of) the Hinckley-era temples which have since been renovated, or perhaps an even smaller floor plan that will both simplify and expedite the construction process.
Particularly in areas where temples will be built to serve 1-4 stakes or districts, a smaller design focusing the floor plan on only the most vital elements might make sense. I know that some form of a smaller design has already been utilized, but if that design can be further simplified, a way would be open for the Church to build dozens (if not hundreds) of temples with such a design very easily and quickly. And that would be a way to increase the number of temples substantially over a very short period of time, since the approval process for such a design would likely also be expedited.
Again, since the statement is more general than specific, it might be anyone's guess (including and especially my own) whether such a theory proves correct. I am sure that in the days, weeks, and months ahead, we will learn more about what the statement specifically refers to, and I will bring word of those clarifications to you all here as I become aware of it. Thanks again, everyone!
I wanted to also note that the official statement from the First Presidency, along with links to some additional resources, was published on the Newsroom website as well. The web address for that information is as follows:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-worship
Also, one new temple update has been reported: At the Rio de Janeiro Temple site, the process of stone cladding the walls continues, and work has begun to stone clad the tower as well. Additionally, the installation of stained-glass windows for that temple has been completed.
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will be doing my level best to pass word of such things along to you all as I receive it. My ongoing thanks again to all of you.
Although not an official source (nor my favorite), the Salt Lake Tribune gave some details on the temple change announcement.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that, Chris! I agree with you that the SL Tribune is not a favorite or official source. That said, if what was shared in the article is correct, then these are big changes. I personally didn't feel that anything in the current practices needed to be altered, but if the Brethren have felt impressed to make the changes as alleged in that article, then the Lord was surely behind the motivation for it. And as long as the basic purpose of the changes is for the right reasons, hopefully no one else objects either.
DeleteThat said, the article Chris mentioned above can be easily found on the Salt Lake Tribune's website. I will not post a link to it here, primarily in view of my opinion that the "unnamed source" mentioned in the article chose to disclose the specifics, which is in direct conflict with the portion of the First Presidency's statement that "ordinances [performed in a temple] are sacred and are not discussed outside [the temple]." I could say more about that, but it is not my place to do so.
In the meantime, regardless of the accuracy of the information in that article, I cannot help feeling that the statement of the First Presidency might also still be an indication of what is to come in terms of temple construction efforts for the Church. I have no "inside information" to justify that belief, aside from knowing that the Temple Department has been hiring more staff to accommodate a surge in temple construction. But if the reports about President Nelson's temple-building intentions are anywhere near correct, then something will almost certainly need to be done to ensure that a high number of announced temples are able to go on to a groundbreaking, construction, and dedication more quickly than we have seen thus far. It will be interesting to see that process unfold. Thanks again, Chris, for taking time to comment.
I agree with you that's why I did not put the link or post details from the article. That was where I first found out about it. I read news on several news sites daily in both my home state of Utah and current state of Idaho.
ReplyDeleteAfter I saw that article, I saw the official post from the church and then read it here. I anticipate many more temple announcements coming in the next few years. More than ever before.
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris! Thanks for your additional comments. I figured that was your reasoning for not posting the article itself, and I commend you for that, and thank you for mentioning it here as carefully as you did.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you've seen the earlier comments here that talked about the latest comments made by apostles on President Nelson's plans, but in summary, one of the apostles said to take the current number and add a zero to it, and that that resulting number might not even be close to what is coming in the near future.
We saw, as I have noted previously on this blog as well, that President Nelson announced 19 new temples in the first 2 General Conferences of his prophetic administration. AFAIK, that is unheard of. I have heard whispers that those 19 locations between the two General Conferences were President Nelson's way of starting slowly. I estimated that if President Nelson plans to gradually expand the number of temples he announces each time, one way he could do that is by doubling this year the number of temples he announced last year. That would be 38 new temples this year.
So if that occurs, given that roughly 37% of the 19 temples were announced in April, if that is the case in April General Conference this year, that leads me to another rough estimate that President Nelson may announce at least 14 new temples in the next General Conference.
ReplyDeleteThat's just a theory, though, based on what we now know. It would not shock me at all if a different number of temples is announced, and I will be grateful for any number temples announced in any location whatsoever in April, whether or not any of those locations made my list this go-round. We may see surprise announcements, and perhaps one or two temples that even President Nelson doesn't plan on announcing until the Lord prompts him to do so just before General Conference, as was the case for the Bengaluru India Temple announced in April 2018.
But in addition to that, we have 1 temple which will be dedicated before General Conference, while 2 more are set for dedication and 1 other is anticipated to have a dedication set within the next week or two. With 1 temple rededication already set, and 5 or 6 others anticipated, the year is already going to be a big one for temple developments.
But if we also factor in the 2 temples which will have a groundbreaking before the end of this month, and the fact that up to 5 or 6 others could have groundbreakings announced within the next few months, that will increase the number of temple-related events this year as well.
And we can't forget that President Nelson announced last October that temples originally dedicated in the "pioneer generation" of the Church will be renovated in the near future, so there are those 4 temples at least which will be renovated in the near future, especially the Salt Lake Temple.
In addition to those four (St. George, Logan, Manti, and Salt Lake), we also have the statements from the Executive Directors of the Temple Department that temples generally need to be renovated and revitalized roughly every 30-40 years. So I have a list of 16 other temples dedicated between 1950 and 1990 which may be renovated in the near future.
In addition to those 20 locations, however, we have also seen the Church within the last 5-7 years or so take action to start renovating the Hinckley-era temples, most of which have the adapted design and floor plan being utilized for the current renovations of the OKC, Memphis, Raleigh, and Baton Rouge Temples.
With that in mind, I have identified 40 more of those Hinckley-era temples which have not undergone that overhaul, and that was just the initial list. It would not shock me to see other temples which have not had a renovation close in the near future.
I had thought as recently as this time last year that the Church would want to wait on renovating the Hamilton New Zealand Temple until one was built and dedicated in Auckland, but the Hamilton temple closed last July, and it may be a minimum of a year, but possibly more, until progress is made on the Auckland Temple.
We have seen President Nelson think outside the box (which is a skill he may have originally honed during his career as a heart surgeon that is now benefiting him in his calling as Church President, so nothing would surprise me at all. I feel certain we have no idea of what is actually ahead for the temple construction program of the Church, and I look forward to learning what will actually come. I may also look over my list of temples which might undergo renovation soon and see if I can expand and republish it here.
Either way, 2019 will definitely be a year of new developments in terms of Church and temple news, and I will do my best to report those here as I become aware of it. Thanks again for your most recent comments, Chris!
Hello again, everyone! I posted this in the comment threads on the post I wrote today about the changes in missions, but wanted to make sure everyone saw it. It was exactly one year ago today at around this same time that I felt impressed to check KSL's website and learned that Church President Thomas S. Monson had passed away. On this anniversary of his passing, a staff writer for the Church News penned an article in honor of President Monson, which you can find at the web address below. Thanks again, everyone!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2019-01-02/president-monson-died-1-year-ago-today-heres-how-his-legacy-of-love-lives-on-48701
The Puebla temple now has a site though we are waiting for government approval which is not anticipated to last long. No word on any groundbreaking yet.
ReplyDeleteHello, Bryan, and thank you for taking time to comment. That is wonderful to hear. Do you have any further details (location/size of the site, anticipated size of the temple, or what might need to be done in terms of the approval process)? I know, of course, that nothing is official until the Brethren make it so, but thought I would ask. For now, you have given me enough information to enable me to move that temple from the second section for announced temples to the first, and to provide a rough groundbreaking estimate for that temple.
DeleteI honestly don't know what might be coming within the next year in terms of how soon announced temples move on to a groundbreaking. We saw statements recently from the Executive Directors of the Temple Department (or their assistants) to the effect that it usually takes 2-3 years for temples to move from announcement to groundbreaking. Generally, the temples in the US have had a comparatively quicker start to their construction process than their international counterparts, but we could be entering an era when that length of time is cut substantially, especially if a smaller design enables a faster start for that process for some of the announced temples than we have seen in the recent past.
It is interesting that, soon after the announcement of the temples in Brasilia Brazil, Muntinlupa City Philippines, Layton Utah, Richmond Virginia, Salta and Mendoza Argentina, and Phnom Penh Cambodia, a probable site was identified. Now Puebla Mexico joins that group. It is almost definite that the Church is about to unroll something that will enable the acceleration of temple-building, and more and more reports are confirming that.
Bryan, thanks for the information and for taking time to comment. I know that you have made valuable contributions to the conversations which have taken place here previously, so I thought I would invite you to look over my April 2019 General Conference predictions (particularly the section on the temples most likely to be announced) and share some thoughts if you would be able to do so. For your benefit (and that of anyone else reading this comment who would like to weigh in on those as well), I include the web address where those predictions are posted. Thanks.
http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2018/12/april-2019-general-conference.html
The Church has a very good relationship with Mexico. With the exception of Monterrey most temples have been built rather quickly. Even Mexico City which has a Jordan River type interior took five years from announcement to dedication.
ReplyDeleteOaxaca has the worldwide record from announcement to dedication that took about a year.
Puebla is PROBABLY going to be a Tijuana type temple as there are 15 stakes as a minimum that would be going there though Cuautla and perhaps Pachuca or Tulancingo would go too.
The area cited by members is immediately north of Galerias Serdan on the north side of Puebla and its a fairly big piece of land.
A couple of former leaders are very close to state government officials so that is another plus.
Once approval is gained a groundbreaking will be announced. Most of the members here think the temple will be up and running about 2021-22.
Bryan, thank you for these additional details. I was vaguely aware of the time-frame within which most temples in Mexico have been built, and thank you as well for refreshing my memory on that. If the Puebla Mexico Temple is of a similar design to Tijuana, then I am sure the Church and the government will be able to get it up and running sooner than many anticipate. If, as you indicated, that temple might be up and running between late 2021 and early 2022, then it could be that a groundbreaking will be held within the next 12-15 months, if not sooner. Thanks for these additional details. If you wouldn't mind doing so, will you be sure to let me know here if and when you find out more information? Thanks again, Bryan, for taking time to comment.
Delete