Hello again, everyone! In the early hours of this morning, the Church News and the Newsroom on the Church's official website shared some images and insights about and a look at the process relating to the construction for the Rome Italy Temple, where VIP/Media tours are underway beginning today, with formal public tours set to begin in a couple of weeks.
So, I wanted to pass along this release (from the Newsroom) and this article (from the Church News) which share some stunning interior photographs and describe the workmanship of the temple. Both of those articles feature quotes from Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, but they incorrectly describe his role as "chairman of Temple and Family History Department", but the Temple and Family History departments are two separate divisions.
Therefore, it appears his role is actually chair of the Temple and Family History Executive Council. This time last year, Elder Quentin L. Cook was serving in that capacity, so it seems safe to conclude that within the last year, there has been some transferal or shuffling of assignments between members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, particularly as a result of the reorganization of the First Presidency, Elder Uchtdorf's return to that Quorum, and the appointments in late March of Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares to that Quorum.
And that makes sense. I mentioned in a post at some point within the last couple of months that Elder Holland's assignment to oversee the Middle East/Africa North Area has since been transferred to Elder Bednar. And as I mentioned in a post (or the comments thereof) on this blog, Elder Cook is now the chairman of the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, so it makes sense that the assignment to chair the Temple and Family History Executive Council has now been transferred to Elder Bednar.
Sorry about that sidenote. Getting back to the subject at hand (which is the opening of the Rome Italy Temple for public tours), the Church News additionally published this article, highlighting the journey involved to get the Christus and apostles' statues to the Rome Italy Temple Visitor's Center, and this one, which focuses on the symbolism of those statues.
Turning to other Church news now, I am honestly not sure whether I shared these items yesterday or not. Reports of the Renlunds' address to young single adults last night can be found via the Church News and on the Church's official Newsroom. Likewise, reports of the visit President and Sister Nelson and Elder and Sister Duncan made to victims of the Paradise Campfire can be found in the Church News and from the Newsroom.
The final item of Church news I wanted to share was reported earlier today. Sister Kristen Oaks, wife of President Dallin H. Oaks (who serves as First Counselor in the First Presidency) addressed single adults in the Holladay Utah area, sharing her views on the questions single adults should and should not be asking themselves. As some of you may be aware, President Oaks' first wife died in 1998, and he married Sister Kristen Oaks around two years later. So she wasn't married until she was in her 50s, and because of that, she can relate all-too-well to the experience of older single adults.
And I also was able to clarify some temple developments as well. It appears that what was originally reported as a construction fence which has been installed around the Brasilia Brazil Temple site was actually only a boundary fence, which means that the groundbreaking for that temple might not be as imminent as I thought it was. Additionally, it appears that there might be more work that needs to be done to prepare the site where the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple will be built than I originally believed. As a result, the groundbreaking for that temple may also not be as imminent as I believed it to be.
This also means that I will again be needing to look at and revise my list of announced temples, and make adjustments on the general estimates I have offered for their groundbreaking ceremonies. And it appears likely that both the Pocatello Idaho and Saratoga Springs Utah Temples will be the next ones to have a groundbreaking. As I have mentioned quite a few times on this blog, the process of analyzing the likely time-frames and providing well-researched general estimates for future temple groundbreakings is an ongoing process.
I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will be sure to bring word of those to you as I receive it, whether through new posts or comments on recently-published posts. In the meantime, that does it for now. Any and all comments are, 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 and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Monday, January 14, 2019
Major Church News Reported; Temple Developments Clarified
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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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.
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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.
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Hello again, everyone! A couple of additional articles have been published about the upcoming Rome Italy Temple open house. First, there is an article about the VIP/Media tours which are now underway. That article can be found at the web address below:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-01-14/elder-bednar-elder-rasband-give-first-tours-of-rome-italy-temple-48789
Based on what I reported in this post (about how Elder David A. Bednar has replaced Elder Cook as chairman of the Temple and Family History Executive Council), and because the article quotes Elder Ronald A. Rasband, I am assuming that he (Elder Rasband) has replaced Elder Dale G. Renlund as a member of the Temple and Family History Executive Council.
The Deseret News provided a detailed report of the VIP/Media tours of the temple, and you can find that article at the following web address:
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900050495/apostles-lead-first-open-house-visitors-through-rome-italy-temple-mormon-church.html
The Church News has also released a video of President Nelson addressing the recently-reported death of his daughter and noting that while that was a difficult experience, others are suffering too, and that there is nothing he would rather be doing than trying to be of service to others. The tagline for this video is "Sometimes a prophet delivers a sermon. Sometimes he lives one." That tagline led me to remember two lines from a poem President Nelson penned several years ago, with those two lines reading as follows:
"My joy is in service to others.
"My message is my life."
He lives by those words, and we are blessed to have him as our prophet at this time. The video can be found at the web address below:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-01-14/video-sometimes-a-prophet-delivers-a-sermon-sometimes-he-lives-one-48787
Thanks again, everyone!
Elder Bednar will be addressing Family Discovery Day on the last day of Rootstech as well.
ReplyDeleteElder Renlund last night said he is over Church History, replacing Elder Holland, who yesterday was somewhere in the central Philippines for a stake conference according to a Facebook post I saw, few details otherwise and the stake may have been in a province close to Bacolod.
James Anderson, thank you for stopping by to comment. I may have mentioned Elder Bednar's assignment to speak at RootsTech earlier, but it is good to have a reminder. As for Elder Renlund's comments, I believe if you go over them again, you will find that he has been in the Church history assignment since his call to the apostleship, and that it was shortly after his ordination that he replaced Elder Holland in the assignment you described. I could be mistaken on that, but I believe that is what he actually said. He went on to reference the fact that he has been involved in that assignment for much of the time that department has been working on the Joseph Smith Papers Project. In that capacity, he has read all the volumes which have been published, and some that are yet-to-be published.
ReplyDeleteAnd it not surprising that Elder Holland is in the Philippines right now. He will be the one presiding at the Urdaneta Philippines Temple groundbreaking, which is set to be held Wednesday January 16 @ 11:00 AM Urdaneta time. That is 8:00 PM Utah time on Tuesday January 15, so I am anticipating a report of that groundbreaking will be available within the next 26-30 hours or less. Thanks again, James Anderson, for taking time to comment.
Aside from the assignments he has at headquarters or those given by him to preside over stake conferences, it seems that the First Presidency has relieved Elder Holland of other responsibilities (such as for oversight of the Middle East/Africa North Area), likely because, if and when President Ballard passes away, Elder Holland will then be responsible for the leadership of the Quorum.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! The Church's official Newsroom website just shared a story about the forum at which Elder D. Todd Christofferson was one of the featured guests, with that forum discussing the Watergate scandal. Elder Christofferson, as previously noted, was a law clerk during the time the scandal was uncovered. You can read the Newsroom summary of this forum at the following address:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/apostle-discusses-lessons-watergate-journalist-bob-woodward
Thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! More Church news has been reported. First, in continuing coverage of the Rome Italy Temple open house, we have the following article about the start of VIP/Media tours.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-01-14/elder-bednar-elder-rasband-give-first-tours-of-rome-italy-temple-48789
Video footage has captured exquisite shots of the interior and exterior of the Rome Italy Temple, and you can find those at the web address below:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-01-14/elder-bednar-elder-rasband-give-first-tours-of-rome-italy-temple-48789
The Church News is requesting feedback from those who took the challenge President Nelson issued during the Women's Session (to finish the Book of Mormon before the end of this year). If you have any insights you want to share, you can do so at the following web address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-01-15/ask-did-you-finish-the-book-of-mormon-before-the-end-of-the-year-48797
Although I have already shared the Newsroom's coverage of Elder D. Todd Christofferson's discussion with journalist Bob Woodward, the Church News carried the following story on that:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-01-15/what-elder-christofferson-took-away-from-the-watergate-trials-and-how-it-applies-today-48801
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf was the featured speaker at the BYU-Provo devotional held earlier today, and he spoke on the topic of listening to the Spirit. You can read a summary of his remarks at the following web page:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-01-15/what-elder-uchtdorf-joshua-bell-and-a-stradivarius-violin-can-teach-you-about-listening-to-the-spirit-48804
The Newsroom also covered President Uchtdorf's remarks, and you can find that article at the web address below:
https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/elder-uchtdorf-asks-young-adults-listen-music-spirit
And BYU-Hawaii President John S. Tanner and his wife, Susan W. Tanner spoke at that university's first devotional of the year earlier today. You can read more on their message at the web address below:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-01-15/from-conformity-to-consecration-byu-hawaii-president-shares-the-importance-of-becoming-like-christ-48806
And I have a couple of temple updates. First, with the time here in Utah nearing 8:00 PM, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple will begin in just a few minutes. I will provide coverage of that in a new post on this blog later tonight or ASAP tomorrow once it becomes available. I am estimating the completion of that temple will occur in early-to-mid 2021, but if construction progresses steadily enough, the temple could be dedicated sooner than that. I am hoping that within 24 hours of the groundbreaking, construction will be able to begin.
But there have been delays to the start of that process for other temples in the recent past, so for now, I have put the Urdaneta Temple in a "construction pending" category on my temple construction progress report. I am continuing to work on revising my list of announced temples and the general time-frames I have offered for temple groundbreakings, and I hope to be able to post a revised version of that by the end of this week (if not before). Thanks again, everyone!
I have confirmed through several sources that the Urdaneta Philippines Temple groundbreaking has occurred, but there are no published articles on that ceremony as of yet. Hopefully those will be published later on this morning. My thanks again to you all.
ReplyDeleteHere is the article from the Philippines Newsroom page:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mormonnewsroom.ph/article/urdaneta-philippines-temple--ground-broken-by-church-leaders
Eric, I saw both that article and one other (announcing the private rededications for the Memphis and Oklahoma City Temples) before I saw your comment, and I just posted about all of these developments in a brand-new post a few minutes ago. Thanks for finding and sharing that article, and for stopping by to comment.
ReplyDelete