Hello again, everyone! Around an hour ago, I was made aware of a breaking news development relating to the Asia and Asia North Areas. In a formal joint letter to members and priesthood leaders from the Asia and Asia North Area Presidency members, with the approval of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and also probably with input from members of the Church's Boundary and Leadership Change Committee, the nation of Mongolia has been officially transferred from the Asia Area, where it had been for at least the last decade or more, to now being part of the Asia North Area.
The move makes perfect sense to me. I also want to note that, as recently as earlier this year, I was almost certain that, at some point within the next 2-3 years or less, the Asia North Area would be merged into the Asia Area. In light of Mongolia's relocation to the Asia North Area, the nation may provide a strong-hold for the area that will put off the need to do that in the shorter or even longer term. And while I don't know at this point whether the offices for the Asia North Area, which are currently based in Tokyo Japan, may be relocated to Ulaanabaatar Mongolia. I shouldn't think that they will, since Mongolia is the geographical downstairs neighbor nation to China, and the headquarters of the Asia Area are in Hong Kong, but I thought I'd mention that thought, since I'd entertained it briefly.
This move will, as I said above, add strength to the Asia North Area, which the nations thereof have lacked to a certain degree in particular ways before now. And since I strongly suspect that Ulaanbaatar Mongolia will be the next Asian city to have a temple announced, I will need to move that prospect from the Asia Area to the Asia North Area for the next time I publish my list. Just as a reminder, I continue to welcome comments on my latest list of future temple prospects until Monday September 30, at which point I will need to finalize that list before the weekend of the October 2019 General Conference.
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 feedback is in compliance 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.
Friday, July 26, 2019
BREAKING NEWS: Boundary Changes for Asia & Asia North Areas Announced
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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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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The newest mission president in Mongoliaba served his mission there and married a native Mongolian.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I wasn't aware of that. If memory serves, you married a native from the area in which you served a mission. Is that correct? Thanks, Chris.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! The latest edition of "This Week on Social" has been published, with a central focuw on the impact of familial heritage. Leaders whose posts were featured include the following:
ReplyDeleteElders Dieter F. Uchtdorf (from whom 2 separate posts were shared) and Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Sisters Joy D. Jones, Primary General President; Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society General President; and Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.
You can find the Church News summary of these posts, and links to the posts themelves, at the following web address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-26/this-week-on-social-church-leaders-share-how-their-heritage-has-impacted-them-50397
And at the Houston Astros Game this week, Elder David A. Bednar threw out the ceremonial first pitch, which was caught by former MLB athlete and current mission president Jeremy Guthrie:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-26/elder-bednar-throws-perfect-first-pitch-at-houston-astros-apollo-11-moon-landing-game-50391
And the Church News also shared more details on the governors' spouses who helped assemble hygiene kits earlier this week in conjunction with the meeting of the Nation Governor's Association Meeting which was held in Salt Lake City this year:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-07-26/sharon-eubank-governors-latter-day-saint-humanitarian-center-50394
And the Church and BYU-Provo have announced that Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be the feautred speaker at the August 20 devotional set to be held in conjunction with the university's annual Education Week:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/events/education-week-devotional-with-elder-gary-e-stevenson?lang=eng
I will continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of it. My thanks again to you all.
In terms of temple updates, I have received new information today on the Winnipeg Manitoba and Pocatello Idaho Temple. For the former, structural support has been installed on the temple's entrance, while it is still noted that a majority of the exterior walls have been attached. For the latter, foundation walls continue to be poured, while footings are going in for a fence and for the retaining walls as well.
ReplyDeleteThe latest updates I have received also indicate that I may need to revisit my thoughts on the general and more specific completion time-frames I previously offered for new temples currently under construction. As I figure out what those changes need to be, I will pass word of those along. In the meantime, thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! A short while ago, the Church News published an article introducing the final new Church leader sustained in April 2019, Brother Jan E. Newman, the new Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency. Two things stuck out to me: First, he is a direct descendant of Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Secondly, he and his wife had been called in for a meeting with 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the nature of which was a tone of "Would you be willing to be considered for a calling that may or may not be subsequently issued?" Between that interview and the time of the second one, in which Brother Newman was called to serve in the Sunday school General Presidency, his wife had to do a lot of traveling back and forth between there and Disneyland, where she was spending time with her kids. You can read more about this remarkable man in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-26/ibm-novell-byu-sunday-school-general-conference-50386
And although I don't know right now whether there are any other descendents of Joseph or Hyrum Smith currently serving in a general capacity at Church headquarters, or how much longer President Ballard may be around (I hope it's a while yet), the tidbit about Brother Newman's ancestry was an intriguing one. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will keep passing those along to you all as I receive word of them. Again, I appreciate your continued interest and ongoing support.
A couple of additional temple updates have crossed my radar. First, relating to the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, in addition to what i reported yesterday, structural support has also been installed for that temple's steeple.And I became aware of an update on the Washington D.C. Temple, though I am not sure how old the information is. If I missed it earlier, I apologize. But that latest update indicates that the parking lot has been completely removed from that temple.
ReplyDeleteI continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. In the meantime, my thanks again to you all.
James
ReplyDeleteHopefully this country continues to grow in baptisms and converts, so that in the near future they have their temples.
The administrative areas of the Church fulfill an objective, I hope they give the expected results and that everyone regardless does their part
Hello. I saw this and other comments made by you in the other thread not long after they were made, but I was not able to reply to them before now. Also, not sure how it happened, but one of the comments you made in the other thread was somehow deleted. I am working to solve that particular issue, and will, if nothing else, repost that deleted comment anonymously. I apologize for that inconveniece.
DeleteIn the meantime, I know that the Asia North Area had struggled to the point where, sometime last year, Matthew Martinich, who authors the Church Growth Blog, suggested the area could be consolidated into the Asia Area. So one thing Mongolia's transfer from the Asia to the Asia North Area may accomplish is adding needed growth to the Asia North Area so that there is no need to consolidate it for now.
And regardless of which area of the Church it was in, Mongolia has been on my watchlist as a temple prospect for a while now. I could, in fact, see Ulaanbaatar as the very next Asian city which will get a temple. Every time new temples are announced, based on their locations, Matt on the Church Growth Blog reposts a list of the top ten nations with the strongest Church presence that do not have a temple in any phase. The latest edition of that list ranked Mongolia at #8 among those top 10. And since 1-3 temples announced by President Nelson in the previous 3 General Conferences are for nations which were previously on that list, hopefully Mongolia is one nation that gets a temple in October and can be taken off the next such list. Either way, it will be interesting to see how this change impacts the success of the Asia North Area. Thanks for taking time to comment.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News and Newsroom have published the following additional news stories, which speak sufficiently for themselves. Enjoy, and, as always, thanks for your continued interest & ongoing support.
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/apostles-get-first-pitch-honors-in-the-major-leagues
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-07-29/south-pacific-french-polynesia-lds-prophet-joseph-smith-50399
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-29/president-russell-m-nelsons-95th-birthday-celebration-50400
Hello again everyone! I found some additional Church news stories were reported yesterday, but was unable to pass them along before now due to my having a wisdom tooth extracted yesterday, which necessitated several hours of at-home recovery. So let's get right into all of those:
ReplyDeleteAlthough tickets for President Nelson's 95th birthday were only made available two days ago, by noon yesterday, there were no more available. But Church members still have options to participate in the celebration:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-29/president-russell-m-nelson-95th-birthday-celebration-50400
A BYU-Provo volleyball star has literally "struck gold" with Team USA through recently winning an international competition:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-07-30/byu-volleyball-team-usa-international-tournament-50402
And a New Zeland Latter-day Saint couple are credited with making a real difference in the Maori community:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-07-31/new-zealand-maori-lds-queen-service-medal-50405
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will keep doing my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of them. In the meantime, my thanks again to you all.
And some additional temple updates have crossed my radar as well. A while back, I had reported that construction was nearing completion on both the Raleigh North Carolina and Frankfurt Germany Temples. The same status now also applies to the Asuncion Paraguay Temple. And at the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple, the final stages of landscaping and interior finish work are now underway. I am grateful to see progress being reported on temples on a regular basis, and appreciate the opportunity to bring word of these developments to you all here. My thanks again to you all fro your continued interest and onoging support.
ReplyDelete