The adults and youth will use the same Sunday School manual, and in youth quorums and classes, there willl be a "Come Follow Me" manual for Aaronic Priesthood holders, and another for young women. With the seminary curriculum fully aligning with the Come Follow Me course of study, there will be separate manuals for seminary instructors and students. But there will also be a minor change in the available resources for Elders' Quorums and Relief Society members, who will continue to study General Conference addresses on the second and fourth Sundays of the month.
That particular change was made in part with the release of the May 2019 Ensign. In 2018, the relevant sections of the Ensgin had provided summaries and suggestions for those teaching from the talks given by the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and general officers of the Church. But in the May 2019 Ensign, a two-page section was used to offer more general suggestions and guidelines, placing the emphasis on the inspiration of the instructors, and on the preparation of members of Quorums and Relief Societies to be prepared to discuss what they learned from the addresses.
It appears that section will become the new standard which will be shared in each subsequent May and November General Conference Ensign, and the instructions for curriculum include a separate link to that particular resource. With the timing of the release of these particular instructions, we again see a prime example of how President Nelson is ahead of the curve. In years past, it was not uncommon for those instructions to be released in August or September, with the expectation that each Church unit would order the needed curriculum before the end of October.
The comparatively earlier release of these instructions which we have seen under President Nelson's administration appears to be an acknowledgement by the Brethren that more time may be needed for individual congregations to figure out what materials to order. And that is wonderful to see. For my part, I am grateful to have been able to find and share this news here. I also continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates and will bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such things.
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Hello again, everyone! Earlier today, an update was reported on the Arequipa Peru Temple. While interior finish work is still progressing, all work on the temple's exterior and grounds has wrapped up. With its' open house set to take place in four months, and the dedication the following month, it is great to hear how much closer the temple now is to its' completion. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! Somehow, the last few days slipped by without my having reiterated some of the important milestones which have been observed by our two most senior apostles. On July 5, President Nelson observed his first (and only) Church Presidential age milestone of 2019, and his first (and only) 2019 apostolic nonagenarian milestone. On that date, he passed President Ezra Taft Benson to become the 4th oldest prophet in the history of the Church, and he resultantly also passed President Benson on the list of apostolic nonagenarianss, where he has now taken his place as the 6th oldest apostle overall.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, his apostolic seatmate who is both his First Counselor and the President of the Quorum of the Twelve marked a milestone of his own yesterday (Sunday July 7), when his tenure as Quorum President officially matched that of President Spencer W. Kimball, which resulted in President Oaks becoming the 23rd longest-serving of the 28 total Presiden5ts of the Quorum of th4e Tewelve who have servwed as such in this dispensation. Tomrrow (Tuesday July 9), he will observe another Quorum Presidential milestone, when his tenure as such will match the second (and shortest) Quorum Presidential tenure of Brigham Young Jr. I explained the unique circumstances surrounding President YOung Jr.'s two nonconsectuvie terms as Quorum President in a previous post on this blog, which you can review at the following web address:
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/06/an-overview-of-upcoming-apostolic.html
In the meantime, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments to the best of my ability, and will bring word of those to you all ASAP after I learn about them. I am also hoping that we hear of some major Church news or reported temple developments within the next week or less. Though it may be nearly impossible to anticipate what those might potentially be, if I am correct in theorizing their occurence, I will be sure to bring you word of those as I become aware of such things. For now, my thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and support.
I wanted to note a couple more things here. First of all, with today being July 8, the Hong Kong China Temple has closed for its' renovation process. Just by way of reminder, among other things, one focus of that renovation process will be to repurpose spaces once used for office space and meetinghouses into temple space, since all other facilities once served by that space have been relocated to an adjacent building. Additionally, although I had estimated this temple would be rededicated in mid-2022, it appears its' rededication may actually take place in either late 2021 or early 2022, if all goes well.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I wanted to mention that, in an earlier thread, I had shared an article published on the Church's official News & Events page, which introduced Elder Alan R. Walker, marking the first time that such an article was published on the Church's website before it was published by the Church News. That changed today when the Church News published its' copy of the same article:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-08/elder-alan-r-walker-general-authority-seventy-50274
Since Elder Walker is the last of the 10 new General Authority Seventies called in General Conference 3 months ago, further biographies will provide information on the new Sunday School General Presidency members. In the meantime, if any other Church news or temple updates are provided, I will be sure to pass those along. My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
Hello again, everyone! I have a few more Church news stories to pass along. Additional reports continue to be shared about the recently-held Seminar for New Mission Leadership. The latest such article highlights remarks made by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. You can find a summary of his remarks in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-09/elder-bednar-character-christ-2019-mission-leadership-seminar-50286
Regarding that seminar, if any of you have missed any of the coverage thereof as provided by the Church News, you can review those articles at the following web address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/category/2019-mission-leadership-seminar
And two missionaries who had to return home early shared their thoughts about how families can help support future missionaries who may, through no fault of their own, have to return home early. Those thoughts were supported in a video clip from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland who shared some apostolic insights into how the CHurch views such missionaries:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-08/missionaries-return-home-early-holland-50282
And a professional counselor has shared 5 tips to improve familial relationships, which were the highlight of a article in the BYU article shared by the Church News website:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-09/byu-magazine-alumni-family-relationships-50284
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and remain committed to bringing word of those to you as they cross my radar. In the meantime, my thanks again for your ongoing interest and support.
Just another quick note. As I observed two comments ago, with today being July 9, President Oaks' tenure as Quorum President officially matches the second (and shortest) tenure of Brigham Young Jr., which I explained further in the blog post I referenced in that comment above. With no apostolic birthdays being observed in July, the next apostolic milestone will be observed on July 31, on which date President Ballard will move up on the list of apostolic nonagenarians. Stay tuned for further details on that closer to the time, and for further Church news and temple updates as I learn of such things. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! I have some additional temple updates and Church news stories to pass along. At the Pocatello Idaho Temple, the work of pouring the temple footings is now complete, and full attention is now being turned to pouring the foundation walls. Meanwhile, at the Bangkok Thailand Temple site, substructure work is officially underway. The Church Temples site noted earlier today that underground work will likely be the focus for the next several moneths, given that the temple is subatantially larger than most which have lately been constructed. As I may or may not have noted previously, I heard that it could be around a year following that temple's January 26 groundbreaking before work begins on the temple proper. I hope that does not turn out to be correct, but time will tell.
ReplyDeleteIn the interim, I am also fervently hoping that within the next 6 weeks (or hopefully less, if all goes well), full-scale construction will be able to get underway on the Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples, and that the dedication information for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple may be announced within that same time, with an artist's rendering and construction time-frame being announced for the Belem Brazil Temple as well. I similarly hope that we may hear of arrangements being made for 2-4 additional groundbreakings for announced temples that could be set to occur through August and September. With that said, Church news updates will follow in a subsequent comment.
During these summer months in the United States, the Church News has provided 7 stories shared by General Authorities of the Church on how each of us can continue to further strengthen our gospel knowledge and testimonies while in the midst of this season:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2019-07-10/summer-monson-uchtdorf-stevenson-gong-50288
And, in response to concerns from BYU-Provo students about practices followed by the Honor Code Office for that university, the process whereby honor code violations are reported and dealt with have been slightly tweaked:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-10/byu-honor-code-kevin-utt-50290
I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I receive it. In the meantime, thanks again, everyone!
I am surprised by this, but apparently, within the last 2.5 hours, a significant update has been provided on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. Apparently, new photographs show that the exterior walls have been attached, and that the temple's steeple base has been installed. Based on this update, I can see why the completion estimate for this temple remains at mid-2020. My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
ReplyDeleteAnd today, it was reported that the temple exterior walls have been attached, and that steel framework has been installed for the temple's chimney. It is amazing how much things can change in a period of 24 hours.
DeleteHello again, everyone! I have two updates on the ministry of our apostles to pass along, and also one other inspiring story published by the Church News. So let's get right into all of that. First of all, with the Church having previously announced that RootsTech would be coming to London England later this year, today, another announcement notes that Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan K. Bednar, would be the keynote speakers on Saturday October 26. This is a fitting assignment, since Elder Bednar serves as the chairman of the Temple and Family History Executive Council. You can find more details on this development at the following web address:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/elder-and-sister-bednar-to-speak-at-rootstech-london-2019?lang=eng
Next, in late May and early June, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who is also a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was in Belarus on an apostolic assignment to visit with various congregations and groups. The Church News shared the following report of that visit, which also detailed previous visits made to that nation by now-President Russell M. Nelson:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-07-11/president-nelson-elder-rasband-pioneers-belarus-50293
And finally, an inspirational story has been shared highlighting how a quadriplegic is fulfilling the promise in his patriarchal blessing that he would baptize and confirm people into the Church:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-07-11/quadriplegic-patriarchal-blessing-lds-baptize-jesus-christ-50306
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of them. I am particularly hoping something major in terms of such developments is coming down the pike within the next couple of weeks or less. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
The Church News reported less than two hours ago that Ben Carson, who serves as the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was in Salt Lake City today, and was hosted in a tour of Welfare Square by Elder Jack N. Gerard, a current General Authority who serves as Executive Director of the Church Public Affairs Department, and Elder Kent F. Richards, an emeritus General Authority Seventy. Together, they shared insights into the humanitarian work done by the Church. You can read more about this in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-11/hud-secretary-ben-carson-visit-church-of-jesus-christ-welfare-square-50310
And today the Church News reported on how Latter-day Saints in Rome have partnered with friends of other faiths to help refugee residents in that nation:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-12/rome-refugees-latter-day-saint-charities-50301
Hello again, everyone! In the newest edition of "This Week on Social", the focus was largely on the importance of familial relationships, and on President Nelson's invitation to stay on the covenant path. You can find the newest summary of the highlighted posts in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-12/instagram-facebook-president-russell-nelson-great-grandchild-50315
That post included content from the following general Church leaders: Church President Russell M. Nelson and his Second Counselor, President Henry B. Eyring; Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders David A. Bednar Sisters Bonnie H. Cordon, Young Women General President, and her First Counselor, Michelle D. Craig; and Sister Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency.
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of such developments. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
And the Newsroom has published another edition of Latter-day Saints Around the World:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-around-the-world-country-newsroom-websites-july-12-2019
The latest edition highlights significant Church news stories from the following locations: Los Angeles and Oakland, California, USA; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada; Tarawa Kiribati in the Pacific; Guatemala and Ghana.
It was so inspiring to me to read the stories of how Church members in each of these places are making a profound and significant difference in their communities, which hearkens back to directions given many times previously by prophets, apostles, and other leaders that Latter-day Saints should be good citizens wherever they live. In the meantime, with another week having come and gone, I have no idea if any major Church news or other temple updates might be reported over the weekend. But if I find out anything, I will be sure to pass it along, through either new posts or contiuning comments on existing posts. And if any of you come across anything you'd like to share as well related to subjects covered on this blog, please feel free to do so. In the meantime, my thanks again to you all for your continued interest and support.