Hello again, everyone! On this last day of July, I would be remiss indeed if I did not focus a new post on upcoming developments which will be a focus of future coverage on this blog. So let's go over those. The highlights will include 3 apostolic birthdays, the beginning of one temple open house, the end of that open house coinciding with the day of the next temple groundbreaking ceremony and the beginning of another open house, and the end of that same open house.
Before we talk specifics about that information, I would also be remiss if I did not note that today, the next apostolic milestone is being marked. As of today, the lifespan of President M. Russell Ballard matches that of President Boyd K. Packer. Barring anything unexpected, President Ballard will still be very much alive tomorrow, so I have moved him ahead of President Packer on the list of apostolic nonagenarians. President Ballard now thus ranks as the 14th oldest apostle overall. His next milestones on that list will be observed roughly three weeks apart in late March and mid-April of next year.
With that sidenote out of the way, let's talk specifics about what will be upcoming. First, I wanted to note that some of these developments will be the focus of new posts on this blog, while others will be merely mentioned in the comments on existing blog posts. I can say that I am planning new posts for the latest apostolic milestone update (a two-part series on that subject will be published on this blog this upcoming Sunday, August 4).
Next, I also intend to provide posts in tribute to the 3 apostles who will have birthdays in August. Two days after my aforementioned apostolic update (on Tuesday August 6), Elder Gary E. Stevenson will be observing his 64th birthday. Just three days later (on Friday August 9), Elder Neil L. Andersen is set to mark his 68th birthday. And three days after that (on Monday August 12), the final August apostolic birthday will be observed: President Dallin H. Oaks' 87th.
In addition to these developments, several temple milestones will be observed as well. On Thursday August 8, the open house for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple will begin. The conclusion of that open house on Saturday August 17 will coincide with two other temple events: the beginning of the open house for the Lisbon Portugal Temple (which will end two weeks later on Saturday August 31) and the groundbreaking for the Belem Brazil Temple.
Regarding the Belem Brazil Temple, with that groundbreaking being 2.5 weeks away, I am more than slightly surprised that we have not yet seen an official acknowledgement of any kind from the Church about this event, nor a release of its' artist's rendering or any indication of how long construction is anticipated to last. It could be that the last two elements may be detailed more fully by Elder Aidukaitis as part of the groundbreaking ceremony itself.
While I may only give a passing mention of the open house developments for the Haiti and Portugal Temple open houses, as coverage is made available, I will be sharing analysis of the Belem Brazil Temple groundbreaking. So just with these developments alone, I will be busy providing content for this blog. But I also intend to cover all Church news and other temple developments, either through new posts or through comments on existing posts.
I wanted to note in relation to that temple that new information indicates that the site is being cleared, and that surveyors are staking the site in preparation for that event. Based on the photographs of the process of the site staking, it appears that the Belem Brazil Temple might be slightly larger than I originally thought, which may impact how long the construction process for that temple might take. It was also recently noted that a choir is conducting practice sessions in preparation for their involvement in the groundbreaking ceremony for this temple.
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.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Latest Apostolic Milestone Observed; Upcoming Developments Which Will Be Reported on This Blog
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.
4 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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James
ReplyDeleteHow great that the period of open doors of the temples of Haiti and Portugal, and the initial palada of Brazil is about to begin.
I imagine that the members of the Church must be very encouraged by it, working to be prepared.
A hug and I hope you are in better health
Omar Valenzuela Escobar
Santiago de Chile
Omar, thank you so much for taking time to comment. I agree. It is wonderful to see the two temples (one in the Caribbean, the other in Europe) getting closer to their dedications. It is likewise wonderful to hear that another South American temple will soon be under construction. The Saints in those areas have much reason to rejoice because of these developments.
DeleteThank you for your kind expression of concern regarding my health. Resolving the issues is proving to be somewhat problematic at the moment. I am in recovery from having one of my wisdom teeth extracted yesterday, and continue to deal with migraines, seasonal allergies, asthma, and a fair amount of fatigue. But at least in my case, the doctors have some indication of what is causing each of those issues. My wife is not so lucky. She has dealt with varying degrees of severe fatigue and ill health for most of the last 7 years, and the doctors have struggled to pinpoint the cause for all of that, which is frustrating, since it in many ways limits her ability to function in a normal manner. I admire her so much, because unlike myself, she has done far better in consistently rising above how she's feeling to get crucial things done. We have been stuck in our situation for a long time now, and it has been quite disheartening.
But thankfully, there have been plenty of reminders from the Lord that He has not forgotten us. It has not been easy, but I know that at some point, it will all be worth it. And maybe all of it does not make much sense now, but it surely will someday. So in the meantime, we do the best we can on our end, and leave the rest to the Lord. Without the brightness of our faith, the situation would just be that much more difficult for us to handle. Thank you for your kindly-expressed concern, and for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you.
Hello again, everyone! On this first day of August, I wanted to report on a few other things. First, and most importantly, the Church News has released information about the 2020 Mutual Theme for Young Men and Young Women. The theme will be 1 Nephi 3:7: “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” The Church News shared an article about this new theme:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-08-01/church-leaders-announce-2020-youth-theme-50407
In light of the new initiative which will replace all existing children and youth programs in 2020, this scripture is a timely reminder that, even though programs and practices change, the doctrines of the Church remain constant and consistent, and that the Lord will open a way for each of us to obey new instructions and follow new programs unrolled under the guidance of His prophet. What a powerful reminder and an inspirational thought!
In the meantime, I wanted to also note a few more things: Earlier, I had mentioned that I anticipated at least 3 changes in the advisers to the Church magazines, given the release of Brian K. Ashton from the SUnday School General Presidency, the assignment of Elder Erich W. Kopischke to serve away from Church haedquarters in the Europe Area Presidency, and a release as an adviser also effective for Elder Doanld L. Hallstrom, who celebrated his 70th birthday a few days ago, and will likely thus be granted emeritus status in October. But with the PDF version of the August Church magazines now available, I can confirm that there have been no changes noted to the advisers for the Church magazines, at least as of the publication of the August editions thereof. The information on such changes will likely be made available in the September issues of those magazines.
The next thing I wanted to note is that, with August 1 now having rolled around, the area leadership changes I previously noted are now effective:
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/04/breaking-news-first-presidency_26.html
With the North American Areas consolidated in number from 10 to 6, and particularly as a result of the Idaho Area being consolidated into the North America Central Area, there has likely been a demographic change in the composition of the 5th and 6th Quorums of Area Seventies. I say that because, up until today, Area Seventies in the Idaho Area were assigned to the 5th Quorum of the Seventy, while those assigned to the North America Central Area were assigned to the 6th Quorum. Since the Church is not in the habit of dividing seventies from the same area between two separate Area Seventies Quorums, it is likely that either all seventies in the newly-consolidated North America Area are now assigned to the Fifth or Sixth Quorum. My point in mentioning all of this is that there has almost certainly been such a change in the composition of those Quorums, but the specifics have not yet been reflected in the Church's official list of area seventies:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/leaders/additional-quorums-of-the-seventy?lang=eng
Hopefully those changes will be coming soon. In the meantime, I can also confirm that nothing official has been noted yet on either the main Newsroom website or on the Brazilian edition thereof to confirm both the groundbreaking arrangements for the Belem Brazil Temple and its' design and anticipated construction time-frame. But if and when that information is provided, I will pass it along. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
The head coach of the Navy football team recently experienced his first major losing season, but was additionally daunted when he recently received a calling from Elder Kevin S. Hamilton to serve as president of his Anapolis Maryland Stake. He described his formula for successfullly meeting both heavy obligations: The Savior is the actual head coach of His Church, and putting Him first allows everything else to fall into place, no matter how everything else shakes up. You can read more about his dual roles in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-08-01/navy-christ-ken-niumatalolo-football-50415
In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.