Hello again, everyone! As October draws inexorably closer to its' conclusion, there are a few informational items related to the Church about which I wanted to note here. First, as I may or may not have previously noted, the Utah Area Presidency has announced that the 9th Annual Hispanic Cultural Event Luz de Las Naciones (Light of the Nations) will be held on November 2, 2019 in the Conference Center at 8:00 PM. The celebration has been given a subtitle of “Un Hogar para Todos”, which translates to English as "A Home for All".
The celebration will be an evening of music and dance featured from various regions through Latin America. Although I anticipate several General Authorities (specifically the members of the Utah Area Presidency: Elders Craig C. Christensen, Randy D. Funk, and Walter F. Gonzalez, and likely either or both Elders Carolos A. Godoy and Jose A. Teixeira of the Presidency of the Seventy, who hail from Spanish-speaking regions of the world) will be in attendance, I would not be shocked if at least one member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve were to preside at that event.
That presiding apostle could be any who are fluent in the Latin American languages of Spanish or Portuguese, which, at minimum, includes Church President Russell M. Nelson and Elders Jeffrey R. Holland (who spent two years from 2002-2004 as the President of the Chile Area), Neil L, Andersen, and Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the latter of whom is the first Latin American apostle of the Church). You may note one Spanish-speaking apostle who will not be in attendance at that event. That is Elder D. Todd Christofferson, who will, of course, be in Paraguay that same weekend presiding over the rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple. Any of the other brethren named could be the presiding apostle at this event. Time will tell.
The Church also released broadcast information, sent out by the Priesthood and Family Department (of which Elder Michael T. Ringwood, one of President Nelson's nine sons-in-law, is the Executive Director), for the Face-to-Face Event for Children and Youth that will be carried worldwide at 4:00 PM MST on Sunday November 17, 2019. The previously-announced broadcast will feature Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (who, among other assignments, serves as a member of the Priesthood and Family Executive Council) alongside the general presidents of the Primary, Young Women, and Young Men (Sisters Joy D. Jones and Bonnie H. Cordon and Brother Stephen W. Owen).
And, as we know, the purpose and intent of the broadcast will be to allow the leaders to explain in more complete detail what the new Children and Youth initiative will involve. I provided earlier analysis on the September 29 broadcast at which President Nelson, Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and those same general presidents spoke. For those wanting more details on either the broadcast schedule or the Luz de Las Naciones broadcast, with a Church user account, you can find them in the official communications library.
In the interim, I also wanted to note that, according to information provided by the Online Store for the Church's official website, beginning today, the store and all of its' ordering systems will be undergoing routine maintenance for roughly the next week, and, as a result of that, material ordered during that time from the online store may be delayed in shipping to orderees. I imagine this also means that the typical distribution and delivery schedule for the November 2019 Church magazines may be delayed longer than usual in their arrival. That said, the website maintenance of the store should not impact the timing within which the PDF version of those magazines is avaialbe.
As a result, I'd recommend to any of you that do not receive your November magazines within the first 1.5-2 weeks of November to use your location to find the appropriate customer service number to contact someone about that issue. Typically, that period of time is shorter (within a week after the end of the previous month) but given the maintenance that will almost surely impact the printing and distrbution of the November 2019 magazines (since General Conference issues are usually delayed). it seems wise to allow for extra time in this particular case.
With that noted, all that remains is to reiterate my continued commitment to bringing you all all the latest in Church news and temple updates here on this blog as I become aware of them. 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.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Important Information from the Church As October Concludes
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.
27 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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I forgot to note above that I am hoping that the Church will be announcing the open house and dedication schedule for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple within the next two weeks as well, and I am cautiously optimistic that the dedication could be set to occur in late April-early May of next year. I will have more thoughts on the timing of future known temple events revised and published on this blog at some point within the next 2-3 weeks or so. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I do have another piece of temple information. Apparently, as cleanup was still underway from the aftermath of the hurricane that struck Puerto Rico, another hurricane recently struck the area of San Juan, and due to the fact that elected representatives are not doing their jobs, and that some of the citizens are not doing their part in the cleanup efforts, that is likely the most-recent factor impacting how soon construction may get underway on the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple. So there will need to likely be a reevaluation of my thoughts in relation to that and to all other general and specific estimates I have offered recently. I will hopefully have more on all of this as soon as I can reanalyze all the information I can find. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Delete"and likely either or both Elders Carolos A. Godoy and Jose A. Teixeira of the Presidency of the Seventy, who hail from Spanish-speaking regions of the world) will be in attendance"
ReplyDeleteElder Carlos A Godoy is from Brazil and Jose A. Teixeira is from Portugal, both Portuguese-speaking countries.
Andre, thank you for stopping by to comment. Unless I am mistaken, people living in certain areas of both Portugal and Brazil learn fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and it appears that Elders Godoy, Soares, and Teixeira all hail from areas where that happens to be the case, or where picking up a second (or even third) language may be relatively common. Perhaps I should have clarified that above. Whatever the case may be, as an avid student of the lives of our current Church leaders, I can definitively confirm that all three leaders are indeed fluent in all three languages, at minimum. But thanks for bringing my attention to the need to clarify that particular point. I appreciate the chance to address it, and thank you, Andre, for taking time to comment.
DeleteSorry. One additional point. In reference to Latin American nations, the heritage of which is being celebrated with this annual event, it honors traditions of both Spanish and Portuguese origins by its' very nature, so there is that to consider as well. Thanks again.
DeleteHello again, everyone! A few more general items of Church news have been reported. Firstly, this morning, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square announced that "acclaimed Broadway singer Kelli O'Hara" would be the featured musical guest for their 2019 Christmas Concert, while fellow actor Richard Thomas, who portrayed author John Walton on the television drama "The Waltons", will serve as the narrator for the program. You can read more on this via the following release from the Newsroom:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tabernacle-choir-at-temple-square-announces-20th-annual-christmas-concert-guest-artists
And the Church News has shared some additional reports at the following web addresses:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2019-10-25/familysearch-indexing-thank-you-message-family-history-165021
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-10-25/arizona-jon-huntsman-elder-rasband-165100
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-10-25/video-president-ballard-elder-christofferson-share-their-mission-to-convert-the-whole-world-165390
A couple of takeaways from that last article: First of all, I had been aware that the most senior apostle who is not a member of the First Presidency (the President or Acting President of the Quorum) is responsible for giving each current Quorum member their assignments, but according to the article, that is because that senior Quorum member serves as Chairman of the Assignments Committee, which means that there may be other Quorum members who serve on that committee.
A second takeaway from that article is that President Ballard and Elder Christofferson knew each other before either ever became an apostle. While serving as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy in 1982, then-Elder Ballard presided over the reorganization of a stake presidency in Tennessee, and he felt impressed to call then-Brother Christofferson to serve as the new stake president. So the two have known each other for the last 27 years or so, in addition to having worked together as General Authorities for the last 16 years, and serving together as apostles for almost 12 years now. As I have previously mentioned, it is amazing at times to consider the ways in which each person might be connected to other people with whom they come in contact.
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all here as I become aware of such things. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! Within the roughly 5.5 hours since my last comment on this thread, there have been several Church news stories reported through both the official Newsroom website and also by the Church News. The articles for the most part are largely self-explanatory. You can find them at the following web addresses:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-10-25/london-europe-tlc-bbc-rootstech-165364
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-around-the-world--country-newsroom-websites--october-25--2019 (features articles from El Salvador, the Philippines, South Africa, Jamaica, and Singapore).
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/statement-proposed-rule-sexual-orientation-gender-identity-change
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-leaders-visit-new-zealand-mosque
Once again, my ongoing and continued thanks to you all.
With today now being Saturday here in the United States, the one-week open house for the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple is officially underway. Additionally, today marks one week exactly since ground was broken for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple. Although full-scale construction for that temple is still pending as of the posting of this comment, I am hopeful that construction might begin at some point before October concludes.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, the Church News published the latest edition of "This Week on Social" earlier today, around 8-16 hours later than that article has been published in previous weeks. That latest edition (to which the web address can be found below), featured posts from the following general Church leaders:
Church President Russell M. Nelson;Acting President M. Russell Ballard (from whom 3 posts were shared (2 of which were the same message posted on 2 separate social media sites) and Elders Jeffrey R. Holland, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham and her First Counselor, Sister Sharon Eubank; and Young Women General President Sister Bonnie H. Cordon and her First Counselor, Michelle D. Craig.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-10-26/this-week-on-social-what-sister-eubank-learned-about-ministering-from-chris-the-sheep-165409
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to keep passing word of those along to you all as I become aware of them. In the meantime, thanks again, everyone!
And Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Patricia T. Holland, recently returned "home" to the St. George area for high school and college reunions. Elder Holland spoke during both events:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2019-10-26/elder-and-sister-holland-return-home-celebrate-courage-grit-that-defines-their-dixie-upbringing-165466
Once again, my continued and ongoing thanks to you all.
FamilySearch just got done staging RootsTech London and you can view nine presentations for free at the Rootstech.org website, if not already, there will likely be stories.
ReplyDeleteBut FamilySearch ean another conference which Steve Rockwood, while delivering a keynote at the London event, mentioned they were also staging. I found the site below and found they were staging it as I found the logo at the bottom of the page. Entirely in Spanish since the event was in Mexico City, we may also see a report or two trickle in from this.
https://www.expogenealogia.mx/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2yrje-7Lc0t0r7HUeXTcOiUal5STITnTAN_uiuple5O2Af3XhCJ3QlgqA
Thank you for this information, James Anderson. I had been aware of the Church News coverage of that event (which is ongoing), but I was not aware that the presentations therefrom would be available online. However, it makes sense that they are. RootsTech presentations each year are generally featured online when they originate from Salt Lake, and I think I recall seeing a RootsTech London tab on that website. Thanks again, James Anderson, for passing along that information. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
DeleteHello again, everyone! While any of you are welcome to comment in reply to any prior comment on this thread, I wanted to take time to bring you all now word of some additional Church News reports and one other development as well.
ReplyDeleteThe first relates to what James Anderson noted above about RootsTech London:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-10-26/connect-and-belong-at-rootstech-london-it-all-starts-with-records-165407
One interesting takeaway from that article is that Elder Cook, who had spoken at Oxford a few days prior, apparently then joined Elder Bednar at part of the RootsTech London sessions. Aside from the logistic sense of that, Elder Cook is the Chairman of the Priesthood and Family Executvice Council, with Elder Bednar heading up the Temple and Family History Executive Council, and the work of the two exective councils does appear to have some overlap.
Next, as has been customary, the Church News continues to provide throrough reports and analysis on the ministry of our apostles. Church News editor Sister Sarah Jane Weaver provided her thoughts on 1 unforgettable takeaway from President Ballard's recent ministry trip to areas in New England where important events of the restoration took place:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2019-10-27/joseph-smith-birthplace-president-ballard-christofferson-memorial-165116
And in yet another atricle, the Church News provided a behind-the-scenes look at Luz de las Naciones, including insights from Elder Jorge T. Becerra, an area seventy of the Church serving here in Utah, who has had a role in helping to organize that event for the Church during the last 6 years:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-10-27/luz-de-las-naciones-celebration-of-belonging-165499
Having shared that, I also wanted to note that the Church has made the HTML version of the November 2019 Ensign available, with working links to the articles from it. However, it appears that a bit more time will be needed before the full PDF version is availlable online. Look out for that in the coming weeks. From what I can ascertain thus far, this latest Conference edition of the Ensign may be slightly different from any others previously published by the Church in terms of the layout, look, and feel thereof. Anyways, just wanted to note these things. 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 it. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
We have over 65,000 full time missionaries and nearly 38,000 church service missionaries. Can you or anyone tell me about how many of the service missionaries are young and how many are couples?
ReplyDeleteHello, Chris! Thank you for taking time to comment, and for the great question. From 2006-2008, I worked with Welfare Services as a Humanitarian Missionary, and from 2006-2012, I served at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple. With the former opportunity, on any given shift, we had 1-3 younger missionaries and 2-5 couples, depending on needs and the projects that were being worked. When my service at the temple started, I was one of the only younger individuals on each shift. By the time my temple service concluded, we had anywhere from 4-7 young single adults on one of my two shifts.
DeleteIn addition, the supervising couple for the Humanitarian work we did had served 2 missions prior to that one, and went on to serve a few more times between 2008 and now. Although my memory is not great in terms of specifics, I seem to recall the brother supervisor telling me that, at that time, it was not uncommon for 10-15% of any Church service missionary force to be YSAs. I was not able to verify at that time that that was correct for all service missions, nor do I presently have any indication of what that percentage looks like today.
But what I do know is that, between the time I served as a young service missionary and now, the Church has streamlined and standardized the process of how Church service missionaries are called, and that there is a lot more now known about what kind of factors may lead to a call to serve as a service missionary versus full-time.
And we also know that for the last 20 years at least, the Church has repeatedly put out additional requests for senior couple missionaries. And we also know that the number of missionaries per any mission can fluctuate based on needs in the area and other outside factors that may impact mission safety.
But I would assume, based on my own experience, and through factoring in what has changed in recent years for the Church missionary program, that roughly 15-25% of the total number of service missionaries are YSAs.
I also seem to recall several years ago that statistical reports released information about the number of YSA missionaries vs. the number of senior missionaries, but that could have been done before the Church released information in those reports about the number of full-time vs. service missionaries.
The specific statistics may perhaps fluctuate enough during any given year in such a way that would be difficult to track, and even more impossible to correctly quantify. But what I do know is that there are still a lot of senior couples and YSAs who feel that if they cannot serve in the way they would like to, they are better off not trying to render any type of service whatsoever.
Aside from these things, Matt has noted plenty over the last couple of years regarding the missionary program, and the problems therewith, to which I would again refer you for more information. Particularly, the data he has compiled through member and missionary surveys, much of which he shared at the SSR seminar this weekend, is illuminating. I just ran a search on the Church Growth Blog and have come up with the following results relevant to missionary work, which you can peruse at your own leisure and convenience:
https://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/search/label/Missionary%20Work
But my assumption based on all I have set out here is that young service missionaries are still in the minority, and likely thus at a smaller percentile of that total. Thanks, Chris, for the great question, and hope these thoughts, such as they are, are helpful to you.
I have been researching articles related to BYU Pathways Worldwide. Around last may they pre-approved all young missionaries including early- return and young service missionaries for the program. Another article stated that 60% of adult members (In the U.S.) do not have bachelor's degree. I have been highly interested in improving the education of our members and am trying to calculate the potential growth of BYU Pathways. One of the indicators I am looking at is the number of young return missionaries (who do not go to traditional college) this can help.
ReplyDeleteChris, thanks for this additional comment. I recall learning about and reporting on that pre-approval for all RMs of the Church and posting about it in some way here when that announcement was originally made. I happen to be one of those adult members who does not have a college degree (unless the School of Hard Knocks counts), and at any point, pursuing a secondary education has proven difficult due to ongoing health issues. But it is something I think about periodically. I am sure the Church's announcement about the pre-approval of RMs for the BYU-Pathway Worldwide program has helped many members gain a secondary education who would have been otherwise unable to do so. It has been interesting to see the various areas of study to which we all devote ourselves relating to different aspects of Church history. Thanks for stopping by to comment, Chris!
DeleteHere's a story about a student overcoming health issues and going back to school through BYU Pathways. https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-04-02/new-virtual-classrooms-for-byu-pathway-connect-students-anytime-anywhere-3693
DeleteThank you for again sharing that inspirational account here. I had forgotten about the virtual gathering element of this that the First Presidency made available in the early parts of this year. There are a few other complications relating to the situation of myself, my wife, and us as a married couple currently which makes the idea of my pursuing further education right now impossible. That could change, if everything lines up properly, but for now, it's something I can keep in mind for some point in the future, if nothing else. Thanks again, Chris.
DeleteI have read many similar stories about several people helped by BYU Pathways. Many are young and many are old. Many types of backgrounds and from around the world. I find that program facinating and exciting. Some have struggled in school, some thought college would be to difficult, others have had some college. Some none. I went to traditional College started at UVSC( now UVU) and finished at USU in 2004. After more than a decade I returned to get a master degree and graduated a year ago from NNU. I wished I went back sooner. But I feel it is never too late. I think BYU Pathways is a gateway for many of the forgotten called the "hidden many." https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.deseret.com/platform/amp/indepth/2019/8/19/20812530/byu-pathway-worldwide-disrupt-higher-education
DeleteIt is interesting to think of the many stories each of us has to tell as a result of our life experiences. What I like most about the adjustments made to Church programs, policies, and practices under President Nelson is that the intent behind it all is to strengthen individual members of the Church, their different familial groups, and indvidual Church units on every level. It is a blessed time in which we live where so much is being done to make the gospel and various programs of the Church accessible to all on an indvidual, familial, and congregational level. And I have a feeling we are just seeing the beginnings of such efforts. In the meantime, Chris, my thanks once again to you for your continued contributions here.
DeleteI am sharing this for all who read this blog. It has impressed upon my mind for the last couple of months that I should promote the pathway program. I have been sharing it with several people. I do not know why, but I feel I need to do more to get the word out. It seems that even though it is now ten years old, many including (local) church leaders know very little about out it. This I love that it is now available in about 135 countries after they added 50 this fall. Again, these last few months I have felt the impression I need promote this it.
DeleteThe Pathway program has also showed it has help beyond gaining an education. The one year Pathway Connect program also has shown it has helped increase confidence, and a substantial increase in testamony in the savior.
Deletehttps://byupathway.lds.org/pathwayconnect/benefits#spirituality
Chris, I am gerateful you are following through on spiritual promptings as President Nelson directed. Hopefully many who read your words here will be positively impacted thereby. And when it comes to the potential impact of the BYU-Pathway Worldwide program, there are literally hundreds of accounts (both reported and many more unreported) demonstrating how BYU-PW has been a blessing in the lives of so many. The interesting thing to me has been hearing about how the family members and friends, member and friends of other faiths alike, of those involved in the program have been vicariously or indirectly blessed through the participation of those they know.
DeleteAnd that in and of itself is evidence of how timely has been the unfolding and expansion of this program. I am sure volumes could be written about such accounts. To me, hearing those kinds of experiences is an abundant manifestation of the inspiration behind every facet and nuance of the program.
But it also amazes me how, in the face of such accounts and others regarding the postive impact of Church programs, practices, policies, and procedures, there are still so many outside the Church who continue to insist that revelation no longer occurs. That's another sign of the times that has bugged me to no end. But all of that is an aside. Thank you agian, Chris, for being so fearless in following the promptings you have received to share such information here. Hopefully the impacts from you doing so will be clearly evident when they occur. Again, always a privilege to hear from you.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has noted that another emeritus General Authority of the Church passed away earlier today, namely Elder Dean L. Larsen, at 92 years of age. The Church News paid the following tribute to his service:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-10-28/elder-dean-larsen-dies-general-authority-165587
Additionally. the Church's official Newsroom for the United Kingdom has shared the following report on RootsTech London:
https://www.mormonnewsroom.org.uk/article/rootstech-hosts-international-conference-in-london
I have some temple updates as well, which I will defer for another comment in a few minutes. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Here are the temple updates to which I referred in my previous comment:
ReplyDeleteAt the Durban South Africa Temple, the entrance staircase is being clad in stone, more brick pavers have been laid, the flow for the on-site water feature is being adjusted, exterior stonework and caulking have continued to progress, and additional landscaping is underway.
And at the Washington DC Temple, trees that will be planted in the parking lot landscaping have arrived on-site. Above and beyond that, however, I have made additional adjustments to the general completion estimates I have previously offered for several temples now under construction or undergoing renovation, as follows:
Late 2021-early 2022: Quito Ecuador Temple (subject to change depending on the progress or lack thereof for this temple in the future)
Early 2022: Urdaneta Philippines Temple
Early-to-mid 2022: Belem Brazil Temple.
Mid-2022: San Juan Puerto Rico Temple (in view of the fact that now two hurricanes have impacted the area since its' announcement and groundbreaking)
Mid-to-late 2022: Saratoga Springs Utah Temple; Hong Kong China Temple (rededication; will depend on how quickly or slowly progress is made)
Late 2022-early 2023: Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple; St. George Utah Temple (rededication)
Early 2023: Puebla Mexico Temple
Early-to-mid 2023: Bangkok Thailand Temple
I also wanted to add just a general note here: While I am cautiously optimistic that at least 1-3 more temples could have a groundbreaking prior to the end of the year (in addition to the Puebla Mexico Temple), unless some announcements come down the pike soon, that may or may not be possible, and any others may be deferred until next year.
Additionally, while I hope that we will soon hear about the open house and dedication arrangements for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple, unless that happens within the next month or so, I have a hard time believing the dedication will follow before the end of April of next year. I continue to monitor all such developments and will bring word of those to you all as I become aware of such things. For now, thanks again, everyone!
Here is one of the news articles pre-approval of return missionaries. https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/missionaries-preapproved-for-byu-pathway-worldwide
ReplyDeleteChris, I appreciate you posting this article again here. Hopefully anyone out there who may be reading these threads as a recently-returned RM or those whose circumstances might enable them to utilize the tools provided by BYU-Pathway Worldwide may be benefitted by these reminders. Thanks again for taking time to share your thoughts. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
Delete