Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to report a breaking news development. The PDF version of the May 2020 Ensign is now available. Aside from my running a comparison between how my mock-up of the possible table of contents for this Ensign compared to the actual thing, I gleaned a couple more interesting insights from that layout. First of all, the Church managed to pack all the content from the conference into a 128-page magazine, rather than using the 144 pges which have been somewhat standard for the May Ensign most years, and occasionally has been the case for the November edition. That suggests to me that a 128-page edition may be the new standard going forward. As a result of it being a 128 page edition, the chart showing the current General Authorities and General Officers of the Church was on pages 64-65, not 72-73 as I had conjectured. And oddly enough, rather than having two full-page images on either side of that chart, this edition saw the text of General Conference messages take up pages 63 and 66. There were some talks by the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, GA Seventies, Presiding Bishopric, and General Officers of the Church which also took up a different amount of space (some more, and some less) than I had predicted.
But one of my biggest takeaways from this General Conference edition is something in the photographs that I had not anticipated. We had been aware, of course, that the Church had requested images from members of them watching General Conference in their homes, of which many were featured. But I wasn't exactly sure how the First Presidency had handled the positioning of those who spoke or prayed in each session. We did see in the sessions that the First Presidency members were observing a 6-foot distance between each other, and that the apostles were seated the same way by seniority per session. But apparently, aside from the apostolic participants, the decision was made to have all other speakers and the two leaders giving the prayers in each session sit in the audience seats of the auditorium, then come up to the podium from there when it was their turn to speak or pray. That ensured that any who were participating in any manner were always at least 6 feet apart. It makes sense that was done, but I hadn't considered it as a possibility. With that said, I did want to note that I am still working on some of the other projects to which I have previously referred, and which I hope to post ASAP.
I have even put together a preliminary edition of my predictions for the October 2020 General Conference. I may hold off on publishing that here for the time being so I can continue to make any necessary adjustments. As of right now, it is my hope that the October 2020 General Conference may be more of a normal one, being able to convene in the Conference Center without limitations on attendees or the number of participants taking part in each session, but I am holding off on putting anything solid in that respect up on this blog until more is known about any adjusted meeting regulations. The Utah Governor, Gary Herbert, spoke during a press conference earlier this afternoon, nd stated he hoped to be able to initiate a soft reopening of some of this state one week from today. If that happens, and is a successful step in opening Utah fully, that might lift restrictions on social distancing, and would enable the October 2020 General Conference to proceed with the standard number of participants (with most General Authorities and General Officers able to attend most sessions) and being able to be held in the Conference Center for a capacity congregation (21,000 individuals). Stay tuned for those predictions once I figure that out, and for all other projects as I am able to complete them.
I also continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all here 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.
Friday, April 24, 2020
BREAKING NEWS: PDF Version of May 2020 Ensign Now Available
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.
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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A couple more reports on Church members worldwide have been provided by the Newsroom. One article describes how Elder Enrique R. Falabella, the outgoing President of the South America Northwest Area, who is likely to be released and granted emeritus status in October, represented the Church in joining virtually with leaders of other faiths in Peru to pray for the people of Peru in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 situation:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/peru-faith-leaders-pray-virtually
And the Newsroom also shared the inspiring story of a centenarian Church member living in Scarborough Ontario who, to the surprise and shock of his doctors, and as a result of the faith, prayers, fasting, and priesthood blessings of which he was the recipient, fully recovered without any lasting impact, from COVID-19:
https://news-ca.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/centenarian-church-member-survives-covid-19
My thanks ocne again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The latest edition of “This Week on Social” has been published:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-04-24/social-media-pandemic-covid-prayer-hope-182107
Featured in this latest edition were the following general leaders: Church President Russell M. Nelson; Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf (from whom two posts were shared), Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; the entire Young Women General Presidency (Sister Bonnie H. Cordon and her First and Second Counselors, Sister Michelle D. Craig and Becky Craven, respectively); and Sister Sharon Eubank, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency.
An update has also been provided on the status of the Washington D.C. Temple:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/washington-d.c.-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! Temple construction updates have been provided in the last 36 hours or so on the followng temples: Pocatello Idaho (for which, as a result of the call of its' first president, will almost definitely be completed in late 2021), Winnipeg Manitoba, and Washington D.C. For the latter two updates, the relevant informtion can be foound at the following web addresses:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/winnipeg-manitoba-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/washington-d.c.-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
As you get temples predictions ready, I have found a possible pattern to how and where they are announcing them in Utah, and some of it may be aiming for a reduced distance between temples.
ReplyDeleteI think they are going for no one further than ten miles and preferably closer to, any temple. There will be outliers in outskirts communities and less populated parts of the metro, but in the urbanized area that may wll be the case.
Other obvious spacing gaps are the area around Point of the Mountain, and just north of Legacy/I-15/US-89 interchange in Davis County, that being the flight path for Hill AFB.
Just figure straight line distances from one temple to the next one in the line from Ogden to Payson, the gap between Ogden and Brigham City is somewhat less populated so that is an area we may not see one dropped into, also look at where development is happening as well.
Hello, James Anderson. Thanks for taking time to weigh in here. I saw your comment a short while ago, and wanted to take the opportunity to reply to it now. I appreciate the insights you shared above. For Utah temples, it would make sense that Church leaders are aiming specifically for a goal of less than 10 miles. I will be sure to look into the specific areas you mentioned when considering that. There are, of course, several outliers in that respect, for which the journey is slighty or quite a bit longer. So a dual focus of filling in the gaps that exist and concentrating on a 10-mile distance (whether one-way or round-trip) seems reasonable enough to me for Utah, where temples are usually used at high capaciies on a regular basis.
DeleteLooking at my current list, Herriman is 9.3 miles from South Jordan. The Saints in Evanston Wyoming (which falls under the Utah Area) are around 70 miles from any temple in the Salt Lake Valley, to which those stakes are or may be assigned, so that will be a high priority soon. The Saints in Preston Idaho (which also falls within the boundaries of the Utah Area) travel 26.7 miles one-way to worship at the Logan Utah Temple.
To worship at the Payson Utah Temple, Saints in Mepleton now travel 12.9 miles one-way. The Saints in the Heber Valley have over a 25 mile journey one-way to reach any temple to which they are currently or may yet be assigned in the future. And there are also quite a few cities within Washington County where a more than 10-mile one-way or round trip journey.
One other thing. I appreciate you describing the geopgraphic regions you have in mind, but due to some of my health challenges, one issue I struggle with frequently is being geographically challenged when going by landmark, interchanges, or street names. Would you be able to share with me the names of the cities in which the locations you mentioned can be found? I apologize for any inconvenience might cause for you, but going by city name makes my research and analysis easier. In the meantime, thanks so much, James Anderson, for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you.
Sorry I did not get back with you, the interchange spoken of is in Farmington, jst north of Lagoon, and the Point is between Draper and Lehi, although part of Draper is in Utah County, not much though.
DeleteMapleton presently is assigned to Provo City Center Temple, and the line between Springville and Spanish Fork is about west of that. Spanish Fork goes to Payson presently from the north city limit down.
So if Mapleton is asigned to Provo City Center, it was originally, is there any difference in distance when compared with the distance to Payson?
Thanks for that clarification, James Anderson. You've given me some things to think about. I'm sure that part of my analysis on prospective Utah cities for which a temple may be announced during this next conference will need to involve reanalyzing the Utah temples announced thus far by President Nelson, and then projecting which other cities may be more likely to get a temple in the October 2020 General Conference. Thanks again for stopping by to weigh in on this, James Anderson. I always appreciate hearing from you.
DeleteHello again, everyone! Four new mission leaders have been called to serve. Two of the couples will be succeeding Elder Matthew S. Holland and his wife, Sister Paige B. Holland, and Elder Thierry K. Mutombo and his wife, Sister Nathalie S. Mutombo. As previously announced, Elder Mutombo will start serving in August as Second Counselor in the Africa Central Area, and it appears that Elder Holland will be serving in a few different capacities at Church headquarters. The 4 newest biographies can be found at the following web address:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2020-04-26/new-mission-presidents-california-north-carolina-maryland-181729
I have a few pertinent notes about these new leaders. The first couple serves together as institute teachers and temple ordinance workers. The couple succeeding Elder and Sister Holland are serving as senior missionaries in another mission in the United States, so that will make for a smooth transition.
For the couple succeeding Elder and Sister Mutombo, the new president currently serves as president of a YSA branch and had previously served as a stake president, while his wife is a primary teacher and former YSA adviser who has also served in many other capacities in the Primary, Relief Society, and Young Women.
And for the final couple whose biographies were shared today, the new mission president is currently a young men adviser who has served as a high councilman, bishop, and elders’ quorum president, while his wife is serving as an organist and public affairs representative, having previously served in a few other capacities.
The Church News also shared the following report on how Project Protect and other COVID-19 relief efforts are increasing faith in the lives of the individuals involved in the project, and has been faith-inspiring to the recipient beneficiaries of those masks:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-04-26/project-protect-ppe-covid-19-relief-society-donations-fath-bingham-eubank-aburto-182124
My continued and ongoing thanks to you all for your interest and support.