Hello again, everyone! I have late breaking news to share here again tonight. Although the April 2020 General Conference concluded around 63 hours ago, the Church must have worked lightning fast, and the transcripts for all talks given during the five General Sessions last weekend are now officially availableAside from the quick turnaround effort on the part of the Church to make those available online so quickly in this case, one other thing surprised me. I have previously commented on the fact that the Church sometimes experiences a delay in making the video archives of some General Conference talks available following the General Conference session in which they were given. There were similar lags in that respect this go-round. It wasn't until almost an hour after the Sunday Morning Session this weekend that the video archives of all addresses given on Saturday were made available. Similarly, it was a couple of hours after the General Conference concluded that the video archives for the Sunday Morning Session were made available. It wasn't until sometime yesterday that all but the final address given by President Nelson were made available. And as things now stand, with the transcripts available for all of the General Conference talks, the video of President Nelson's closing remarks in the last session of conference still appears to be missing from the Church's official General Conference site. But I was able to pull a rough estimate on the length of that address from the video archive of that final session via Youtube.So this post is primarily being published to share that news, but also to share the document on which I tracked the length of each apostolic address. I also have updates on the total number of talks given by each of our apostles, both prior to and since their calls to the apostleship, have spoken during General Conference. And I also wanted to present as well the updated sections of my temple construction progress report (which I have completely restructured as a result of what is known and unknown. Additionally, I have finished my work for now on the possible table of contents layout for the May 2020 Ensign, which will be subject to change as more information comes to light. And, since I anticipate that the changes in area leadership for 2020 will be announced by the Church anytime between this upcoming Thursday (April 9) and the final Friday of this month (April 24), I have additionally assembled a list of the most likely changes that may be made in conjunction with that announcement.
Finally, I wanted to provide an updated link to my April 2020 General Conference predictions, which indicate what I got right and wrong through the usage of brackets, parentheses, and the relevant notes. I will have a total score and accuracy percentage for those predictions later this week. I know that this post packs a lot of new content, and I thank you for your interest in everything I am providing here. 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.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
BREAKING NEWS: Transcripts of All April 2020 General Conference Talks Are Now Available; Updated Documents Related to the April 2020 General Conference and the Latest Temple Updates
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.
10 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.
Hello again everyone! According to a new report of which I have just been made aware, it appears that President Nelson's short-term goal for now is to have 300 temples announced by sometime in 2025. That means the announcement of 75 new temples between now and the April 2025 General Conference, which means that an average of 7 or 8 new temples would need to be announced each time.
ReplyDeleteIf President Nelson continues the tradition of the past 3 General Conferences to announce 8 new temples every six months, then the Church would actually have over 300 temples announced as of the end of the October 2024 General Conference. That same new information additionally suggests that the Bengaluru India, Phnom Pehn Cambodia, and Salta Argentina may be on the list of those for which a groundbreaking might be held later this year, but that assumption appears to be based on a belief that the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple may be the only one in Central America that might have a groundbreaking before the end of this year.
So I'm going to revise my list and say that the additional 14 temples that might have a groundbreaking before the end of this year will be the following (whether or not in this same order): Tooele Valley Utah, Brasilia Brazil, Taylorsville Utah, Feather River California, Nairobi Kenya, Orem Utah, Brasilia Brazil, San Pedro Sula Honduras, Moses Lake Washington, Coban Guatemala, Washington County Utah, Salta Argentina, Managua Nicaragua and either Phnom Pehn Cambodia or Bengaluru India, depending on which gets governmental approval first. Of course, it is possible that any of these temples could be replaced by others for which unexpected announcements occur.
But either way, at very least, I'd assume that at the end of this year, the queue of announced temples will not include any of those announced by President Monson (of which only two have not seen official announcements of some kind), and that the queue of those announced by President Nelson for which more information will be pending will include only 2 or 3 from among those that were announced in April 2018, each of the 4 currently in the queue from those originally announced in October 2018, the remaining 5 each from those originally announced in April and October 2019, and then the 8 that were announced during this latest General Conference, for a total of 24 or 25 announced temples by the end of this year, which would then clear the way in that queue for the announcement of at least 8 new temples in October.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting indeed to keep an eye on all of this, and I will pass along word of any developments in that respect, along with any other temple developments or Church news updates, to you here, as I become aware of them all. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! After successfully completing some troubleshooting here (in a process that spanned roughly 36 hours, I am pleased to bring you the following Church news updates:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/byu-pathway-worldwide-expands-access-higher-education
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/navajo-reservation-receives-food-supplies-bishops-central-storehouse
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-04-08/multicultural-choir-virtual-general-conference-tabernacle-180751
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-04-08/lds-youth-norway-virtual-gathering-president-cordon-devotional-180747
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-04-08/general-conference-april-2020-hosanna-shout-solemn-assembly-180831
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! Updates have been reported on the Poctello Idaho, Saratoga Springs Utah, and Salt Lake Temples:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/news/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/saratoga-springs-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/salt-lake-temple/
Also, just a quick reminder that the groundbreaking for the Richmond Virginia Temple will be held this Saturday. Elder Randall K. Bennett, the president of the North America Southeast Area, will preside thereat. In response to the ongoing COVID-19 concerns, it has been determined that the groundbreaking will proceed as scheduled, but constitute a small private event that will not be broadcast to stakes in the temple district as had been previously announced. It looks as though the First Presidency is leaving it up to all area presidencies around the world to determine how best to conduct groundbreakings that have been or will yet be announced. The groundbreaking for the Richmond Temple is proceeding as scheduled to enable the Church to meet construction deadlines with the contracted company working the project. That temple is anticipated to be rededicated prior to the end of 2022.
Then for the Alabang Philippines Temple groundbreaking 3 weeks later, as was noted in the comments of an earlier post published here, the Alabang Philippines Temple groundbreaking will be streamed live via social media. Still no word on how and to what extent the current arrangements for Layton Utah (on May 30) and Auckland New Zealand (on June 30). In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News and the Newsroom have provided the following updates:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2020-04-09/april-2020-general-conference-9-new-general-authority-seventies-180712
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-04-08/general-conference-april-2020-hosanna-shout-solemn-assembly-180831
https://news-nz.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tropical-cyclone-harold-hits-solomon-islands--vanuatu--fiji-and-tonga
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/byu-pathway-worldwide-expands-access-higher-education
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/navajo-reservation-receives-food-supplies-bishops-central-storehouse
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-invites-world-to-participate-in-fast-on-good-friday
Thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has shared the biographiies for the new Young Men General Presidency:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2020-04-10/new-young-men-general-presidency-april-2020-180918
And for the first time in around a month, the Church has provided new updates regarding its' COVID-18 response. Among them are the addition of an official video highlighting President Nelson's global invitation to all to participate in the global Good Friday fast about the COVID-19 pandemic:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update
Above and beyond that, however, the Church has provided an official update on how COVID-19 is impacting Church Distribution Stores worldwide:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#distribution-stores
My thanks once again to you all for your continuing interest and onoging support.
Hello again, everyone! On this Saturday afternoon, I am pleased to be able to confirm that ground was privately broken for the Richmond Virgnia Temple at some point this morning. There has been no official announcement from the Church as of yet to confirm it, but it did go ahead as scheduled. I have previously mentioned that the choice was made to not delay the groundbreaking for this temple so that construction crews can stick to their originally-contracted schedule for this temple.
ReplyDeleteToday's groundbreaking puts that temple in the "Full-scale construction pending" category, but it is not anticipated to be there for too long. If my information is correct, construction crews will begin that full-scale work on this temple early next week. Of course, until that actually happens, nothing can be definitively stated in that respect. But I am also able to confirm that the Church's current plan calls for the temple to be dedicated sometime in late 2022, which means that, once full-scale construction is officially underway, that temple will be in the current construction queue between the Belem Brazil and Saratoga Springs Utah Temples, and that the dedication of the Richmond Virginia Temple may fall within the same general window as the anticipated rededication for the Columbus Ohio Temple.
I'd just add here that I anticipate quite a few game-changing developments as far as temple construction is concerned for the next little while. Where possible, it appears that the Church is making an effort to stick to arranged plans and honor contracts with construction crews who are or will be working on such projects. With that in mind, overall, I do not anticipate COVID-19 will have much of an impact on the temple construction program of the Church. There could be some minor delays or mild disruptions to such projects, but I don't anticipate any huge delays or deterrents.
I'd just also like to comment qucikly here on the fact that the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple has now been in the "Full-scale construction pending" status for over 10 months. I am not sure what the delay there might be, unless, after the groundbreaking, there were some issues with the proposed plans that have now had to be resolved before work can go forward. In the two years since President Nelson has served as Church President, however, we have seen him make consistent efforts to keep the queue of announced temples moving. So hopefully, we may see more information coming out on that temple before the one-year anniversary of its' groundbreaking ceremony (which will be observed on Monday June 8). But time will tell. For now, with the updates that have been provided on temples within the last 2 months since I published the specific estimates I had made for known temple events, I will be needing to revisit those in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, for now, my thanks once again to you all.
I should also mention here another update I have made to one of the documents featured in this post. I finally had a chance earlier this week to look over my General Conference predictions and to score them accordingly, so the link to that document shows it has been updated with the score and the accuracy percentage thereof. I know that some of you have found my process of scoring those predictions somewhat confusing in the past, so I wanted to post an explanation on that here while I am reporting on those updates.
ReplyDeleteIn the speaking order section, every element is assigned 3 points each. So there are 3 points possible for whomever conducted the session, and for each address that was given (not each address I had predicted). I gave myself the full 3 points if I correctly had the right person listed in the right place in the right session. 2 points were assigned to every possible slot wherein I had the correct speaker in the correct session, but in the wrong position or order in that session. 1 point was assigned to those speakers who, according to what I had predicted, spoke at any point during any of the sessions, though I had predicted them in the wrong spot and session. Taking the Saturday Evening Session as an example, I correctly anticipated that Elder Gong would speak, but had predicted that would occur in the Saturday Morning Session, so that was one point for my prediction about Elder Gong. Since I correctly surmised that all 3 mmembers of the First Presidency would speak at the end of the Saturday Evening Session, I awareded myself 3 points each for the correctness of those predictions. Hope that sheds some light on my methods there.
For changes in general Church leadership, the same 3-point score applied. Since there was no change in the Presidency of the Seventy announced, I awarded myself 0 points for that prediction. The changes to GA Seventies, Area Seventies, and the Young Men General Presidency were similarly scored. I correctly surmised that new GA Seventies and Area Seventies would be called, but in terms of the changes in Area Seventies, I didn't have any of the correct names listed, so I socred myself accordingly.
Moving on to the 2019 statistical report, 3 points were possible for each element of that. I gave myself a 10-15 stake or district margin of error, so 3 points each were awarded on stakes, districts, and missions. For congregational totals, I awarded myself 1 or 2 points for being within a margin of error, with that same margin being applied to total Church membership, increase in children of record, convert baptisms, and full-time and Church service missionaries. And I correctly tracked the number of temples dedicated and rededicated, along with the year-end total for 2019, so each of those were 3 points as well.
For temples, there were also 3 points possible per each announced location. So 3 points each were awarded for the correct cities I had listed for Argentina, DR Congo, Pennsylvania, and Nigeria. 2 points each were awarded for the temples announced in Florida, Utah, and the UAE, since I had the correct general locations but the wrong specific ones. And since the temple in the PRC cuaght me totally off-guard, no points were awarded for that.
The total score, then, as reflected in the link above, was 112 out of a possible 189, resulting in an accuracy percengage of 59.26%, which is slightly below my usual average of 60-80%, but is not bad at all for a General Conference unlike any previous one. I am grateful to have been able to share these ingishts with you on how I have now scored my April 2020 General Conference predictions. I am similarly looking forward to putting together my predictions for the October 2020 General Conference, and hope to have the niitial version of those up within the next 4-6 weeks or so. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! On this Easter Sunday, I am pleased to be able to bring you some Church news. It has been a time-honored tradition for the First Presidency to publish an Easter mwssage every year. With social distancing still in place in Salt Lake County, for the first time ever, the prophet of the Church has put out a personal Easter message via social media, accompanied by a thought-provoing video The Newsroom and Church News both covered that:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-russell-m-nelson-shares-easter-message
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-04-12/easter-sunday-jesus-christ-resurrection-president-nelson-joy-peace-181035
Additionally, a few more temple updates have been shared, which can be found in the latest edition of my temple construction progress report:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_NjOQjruF_hn11NO04fVSNWAF-r2OuaSLMDTqQXWeXo/edit?usp=sharing
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing upport.
Also, the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site published a blurb earlier today about yesterday's groundbreaing for the Richmond Virginia Temple:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/richmond-virginia-temple/news/
Elder Randall K. Bennett, President of the North America Northeast Area, presided at the small ceremony, accompanied by his wife, Shelley, and Elder J. Matthew Scott and his wife, Allyson. In reference to Elder Scott, he was just barely called to serve as an area seventy during General Conference last weekend, so they are not letting the moss grow under the feet of the newest leaders at all.
Again, my fervent hope is that full-scale work will be able to begin on that temple early this next week. I will keep my eyes open for more information 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.