Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, less than two months after the April 2020 General Conference was held, the First Presidency announced that the October 2020 General Conference would be virtual only, and would follow the "same pattern" as the April General Conference. In the interim, as I have also recently mentioned here, in conjunction with the cancellation of all Temple Square activities relating to the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, and the Bells on Temple Square, the releiase noted that the Choir would participate in the October 2020 General Conference via archived performances.
Although confirmation through an official announcement from the First Presidency is pending on the arrangements for the next General Conference, the event page entry for General Conference implies that a Saturday evening session for all Church members and friends of other faiths will be held in place of the traditional Women's Session, and that the sessions will again originate from a small auditorium on Temple Square, and that, aside from the First Presidency, only those speaking or praying during each session will be in attendance thereat.
Based on those assumptions, as circumstances have allowed, I have taken time to overhaul my predictions for the next General Conference. Since I can share the content of those predictions in a single post, I have them split into three distinct documents. The first highlights what I anticipate will be the potential speaking order for the conference; the second highlights the anticipated changes in general Church leadership; and the third takes a look at the list I have assembled of locations in which a temple seems most likely to be announced.
Each of the three predictions documents for next conference come complete with their own sets of notes, which I have striven to keep as brief and concise as possible. I am pleased to reopen a commenting period on these predictions that is effective from now until 10:00 PM on Thursday October 1, at which point I will need to make the final adjustments to each prediction set before General Conference weekend occurs. I look forward to the input I will get on these. While that feedback period is ongoing, I will be sure to also monitor any Church news updates and all major temple developments and will be sure to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of all such developments.
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.
Hello again, everyone! While I had hoped to keep this comments section free for input on my General Conference predictions, and while I hope anyone who has feedback thereon will provide it here, I have chosen to also start a thread here highlighting other Church news and temple developments.
ReplyDeleteWith that in mind, although this is no longer breaking news, the Church announced this morning that 1 temple (Cebu City Philippines) will open under phase 1 next Monday. Phase 1 allows for living husband-and-wife sealings (when both have previously been endowed) with limited guests in attendance. In the meantime, a whopping 20 temples (marking the largest single-day phase 2 total to date) will open under phase 2, also effective one week from today. Phase 2 allows for all living ordinancnes to be performed, with priority given first to husband-and-wife sealings, then to missionaries already out in the mission field who have not yet had those ordinnances, then to those preparing to head out into the mission field, and then (i make the assumption) to those who have not yet beenr endowed but are preparing to be married.
The 20 temples opening next week under phase 2 will include the following (divided by general area, then specific temples): 1 in Europe (Bern Switzerland); 2 in Idaho (Bosie and Meridian Idaho); all 4 in Texas (Dallas, Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio); the 2 in Colorado (Denver and Fort Collins); 7 elsewhere in the Uunited States (Columbia South Carolina, Detroit Michigan, Hartford Connecticut, Las Vegas Nevada, Louisville Kentucky, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and St. Louis Missouri); 2 in Brazil (Fortaleza and Manaus Brazil); and 2 in Canada (Montreal Quebec and Toronto Ontario).
As of next week, 139 of the total 168 worldwide will be open, with 71 in phase one and the remaining 68 in phase 2. The Church News and Newsroom have provided a week-by-week update, a list of temples and which phases they are in, and various other pertinent information about the phased reopeing process, which can be found in the following articles:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-limited-reopening-temples
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-08-24/lds-temples-open-worldwide-phased-reopening-183918
I will just note in relation to that Church News article, the article incorrectly notes that the Columbus Ohio Temple is currently in phase 2, but since the temple is currently being decommissioned prior to its' renovation process, that is no longer the case. I may have some more COVID-19 updates, other Church news, and temple updates to pass along, but will do so in new replies to this comment. In the meantime, I'd love to hear from anyone who has feedback on my revised General Conference predictions. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! I am back with some of the additional updates I promised. First, in terms of other COVID-19 updates, Church Distribution Centers and Deseret Books (where the latter is applicable) continue a phased reopening:
Deletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/multimedia/file/church-distribution-retail-stores.pdf
And updates have been provided on the Church's Deseret Industries facilities:
https://www.deseretindustries.org/reopen
And the Church News and the Newsroom have both shared reports on an address given by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to BYU faqulty and staff as they prepare for the next semester of instruction:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-cook-byu-faculty-build-faith-jesus-christ
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-08-24/elder-cook-byu-conference-racial-unity-religious-liberty-191309
And the Newsroom has shared the latest edition of "Relief Society in Action", which highlights content from the following locations: The Pacific Islands (from which 3 stories were shared); Brazil; Canada; and French Polynesia.
You can find the links to those specific stories at the following web address:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/relief-society-in-action-august-20-2020
And the Newsroom also reported on an All-Africa serivce day, highlighting acts of service rendered in Western Africa:
https://news-gh.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2020-all-africa-service-day-held-across-west-africa-
Temple construction updates, if any, will follow shortly. For now, thanks again, everyone!
Here are the tmeple updates I mentioned. First, the status of the Praia Cabo Verde Temple has changed:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/praia-cabo-verde-temple/
And another update has been provided on the Layton Utah Temple, which appears to be progressing nicely:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/layton-utah-temple/
And it appears that the Church has temporarily withdrawn their application for the conditional use permit for the McAllen Texas Temple. Not sure why, but it likely has something to do with the fact that COVID-19 has hit that pretty badly. The updste today appears to justify my belief that it may be sometime during the first half of 2021 before the groundbreaking takes place for that temple. In the meantime, thanks again, all!
And the Church News has provided another article of coverage on BYU's University Conference with a report on the remarks offered by Elder Kevin J Worthen, an area seventy and president of BYU-Provo:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-08-24/covid-19-byu-kevin-j-worthen-strategic-plan-enrollment-increase-3000-191366
My thanks once again to you all.
Meanwhile, the Newsroom reports on how a virtual interfaith discussion in the Caribbean helped to strengthen youth there in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic:
Deletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/virtual-interfaith-discussion-provides-caribbean-youth-with-guidance-on-how-to-strengthen-faith-during-pandemic
My thanks once again to you all.
A possibility rather than Villa Nueva in greater Guatemala City is Mixco. It is a little closer to the city. Both are growing fast. I believe both are under consideration but one will be chosen. Patzicia.
ReplyDeletePatzicia, thanks for taking time to share your feedback here. Due to some information of whih I just became aware, I will need to again overhaul the predictions I have provided in the above post. As part of that process, I may look at switching up some locations on my list of prospective temple locations. I will keep your excellent feedback in mind relative to the Central America Area in general and Guatemala in particular.
DeleteSpeaking thereof, with the groundbreaking for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple set to take place one week from tomorrow, have you heard anything further on the potential timing for groundbreakings for the Coban or Managua temples? It's okay if you haven't. Just thought I'd ask. Also, in your opinion, are there any feasible prospective temple locations in Central American for the near future that I may be missing from my list currently? Thanks for taking time to weigh in on my current predictions and on these additional questions. I always appreciate hearing from you, Patzicia.
My understanding is that the property is owned in both locations. Cobán should be announced sooner rather than later. The Managua location has some local issues holding it back. Patzicia
ReplyDelete