Looking Back on 2020 and Ahead to 2021.

Hello again, everyone! As 2020 draws closer to a conclusion, I have my year-end temple construction review ready for automatic publication during the final moments of this year. But in this post, I wanted to take a brief oportunity to note the Church News overview of the major developments covered in 2020. Aside from those developments, I myself on this blog have provided these scheduled updates this year, in addition to an untold number of breaking news developments which I could not have possibly anticipatede in advance. 

In a very direct and specific way, the prophecy uttered by President Nelson late last year has come to fruition. The work has indeed moved forward at an accelerated Even in the midst of a global pandemic and an untold number of other global crises, the voice of the Church and the consuel offered by the general leaders of the Church has remained constant, consisstent, and inspiring. As some of you may recall, I was skeptical when the potential effects of what would become the first major global pandemic in over 100 years were first mentioned to us here on the threads of this blog.

But the devastation caused by the pandemic, and by other natural disasters, pretty much speaks for itself. There have been very few parts of the world unaffected by it. And while many governments and religious leaders have struggled to adjust during the increased spread of COVID-19 around the world, the Church was able to quickly pivot whenever the need arose because of the adjustments that had been made in the years prior to that. Practically all normal functions of the Church have been impacted in some way, but the adjustments which were made as the need arose for them allowed much of the work of the Church to continue,  move forward, and even accelrate in so many miraculous ways.

Even though General Conferences held in April and October were virtual-only, the inspiration that attended those sssessions, even with then being held on a smaller scale, was inspiriing to see. In the meantime, numerous adjustments have enabled the Church to prepare long-term for the future. While a global pandemic raged, the Church held 21 temple groundbreakings, which led to multiple temples being under construction in Utah sapecifically, in the United States generally, and in a few South American nations, the Philippines, and Asia (although in the case of 10 of those 21 temples, full-scale construction is still pending as 2020 nears its' conclusion. 

The Church also took major steps to prepare for the future growth and expansion of the work, which involved greater utilization of technology at the general Church leadership level and in relation to global missionary work, and the announcement of the shift from 4 magazines (only 1 of which was specifically geared to members outside the United States) to 3 global magazines. And in preparation for a time when the needs of the Church, due to its' anticipated growth and expansion, will eventually require more area seventies serving worldwide to assist in that work, the Church created 4 new Quorums of the Seventy, marking the first time in nearly 15 years that new area seventies' Quorums were formed, and the first time that occurred for a reason other than geographical proximity or the size of the existing Quorums.

As the year winds to a close, the Church has been able to see a net increase in the number of stakes totaling at least 30, which is still an impressive 56% of the increase in the total number of stakes that occurred between the end of 2018 and the year-end figures from last year. In the meantime, likely because of the more complete embrace of technology in missionary work, many of the Church's missions have reported more overall success this year in finding and retaiining new coverts. And the growth seen this year is laying a clear foundation for what is anticipated to occur next year.

The way the Church has figured out a "new normal" relative to adjustments thave have been made up to this point could mean that the Church will keep many of those adjustments as the standard status quo going forward. And despite the wide-spread devastation caused this year, whether due to the pandemic, natural disasters, political, racial, societal, or systemic unrest, so many wonderful things have happened. The sheer number of new developments has had an impact on me personally due to the increased number of additional unanticipated reports I was able to provide on this blog throughout the year as those developments occurred.

This year alone, I began coverage on this blog with just over 1800 published posts. By mid-une, I'd hit the 1900th post milestone. And as of today, with one planned post left for the year (an overview of temple counstruction progress that has occurred throughout 2020), barring any additional unexpected breaking developments from the Church before the end of the year, 2020 will conclude with my having just under 2000 published posts here. 

With the current year set to end around 82-83 hours from now here in Utah, I am pleased in this post to also provide an advanced look ahead at the developments I can anticipate for next year, which are formally scheduled to occur as specified. But I fully anticipate having many currently-unknown breaking news updates to pass along as well. And I will do my level best to remain on top of all such developments in the days, weeks, month and year ahead.

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.