Hello again, everyone! Within the last 20 minutes, the Church News has shared a breaking update on the rededication plans cfor the Washington D.C. Temple. According to the news article, Church President Russell M. Nelson will preside at the 3 sessions, set to be held at 9:00 AM, 1:30 PM, and 5:00 PM on Sunday August 14. He will be accompanied by both of his counselors, Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring.
Other general Church leaders participating to varying degrees in the 3 sessions are Elders Quentin L. Cook and Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder Paul V. Johnson (who may have supervisory oversight for the North America Southeast Area as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy); Sister Amy A. Wright, the new First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, who, while serving as Second Counselor in that presidency for the last year, was a member of the Temple and Family History Executive Council (as Elder Gong is currently);
Elder Kevin R. Duncan, Executive Director of the Temple Department; and the presidency of the Church's North America Northeast Area (Elders Allen D. Haynie, W. Mark Bassett, and Vaiangina Sikahema). I am grateful the Church News has confirmed these details, including verifying my theory that President Nelson will personally preside at this temple's rededication.
I continue to monitor all other updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples site and will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines.
Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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! A newly-updated item on the Newsroom Events page has shared the same news about the dedication of the Washington D.C. Temple, but additionally notes that Elder D. Todd Christofferson will also join Elders Cook and Gong:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/event/washington-dc-temple-rededication
I know for sure that each of the First Presidency members and the now-three members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have ties to the Washington D.C. area, which is probably why the Church is having all of them present. My thanks once again to you all.
The Newsroom has also shared an item about the new Relief Society and Primary General Presidencies starting their service:
Deletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/new-primary-relief-society-general-presidencies-begin-service
My thanks once again to you all.
Here are three new reports from the Church News, which speak for themselves:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2022/8/3/23287961/brighton-girls-camp-centennial-celebration-salt-lake-city-big-cottonwood-canyon
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/8/3/23289704/amos-c-brown-fellowship-experience-first-43-college-students-in-ghana
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2022/8/3/23290912/video-faith-links-all-to-preserve-protect-restore-and-defend-religious-freedom-president-oaks
There will probably be some temple updates later on today, and I am also pleased to note by way of reminder that 3 apostles of the Church will mark their birthdays this month. First up is Elder Gary E. Stevenson's 67th on Saturday, followed by Elder Neil L. Andersen's 71st on Tuesday, and finishing up with the major milestone 90th birthday of President Dallin H. Oaks three days after that.
This will mark the first time in a while that there have been 2 nonagenarian members of the First Presidency, and also the first time in a while that the three most senior apostles will all be 90 or older. It's also worth noting a reminder that President Nelson is now the second-oldest apostle, and this Sunday, he will officially have lived longer than Elder David B. Haight, thereby becoming the oldest living apostle in this dispensation.
Stay tuned for coverage on each of these milestones. For now, my thanks once again to you all,
Slight correction: our prophet will reach the milestone of the oldest living apostle officially on Monday, at which point he will be 97 years, 10 months, and 30 days old, one day older than Elder David B. Haight, who currently holds that record. My apologies for supplying unintentional misinformation, and my thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe church bought 74 acres in Rigby Idaho. A community about halfway between Rexburg and Idaho Falls. The article is about halfway down the page after another story at the following link: https://www.eastidahonews.com/2022/08/biz-buzz-gluten-free-bakery-opens-in-idaho-falls/. Another group bought it about a year and a half ago for a mixed use development but it never got started. https://www.eastidahonews.com/2021/01/biz-buzz-new-development-project-in-rigby-getting-mixed-reactions-from-community/
ReplyDeleteIt's much larger than the usual temple lot but the church has made mixed-use of land before. Looking at Rick's temple website maps there appear to be three stakes in Rigby and about 6 others in the area between Idaho Falls and Rexburg. When I eliminate the the larger cities.
I'm not sure but as made my assumption above, it makes me wonder. With it being across from a school, I think it's in a developing area that may be moving away from agriculture use and towards commercial or residential. The church tends to like temples in residential areas unless in large cities where they may be built closer to mass transit areas. Again I'm just speculating and guessing a future purpose at this time.
DeleteHey, Chris! That's an interesting tidbit. It's very possible that the Church could build a temple in that spot someday. The biggest question in my mind is how imminently likely such a prospect might be. You mentioned the Idaho Falls and Rexburg area. We know that current reports seem to indicate that the groundbreaking for Rexburg's second temple (Teton River Idaho) may be one of 3 temples most likely to have a groundbreaking set in the relatively near future. Although there have been cases where the Church is actively constructing more than one temple in states within the "Mormon corridor", with the Burley Idaho Temple now under construction and groundbreakings appearing imminently likely in the near term for both the Montpelier and Teton River Idaho Temple, would a Rigby Idaho Temple be announced soon?
DeleteI suppose that largely depends on if any part of the development in question is specifically owned by the Church. From what you said, it sounds like that may not be the case. Could the Church purchase part of that development? Since they have done so in the past, it's not out of the question. It will be interesting to see what happens there. In the meantime, I did look at my list of potential locations for which a temple could be announced two months from now in General Conference. Among the revisions I most recently made to that list are added temples in Idaho for both Nampa and Rigby. Based on what I laid out above, my gut feeling is that, of the two, Nampa may be more likely. But if it's discovered that the Church has a parcel of the planned development for Rigby, that might change things. Either way, it's always interesting to consider.
Speaking of my General Conference predictions, I have made revisions to those, which I will probably try to post this weekend. And I anticipate, given the fact that we are now two months away fro the October 2022 General Conference, that the Church might soon announce what the Saturday Evening Session's focus and audience will be, whether targeted to a specific group, or just a general one similar to what we had in October of last year. Thanks again, as always, Chris, for taking tie to comment. Always a privilege to hear from you.
I've seen the church buy land to reserve several years before any announcement. Also as you noted we have several current temple districts with several new temples in announced or under construction within their boundaries. In Utah we have Lindon and Orem, and Saratoga Springs.
DeleteI understand that the development is not going through and sold the land to the church.
DeleteInteresting development, Chris! I guess I will reprioritize my Idaho picks, with Rigby now more likely than Nampa. But the big question is whether a Rigby temple would be announced before work is underway or a groundbreaking has even been held, or even announced. Of course, I recognize that President Nelson has announced multiple temples in states in the "Mormon corridor", so it's not entirely out of the question that a Rigby temple could be announced in the near term, or for that matter, that both Rigby and Nampa could have temples potentially announced at the same time. Based on Nelsonian temple
DeleteSorry. The comment published before I had a chance to finish it. I meant to say that, based on Nelsonian temple announcements thus far, it wouldn't shock me if temples for botrh Rigby and Nampa were both announced in the next 1-3 General Conferences, although it's also possible that temples could be announced in both cities at the same time. It's also worth noting that, I am, of course, aware that a fair majority of temples announced in the last 10 or 20 years had temple sites procured either well in advance of, shortly before, or a short time after they were announced. Thanks again, Chris, for sharing this information.
DeleteHello again, everyone! The Church News has provided the following updates today:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022/8/4/23289619/how-to-watch-2022-church-music-festival-rejoice
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2022/8/4/23290244/the-hunger-project-ghana-africa-epicenter-training-self-reliance-women-families-church-support
Although there have been no Newsroom updates thus far today, there may be new temple construction updates, which I will pass along as time and circumstances allow. In the meantime, as I noted in my response to the recent comments from L. Chris Jones above, I am anticipating that, with just two months between now and the October 2022 General Conference, there will be an official announcement soon on whether the Saturday Evening Session will be another general one for all members and friends of the Church (as was the October 2021 General Conference) or targeted to a specific group (as was the case in April with the Women's Session).
Additionally, it's worth noting as well that I have made several updates to my predictions for the upcoming General Conference, which I am hoping to be able to post at some point this weekend. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Here are two more reports from the Church News:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/8/4/23292534/byu-pathway-worldwide-heber-j-grant-tuition-discount-affordable-church-education
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2022/8/4/23290776/why-does-religious-liberty-matter-president-dallin-h-oaks-marcus-cole-notre-dame-summit-freedom
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! I am posting my first comment for today later than I’d hoped or planned. In the last couple of days, I have been dealing with a pretty horrendous migraine and a suspected infection. I am now on treatment for both of those issues, so hopefully, future updates will not be impacted. I also wanted to note that I have prepared in advance 4 posts that will be published on this blog in the next few days to cover 4 major apostolic milestones.
DeleteWith that said, let’s get to the updates for today. The Newsroom and the Church News this morning reported an official response from the Church to a recent Associated Press article that grossly mischaracterized the Church’s response to a serious report about abuse:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-offers-statement-help-line-abuse
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/8/5/23293642/church-offers-statement-on-help-line-and-abuse-reporting
I was somewhat dismayed to hear about this because most of the previous reports about the Church published by the Associated Press had been extremely positive about the subjects covered in those reports. So it was hard to wrap my head around how the AP could have gotten their report so wrong on this matter. I suppose there’s a first time for everything, and I have yet to hear of any news organization that gets everything right on every subject 100% of the time. Hopefully, the Church's response leads to an AP clarification or retraction of the erroneous details.
4 additional Church News reports speak for themselves:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2022/8/5/23282727/church-members-serve-children-education-guatemala-honduras-peru-argentina
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022/8/5/23291082/purpose-of-life-1964-worlds-fair-1970-world-expo-murals-byu-idaho-center
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022/8/5/23292626/justserve-chandler-arizona-plarn-mats-port-pillows-fidget-quilts-community-service-love-thy-neighbor
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2022/8/5/23292948/church-donations-help-build-open-paraguays-first-medical-oxygen-generator
And the latest edition of “This Week on Social” has been published:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022/8/5/23290601/this-week-on-social-say-hello-goodbye-to-primary-and-relief-society-presidencies
While this edition did feature Church President Russell M. Nelson’s social media post (an article was published to cover that post earlier this week on both the Newsroom and the Church News) and a new post from Young Women General President Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, the remainder thereof focused on the final posts from outgoing members of the Relief Society and Primary General Presidencies and their successors.
DeleteThat included two posts from Sister Camille N. Johnson, who now serves as Relief Society General President, and one from her outgoing predecessor, Sister Jean B. Bingham; Sister Bingham’s outgoing First and Second Counselors, Sisters Sharon Eubank and Reyna I. Aburto, who paid tribute to and expressed excitement for us to get to know their successors, Sisters Anette J. Dennis and Kristen M. Yee.
Sister Johnson, who had been serving as Primary General President, had previously introduced her incoming successor, her former First Counselor, Sister Susan H. Porter, so this week saw that post being shared again, along with Sister Porter’s first two posts as Primary General President.
Two posts from Sister Johnson’s Second Counselor, Sister Amy A. Wright, who now serves as First Counselor to Sister Porter, were shared, the second of which included an introduction to Sister Tracy Y. Browning, from whom a first post was also shared. If there are any additional Church News or Newsroom updates, or any new temple construction developments, I will pass those along later today as time and circumstances allow. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Something else just occurred to me. It is now August 5. Per the tradition established last year, any changes in area seventies would have been effective August 1. Since we haven't heard anything official about any changes for this year, there might not be any. That would be somewhat unusual, but certainly not unheard of. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought occurred to me: Last year, August 1 was a Sunday. So it could be that the Church will release changes in area seventies this upcoming Sunday. My thanks once again to you all.
Delete