Hello again, everyone! A short time ago, the Church News shared an article outlining revised recommendations for young single adult congregations. Those changes were announced by an official notice from the Priesthood and Family Department. These changes are being made in response to counsel given by Church President Russell M. Nelson to Young Single Adults in a Worldwide Devotional held last May
So what are these changes? While married Brethren will continue to serve as bishops and stake presidents of YSA wards and stakes, all other adult married couples supporting YSA wards and stakes should be honorably released ASAP. Stake presidents and bishops will call YSA men to serve as their counselors, and the high council of each YSA stake should be made up of YSA members. That also extends to the stake officers serving in the Relief Society and Sunday School presidencies.
The Church is also requesting that, in non-YSA stakes, YSA committees should be formed, with a YSA man and woman called as co-chairs of that committee. If there are insufficient YSA numbers in non-YSA stakes, neighboring stakes may join to form that council. Stake leaders are encouraged to use stake budgets to create "gathering places" for YSAs.
In his address in May, President Nelson made it clear that the Lord trusts the Young Single Adults of the Church, and these adjustments reflect that. I am pleased to have been able to share this update with you all. I continue to monitor all temple updates and Church news reports and will be sure to bring word of those to you as I become aware of such updates. 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. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Hello again, everyone! Aside from this landmark announcement about YSA wards and stakes, the Church News published the following additional reports today, which all speak for themselves:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022/12/1/23482472/light-the-world-videos-to-watch-this-christmas-season
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2022/11/25/23477947/christmas-lights-2022-temple-square-mesa-arizona-washington-dc-oakland-vermont-nauvoo-illinois
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022/12/1/23483556/sarah-jane-weaver-savior-of-the-world-nativity-production-christmas-season
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2022/12/1/23486054/president-cordon-in-asia-youth-devotionals-japan-mongolia-korea
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2022/12/1/23488159/video-miracle-of-a-temple-presiding-bishopric
And here is one new report from the Newsroom:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-gong-meets-with-the-president-of-costa-rica
Any new temple construction updates will follow later tonight as time and circumstances allow. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
The latest edition of "This Week on Social" has been published:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022/12/2/23484118/this-week-on-social-president-ballard-found-faith-christ-england-elder-bednar-children-precious-gift
The latest installment in this weekly series includes content from the following members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, and Dale G. Renlund.
Additionally, the following General Officers also had posts featured this week: Relief Soceity General President Sister Camille N. Johnson; Sister Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency; Amy A. Wright, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency; and Young Men General President Steven J. Lund.
The Church News has provided one additional new report:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2022/12/2/23490364/midland-michigan-nativity-exhibit-1000-nativities-on-display
Also, just by way of reminder, I am setting a post to publish early tomorrow morning in honor of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who will observe his 82nd birthday at that time. Additionally, according to the Guatemala page on the Church website, the groundbreaking for the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple will take place at 8:00 AM here in Utah (which is 9:00 AM in Guatemala City):
https://centroamerica.laiglesiadejesucristo.org/
Additionally, as a heads-up, the 2022 First Presidency's Christmas Devotional will be held Sunday at 6:00 PM. MST. While it is hard to know for certain which general leaders might speak, I have chosen to take a guess again this year:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wQjgIEHxoKNdkO-1GGRenwL2DorGEF_X_2HEAVNF69Y/edit?usp=sharing
Since President Oaks conducted the last two Christmas Devotionals, I think it's fair to assume President Eyring will conduct that this time around, and that President Oaks will be the representative speaker from the First Presidency. Although Elder Uchtdorf last spoke in the Christmas Devotional in 2017 as Second Counselor in the First Presidency, we have recently heard from Elders Holland (in 2020), Bednar (in 2015), Christofferson (in 2014), Rasband (in 2013, when he was still in the Presidency of the Seventy), Stevenson (in 2018), Renlund (in 2021), and Soares (in 2021).
So the only current apostles who have not spoken in the Christmas Devotional are President Ballard and Elders Cook and Andersen. But based on what I've observed in terms of the rotation of the Quorum members, Elder Uchtdorf seemed the most likely. Wouldn't shock me if I'm wrong. Also, we have not heard from a member of the Relief Society General Presidency for a while, so given the fact that her two counselors both spoke in General Conference in October, Sister Johnson seems like a solid choice.
And the Church has not yet had any members of the Presiding Bishopric speak in the devotional since the format change in 2013, so we might see that occur this time, whether it is Bishop Causse or not. Of course, I'm just as likely to be wrong on any of this as I am to be right. Stay tuned for reports on that devotional after it occurs.
The one final thing I'd like to note is that one week after the devotional, I will be publishing my final update on apostolic milestones for 2022. And I will also cover the birthday of Elder Gerrit W. Gong on December 23, and have posts outlining my planned blog posts for 2023, my final 2022 temple construction progress report, and at some point in the near term, the initial version of my predictions for the April 2023 General Conference. Stay tuned for all of that, in addition to continuing coverage of Church news and temple construction updates. My thanks once again to you all.
OOPS! Elder Soares spoke in the Christmas Devotional in 2019, not 2021. Renlund spoke that year. Sorry about that typo.
DeleteI forgot one other thing I meant to mention: As of right now, there have been no changes to the current status of the Bangkok Thailand, Bentonville Arkansas, and Brasilia Brazil Temples. The status for all 3 temples is noted as "Construction nearing completion; final landscaping and interior finish work progressing." With that in mind, if the Church does make its' regular temple construction announcemet on Monday as has been standard in recent weeks, it will likely not be related to any temple open houses or dedications.
DeleteAs I mentoned in a comment further up on the threads of this post, it would not surprise me at all if Monday's announcement was to announce groundbreakings for any of the 23 current temples with site locations confirmed. As I also mentioned above, I see the most likely prospects for such an announcement to be the Port Moreseby Papua New Guinea, Cali Colombia, Belo Horizonte Brazil, or Teton River or Montpelier Idaho Temples. Since the Church last announced 4 groundbreakings on October 17 of this year, it would not be a stretch to assume that Monday could bring the announcement of groundbreakings for all 5 temples. But it's also possible that the Church has something else in mind for Monday's big announcement. Stay tuned for more on that once it is announced. My thanks once again to you all.