BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Locations Confirmed for 6 Temples in North and South America; Exterior Rendering Released for Fort Worth Texas Temple

Note: A brief version of this post, covering the announcement, was published at 1:55 PM, with additional analysis and details added between 6:00-10:00 PM (with the delay in providing these updates due to Halloween night.).

Hello again, everyone! On this Monday, major temple news has been announced by the Church. Site locations and preliminary information were released for the Mexico City Benemerito and San Luis Potosi Mexico Temples, the Sao Paulo East Brazil Temple, and the Fort WorthTexas, Knoxville Tennessee, and Tampa Florida Temples. Additionally, the exterior rendering was also released for the Fort Worth Texas Temple. A more detailed analysis of this announcement will follow later this afternoon as time and circumstances allow. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

After a busy day in which I had other priorities to handle, I am finally returning this Halloween evening here in Utah to provide the updated analysis I promised. So let's get right into it: We start in Mexico, with the Mexico City Benemerito Mexico and San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple, which were both announced in April of this year. 

The Mexico City Benemerito Mexico Temple will be built near the existing MTC in Mexico City. The address of the site in question is Tenayuca-Chalmita 828, Col. Zona Escolar, Gustavo A. Madero, Ciudad de México, CP 07230, Mexico. The acreage of the site in question was not provided, but the site will hold a two-story temple of approximately 29,000 square feet. It's also worth noting that this is the first "second temple" in a major capital city for which the official name and region were already specified as part of the announcement.

As for the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple, the single-story 9,300 square foot edifice will be built at Arboleda 100, Fraccionamiento del Parque, San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, CP 78260, Mexico, on a 3.87 acre site. Given the size specified, I think we might see a similar design for that temple that has been used for the Yigo Guam, Praia Cape Verde, and San Juan Puerto Rico Temples, particularly with the two ordinance rooms that can alternately be used for endowment sessions or sealing appointments as the schedule requires.

That brings us to the Sao Paulo East Brazil Temple. A comment left on this post by longtime contributor Kenny correctly noted we did not get an official name fandor this temple with today's announcement. But we got a site announcement and released rendering for the second temple in Guatemala City Guatemala first, with the confirmation of the official name coming later, and the groundbreaking scheduled after that. So I think similar situation could apply to the Sao Paulo East Brazil Temmple. It's also a fair observation that the official name for the second Sao Paulo Brazil Temple could be posted to the Church's official list of announced temples at some point before the official confirmation from the Church, which also happened with the second Guatemala City temple. Stay tuned for more on that.

In the meantime, as for the details about the temple, it was announced in October of 2020. The approximatelyy 46,050 square foot two-story temple will rise on a 10.7 acre site at the location of Av. Guilherme Giorgi, 1091, Vila Carrão São Paulo - SP, Brazil. Based on the location, I could see the Church giving it the official name of Vila Carrão São Paulo Brazil, ila Carrão Brazil, or the name of any of the stakes or landmarks in that region, with or without the city designation. The Church may also use any Spanish or Portuguese word, as they did with the Miraflores name for the second Guatemala City Temple.

In any case, given the fact that we have a Brazilian native in Elder Soares as an apostle, I assume that the First Presidency and Temple and Family History Executive Council asked for his opinion on the location, and may give him the prerogative of suggesting the official name, as they did with Elder Holland and the second temple in St. George. The second temple in that city was one of only two left in the queue that was originally announced in October 2020.

That brings us to the 3 temples in the United States. As mentioned in my initial version of this post, the exterior rendering for the Fort Worth Texas Temple was released with the site information, pushing that temple higher on the list of those likely to see groundbreakings soon than its' two US counterparts which also had locations and initial details confirmed today, and also ahead of the Modesto California and Singapore Temples, which had sites confirmed without a release of exterior renderings three weeks ago today. 

The Fort Worth Texas Temple will be built in nearby Burleson Texas, on a 9.37-acre site located North of SW Hulen Street and Greenridge Drive in that city and will be a single-story temple of 30,000 square feet. Hopefully, the release of a rendering with the site location means we could see a groundbreaking follow in the early months of next year, if not sooner. 

The Fort Worth Texas Temple is the second of the four US Temples announced in October 2021. The other two US temples were both announced in April of this year. Interestingly, the site locations for the Knoxville Tennessee and Tampa Florida Temples were revealed in the opposite order in which they were announced. So wnoe start with Tennessee's third temple, which will rise on a 4.99-acre site at 13001 Kington Pike, Farragut, Tennessee, where the Church will build a single-story temple of 30,000 square feet. 

And the newest temple for Florida will be the same size as Knoxville and will be built adjacent to an existing meetinghouse on a 16.2-acre site at 4806 Bell Shoals Road, in Valrico, Florida. Given the fact that the three US temples are the same size, I wouldn't be shocked if both the Knoxville and Tampa temples have similar or identical designs as the Fort Worth Texas Temple. 

It's also worth noting that none of the three US temples are actually going to physically be located in the cities for which they are named, which is kind of unique. I have some additional thoughts to share about today's announcements. For the first time in over a year, I have updated the document showing updated sections of my temple construction progress report. 

The sections in question show the 4 temples with groundbreakings scheduled, the now-16 temples for which I think groundbreakings could all occur at some point next year, the 6 temples for awhich official details might soon be confirmed, and the now-9 temples in the United States announced in October of last year and the two General Conferences this year which might have details confirmed sooner than their remaining 37 counterparts outside the United States.

Additionally, I have updated the list of announced temples for which no official information has been confirmed yet. That list now reflects the 2 temples originally announced in April 2018, one apiece from the next 2 General Conferences, 3 from April 2020, 1 from October of that same year, 5 and 9 respectively from April and October of last year, and 11 and 18 from the 35 announced in April and October of this year, respectively. 

And as a result of today's announcement, with 72 temples announced, the total number of temples that have not had any information announced comes to 51. I fully believe that there will be other announcements relating to some of those 51 in the coming weeks. Before I conclude this post, I wanted to also address some comments that have been left here recently which have expressed hope that the Church might soon announce the open houses and rededication for the Columbus Ohio Temple and the dedications of other temples nearing completion.

Based on some research on my end, it seems most likely that the reopening arrangements for Columbus will be coming next, and when that is set, it could happen on the last Sunday in February or the first two Sundays in March. The dedications of the temples in Saratoga Springs Utah (to which I will be assigned once it is dedicated), Richmond Virginia, and Bangkok Thailand would then follow later in March or April. And the dedications of other temples would be after that. 

My revised estimates come as a result of receiving word of supply chain delays that will delay the finishing touches on these temples, and the revised estimates are made with that in mind. That being said, at some point, if the supply shortages are addressed and sufficiently resolved, that could accelerate the timeline for temple open houses and their associated dedications or rededications. For now, it seems more prudent to be more conservative in those estimates.

I continue to monitor all temple construction updates, in addition to all Church News, Newsroom, and other reports and will do my best to continue to bring you word of those developments as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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.

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data every 7 weeks. Having last done so on Sunday, September 4, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents, in addition to updated information on the tenure length records for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The first document likewise notes information on the tenure length rankings for three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (which will not be updated with the current First Presidency until 2024), in addition to the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), in addition to when each of those current groups will move up on the list.

Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the apostolic groups overall, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 3 of the current 15 apostles being on that list, and th>

Hopefully, this shared data will be of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to ask anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. I will, of course, continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and I will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of all such reports. 

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Dates Announced for Four Latin American Temples; Official Details Released for the Managua Nicaragua Temple

Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news has once again been announced by the Church. And this announcement is a huge one. The announcement includes a site confirmation, the release of an exterior rendering, and the groundbreaking announcement for the Managua Nicaragua Temple, which was announced by President Nelson in April 2018.  Let's break down the details:

The single-story 25,000 square foot Managua Nicaragua Temple will be built in the area of Departamento de Managua, Nicaragua, at km 9.3 Carretera Masaya, between 2nd and 3rd entrance streets to Residencial Las Colinas, Distrito V – (5).  Elder Taylor G. Godoy, First Counselor in the Central America Area Presidency, will preside at the temple groundbreaking on Saturday, November 20, 2022. I don't know at this point if the site location in question is in fact the one the Church has been holding in reserve for years, but we may find that out later.

If that was the only temple update today, it would be wonderful enough. But groundbreakings have also been confirmed for the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple (first announced in October 2020) and the Torreon and Queretaro Mexico Temples (which were both announced in April 2021). The site locations and exterior renderings were revealed for the Torreon Mexico and Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temples on September 23 of last year, with the official name for Guatemala City's second temple being confirmed on July 1 of this year.  

As you might recall my mentioning, the Torreon Mexico Temple will be the first built outside the United States to use the 10,000 square-foot modular components. Oficial information was released for the Queretaro Mexico Temple on December 7, 2021. So, having reviewed the history of the stage-by-stage announcements for the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala, Torreon Mexico, and Queretaro Mexico Temples, when will those groundbreakings take place? And who will oversee them?

The groundbreaking for the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple will take place on Saturday, December 3, 2022, under the direction of Elder Patricio M. Giuffra, Second Counselor in the Central America Area Presidency. One week later, the groundbreaking for the Torreon Mexico Temple will take place under the direction of Mexico Area President Elder Hugo Montoya (his biography mistakenly notes him as serving in the South America Northwest Area Presidency, which has not been true for several years).

And the groundbreaking services for the Queretaro Mexico Temple are set to take place on Saturday, January 7 of next year, with Elder Adrian Ochoa, First Counselor in the Mexico Area Presidency, set to preside thereat.

Having shared this information, if I might do so, I'd like to interject a few other general comments: While I've been hoping for 3 of these temples to have groundbreakings in the near term,  Managua Nicaragua was not on my radar as a temple that could have a site location confirmed, a rendering released, and a groundbreaking set in one fell swoop.

Above and beyond that, however, I do not necessarily believe that the Torreon Mexico Temple will be the last one to have a groundbreaking announced and set to occur by the end of this year. I fully anticipate that more official information (particularly exterior renderings and groundbreaking arrangements) could be set for both the Teton River Idaho and Montpelier Idaho Temples in the coming weeks and that either or both could still potentially occur this year. Other temple groundbreakings could also be set to occur before the end of this year as well. 

A few prospects there: we know that the Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple site is being cleared and that the Tarawa Kiribati and Port Vila Vanuatu could also see groundbreakings in the near term. And it's still possible that the Belo Horizonte Brazil and Cali Colombia Temples, which had their sites confirmed and exterior renderings released at the same time that both the Torreon Mexico and Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temples had their official information announced, could see groundbreakings set soon as well.

If I had to venture a guess as to the most likely other temples that might have a groundbreaking before the end of this year, I think that the Teton River and Montpelier Idaho Temples, and the Port Moresby Papua. New Guinea Temple top that list. Whether or not any or all of them might actually see that occur remains to be seen. But in any case, I continue to monitor all such updates, in addition to anything else relating to temple construction or general Church news, and will be sure to pass those updates along as they cross my radar. I am grateful to have been able to find out about this announcement and to share the analysis thereof here with you all.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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.

UPDATE: Post-Conference Documents

 Hello again, everyone! With tomorrow marking two weeks since the October 2022 General Conference convened, I wanted to share my post-conference document analysis. First, I wanted to provide a report on my predictions for General Conference. First up is the review of my predictions for the speaker lineup, the changes in general Church leadership, and the most like prospective temple locations. As a result of those predictions vs. what actually happened, I have taken the opportunity to analyze and score those predictions.

Some reminders on the scoring might be helpful. Regarding my projected speaker lineup, 3 points were awarded if I got the right speaker in the right position in the right session. Some examples of that are my correct predictions that President Henry B. Eyring would conduct the Saturday Morning Session, and that Elder Dale G. Renlund would speak in the exact spot he did in the same session. 

Two points were awarded if I got the right speaker in the right session but in the wrong position. Some examples of that were President Dallin H. Oaks and President Russell M. Nelson, who both spoke in the first session, but in the reverse order from what I predicted. One point was awarded when I correctly predicted that a leader would speak at any point in the conference, but had them both in the wrong session and the wrong order in that session. 

Examples of that are Tracy Y. Browning, who spoke Saturday Morning rather than Sunday Morning, and Bishop Causse, who spoke Saturday Evening rather than Saturday Morning. And of course, anything I had not predicted that occurred was given a score of 0. Examples of that would be the two counselors in the Relief Society General Presidency since I had predicted that Relief Society General President, Sister Camille N. Johnson, would speak.

Regarding my predictions for changes in general Church leadership, on the General Authority Seventies, each name was awarded 3 points, as I had all of those correct. Then there were 3 points apiece for the two changes (releases and sustaining) that were ratified as groups.  And on the temple locations, 3 points meant I had the correct location exactly right, with 2 points for having the correct general region but the wrong specific location. 

I gave myself a small margin of error on both the temple predictions and the speaker lineup since there were some things I couldn't have predicted, like President Nelson being the last speaker in the Saturday Morning Session, or the two temples in the Philippines and 4 locations around Mexico City. 

So, as reflected in the scorecard, even though there was a lot about this conference that I had no way to predict, what I put together yielded a 62.8% accuracy rate, and with all of the unknowns, I'm satisfied with that. If that was all I had to pass along tonight, I'd be satisfied therewith, but I do have a few more items. As I usually do, I have also been able to compile a document showing the lengths of each apostolic address. 

I have likewise updated the document showing the total number of General Conference addresses given by each of our current apostles. And I have also created a mock-up of what I think the table of contents might look like for the November 2022 Liahona. It appears as though the HTML version of that magazine is already available. It wouldn't shock me if the PDF version follows in the next week or two. Whenever that is officially available, I will cover that information here. I will also be sure to provide a follow-up on how my mock-up table of contents compares with the actual thing. I likewise continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and will be sure to post here with the latest on that as I become aware thereof.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time.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. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Announces Locations and Initial Details for Temples in Singapore and California

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the Church announced locations and initial details for temples in Singapore and California. Let's get right into all of the details. A temple for the city of Singapore within the Republic of Singapore was first announced during the April General Conference last year. Today's news release only references this temple as the Singapore Temple, so a decision might have been made to reduce and simplify the name. 

Plans for this temple call for an 18,000-square-foot two-story temple and an adjacent meetinghouse and an arrival center to be built on a one-acre site at 33 Pasir Panjang Road in that city. The other temple for which the location and initial details were announced is the Modesto California Temple, announced in April of this year. will be a single-story 30,000 square-foot edifice that will be built on a vacant 17.63 site adjacent to the meetinghouse at 4300 Dale Road in Modesto. 

As a result of today's announcement, and bearing in mind that ground was broken for the Heber Valley Utah Temple on Saturday, there are currently 73 announced temples in the Church. Of those 73, a groundbreaking has been officially set for 1 (Willamette Valley Oregon, which is scheduled to take place later this month), and sites have been announced for an additional 13 (with exterior renderings released for all but 4 of those).

Therefore, the total number of announced temples for which no official information has been confirmed yet has now been lowered to 59. And hopefully, that number will continue to be lowered in the remaining weeks of 2022 ahead. I am grateful to have learned about and been able to share this development. And the timing thereof seems to indicate that Monday may indeed be a new standard day for such announcements.

I am a bit surprised that the next temple announcement was not reopening arrangements for the Columbus Ohio Temple or opening arrangements for the Saratoga Springs Utah, Bangkok Thailand, and/or Richmond Virginia Temples, but I am assuming that there is a reason for the delay in all of those announcements. I continue to track such updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware thereof.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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.  

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.

President M. Russell Ballard Observes His 94th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! With the wonderful spirit of the October 2021 General Confeence still strongly impacting all of us, I wanted to post in honor of President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is observing his 94th birthday today. Among the 20 total nonagenarian apostles, President Ballard is currently the eighth-oldest and he will next move up on that list in August of next year. That said, let's get to some biographical details: Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. was born in Salt Lake City Utah to Melvin Russell Sr. & Geraldine Smith Ballard, on this day in 1928. Both his paternal and maternal grandfathers (Melvin J. Ballard and Hyrum M. Smith) were apostles, and Elder Ballard is thus a direct descendant of the early leaders of the Church (Hyrum M. was the son of Joseph F., who was the son of Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph).

As I previously mentioned, the Church has, by tradition, had at least one apostle currently serving who has ancestral ties to the Smith family. It is further interesting to note that Bruce R. McConkie, who was the last apostle indirectly related to the Smith family (being the son-in-law of Joseph Fielding Smith, who was the son of Joseph F. who was the son of Hyrum, who was the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith), was the apostle whose death resulted in the apostolic vacancy that necessitated Elder Ballard's call.

As a young man, now-President Ballard served as a missionary in England, as has been noted in previous blog posts. Upon his return, he served in the US Army Reserves, where he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. As a result of obtaining his secondary education from the University of Utah, he met a young lady named Barbara Bowen, whom he married on August 8, 1951 in the Salt Lake Temple. Sister Ballard passed away roughly three years ago.

They became the parents of 7 children, and one of their daughters, Brynn, married Peter Huntsman, whose mother, Karen Haight Huntsman, is the daughter of Elder David B. Haight, one of Elder Ballard's apostolic colleagues. It is interesting to see the additional relationship Elder Ballard has to other LDS apostles. Brother Ballard worked professionally in auto sales. His Church service included serving as a counselor to his mission president, as a bishop twice, and as president of the Canada Toronto Mission. He completed the final year of that assignment as a General Authority Seventy, having received that call in April 1976.

Less than four years later, on February 20, 1980, he was called to the Presidency of the Seventy. Both before and as a result of that assignment, he served in a wide variety of capacities. Particularly, the Church had established an International Mission in the late 1970s, and in 1985 then-Elder M. Russsell Ballard was called to serve as president of that mission, overseeing the isolated congregations within it from Church headquarters. During his roughly 5 years and 7 months or so in the Presidency of the Seventy, he had moved up in that Presidency from being the junior member thereof to the third most senior member.

A few short weeks after rising from his sickbed to give his powerful final testimony, Elder Bruce R. McConkie passed away, and Elder Ballard was then called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Now-President Ballard is known and respected for the emphasis he has placed on missionary work in his apostolic ministry. Since October 1985, he has moved from the position of the junior apostle to now being the third in apostolic seniority. In his 43 years as a general authority (with 36 years as an apostle), he has given a grand total of  86 addresses in General Conference, including the one he gave just this last weekend. Of those 86, 7 were given prior to his apostolic call.

And, as we know, the death of President Thomas S. Monson in early January of 2018 resulted in the First Presidency being reorganized on January 14, with President Russell M. Nelson choosing his apostolic seatmate and the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Dallin H. Oaks, as his First Counselor. Consequently, President M. Russell Ballard was set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve. He thus is tasked, with the approval of the First Presidency, with giving the other 11 members of that Quorum their various assignments around the world and at Church headquarters. I am grateful for the life and apostolic ministry of President M. Russell Ballard, and on this, his 94th birthday, testify of the divine inspiration that attended both his apostolic call and the way and timing by which he has moved up in ranks of apostolic seniority and among all apostolic nonagenarians. I gladly sustain him and the other apostles in their foreordained roles. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will bring word of all such developments to you all here as I learn about them.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Prophet Announces 18 New Temples, Including Multiples for Major Metropolitan Areas, as the October 2022 General Conference Concludes

Hello again, everyone! The October 2022 General Conference concluded a short time ago, and I am pleased to report that, in the final minutes of his concluding remarks, Russell M. Nelson, the Prophet and President of the Church, announced 18 new temples to be built in the following locations:

Busan Korea; Naga and Santiago Philippines; Eket Nigeria; Chiclayo Peru; Buenos Aires City Center Argentina; Londrina and Riberao Preto Brazil; Huehuetenango Guatemala; Jacksonville Florida; Grand Rapids Michigan; Prosper Texas; Lone Mountain Nevada; and Tacoma Washington. 

Additionally, President Nelson noted that, in view of the growing Church, large metropolitan areas of the world will need multiple temples to serve the members and save them from unnecessary hardship for temple worship. Since the above total was only 14, four new temples were also announced to serve the greater Mexico City area: Cuernavaca, Pachuca, Toluca, and Tula Mexico.

Of those 18, I had the exact location correct for 8 (Santiago Philippines, Chiclayo Peru, Buenos Aires #2 (no surprise it will be built in the center of the city), Ribeirao Preto Brazil, Huehuetenango Guatemala, Jacksonville Florida, Grand Rapids Michigan, Tacoma Washington) and the right general location but the wrong specific one for the temples in Nigeria, Texas, and Nevada. For Brazil and the Philippines, I had one of the two locations correct and the other incorrect.  

Since I also had no way to predict multiple temples in major metropolitan areas, it goes without saying that I didn't see the 4 Mexico City area temples coming all at once. The Lord has once again proven, as He always does, that His ways ad thoughts are higher than my ways and thoughts (I know that will come as a great shock to so many of you). The total number of temples has now risen to 300 in any phase, and hopefully, the temple-related announcements will continue to finish out the year and for the foreseeable future.

For my part, I am monitoring all such developments and will bring word of those to you all here as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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.

In Tribute to Elder Ulisses Soares on His 64th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! With the Sunday Morning Session of the October 2022 General Conference a little over an hour from now, I am pleased to bring you all a post honoring Elder Ulisses Soares, who is celebrating his 64th birthday today. As I've mentioned previously, Elder Soares has a most unique life story and background, and I am grateful to share some thoughts about him with you all. Ulisses Soares was born on this day in 1958 in São Paulo Brazil to Apparecido Soares and Mercedes Carecho Soares. He has European and Amerindian ancestry. When an aunt joined the Church, that was how the Soares' family first learned of the gospel. His parents, after being taught by the missionaries, were baptized when young Ulisses was five years old.

Regarding his experience with worshipping in the Church during his growing-up years, his small branch would meet in a tiny rental place that was located above a bakery. He served a full-time mission in Rio de Janeiro, Upon his return, he connected with;Rosana Fernandes Morgado, who had served in the same mission at around the same time, but whom he had not met until after they both had returned. The two were married in the Sao Paulo Temple, and together they raised three children

His academic experience involved studying at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, from which, in 1985, he received a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting. He then continued his studies at the;National Institute of Postgraduate Study, where he earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration. He spent his professional career working for several multinational companies (one of which was Pirelli Tire Company) as an accountant and an auditor. Donald L. Clark, who at that time was serving as director of temporal affairs for the Church in Brazil, convinced him to take a job with the Church as a senior auditor.

When Brother Clark was asked to serve as a mission president, Brother Soares took over for him as director of temporal affairs. He went on to fill a special assignment for the Church's Presiding Bishopric. Within the Church, Elder Soares has served as an elder's quorum president, counselor in a bishopric, stake high councilman, and as a regional welfare agent.

When the;São Paulo Brazil Cotia Stake was created in 1995, Elder Soares was called as the first president thereof. 5 years later, he served a three-year term as president of the Porto Portugal Mission. Less than two years after his return (during the April 2005 General Conference), he was called as a General Authority Seventy.

As a General Authority Seventy, he served as First Counselor in the Brazil South Area.from 2005-2007, as First Counselor in the Brazil Area from 2007-2009, and as President of that area from 2009-2011. He served from August 2011-January 2013 as First Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency, at which point he was called to serve in the Presidency of the Seventy, with responsibility for the North America Southeast Area; Then, in November 2015, Elder Soares was reassigned to oversee the Idaho and North America Central Areas of the Church. He still had oversight of both of those areas in 2018.

On March 31, 2018, Elder Soares was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he was ordained an apostle on Thursday April 5, 2018. He thus became both the first Latter-day Saint apostle from Brazil and the first one from Latin America. Elder Soares has had many opportunities to grow into his new assignment. In the last 1.5 decades in which has has served as a general authority, he has given a total of;14 General Conference addresses, with the first 2 given as a General Authority Seventy, 3 more as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 9 given since his call to the apostleship, not counting his address given this General Conference weekend.

At this point, I wanted to mention one additional thing: Both the Deseret News and the Church News published articles about the recently-released biography of President Dallin H. Oaks. One of the elements featured in those articles about President Oaks’ biography detailed the conditions under which President Nelson called Presidents Oaks and Eyring as his counselors: Those callings were only made after President Nelson had personally met individually with each of his other 12 apostles. President Nelson requested these interviews with each of his fellow apostles with a desire to have his Brethren’s best thoughts about which two of them should serve as his counselors and who should be called to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

While we don’t know specifically how Presidents Oaks and Eyring were selected, iit seems to be a safe conclusion that most of the apostles felt those two should be his counselors. And with that being the apparent outcome there, I am reasonably certain that a high percentage of those 12 apostles recommended that Elders Gong and Soares be called to fill the resulting vacancies in the apostleship.

In any case, if nothing else, we know that the Lord inspired the calls of Elders Gong and Soares. I gratefully and wholeheartedly sustain all 15 “special witnesses of Christ” in their divinely-inspired and doctrinally-supported roles prophets, seers, and revelators in their roles and responsibilities as special witnesses of Christ, and am grateful to have been able to provide this birthday tribute to him today. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring you all word of the major developments as I learn thereof, particularly those that will occur during this weekend of the October 2022 General Coferece.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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.