Hello again, everyone! With this being my 2,300th post on this blog, let's get right into the latest birthday tribute I'm posting in honor of Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Neil Linden Andersen was born on this day in 1951 to Lyle and Kathryn Andersen in Logan Utah. His family relocated to Pocatello when he was five to run a dairy farm. He served a full-time mission in France, then obtained a bachelor's degree in economics, eventually earning his MBA from Harvard, also in economics.
During his time at BYU, he met and married his wife, Kathy Sue Anderson, and together they raised four children. He spent his professional career working various jobs. At the pinnacle of his career, he was Vice President of the Morton Plant Health System. He has served in the Church as a stake president’s counselor, stake president and mission president (assigned to the France Bordeaux Mission) from 1989-1992. Less than a year after his return, he was called to be a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Interestingly, his call as a General Authority occurred in the same conference as that of his future apostolic seatmate, Elder D. Todd Christofferson.
Through the next couple of decades as a Seventy, he served in a wide variety of Church assignments, including as executive director of the church's Audiovisual Department, assistant executive director of the Priesthood Department, and in the presidencies of the following areas: Europe West ,Utah North, Utah South, North America Southwest, North America Northeast, and the Brazil South Area (during which time he also served as the area president).
In 2005, Elder Andersen was called to the Presidency of the Seventy (alongside Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who would eventually become Elder Andersen's apostolic seatmate). While serving in that Presidency, he was assigned to preside over the Idaho Area (from 2005-2007). By the time his stewardship switched to the North America Southwest Area (2007-2009), he had gone from being the second-least senior member of that Presidency to being the third-most-senior member. In 2008, with Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (in April) and the release of Senior President Elder Earl C. Tingey (in August, in preparation for his being granted emeritus status in the October General Conference), Elder Andersen then became the Senior President of the Seventy, a role in which he would only serve for around 8 months.
With the December 2008 death of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Elder Andersen was subsequently called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the April 2009 General Conference. An interesting bit of trivia is the fact that Elders Christofferson, Andersen, and Rasband were all seatmates in the Presidency of the Seventy as of August 2007, and they would all go on to be apostolic seatmates, with their apostolic calls occurring in April 2008, April 2009, and October 2015 respectively.
Since Elder Andersen's original call as a General Authority Seventy in April 1993, he has given a total of 34 addresses in General Conference (3 of which he gave as a General Authority Seventy, with 2 others given while he was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 29 since his call to the QuorIum of the Twelve Apostles).
Elder Andersen continues to be the seventh in both senirotiy and chronological birth order among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and ranks tenth among the 15 total apostles in both seniority and birth chronology. I gladly sustain him and each of his 14 apostolic colleagues as prophets, seers, and revelators, and am grateful to have been able to publish this tribute in honor of his birthday today. 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 liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly-added posts and comments. 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.
In honor of Elder Andersen's birthday today, the Church News has shared 9 quotes from his ministry within the last year. Teenages have given their advice about starting a JustServe club at school. And Sunday School General President Mark L. Pace and his wife, Sister Anne Marie Pace, have highlighted the importance of personal prayer and scripture study at this week's MTC devotional. I should add that while they were specifically addressing MTC missionaries, their message is applicable to all. Thanks again, everyone!
ReplyDeleteThe Church News has additionally reported on how to see the British pageant, either in person or by livestream. And at an event in Brasilia Brazil, Elder Ulisses Soares praised religious freedom My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteUnrelated, but of interest. Will be about chapel and temple design, from a church architect.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/events/1008852686789081/?ref=newsfeed
Jim Anderson, thanks for taking time to share this. That is interesting. Let me know how it goes. I appreciated you!
DeleteOn this Thursday, the Newsroom has shared a report on remarks given by Elder Ulisses Soares at a Brazilian symposium on religious liberty. This marked the second time in as many years that Elder Soares participated in this Symposium. The Newsroom has also highlighted a Latter-day Saint who was just named as a Supreme Court Justice in South Korea. Meanwhile, the Church News has reported on FSY conferences held in American Samoa and Tahiti. The Church News also reports on how Latter-day Saints in Hawaii have recently been affected by fires. And the Yigo Guam Temple has reopened after recently-completed repairs following a typhoon. As anticipated, since the repairs were handled by Church memers, there is no need to rededicate that temple. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe Newsroom has provided a similar update covering the Hawaiian fires. Meanwhile, the Church News updated their coverage of the fires. And, still on assignment in his native Brazil, Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently welcomed Brazil's vice president to the Brasilia Brazil temple open house.
DeleteThe Church News additionally announced that the Youth Music & Arts Festival, set to be held on August 15, will will span 24 hours. Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Jeffrey R. Holland and Quentin L. Cook were featured in a new Church News video highlighting interviews with the 3 apostles that took place in June. The video shares their comments on the second edition of Preach My Gospel. They specifically focused on how families and missionaries alike can utilize that latest edition in missionary efforts. My thanks once again to you all.
There has been a major reshuffling in the temple construction queue for several temples anticipated to be completed in 2026. The Ephraim Utah Temple has now replaced the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple (with a completion estimate of late 2025-early 2026), while the latter temple's estimate has shifted to early 2026. Next in the queue is the Yorba Linda California Temple, with a revised estimate of early-to-mid 2026 (previously, no temples had that estimated window). For the tempes anticipated to be completed in mid-2026, the Bacolod Philippines and Managua Nicaragua Temples are now followed by the Montpelier Idaho Temple, then the Freetown Sierra Leone, Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala, and Queretaro Mexico Temples.
DeleteAdditionally, status updates have been provided for the Willamette Valley Oregon and Yorba Linda California Temples.
Before posting this comment, I would like to note that I am going in for a sleep study tonight. I will need to be there by no later than 8:30 PM, and won't be finished until around 6:30 AM tomorrow. Therefore, any other Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates wil not e published here until my return. My thanks once again to you all for your ongoing interest and support.
The Middle East/Africa North Newsroom page shares a new report. That Newsroom also confirmed the changes I'm the Middle East/Africa North Area presidency. My thanks once again to you all.
Delete*in* that presidency. Stupid autocorrect! Thanks again.
DeleteOn this Friday afternoon, the Newsroom and the Church News have reported on the Church's massive $44 million to various organization to help with childhood nutrition initiatives. Church News staff writer Scott Taylor has shared how driving to 10 temples in three hours taught him a valuable life lesson. And the Church News also shared the pioneer story of the first Church convert from Lebanon. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe latest edition of "This Week on Social" has been published. The newest installment in that continuing series featured content from the following general Church leaders: Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring, the respective First and Second Counselors in the First Presidency; Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson; Sister Tamara W. Runia, the new First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency; Primary General President Susan H. Porter (from the latter of whom 2 posts were shared) and her First Counselor, Sister Amy A. Wright; and Sunday School General President Mark L. Pace and his First Counselor, Brother Milton Camargo. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteI failed to mention a significant temple construction update that was reported today. According to a new report on the Layton Utah Temple, major construction has been completed, and furniture and furnishings are being delivered. That temple now moves ahead of the Puebla Mexico Temple. Based on this development, I think the Church may have opted to wait to announce opening arrangements for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple until an announcement of similar arrangements could be made for the Layton Utah Temple. This also means that the Puebla Mexico, Salta Argentina, and Coban Guatemala Temples could have their openings announced jointly. Based on these adjustments, I now believe that a March dedication is likely for Red Cliffs and Layton, perhaps either on the same day or one or two weeks apart in March. And I think it might also be possible that the Puebla Mexico Temple might potenttially be dedicated in late March or mid-April.
DeleteSo I've revised my more specific estimates for temples yet again (since the only real constant in temple construction is change), As a result of those updates, I now believe we will see a minimum of 17 or 18 temple dedications next year. If the Church schedules multiple dedications per month (including any that may occur on a single date) that number could potentially be higher.
The big question mark now is, what impact, if any, Elder Holland's health might have on how soon the opening arrangements for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple might occur. I would certainly hope that, if the dedication is soon set to take place in March, that that would give him sufficient time to recover from his recent health challenges to a point where he could oversee that (or potentially accompany a more senior apostle who might do so). Of our 15 apostles, Presidents Oaks, Eyring, and Ballard have overseen four dedications or rededications apiece. Meanwhile, President Nelson and Elders Uchtdorf, Bednar, Cook, Christofferson, Andersen, Stevenson and Soares have overseen 3 temple dedications or rededications apiece, Elders Rasand, Renlund, and Gong have each overseen 2 dedications/rededications apiece. Elder Holland is the only apostle who has personally presided at one temple rededication, so my hope is that he will be well enough to oversee both the rededication of the St. George Utah Temple in December and the dedication of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple, whenever that is set.
Quick note of clarification: The breakdown above only counts the temples dedicated or rededicated during President Nelson's prophetic administration. I am, of course, aware that Presidents Nelson, Oaks, Ballard, and Eyring and Elders Holland, Uchtdorf, and Bednar presided at other temple dedications or rededications prior to when President Nelson became the prophet. I may or may not add those previous dedications/rededications at some point in the future. Also, I don't know if there are any other temple construction updates aside from the one I shared for the Layton Utah Temple. If there are, I will pass along those updates as time and circumstances allow. My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News shared new report late yesterday on the Church's efforts to help following recent fires in Hawaii. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Newsroom also shared an update yesterday on efforts provided in the wake of the Hawaii fires. The Newsroom also reported yesterday on migrant aid in Mexico that has been provided by the Church. My thanks once again to you all.
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