Hello again, everyone! I have recently, for several reasons, updated my predictions for the upcoming October 2023 General Conference. My primary reasons for doing so were due to further analysis of the different speaker lineup patterns for the April 2023 General Conference vs. the October 2022 General Conference. Particularly, I noted that in April, a comparatively higher number of General Authority Seventies spoke, primarily because the Church changed the date when the three GA Seventies were granted emeritus status (that had previously been effective in General Conference weekend in October, and now, those releases are effective August 1).
By contrast, the October General Conference of last year saw 5 General Officers speak, 4 of whom were females. 4 General Officers of the Church also spoke last April, but only 2 were female. As a result of the change in the Young Women General Presidency that became effective on August 1, I believe we will see two members of the new Young Women General Presidency speak, joined by one member apiece of the Young Men, Primary, and Sunday School General Presidencies.
Ordinarily, the Young Men and Sunday School General Presidencies alternate, with one presidency represented in April, and the other in October. But because the Church will likely release the Sunday School General Presidency in April, and because the current Second Counselor thereof has only spoken once, I think Brother Jan E. Newman will speak in October, alongside Brother Michael T. Nelson, the newest member of the Young Men General Presidency, the new Young Women General President and her First Counselor, and the Primary General President. Since all 3 of the Relief Society General Presidency members have spoken in the last two General Conferences, it seems unlikely that a Relief Society General Presidency member will be speaking at this conference.
So that was the biggest reason for me to adjust my projections for the speaker lineup. And because the Church has also had the Presiding Bishopric only speak in October for the last two years, since the predictions also include one member apiece of the Presiding Bishopric and the Presidency of the Seventy, I have reduced the number of GA Seventies I have projected will speak.
Aside from the speaker lineup, there was also a reason to revisit my list of potential locations in which a temple could be announced. I have added a few new locations for the first time based on some additional research I have done. As I mentioned previously, with the Church having presented information about the GA Seventies who were released on August 1, and because they also presented a list of area seventy changes effective August 1, the only changes in general Church leadership that are likely are the potential release of any current area seventies or the sustaining of a few others.
So my predictions will not include projections for the sustaining process this time around. Having shared the latest revisions to my predictions, by way of reminder, the commenting period on them is open until 10:00 PM on Thursday, September 28. And the Church has not yet confirmed that the Saturday Evening Session will be open to all members, but in the absence of such an announcement, my projection is that the session will not be geared to any particular group.
I welcome any inquiries about any aspect of these predictions. I also continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all here as I receive it. Additionally, Sunday marks the 68th birthday of Elder Gary E. Stevenson, followed on Wednesday by the 72nd birthday of Elder Neil L. Andersen, with the 91st birthday of President Dallin H. Oaks following on Saturday. Then on Sunday, I will post my latest updated apostolic data update.
I will likewise look forward (hopefully) to additional breaking temple news next week, and perhaps to a hopeful update on Elder Holland's situation. Whatever might happen in that regard, I will be sure to pass that along to you all here as I become aware of it. 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 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.
Do you have predictions on which of these potential temple sites are the most likely? I think Mongolia should be the most importance place for a new temple because it is so far from existing temples.
ReplyDeleteHey, Kimberley! Great question. I usually have the master list, like the one above, then a more specific area-by-area list of prospects. I haven't put that together for this conference yet. I heard recently that President Nelson will be announcing at least 35 new temples per year. With 15 temples announced in April, I'm projecting at least 20 will be announced in October. Since you asked about this, I will make it a point to put that together and add it to this post ASAP. Thanks for taking time to comment here. I appreciate hearing from you.
DeleteHello again, everyone! As mentioned in my comment above replying to Kimberley from San Diego, I hadn't yet put together my list of more specific temple predictions. I have done so now. You will find my more specific estimates at the bottom of the following document:
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1AHEJOqAjEJDN7aXQLlfrkzc2yTVer6E0TRR5eYdNKB8/edit?usp=sharing
I should add that any 20 of the locations listed appear most likely to be announced. I haven't yet discerned any pattern to the temple announcements in terms of which areas are most likely to have temples announced every six months. Sometimes multiple African temples are announced at the same time, and sometimes that happens in Europe. There also may be some degree of alternation between the Caribbean and Central America Areas, the Pacific and Philippines , and the South America Northwest and South America South Areas. There has been a trend of 5 of the 6 North American Areas having temples announced. The last time a Utah temple was announced was October of 2021. While it's possible that one or two Utah temples could be announced this time around, it may also be that the Church will wait until dedications have occurred for the Orem, Red Cliffs, Layton, and Taylorsville Temples next year before the next Utah temples are announced. So hope these more specific predictions are helpful to you all. Thanks again, everyone!