Stokes Sounds Off: BREAKING NEWS: Health Updates on President Nelson and Elder Holland

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Thursday, September 28, 2023

BREAKING NEWS: Health Updates on President Nelson and Elder Holland

Hello again, everyone! New health updates have been provided for President Russell M. Nelson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  Shortly after his 99th birthday, President Nelson fell. Having prescribed similar treatment for other patients in similar information, the prophet will be following doctor's orders to rest and will not be present for General Conference weekend. 

His social media update on this indicates that he hopes to record his message (singular). I assume that refers to either his main message for Sunday morning or his concluding remarks on Sunday Afternoon. As a result, I anticipate his counselors will step up to the plate and fill in for him in opening and closing the conference, and, if necessary, announcing any new updates, including new temples, unless the prophet prerecords that message to close the conference.

Meanwhile, Elder Holland continues to recuperate at home from his recent hospital stay and will be watching remotely. The article didn't say anything about him prerecording his remarks, so I assume we won't hear from him again this weekend. But hopefully, both the prophet and Elder Holland will be able to be present and fully participate in General Conference in April.

I don't know what this means for my General Conference predictions, but I will figure that out and have the updates ready to go in my 10:00 PM post tonight that will share the final version of those predictions. In the interim, I continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will continue to pass those along as time and circumstances allow. 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.

6 comments:

  1. I had an idea cross my mind and I was wondering what you think. I was wondering if because of the major backlog in temples and President Nelson's health, if they might delay announcing this conference's slew of temples for April. What do you think are the chances of this?

    -Сњешко

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    1. Сњешко, great question. I have received additional information about temple plans for the foreseeable future. The information suggests what I have said all along: President Nelson isn't afraid of any backlog, no matter how big. And the same information seems to indicate that most of the temples currently under construction or announced will likely be dedicated before 2028. So there will be no hiatus, even one conference, in temple announcements. President Nelson has two able-bodied counselors currently (and my hunch is that a third could be called in the near term). Twice in the last month alone, President Oaks has served as proxy for President Nelson in major Church developments (in announcing the bigoraphy Joseph the Prophet and in installing the new president of BYU-Provo). Additionally, President Oaks represented the First Presidency in delivering the message announcing the format change to the Saturday Evening Session in April of last year.

      There is precedent for counselors announcing new temples in the absence of the Prophet. So I have no douts that either President Nelson will prerecord his announcement of new temples, or he will authorize President Oaks to close out the conference and make that announcement in his behalf. President Nelson stated plainly in President Oaks' biography that "when I'm gone, he's the next president of the Church" and that choosing him as his First Counselor would be "the kindest thing I could do for Dallin, to give him that kind of exposure." So new temples will be announced, either by prerecorded video from President Nelson, or by President Oaks in his stead. Thanks, Сњешко, for stopping by to comment. If you are willing to do so, please feel free to subscribe to new content in the right sidebar.

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  2. Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom and the Church News have reported that, during the General Conference Leadership Session, 2 area seventies were released (Elders Youngjoon Kwon and Henry J. Eyring, from the Fourth and Tenth Quorums respectively, each of whom completed their service on August 1), and two others were sustained.

    Elder Kwon has been released in consideration of his appointment to the South Korean Supreme Court. It is possible that Elder Eyring could be sustained as a new GA Seventy, since he is relocating to Utah. If so, he would join Elder Alexander Dushku, called in August.

    The new area seventies (Elders Rogério Boschi and Kirt L. Hodges) will serve in the Brazil and North America Central Areas, respectively. Additionally, Church News staff writer Rachel Sterzer Gibson has provided her observations on what to remember when we feel like we are forever falling short. My thanks once again to you all.

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    1. I have noticed that Elder Dushku does not show up on the church's list of general authorities. He also is not in CDOL as a Seventy. I wonder if he is not officially called, or if they are waiting to add him until he is sustained in conference. I do agree that President Nelson won't let his injury (I don't look at this as a health matter) stop him from announcing whichever temples he had already planned to announce. I am guessing between 15-20 will be announced.
      On a side note, next weekend is my Stake Conference, and we have Elder Ringwood presiding. If I get the chance I will ask him about his father-in-law.

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    2. Thank you, Scott. Elder Dushku has been officially called. That much was made clear in the August announcement. And this wouldn't be the first time of which I'm aware that the CDOL got something wrong. The release about that said he would be sustained in October 2023, not that that's when he'd begin serving. I know that technically a back injury isn't a health issue, but I believe I referred to this report as an update. The release on President Nelson indicated that he will record the remarks for his talk if "[he] is able to do so". That could imply his health may not allow him to do so, in which case his counselors would indeed be proxy for him. And who better to do that for a major announcement than President Oaks, who has proxied for the prophet before now on at least three occasions, two within just the last month? With only one message from President Nelson this time around, based on what he said, my guess is that he will keep whatever remarks he makes brief, which may or may not offer him sufficient time to both focus on an important topic and announce new temples. I don't know for sure what will happen, but if for any reason President Nelson is either unable to prerecord his remarks or has to keep them brief in deference to his situation, it wouldn't shock me if he looks to President Oaks to offer a concluding message in General Conference and proxy for him in announcing new temples. Just my own opinion, based on what the prophet said and what I've been able to project personally. Thanks, Scott.

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    3. Church News editor Sister Sarah Jane Weaver has authored a new article exploring why all of the prophets of the Lord face their own versions of the lion's den. My thanks once again to you all.

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