BREAKING NEWS: Sister Kathleen J. Eyring Passes Away

An initial version of this report was published at 2:00 PM, with additions and edits made around an hour later. My thanks once again to you all.

Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom and the Church News have reported that Sister Kathleen J. Eyring, wife of President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, passed away earlier today in Bountiful surrounded by family. As some of you might be aware, Sister Eyring has struggled with significant health challenges, but has stood by her husband in all of his high-profile Church assignments since his call to the Presiding Bishopric in 1985. Apparently, at some point in 2007, then-Elder Eyring had surgery for cancer.

With how much Sister Eyring has struggled in recent years, I'm sure this is a period of time where President Eyring's feelings may be part grieving the loss and part rejoicing that she no longer has to suffer and has returned home to her loved ones. The articles to which I linked above did an excellent job of summarizing her life. I will not attempt to add to that here. But I will note that, if recent practice is any indication, the funeral services for Sister Eyring may be held on Thursday or Friday of this week.

It is also worth noting that President Eyring is now the third current apostolic widower. The other two are his immediate apostolic seniors, President M. Russell Ballard and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. I will also state that I am grateful that President Eyring's son Henry J. Eyring was released as both an area seventy and as president of BYU-Idaho, with Henry J. intending to relocate to Utah (unless he has already done so). That means each of his 3 children will be close by.

President Eyring always spoke warmly, but carefully, about his wife, who is, as he has said "a very private person". My prayers are with him and his family at this time. I continue to monitor all other Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates, and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as I become aware thereof. 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.

Initial Predictions for the April 2024 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! Having recently published my documents relating to the October 2023 General Conference, and bearing in mind that I still anticipate several major temple construction updates throughout the last quarter of this year, I wanted to now provide a look ahead and share my initial predictions for the April 2024 General Conference. 

We start with the speaker lineup. The last time that President Nelson spoke in the Saturday Morning Session was in October 2022, when he was the concluding speaker. Given his efforts to reduce and simplify, and give more general leaders the opportunity to speak, I think we may see him do what he did last conference again: only speak in the concluding session and have a full-length address.

I am also operating under the assumption that his two counselors and all 12 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will give one talk apiece, although I anticipate that President Oaks will present the Sustaining of Church Officers. Since the Presiding Bishopric only speaks once a year now, and since April has typically seen only 2 female General Officers speaking, I think we will see 11 GA Seventies speak.

Other than these notes, the lineup should speak for itself. Next up is potential changes I'm anticipating in general Church leadership. I still feel strongly that a third counselor in the First Presidency may be warranted at some point, in which case a new apostle would also be called. That in turn would necessitate other changes in general Church leadership. Also, last April, aside from new GA Seventies, the Church also called for a vote of appreciation for the GA Seventies who were granted emeritus status on August 1. This time around, that would include 8 GA Seventies, including 2 remembers of the Presidency of the Seventy. So those changes will likely be noted in advance.

If a new apostle needs to be called, that will lead to other potential changes in general Church leadership. But whether or not that happens, I am also anticipating a new Sunday School General Presidency, the release of at least a few area seventies, a longer list of those who will be released on August 1, and several new area seventies called. That document also contains my estimates for the figures in the statistical report for 2023. I have made estimates based on what I've been able to ascertain and what I was otherwise able to calculate using a rather complex algorithm that would be difficult to explain.

And the final element of my predictions for the April 2024 General Conference is the list of locations in which a temple could be announced. We have seen a total of 35 temples announced each year since 2021. In 2021, 20 temples were announced in April, one more in May, and the remaining 14 in October. In 2022, 17 were announced in April, with 18 more announced in October. And this year, 15 were announced in April, with the remaining 20 in October. 

I would just note here that I project 15-20 new temples to be announced in April 2024. It's also worth noting that this initial April 2024 list includes only those locations that were on my list for October of this year that did not have a temple announced. I will be on the lookout for other prospects and will be sure to add them to my list for subsequent drafts. If any of you are aware of any locations I have failed to consider or omitted, please let me know.

As always, any questions or comments on these predictions are both welcomed and encouraged. I continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as I become aware of them. 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.