UPDATED: October 2024 General Conference Speaker Lineup Projection

Hello again, everyone! After I posted my initial predictions for the October 2024 General Conference, I became somewhat unsettled about one aspect thereof: my predictions for GA Seventy speakers. That feeling led me to do more research, from which I discovered that when 9 or more GA Seventies are called in any given April, less than half of them speak the following October, with many of them waiting until the April or October following and at least one speaking 2 years after their initial call.

Based on that, I reconfigured my speaker lineup projections to reflect the fact that I now believe we will hear from 7 "veteran" GA Seventies and 5 of the 11 "new" GA Seventies sustained last April. If I am correct on that, that will take care of all but two of the "veteran: GA Seventies who last spoke in October 2019 (though it will also take care of all the GA Seventies who last spoke the previous April). As far as how I determined who to put where, that just took a bit of research and thought.

Again, maybe these adjustments won't matter to anyone but me, but if any of you are interested in these readjustments, if you have any questions about them, I'd be more than happy to address those. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Set for the Ribeirão Prêto Brazil Temple; Renderings Released for the Maceió Brazil and Huehuetenango Guatemala Temples

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the First Presidency announced updates for 3 temples in Latin America. The updates include a groundbreaking ceremony for the Ribeirão Prêto Brazil Temple and the exterior renderings being released for the Maceió Brazil and Huehuetenango Guatemala Temples. Let's get right into the analysis of this news:

First, the groundbreaking of the Ribeirão Prêto Brazil Temple will take place on Saturday, June 22, 2024, under the direction of Elder Joni L. Koch, the Brazil Area President.  The temple was originally announced in October 2022. The site location was confirmed just one month later, and the exterior rendering for it was just released in January of this year. I was stunned but gratified to hear this announcement. 

This means the groundbreaking announced last week for the Austin Texas Temple will be at least the seventh groundbreaking held this year. And since we'll be reaching the milestone of the seventh 2024 groundbreaking by August 17, the final currently scheduled groundbreaking will be held two months ahead of the seventh groundbreaking held last year (the Fort Worth Texas Temple on October 28, 2023).

I think we will see other temple groundbreakings this year as well. And hopefully many of those will swiftly move to full-scale construction. Having said that, we now move on to the exterior renderings. The Maceió Brazil Temple was announced in April 2022, with the site location confirmed almost a year later. The rendering shows a very Brazilian temple. I will let others make more particular comments on this design if they wish to do so.

The Huehuetenango Guatemala Temple was also announced in October 2022, and its site was also confirmed in March 2023. That temple reminds me of other temples that have been built throughout Latin America. Again, I will defer to others to comment on these exterior renderings if they wish to, primarily because I have visual perception issues that make it harder for me to make distinctions or notice unique features.

With the release of these two renderings, hopefully groundbreakings won't be far behind. And I likewise hope for other temple groundbreakings to unexpectedly be announced. I now have new updates to make to other documents. I think we will see more site locations confirmed during the last two updates of this month. In the interim, it seems likely that any other dedication announcements will potentially be about a month out from today.

Whatever those updates might be for each Monday going forward, you can count on my bringing analysis thereof to you all here as quickly as I am able to make it happen. I likewise continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. 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 October 2024 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! Given the weekend lull in major Church news between now and Monday, when the next major temple construction announcement is anticipated, I have taken the time to put together my initial predictions for the October 2024 General Conference and would like to present those to you now. Let's dive right in! We start, as always, with my projected speaker lineup. 

As mentioned, the First Presidency will continue to have members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles conduct 3 of the 5 General Conference sessions. Given that Elders Cook, Stevenson, and Renlund did so last time, I am projecting that Elders Christofferson, Andersen, and Rasband will do so this time. This is because the three junior members of the Quorum are still somewhat "green" and in deference to President Holland's health, because Elder Uchtdorf already has experience doing so, and since it is likely that Elder Bednar will do so in future First Presidencies.

I was a little concerned about balancing the first addresses of new GA Seventies with an adequate number of "veteran" GA Seventies, but I think I struck a good balance. It's also worth noting that since the entire Young Women General Presidency spoke to us over the last two General Conferences, I have left them out of the rotation for this go-round, with the other four General Presidencies represented. Other than these notes, the speaker lineup largely speaks for itself.

We now turn to potential changes in general Church leadership. Because so many changes were presented last April, my prediction is that only a few area seventies will be released, with a few more new ones sustained. There is also a possibility, however remote, that the Church could also take the opportunity to release Elder David S. Baxter, who has been on medical leave from his assignments for the last several years. But since he will turn 70 next year, I think it is far more likely that his release will be presented with those others turning 70 in 2025, which will occur in April of next year.

The final element of my predictions for the next General Conference is, of course, potential temple locations. I have expanded that list somewhat for this go-round. For the record, I believe that 20 new temples are likely to be announced. The upcoming General Conference will be most memorable because it will be the first time the Church has had a centenarian prophet and apostle. And with additional temples to look forward to, and with the prospect of 3 apostles conducting 3 of the 5 sessions again, it's going to be amazing, regardless of how correct or incorrect these predictions may be.

I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. 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, especially with any questions or comments about any of these predictions. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Salvador Brazil Temple; Exterior Rendering Released and Groundbreaking Scheduled for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple; Groundbreaking Scheduled for the Austin Texas Temple

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the First Presidency announced the next major temple construction update. Today's announcement includes the opening arrangements for the Salvador Brazil Temple, the exterior rendering released and groundbreaking scheduled for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple, and a groundbreaking scheduled for the Austin Texas Temple. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's jump right in!

We start with the opening arrangements for the Salvador Brazil Temple. A media day will be held on Monday, August 19, followed by VIP tours the next two days. From Thursday, August 22-Saturday September 7 (except for the Sundays of August 25 and September 1). The temple dedication will follow on Sunday, October 20, with Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presiding at the two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM UTC (which, unless I am mistaken, is 3:00 AM and 6:30 AM MDT).

I will just note here that the Salvador Brazil Temple dedication comes after the previously announced dedication for the Casper Wyoming Temple, which suggests that no other temple might be dedicated before Casper, and I had hoped one or two other temple dedications would happen before that. I had heard through the grapevine that there were some bureaucratic issues that were delaying the announcement of opening arrangements for this temple, so I'm glad to hear that has been resolved.

I also seem to recall that Elder Andersen served in the presidency of whichever Brazil Area covered Salvador, so this is yet another example of President Nelson recognizing those connections and sending an apostle to a dedication that holds personal significance to them. As a result of today's announcement, I have updated my document showing apostolic temple dedication assignments.

We now move on. The site for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple site was announced on November 28, 2022. The exterior rendering of the temple largely speaks for itself. I will just note that I see a lot of Spanish architectural elements in the rendering, and with that, I will leave it to others more qualified than I am to comment on the specifics of the rendering. The groundbreaking for Bolivia's second temple will be held on June 8, 2024, with Elder Jorge F. Zeballos, the president of the South America Northwest Area, presiding. 

Given the size of the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple, I estimate that construction will take roughly 2 years to complete, give or take a few months. We now move on to the groundbreaking for the Austin Texas Temple. Previous reports suggested that that groundbreaking would occur in June. However, it is set to occur on Saturday, August 17, 2024, with Elder Michael A. Dunn, currently the Second Counselor in the North America Southwest Area Presidency, who is set to become the First Counselor in that presidency by the time the groundbreaking occurs.

I likewise project that the construction of the Austin Texas Temple will take roughly 2 years. I can't remember who it was at the moment, but I distinctly remember someone in General Conference urging us to pray for the approvals and construction of temples worldwide. That is something I would likewise strongly encourage from my readers. As a result of today's announcements, there are now 4 temples with scheduled groundbreakings, and I have a feeling more will follow.

The Church seems to have some pattern of alternating site announcements, exterior renderings, and groundbreaking announcements, but I am not sure what that pattern is. The announcements today have given me much to think about, and will necessitate more updates to the files of information that I keep. I will try to remember to link to those updated files here as those updates and adjustments are made.

I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. 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.