Stokes Sounds Off: June 2024

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Sunday, June 30, 2024

UPDATE: Second Quarter (and First Half) of 2024 Temple Construction Progress Review

Hello again, everyone! With the final day of June coming to its' official conclusion, and as we head into July, I am pleased to provide a look back at temple construction progress through the second quarter (and first half) of 2024. For this review, I have a link to what my temple construction progress report looked like on the first day of this year, a look at where things stood at the end of the first quarter of 2024, and where things now stand at the end of this second quarter (and first half) of 2024.

The Church continues to announce major temple updates almost every Monday, so there will be much more to come this year in terms of temple construction progress and updates. The big question is, as we head into July (which is the typical recess month for the Church's General Authorities), whether any such announcements will be forthcoming during the next month. We might still see announcements weekly, but it's also possible we might only get one or two if we get any at all. 

Whatever might happen in that regard, you can count on my covering it. I also 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.

Monday, June 24, 2024

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Held for the Riberao Preto Brazil Temple; Groundbreaking Set for the Santiago Chile West Temple; Site Location Announced for the Springfield Missouri Temple

Hello again, everyone! Today the First Presidency announced several major temple construction updates. They provided a summary of the groundbreaking for the Riberao Preto Brazil Temple. That part of the report speaks for itself. But they also announced a groundbreaking for the Santiago West Chile Temple and the site location and preliminary information for the Springfield Missouri Temple. Let's get into all the relevant details:

The Santiago West Chile Temple's original announcement occurred in October 2021. The site location was announced in December 2022. The exterior rendering of the temple was released in conjunction with the groundbreaking announcement. I will let others more qualified than I comment as they will on the exterior rendering. 

In the interim, the groundbreaking will take place on Saturday, August 17, the same day as the previously announced groundbreakings for the Londrina Brazil and Austin Texas Temples. It has been quite a while since more than two groundbreakings have been held on the same date. Elder Alan R. Walker, Second Counselor in the South America South Area presidency, will preside at this temple's groundbreaking. 

Additional details, including the official name of this temple, will be announced at a later date. This groundbreaking announcement indicates that the queue of announced temples is moving, albeit slowly, towards construction.

We now turn our attention to the details about the Springfield Missouri Temple. The temple, originally announced in April 2023, will rise on a portion of a 38-acre site located at 2720 East Farm Road #188, Springfield, Missouri. According to the news release, plans call for an approximately 29,000-square-foot temple.

I have heard through the grapevine that President Nelson is urging the Special Projects Division to move forward with greater urgency to secure the necessary approvals to build the many announced temples that are not progressing up the queue quickly enough. So I'm hopeful we'll have many more announcements of groundbreakings, exterior renderings, and site announcements in the days ahead.

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.

Monday, June 17, 2024

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for Deseret Peak Utah Temple; Artistic Rendering Released for Wellington New Zealand Temple; Site Location and Prelminary Details Released for the Brussels Belgium Temple

Hello again, everyone! Today, the traditional Monday major temple construction announcement came half an hour later than I had anticipated. But what an announcement it was! Today, the First Presidency officially confirmed the opening arrangements for the Deseret Peak Utah Temple, shared the exterior rendering for the Wellington New Zealand Temple, and provided the site confirmation and preliminary details for the Brussels Belgium Temple. There's a lot to break down, so let's get right into the relevant details:

We start with the opening arrangements for the Deseret Peak Utah Temple. A media day will be held on Monday, September 23, with invited guests touring the temple the next two days. The public open house will occur from Thursday, September 26-Saturday, October 19, excluding Sunday, September 28, Saturday and Sunday, October 5-6 (General Conference weekend), and Sunday, October 13.

The Deseret Peak Utah Temple will then be dedicated on Sunday, November 10. The number of dedicatory sessions, their times, and the presiding apostle will be announced at a later date. That could indicate a hope that President Nelson might preside thereat, at which point he would be two months past his 100th birthday. But that is merely my own theory, based on how little information was released about this dedication today.

The Wellington New Zealand rendering as released today reflects the originally announced details released about this temple on November 28, 2022. Hopefully the release of this rendering puts this temple closer to a groundbreaking. How soon that might happen is not for me to say, but the Church has surprised us in the past, so it will be interesting to see Others more qualified than I can comment further on the details of this rendering as they choose to do so below.

That brings us to the new information released today about the Brussels Belgium Temple. According to today's release, "The temple will be built within an existing building at Ave des Arts 52, Brussels, Belgium. Plans call for a multistory temple of approximately 25,500 square feet, a meetinghouse, and arrival facilities. This will be the city’s first temple." The fact that temple facilities will be built within an existing building is surprising to me. But I look forward to seeing how all of that will work out.

As a result of today's update, 48 temples have no official information confirmed yet. Also, all but 1 of the temples originally announced in April 2021 have now had some official information announced. 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.

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Tribute to Elder David A. Bednar on His 72nd Birthday

Hello again, everyone! Given that today is June 15, I wanted to take an opportunity to pay tribute to Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is marking his 72nd birthday today. Let's get into some details about Elder Bednar's life thus far. David Allan Bednar was born in Oakland, California, on this day in 1952 to Anthony George and Lavina Whitney Bednar. His mother came from a long line of Latter-day Saint ancestors, but his father was not a member of the Church. 

Despite not having a formal Church membership, Anthony Bednar fully supported the rest of his family in their Church membership. He would often step in and participate in meetings and Church activities, including various service projects, whereby he was, in essence, functioning in the same supportive way as other Church members did, but as one who was not a Church member. Young David would often ask Anthony when he would be baptized, to which his father replied that he would do so when he felt it was right. 

Elder Bednar served a mission in southern Germany, during which time, then-Elder Boyd K. Packer visited his mission, and was advised that to get through the necessary border security, he would need money. The future President Packer would later recount in General Conference that a young missionary provided him with the money he needed, and later revealed that Elder Bednar had been that missionary. 

Elder Bednar attended BYU-Provo, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's in organizational communication. He went on to earn a doctoral degree in organizational behavior from the prestigious Purdue University. He met Susan Kae Robinson at an activity for young adults. He recounts that they were playing flag football and that he threw a pass, which she caught. Susan would later note that, incidentally, that was the only time she could remember catching a pass. 

That experience left a positive impression on both of them, and the two started dating not long afterward. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on March 20, 1975, and would go on to raise 3 sons together. One major highlight of Elder Bednar's life came long after his marriage. Anthony called his son one day and asked, "Would you be free on (and he named a near-future date)? I would like you to come and baptize me." He was able to baptize and confirm his father and also ordained him to the priesthood.

He spent his vocational career as an educator at several secondary schools. For four years (1980-1984), he was an assistant professor of management at what was then the College of Business Administration at the University of Arkansas. He spent the next two years as an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, after which he returned to Arkansas, where he served first as the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and then as the Director of the Management Decision-Making Lab. 

During this time, he was recognized as an outstanding educator through the receipt of many prestigious awards and honors. He also had a few ecclesiastical responsibilities within the Church around the same time. He spent several months as a bishop and then went on to serve first as the president of what was then the Fort Smith Arkansas Stake and then as the first president of the newly established Rogers Arkansas Stake. 

During the final months of his service as a stake president, he was called to serve as a regional representative. In 1997, he was among the first men called to serve in the new position of area seventy. That same year, he was also called by the Church Board of Education to serve as president of Ricks College. His tenure there spanned from 1997-2004, during which time he led the transition of that college to BYU-Idaho. 

In October 2004, as a result of the apostolic vacancies due to the July deaths of Elders Neal A. Maxwell and David B. Haight (which occurred 10 days apart), Church President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that the vacancies would be filled by Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf and David A. Bednar. At the time of his call to the apostleship, Elder Bednar, who was 52 at that time, was the youngest apostle to have been called since then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks (who had been called to the apostleship in 1984 at the age of 51). 

Although he immediately commenced his service in the apostleship, he also continued to serve as president of BYU-Idaho for several weeks before the appointment of an interim president. Elder Bednar's tenure as an educator has molded how he speaks and ministers as an apostle. One of his common traditions, as he speaks at General Conference, is to invite the Holy Ghost to bless him and the rest of us as we listen to his remarks.

Since his October 2004 call to the apostleship, he has given 40 General Conference addresses, which are always well crafted and insightful, and are well worthy of review by all of us. He is currently the third-most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (which, including the current members of the First Presidency, makes him the sixth in overall apostolic seniority), and is still among the younger apostles, being the seventh-oldest in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the tenth oldest among all 15 apostles. 

While I have never had the honor of personally meeting him, from the moment his apostolic call was first announced and onward since then, I have had a testimony that his apostolic call has been inspired and directed by the Lord, which I reiterate to you all today. Given his relatively younger age in comparison to both the six apostles senior to him, and four of the eight apostles who are junior to him, I fully believe that Elder Bednar may serve as Church President or at least in the First Presidency at some point. 

That, of course, will be up to the Lord’s will and the health and longevity of Presidents Nelson, Oaks, Eyring and Holland, and that of Elder Uchtdorf. I want to make it very clear that such a prospect is merely my personal opinion and not anything I can attribute to anyone else. I am grateful to have been able to provide this tribute to Elder Bednar as he marks his 72nd birthday today. 

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.

Monday, June 10, 2024

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Dedication Held for Coban Guatemala Temple; Groundbreaking Held for Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple; Groundbreaking Set for the Londrina Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! Today's major temple news pertains to 3 Latin American temples. The Coban Guatemala Temple was dedicated on Sunday by Elder Dale G. Renlund. The groundbreaking was held for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple on Saturday. Then today, the groundbreaking was announced for the Londrina Brazil Temple. The first two developments speak for themselves. 

So let's discuss the groundbreaking for the Londrina Brazil Temple. The Londrina Brazil Temple will have its' groundbreaking on August 17, the same date as the previously announced groundbreaking for the Austin Texas Temple. Since Londrina Brazil time is two hours ahead of the time in Austin Texas, it's possible that the Londrina groundbreaking will occur before Austin.

Elder Ciro Schmiel, First Counselor in the Brazil Area Presidency, will preside at the temple groundbreaking. This groundbreaking announcement follows the temple's October 2022 announcement, a site location released roughly 7 weeks later, and the artistic rendering released on January 8 of this year.

This news is a very good sign. It means that groundbreakings this year will officially outpace groundbreakings last year. Last year, we only had 8 groundbreakings, with the last one taking place on November 25. So this year, the 8 groundbreakings we will have so far will occur by August 17, with 3.5 months left in the year for additional groundbreakings.

Hopefully, other groundbreakings will be announced soon. For my part, 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.


Sunday, June 2, 2024

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data every 7 weeks. Having last done so on Sunday, April 14, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents, in addition to updated information on the tenure lengths for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 

The first document likewise notes information on the tenure length rankings for three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (with the current First Presidency now moving up on that list), in addition to the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), and an overview of when each of those current groups will move up on the list.

Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the same data for the combined First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 3 of the current 15 apostles being on that list), and a final table showing the remaining time between today and when each of the other 12 apostles will become nonagenarians and join that list. With these updates coming every 7 weeks, the next update will be posted here on the morning of Sunday, September 8, the same day on which I will be publishing a birthday tribute to Elder Quentin L. Cook..

Hopefully, this post is of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to ask anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. 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.