Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the Church announced mission leaders and companions for 188 missions, the dissolution of the Temple Square Mission, effective in July of this year, and that all sister missionaries assigned to Utah missions will, as assigned by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, be assigned to serve for periods of designated times on Temple Square. There's a lot to get into, so let's dive in!
First, the list of new mission leaders is pretty self-explanatory. I am still analyzing the assignments in question to ascertain whether any current general authorities or area seventies are being assigned this year (which may necessitate a release for the area seventies, but that's not guaranteed). I will have that further analysis posted in the comments below as soon as I can make it happen.
The Church is also changing its approach to missionary service on Temple Square. The Temple Square Mission will be discontinued, and all sisters currently assigned to the Temple Square Mission will be reassigned to one of the surrounding missions (Utah Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City East, Utah Salt Lake City West, Utah Salt Lake City South, Utah Layton, Utah Ogden, and Utah Saratoga Springs Missions). And sister missionaries from those surrounding missions will, as assigned by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, have the opportunity to serve at Temple Square.
This adjustment will allow more sisters the opportunity to serve at Temple Square, and will also allow those missionaries who had exclusively been assigned to Temple Square the opportunity to proselyte. And it will allow the Church to have more missionaries on Temple Square at peak busy times, such as General Conference weekend and especially as the Church prepares to welcome the world to Temple Square during the 6-month open house celebration next year.
The coverage of this announcement also indicates at least one change that has occurred at Church headquarters: Elder Ronald A. Rasband now replaces Elder Quentin L. Cook as the chairman of the Missionary Executive Council. This is the first of many changes made to Church headquarters assignments of the apostles following President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's appointment yesterday as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
I am grateful for these adjustments, and I testify that they are inspired. I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now.
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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.
The Church News has also shared thoughts from a BYU professor about different Bible translations, a BYU-PW devotional features the president and first lady of BYU-PW, and the latest edition of "This Week on Social" features post from the following general Church leaders:
ReplyDeletePresident Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency and President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; President D. Todd Christofferson, Second Counselor in the First Presidency; President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the following members of that Quorum: Elders David A. Bednar, Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband, Patrick Kearon, and Gérald Caussé; Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson and her First Counselor, Sister J. Anette Dennis; Sister Amy A. Wright, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency; and Brother David J. Wunderli, First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency.
My thanks once again to you all.
I have a few notes on the mission leaders called today: First, among them is Michelle D. Craig, former counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, who has been called to serve with her husband. Second, the following current area seventies appear likely to be released in view of their assignments to serve as mission leaders: Elders Lauriano C. Balilemwa, Ranulfo Cervantes, Nathan A. Craig, Odair Jose Castro de Lira, Enruqie M. Loo, Enrique Mayorga, Steven C. Merrell, Tonga J. Sai, and Martiniano S. Soquilla.
DeleteMy thanks once again to you all.
For what it is worth, I suspect that Elder Rasband has chaired the Missionary Executive Council for a few weeks. He was already rotated out of his role on the CES Executive Committee prior to President Holland's passing, so November/December.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, then-Elder Uchtdorf was the most senior apostle on that committee, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church-education/about/ces-administration?lang=eng. It had previously been then-Elder Christofferson.
In light of President Uchtdorf's new role, I suspect it will change again, (though as someone who loves the CES system and President Uchtdorf, I wouldn't mind if he wore both hats.
You raise some interesting points, Michael Worley. Elder Rasband may indeed have been the chair of the Missionary Executive Council for some time. I thought I had remembered him being the only member of the Quorum of the Twelve interviewed in conjunction with the November announcement of the age change for sister missionaries, but I might be mistaken on that. And I was aware also of the changes to the Church Board of Education that you mentioned. In light of his new assignment as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the delegatory tasks that now fall to him, I don't think that the Church will have President Uchtdorf continue his role on the Church Board of Education.
DeleteThere was a time in the early 1980s where the senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve were an active part of the Church Educational System, but the most senior member of the Twelve hasn't been part of that board in recent years. It occurs to me to wonder if Elder Bednar or Elder Cook might be made the senior member of the Quorum to serve on the Board, since both of them served on that Board previously. The other thing I would note is that Elder Stevenson is now in the senior half of the Quorum of the Twelve as well, so any assignment shuffling could affect him too. It is also fair to note that we have one (soon to be two) new apostle(s). So there are options for further shifts.
The only thing that is unclear to me is how transparent the Church may be in terms of apostolic assignments going forward. I recall someone noting that the now-defunct Church Almanac used to list apostolic assignments, but that information is no longer as detailed as it once was. In any case, the Church's page for the Board of Education will be something to watch for sure. Hope these meandering thoughts, such as they are, are helpful. Thanks, Michael Worley. I always appreciate hearing from you.