In Honor of Elder Gary E. Stevenson's 68th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! With today being August 6, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is celebrating his 68th birthday. Gary Evan Stevenson was born to Evan and Jean Stevenson on this day in 1955 in Ogden, Utah. He grew up in the Cache Valley. He served full-time in the Japan Fukuoka Mission, after which he continued his secondary education at Utah State University's Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. 

During the course of his studies there, he met Lesa Jean Higley, whom he later married in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, and with whom he would raise four sons. He spent his professional career working as the COO of ICON Health and Fitness, and served on both the Marriott School of Management Advisory Council and also the USU Foundation Board.

In the Church, he has served as a bishop and a stake president's counselor. From 2004-2007, he and his wife presided over the Japan Nagoya Mission. Less than a year after his return, he was among the first general authority seventies called during President Thomas S. Monson's prophetic administration in April 2008. In August of that same year, he was called to serve as First Counselor in the Asia North Area Presidency, marking his third return to Japan as a representative of the Church. 

The following year, he became the president of that same area, and he served in that assignment until April 2012, at which point, he was released as a General Authority Seventy and sustained as the Church's 14th Presiding Bishop. In October 2015, with three vacancies in the apostleship due to the deaths of President Boyd K. Packer and Elders L. Tom Perry and Richard G. Scott, Elder Stevenson was unexpectedly summoned to meet with the First Presidency. 

He related that he felt sure that he was being notified that one of his counselors (Bishops Gerald Causse or Dean M. Davies) were being called to the apostleship. He was stunned when the apostolic call was instead extended to him personally. He was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 3, 2015, and was ordained an apostle on October 8, then released as Presiding Bishop one day later. His call to the apostleship marked the second time a current General Authority Seventy who had subsequently been called as Presiding Bishop was also eventually called to the apostleship. Previously, that had been the case with Elder Robert D. Hales, who was called as a General Authority in 1975, and as Presiding Bishop of the Church in 1985 before being called to the apostleship in 1994. Those two former Presiding Bishops of the Church would serve together in the apostleship for approximately two years before Elder Hales' passing on October 1, 2017.

2015 marked the first time since 1906 that the Church needed to fill more than two apostolic vacancies. 1906 that the Church had more than two apostolic vacancies to fill at the same time. In 1906, following the resignations of Matthias F. Cowley and John W. Taylor over the Church's repeal of the doctrine of plural marriage, and the death of another apostle, Marriner W. Merrill, the Church called George F. Richards, Orson F. Whitney, and David O. McKay, Of the three, Then-Elder McKay was the youngest, with Elder Whitney being the oldest, and Elder Richards fell in age between the two. 

This was an exception to the general rule that when more than one apostle was called on the same day, they have typically been called and ordained from oldest to youngest. The three apostolic calls in 2015 saw a similar anomaly in that respect. Although Elders Ronald A. Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, and Dale G. Renlund were all called to the apostleship on the same day of the week in the week prior to General Conference, Elder Rasband is the oldest, Elder Stevenson is the youngest, and Elder Renlund is in the middle of those three.

At the age of 60, Elder Stevenson was the youngest man called to the apostleship since Elder David A. Bednar (who was 52 at the time of his October 2004 apostolic call). He would retain his status as the youngest currently-serving apostle until the April 2018 call of Elder Ulisses Soares, who was 59 at the time of his call. With the apostolic calls of Elders Gerrit W. Gong (another apostle with strong connections to Asia) and Ulisses Soares in April 2018, Elder Stevenson is now the 9th in seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the 12th in seniority among all current apostles. In terms of his age, he is the second-youngest among both the Quorum of the Twelve and the apostles overall.

In his 14 years of service as a general authority, he has given 19 addresses in General Conference (1 as a General Authority Seventy, 2 as Presiding Bishop, and the remaining 15 since his call to the apostleship). All of these addresses, covering a wide variety of topics, are well worthy of your time, attention and review. I gratefully sustain Elder Stevenson as a prophet, seer, and revelator, and appreciate this opportunity to post this tribute to him for his birthday. 

I similarly greatly admire and sustain each and every one of the other apostles in their God-given roles and responsibilities, and I am grateful to them for giving their time and talents to build up the kingdom of God, and to go wherever they are sent, bearing witness of the Savior at all times and in all circumstances. I share my witness that these men are called of God, and that we will be blessed as we give heed to their words.

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.

UPDATED: October 2023 General Conference Predictions (Second Edition)

Hello again, everyone! I have recently, for several reasons, updated my predictions for the upcoming October 2023 General Conference. My primary reasons for doing so were due to further analysis of the different speaker lineup patterns for the April 2023 General Conference vs. the October 2022 General Conference. Particularly, I noted that in April, a comparatively higher number of General Authority Seventies spoke, primarily because the Church changed the date when the three GA Seventies were granted emeritus status (that had previously been effective in General Conference weekend in October, and now, those releases are effective August 1).

By contrast, the October General Conference of last year saw 5 General Officers speak, 4 of whom were females. 4 General Officers of the Church also spoke last April, but only 2 were female. As a result of the change in the Young Women General Presidency that became effective on August 1, I believe we will see two members of the new Young Women General Presidency speak, joined by one member apiece of the Young Men, Primary, and Sunday School General Presidencies. 

Ordinarily, the Young Men and Sunday School General Presidencies alternate, with one presidency represented in April, and the other in October. But because the Church will likely release the Sunday School General Presidency in April, and because the current Second Counselor thereof has only spoken once, I think Brother Jan E. Newman will speak in October, alongside Brother Michael T. Nelson, the newest member of the Young Men General Presidency, the new Young Women General President and her First Counselor, and the Primary General President. Since all 3 of the Relief Society General Presidency members have spoken in the last two General Conferences, it seems unlikely that a Relief Society General Presidency member will be speaking at this conference.

So that was the biggest reason for me to adjust my projections for the speaker lineup. And because the Church has also had the Presiding Bishopric only speak in October for the last two years, since the predictions also include one member apiece of the Presiding Bishopric and the Presidency of the Seventy, I have reduced the number of GA Seventies I have projected will speak. 

Aside from the speaker lineup, there was also a reason to revisit my list of potential locations in which a temple could be announced. I have added a few new locations for the first time based on some additional research I have done. As I mentioned previously, with the Church having presented information about the GA Seventies who were released on August 1, and because they also presented a list of area seventy changes effective August 1, the only changes in general Church leadership that are likely are the potential release of any current area seventies or the sustaining of a few others. 

So my predictions will not include projections for the sustaining process this time around. Having shared the latest revisions to my predictions, by way of reminder, the commenting period on them is open until 10:00 PM on Thursday, September 28. And the Church has not yet confirmed that the Saturday Evening Session will be open to all members, but in the absence of such an announcement, my projection is that the session will not be geared to any particular group.

I welcome any inquiries about any aspect of these predictions. I also continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all here as I receive it. Additionally, Sunday marks the 68th birthday of Elder Gary E. Stevenson, followed on Wednesday by the 72nd birthday of Elder Neil L. Andersen, with the 91st birthday of President Dallin H. Oaks following on Saturday. Then on Sunday, I will post my latest updated apostolic data update.

I will likewise look forward (hopefully) to additional breaking temple news next week, and perhaps to a hopeful update on Elder Holland's situation. Whatever might happen in that regard, I will be sure to pass that along to you all here as I become aware of it. 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: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple

 Hello again, everyone! Since today is not a state or federal holiday, the Church has resumed major temple announcements on Monday. Today, we have confirmation on the opening arrangements for the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple. Let's get right into the details: A media day will occur on Monday, November 6, 2023. VIP tours will follow between Tuesday, November 7-Thursday, November 9, and the public open house will be held from Friday, November 10-Saturday, December 9, 2023.

The temple will be dedicated on Sunday, January 14, in two sessions (at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM PET) by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Interestingly enough, I mentioned over the weekend that I was recalculating my estimates for anticipated temple events, and I had just projected yesterday that the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple would be dedicated on either January 14, 21, or 28. Now that this temple has had a dedication scheduled, the next one up will be the Red Cliffs Utah Temple.

It is possible that the Church could opt to make another temple announcement tomorrow at 2:00 PM (groundbreaking, exterior rendering, and/or site confirmation). Whatever might occur in that regard, I'll do my level best to cover it here. I continue to monitor all other Church News and Newsroom reports and other temple construction progress updates and will be sure to bring word of those to you all as I receive it.

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.

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, May 7, 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 length records 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 (which will not be updated with the current First Presidency until 2024), 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 apostolic groups overall, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 4 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 11 apostles will become nonagenarians and join that list. With these updates coming every 7 weeks, the next update will be posted here on August 13. Hopefully, this shared data will be 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 all temple updates and Church news reports and will be sure to bring word of those to you as I become aware of such updates.

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.

Elder David A. Bednar Observes His 71st Birthday Today

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 71st 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, and 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, then as the Director of the Management Decision-Making Lab. During this time, he was recognized as being an outstanding educator through the receipt of many prestigious awards and honors.

He also had a few ecclesiastical responsibilities within the Church at around the same time. He spent several months as a bishop, then went on to serve first as the president of what was then the Fort Smith Arkansas Stake, 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 38 General Conference addresses, which are always well crafted and insightful, and are well worthy of review by all of us. He is currently the fourth-most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (which, including the current members of the First Presidency, makes him the seventh in apostolic seniority), and is still among the younger apostles, being the fifth-youngest both among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and all 15 ordained apostles as well. 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 Ballard, and that of Elders Holland and Uchtdorf. And 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. That being said, some of you will no doubt notice that one of the labels attached to this post is "Temple Construction Update". That may warrant additional context from me.

Generally, when a new president of the Church is ordained, he has the prophetic prerogative to make assignment changes for his fellow apostles. Before the passing of President Thomas S. Monson, Elder Quentin L. Cook was serving as the Chairman of the Temple and Family History Executive Council. Within a couple of months after President Nelson's ordination and setting apart as Church President, Elder Cook was reassigned as the Chairman of the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, with Elder Bednar succeeding his immediate apostolic junior and seatmate as the Chairman of the Church's Temple and Family History Executive Council. While Elder Bednar has served in that capacity, President Nelson has announced an unprecedented 133 new temples, so there has been a lot for that council to consider throughout the last several years, which will likely continue to be true for the foreseeable future.

I am grateful to have been able to provide this tribute to Elder Bednar as he marks his 69th birthday today. I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and will be sure to bring you word of those reports as I receive 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Elder Holland Resumes Full-Time Ministry; Update on Current Apostolic Milestones

Hello again, everyone! In view of President Eyring's 90th birthday yesterday, the Church now has 4 nonagenarian apostles serving for the first time in Church history. In a surprising update, an essay written by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland highlights the blessing of having older, more mature leaders in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 

Elder Holland's article referenced a small gathering for President Eyring's birthday, which means the article served as confirmation that Elder Holland has officially resumed his full-time apostolic ministry following his recent medical leave. Aside from that good news update, the Church News also reports that, as of today, the current group of 15 apostles in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is officially the sixth-longest tenured group in Church history. 

That update does not match the data I shared in my last apostolic milestone update, which indicated that the current group of 15 apostles actually moved up to the sixth spot on that list on April 27 of this year. I think that can be explained by using a different criteria for calculating that than I used, but I'm not sure on that. It is true they remain in the sixth spot now, and they will move up to the fifth spot on that list of apostolic groups in August. I am grateful to have learned of these key updates and to pass them along to you all here.

I continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates and will bring word of those 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.

President Henry B. Eyring Becomes the Fourth Current Apostolic Nonagenarian Today

Hello again, everyone! On this last day in May, I am grateful for the opportunity I have to pay tribute to President Henry Bennion Eyring, who is celebrating his 90th birthday today (marking the first time in several years that there have been four nonagenarian apostles). "Hal" as he is known, was born in Princeton New Jersey in 1933, to well-known physicist Henry Eyring and Mildred Bennion. His father's sister, Camilla Eyring, married Spencer W. Kimball, while his father's first cousin was Marion G. Romney. He was generally a very good student. He recounted an experience where his father was helping to explain a scientific concept to him. When Hal still had trouble understanding the material, his father asked him whether or not he wanted to become a scientist. When Hal said he didn't, his father asked him what he thought about when he had nothing else to consider, and told him that he should pursue that subject.

This led young Hal to an eventual career as an educator and academic administrator. His family would later relocate from New Jersey to Salt Lake City, Utah. Although he did not serve a full-time mission, he was an active member of the U. S. Air Force, and was stationed in New Mexico, where he served as a liaison between military officers and scientists, in which capacity he was responsible for analyzing data from tests done on nuclear weapons. Prior to his military service, he had earned a degree in physics from the University of Utah. He also studied at Harvard, where he eventually earned both a masters' and doctoral degrees in Business Administration.

While he was highly sought after by business owners who admired his analytical work, he chose to continue to pursue his education. In the meantime, it was not until 1960 (when Hal was 26 or 27 and serving in a district presidency) that he met Kathleen Johnson at a YSA meeting in New Hampshire. She was born in Palo Alto California, and had studied at Stanford before coming to Harvard. She also spent some time studying at the Universities of Vienna and Paris.

Because Hal was serving as a counselor in the district presidency, his district president (Wilbur Cox) adjusted his assignments to accommodate his desire to date Kathleen. Much of their dating relationship was built through long-distance communication or travel, with Kathleen making several cross-country trips prior to their engagement in the early months of 1961.

They continued their courtship for the next year or so, and were married in the Logan Utah Temple on July 27, 1962, by which time Hal was 29 years old. Their marriage was solemnized by his uncle, then-Elder Spencer W. Kimball of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Their family would eventually include six children (four sons and two daughters).

Two of their sons are Henry J. Eyring (who current serves as an area seventy and who is wrapping up his service as BYU-Idaho's President) and Matthew J. Eyring (who is a Chief Strategy Innovation Officer with Vivint, a company specializing in home automation, who served previously as an area seventy as well.). Hal eventually became a professor at Stanford University. He continued his career as an associate professor at the Stanford School of Business for 9 years (between 1972 and 1981), and went on to be a Sloan Visiting Faculty Fellow at MIT, during which time he also took courses in human behavior.

Sometime between late 1970 and early 1971, his wife asked him if he shouldn't be studying with Neal A. Maxwell, who was serving at that time as Commissioner of Church Education. After considering her question and following a lot of reflection, Hal accepted an offer to become president of Ricks College. Although other job offers came his way during his 6-year tenure at the college, he continued to serve until his release in 1977. His previous Church callings included being a bishop, serving as a member of the Sunday School General Board, and as a regional representative.

In 1980, Hal was called to serve as the Commissioner of Church Education, succeeding Jeffrey R. Holland. He would continue to serve in that capacity until 1986. When the Church reorganized the Presiding Bishopric in April 1985, Robert D. Hales was called as the new Presiding Bishop, and he recommended that Hal serve as his First Counselor. After serving in that capacity for 7.5 years, he was called in October 1992 to serve as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

When he began his new assignment, he was called for a second time to serve as the Commissioner of Church Education, an assignment in which he would continue until 2004. While Hal continued that service, Church President Howard W. Hunter passed away. Following the subsequent reorganization of the First Presidency in March 1995, new Church president Gordon B. Hinckley called Elder Eyring to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

12.5 years later, following the death of President James E. Faust, who had served as Second Counselor to President Hinckley, Elder Eyring was invited to join Presidents Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson in the First Presidency. The way that came about is an interesting story. Elder Eyring had taken the phone call from President Hinckley and had heard his invitation to join the First Presidency, but because he had occasionally taken calls on the Church's phone system that were meant for some of his apostolic colleagues, he asked President Hinckley if he was sure he was talking to the right person. "This is Hal Eyring." he said. President Hinckley quickly responded, "I know who this is." Thus it was that the first apostle appointed during President Hinckley's administration was called to serve in the First Presidency for an almost four-month period prior to President Hinckley's passing.

When the First Presidency was reorganized, new Church President Thomas S. Monson called President Eyring to continue serving in the First Presidency, this time as his First Counselor. While in that capacity, President Eyring dedicated 8 temples (San Salvador El Salvador, Gilbert Arizona, Payson Utah, Indianapolis Indiana, Philadelphia Pennsylvania (for which he had also presided at the groundbreaking), Hartford Connecticut, Paris France, and Cedar City Utah). The dedication of the Gilbert Arizona Temple was an interesting anomaly. Although President Monson presided at all three sessions, he requested that President Eyring read the prayer during the first session, so that was one recent example of how the dedication duties were shared by two apostles.

President Eyring also rededicated seven temples (Ogden Utah, Buenos Aires Argentina Mexico City Mexico, Montreal Quebec, Suva Fiji, Idaho Falls Idaho, and Jordan River Utah Temple). The Ogden Utah Temple rededication is another interesting case. President Eyring conducted all three sessions and presided at the final two sessions, in which he also offered the dedicatory prayer, with President Monson having presided at and offered the dedicatory prayer in the first session. As we also know, roughly 5 years ago (on May 23, 2017), the Church announced that President Monson would be stepping back from an active role in the day-to-day administration of the Church.

Following the release of that statement, Presidents Eyring and Dieter F. Uchtdorf assumed oversight of all decisions except for those requiring the prophet's direct approval. Following President Monson's death on January 2, 2018, the First Presidency was reorganized on January 14, at which time President Eyring was called to continue his service in the First Presidency, and is serving as Second Counselor a second time, working with Church President Russell M. Nelson and his First Counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks. For the last several years, President Eyring's wife has been in ill health, and he has done a remarkable job of balancing his responsibilities in the First Presidency with his role being his wife's caregiver.

Because President Eyring has a familial connection to both Presidents Spencer W. Kimball and Marion G. Romney, who were both involved in the 1981 dedication of the Jordan River Utah Temple, President Nelson asked President Eyring to preside over that temple’s rededication on May 20, 2018. As noted in an earlier post, President Eyring drew heavily on the original dedicatory prayer in composing the dedicatory prayer for that temple. Just about one year later, he was asked to preside over the one-session private rededication for the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple, since he also has ancestral connections to that temple. As we also know, in July, he will preside at the rededication of the Tokyo Japan Temple, which was also originally dedicated by President Spencer W. Kimball.

Although he is now 90 years old, by all accounts, he continues to be in good health. His lifelong devotion to education and his decades of committed Church service is an inspiration to all. I had the opportunity to attend a stake conference around 20 years ago, over which then-Elder Eyring presided. His message to us at that time focused on unity. It is a message he has since shared repeatedly in several General Conference addresses, a focus that has since been adopted by the current First Presidency, with multiple efforts underway to unify the Church on a global scale and to streamline and standardize policies and procedures.

That message of unity was particularly poignant during the October 2017 General Conference, when he, as First Counselor to the ailing President Monson, served as the de facto presiding authority, since his talks highlighted the important concept that the Lord is at the helm of His work, and that, regardless of the health of His chosen prophet, He continues to move the work forward. To date, President Eyring has given a total of 114 addresses in General Conference.

Of those, 5 were given during his 7 years in the Presiding Bishopric (including his first which, for unknown reasons, is not in the main repository page where his other talks can be found), with 25 others given during his 12.5 years in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the remaining 84 since he was first called to the First Presidency in October 2007. During his apostolic tenure thus far, he has served as a counselor to 3 Church Presidents. Aside from his being the junior and youngest member of the current First Presidency, he is the fifth-most senior apostle and the fourth oldest overall. Among his fellow apostles, President Eyring has been one who has clearly shown when the feeling behind the message he is giving during each General Conference has had a direct impact on him. We are blessed to see how deeply he wants to convey such ideas, thoughts, and feelings to each of us.

I am grateful for the life, ministry, and service of this amazing man, whom I sustain with all my heart, and for the opportunity I have had in this small way to pay tribute to him on this day as he celebrates his 90th birthday. I am likewise grateful for the extensive coverage the Church News has provided on this milestone. That coverage includes a new article published at midnight highlighting 9 of his quotes from last year, the latest edition of the Church News podcast, a preview of that podcast episode, and new videos highlighting how he learned to trust in the Lord and offered reflections on his baptism and covenants.

I continue to monitor all Church News and Newsroom updates, and the latest temple construction developments, and will bring word of those to you here as I receive 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Set for the McAllen Texas Temple

Hello again, everyone! I mentioned in my most-recent comment on the threads of the previous post that I did not believe that the Helena Montana open house beginning would be the only major temple update noted today. That theory has now been proven correct. The opening arrangements for the McAllen Texas Temple have been officially confirmed. Let's get right into the details: A media day will be held on Monday, August 21, with VIP tours following for the next three days.

The public open house will then follow between Friday, August 26-Saturday September 9, excluding the Sundays of August 28 and September 3. The temple will be dedicated in two sessions (at 10:00 PM and 1:30 PM) by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Sunday, October 8, 2023. While the announcement of the arrangements for the McAllen Texas Temple was not unexpected, the timing of the dedication was a surprise. 

This dedication will occur on the same day as the previously-set dedication of the Feather River California Temple. And that opens the prospect that more US temples could be fit into the dedication schedule. I would therefore project that the dedication of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple might be set for October 22 or 29, or November 5. And if that happens, the dedication of the Lima Peru Los Olivos and Puebla Mexico Temples could take place in November as well, and that would still allow the Church to finish the year out with the dedications of the Layton Utah and Orem Utah Temples. 

But that's at a minimum. If two or more temple dedications occur on the same day again, the number of temples likely to be dedicated by the end of this year could be a lot higher than what has seemed likely with the more spread-out method of temple opening announcements. I will need to do some research and will try to pass along any updates on what we could potentially see ASAP. In the interim, I have started a new document to highlight the temple dedications and rededications by each of our current apostles during President Nelson's prophetic tenure.

I am grateful for this announcement. I continue to monitor all temple construction updates, along with all updates from the Church News and the Newsroom 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.

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, March 19, 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 length records 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 (which will not be updated with the current First Presidency until 2024), 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 apostolic groups overall, 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. I did want to note, though, that since this is the last update before President Eyring's 90th birtda (on May 31), I have taken the lierty of adding President Eyring to the list of nonagenarians already, and have noted the dates on which he will move up on that list.

The final update in the second document includes inforation on when each of the remaining 11 apostles (excluding President Eyring, due to his upcoming birthday).

.With these updates coming every 7 weeks, the next update will be posted here on June 25.Hopefully, this shared data will be 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 all temple updates and Church news reports and will be sure to bring word of those to you as I become aware of such updates. 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 2023 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! In the absence of any major announcements by the Church this week, I have been able to put together the initial draft of my predictions for the October 2023 General Conference. First up, as always, we have my predictions for the potential speaker lineup. A few notes on that: Last conference marked only the third time that President Nelson didn't deliver any remarks to open the General Conference. 

I don't know if that means he won't be speaking in any of the opening sessions for however many General Conferences he continues to serve as prophet, so I wanted to at least allow for the possibility. Secondly, as acknowledged in the one footnote to these predictions, last conference, President Oaks not only presented new GA Seventies, he also noted the upcoming August 1 release of 3 GA Seventies and led the group sustaining of the changes in area seventies and the advanced sustaining of the incoming Young Women General Presidency.

Since all of the changes effective on or before August 1 were already presented last time, the sustaining in October is likely to only include the First Presidency, the President and Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, the members of that Quorum, and a motion to sustain all other GA Seventies, area seventies, and general officers as presently constituted. Since that process may only take a couple of minutes, it is possible that more general Church leaders could speak in the Saturday Afternoon Session than I have predicted here.

With the major changes already noted, these predictions mark the first time that they do not include a document showing the likely changes in Church leadership. It's also worth noting that, of course, I am assuming that all apostles will be able to speak in October and that the Saturday Evening Session will again be open to all members and friends of the Church. 

So the only other element remaining are my predictions for the most likely locations in which new temples could be announced. Regarding the likely new temples, if the information I have is correct, President Nelson may announce a minimum of 35 temples per year. If that remains the case for this year, then with 15 new temples announced earlier this month, the Church may look to having a minimum of 20 others announced in October. 

I see no reason to not believe that will be the minimum possible number of temples. With those introductory notes shared, the rest of the predictions largely speak for themselves. I am pleased, therefore, to declare the commenting period for these initial predictions officially opened. That commenting period will remain active until Thursday, October 2, at 10:00 PM, which will then give me 36 hours to finalize these predictions.

Unless the Church continues to take a temporary hiatus on temple construction announcements, I assume the next major announcement will be shared on Monday. In the interim, I continue to monitor all major Church News and Newsroom updates and any other temple construction updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all as they cross my radar. 

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.

UPDATE: Post-Conference Documents

 Hello again, everyone! WA little over a week since the April 2023 General Conference convened, I wanted to share my post-conference document analysis. First, I wanted to provide a report on my predictions for General Conference. First up is the review of my predictions for the speaker lineup, the changes in general Church leadership, (and the statistical report), and, of course, the most likely;prospective temple locations. As a result of those predictions vs. what actually happened, I have taken the opportunity to analyze and score those predictions.

Some reminders on the scoring might be helpful. Regarding my projected speaker lineup, 3 points were awarded if I got the right speaker in the right position in the right session. Some examples of that are my correct predictions that President Dallin H. Oaks would conduct the Saturday Morning Session,and that Elder Gerrit W. Gong would speak in the exact spot he did in the same session. 

Two points were awarded if I got the right speaker in the right session but in the wrong position. Some examples of that were Eldeers Gary E. Stevenson and Quentin L. Cook,who both spoke in the first session, but not in the spots I projected. One point was awarded when I correctly predicted that a leader would speak at any point in the conference, but had them both in the wrong session and the wrong order in that session. 

Examples of that are Camille N. Johnson, who spoke Sunday Morning rather than Saturday Evening, and Elder Carl B. Cook, who spoke Saturday Morning rather than Sunday Morning. And of course, anything I had not predicted that occurred was given a score of 0. Examples of that are most of the GA Seventies who spoke. Regarding my predictions for changes in general Church leadership, each element was worth 3 points. 

I correctly protected new GA Seventies, changes in area seventies, and the Young Women General Presidency, and I was also correct about changes in the Young Men General Presidency. there were 3 points On the temple locations, 3 points meant I had the correct location exactly right (Jakarta Indonesia is an example), with 2 points for having the correct general region but the wrong specific location (one of the 2 Philippines temples was unexpected). 

1 point meant an unexpected announcement for states where I had predicted new temples. And there was a score of 0 for locations where I wasn't predicting a new temple, but one was announced (the temples in Missouri, Virginia, and Pennsylvania are examples). I gave myself a small margin of error on both the temple predictions and the speaker lineup since there were some things I couldn't have predicted.

So, as reflected in the scorecard, even though there was a lot about this conference that I had no way to predict, what I put together yielded a 58.6% accuracy rate, and with all of the unknowns, I'm satisfied with that. If that was all I had to pass along tonight, I'd be satisfied therewith, but I do have a few more items. As I usually do, I have also been able to compile a document showing the lengths of each apostolic address. 

I have likewise updated the document showing the total number of General Conference addresses given by each of our current apostles. And I have also created a mock-up of what I think the table of contents might look like for the May 2023 Liahona. I will be sure to provide a follow-up on how my mock-up table of contents compares with the actual thing once that is available.

I likewise continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and will be sure to post here with the latest on that as I become aware thereof. Unless there is a good reason for the Church not to do so, I am fully expecting that the next major temple construction update from the Church will be published tomorrow during the 2:00 PM hour. You can count on my analysis thereof ASAP after that announcement is made.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time.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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

UPDATED: April 2023 General Conference Predictions (Final Version)

Hello again, everyone! On this Thursday, with 36 hours remaining until the April 2023 General Conference, I wanted to pass along the final version of my predictions for the upcoming conference. But before I get into those, a disclaimer: I have no inside information, nor do I claim any special inspiration that would lead me to assert that these predictions are in any way an accurate representation of what will occur this weekend. Such inspiration is solely in the purview of the prophet of the Church. 

That being said, I have noticed some patterns in General Conference upon which these predictions are based. And whether I am correct or incorrect about any of these elements, I always enjoy seeing if and how my predictions based on those patterns stack up against what actually transpires over General Conference weekend. So I hope none of you takes these predictions as inspired or gospel, because they are neither. 

With that disclaimer noted, first up, we have the projected speaker lineup (which includes the alterations I made based on the announcement that the Saturday Evening Session would be two hours rather than 1.5 hours). The speaker lineup is relatively self-explanatory. I will just add that I anticipate that the prophet will conclude the Saturday Morning Session rather than opening it, especially if the recommendations of his physicians are to be seated while he gives those remarks. If that happens, President Eyring will likely be the first speaker in that session. 

The second document shows the changes I anticipate will be made in general Church leadership, and also the projected data for the Statistical Report, 2022. With the exception of the temples dedicated and rededicated, the temple total, and the stake and mission totals, those figures are based on a somewhat complex algorithm that is difficult to explain.

And the third document shows the list of potential locations in which a temple announcement appears most likely for this General Conference. As I have noted previously, I heard last year that 35 new temples would be announced, and since that happened, and since President Nelson has made new temple announcements a prominent part of his prophetic tenure, I believe we will see a minimum of 40 new temples announced this year. 

If that happens, I anticipate a 21/19 or a 19/21 split between April and October. I have been slightly more specific in my selections in another document that shows the temples announced every 6 months by geographical areas of the Church. The more specific list for this conference is at the bottom of that document.

I will be tuned in to General Conference throughout this weekend and will bring you the latest major updates and announcements as they are publicly released. In the meantime, since midnight tomorrow marks the end of the first quarter of 2022, stay tuned for my first quarter 2023 review of temple construction progress just before that time tomorrow.

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.

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, January 29, 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 length records 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 (which will not be updated with the current First Presidency until 2024), 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), in addition to 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 apostolic groups overall, 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 (which will be posted here on Sunday May 7) will be the last one before President Eyring joins the list of apostolic nonagenarians.

Hopefully, this shared data will be 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 all temple updates and Church news reports and will be sure to bring word of those to you as I become aware of such updates. 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.

Tribute to Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Who Turns 72 Tody

Hello again, everyone! This post will be the first of two to be published today. As it is Monday, if the trends of previous Mondays hold true, the next maor temple construction update will be provided in just over 4 hours (at approximately 2:00 PM. The purpose of this post is to honor Elder Ronald A. Rasband or the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is observing his 72nd birthday tody. Ronald Anderson Rasband was born on this day in 1951 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Rulon Hawkins Rasband and Verda Anderson. He served as a full-time missionary in the Eastern States Mission, which was headquartered in New York City and encompassed the whole New York Metro area, while also stretching into western New York and Pennsylvania. Sometime following his honorable return from his mission, he met Melanie Twitchell in a class they both attended at BYU. At the time, both of them were dating other people, but they soon made arrangements to go on a date themselves, and once they started dating, that was it for both of them. They got engaged eight weeks later, were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1973, and went on to raise their five children.

Following their marriage, they continued their studies at the University of Utah. He later discontinued his college experience in order to begin his professional career in the Huntsman Container Company as a Sales Representative in 1976. Still in that employment 11 years later (in 1987), he was promoted to the position of president and chief operating officer of Huntsman Chemical Corporation, where he closely worked with Jon Huntsman Sr. and later served on the board of directors of that company. It was not until 1995 that, in tribute to his success as a businessman, he received an honorary degree in business and commerce from Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University).

As prestigious as his professional career might have been, his life, in similarity to those of his fellow apostles, has been characterized by a variety of assignments in the Church. Elder Rasband has served as a bishop, Temple Square missionary guide, member of the Church’s Sesquicentennial Committee, and, from 1996-1999, as president of the New York New York North Mission. On April 1, 2000, he was sustained as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Over the next 5 years, he served in the Europe North and Europe Central Areas from 2000-2003. Those areas were later consolidated into a single Europe Area before subsequently splitting agin in August of last year. From 2003-2004, Elder Rasband presided over the Utah Salt Lake City Area. In August 2004, responsibility for oversight of the work of the Church in North America was transferred to the Presidency of the Seventy (with oversight for the US and Canada subsequently being delegated back to area presidencies in August 2018).

He then served from 2004-2005 as Executive Director of the Temple Department. He was called to serve in the Presidency of the Seventy in August 2005, at which time he was assigned oversight for the North America Northwest and North America West Areas. Two years later, his assignment shifted to supervising the Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South Areas (from 2007-2009).

With the April 2008 call of Elder D. Todd Christofferson to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he had become the second most senior member of the Presidency of the Seventy. The following April, as a result of Elder Neil L. Andersen's call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Rasband became the Senior President of the Seventy, and, as such, was given oversight for all areas in the United States and Canada.

He was still serving in that same assignment when, in October 2015, he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. With Elders Gary E. Stevenson and Dale G. Renlund called at the same time (something that had not happened since 1906), the number of those who had served as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reached a total of 100. He is currently the eighth in seniority among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the eleventh in overall apostolic seniority. He also ranks as the sixth oldest among the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve, and the ninth oldest among all 15 apostles.

As I’ve noted previously, I have an indirect personal connection to Elder Rasband. When my wife was initially involved in the institute program, Elder Rasband was one of her instructors. As a result of the three apostolic vacancies in 2015, my wife was one of many who felt Elder Rasband would be called to the apostleship to fill one of those, and she (and others who felt the same way) turned out to be right.

I will never forget praying in advance of the October 2015 General Conference for my own personal witness to know that whoever was called had indeed been chosen by the Lord. The moment President Eyring read the names of the three new apostles, I received the witness I had requested. That experience is one that has been repeated for every apostle called since I entered my adult years.For that reason, I gratefully sustain not just Elder Rasband, but also each of the other 14 apostles in their divinely-appointed roles.

Having served for nearly 23 years as a General Authority, Elder Rasband has had 21 opportunities to address us in General Conference: 1 as a General Authority Seventy, 5 more while in the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 13 since his call to the apostleship almost 7.5 years ago. Any of those addresses, covering a wide variety of topics, is well worthy of review.

I am grateful to be able to provide both birthday tributes to and attest to the spiritual confirmation I continually receive regarding the inspired calls of those we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators. I am likewise grateful to have the opportunity to share the latest details on the global ministries of these Brethren. I likewise continue to monitor all Church News and Newsroom updates, and all reported temple construction developments, and remain comitted to bringing word of those to you all here as I become aware of them. That will include my upcoming report at around 2;00 PM today on whatever maor announcements come down the pike at that time.

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.

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, December 11, 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 length records 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 (which will not be updated with the current First Presidency until 2024), 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), in addition to 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 apostolic groups overall, 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. Hopefully, this shared data will be 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 all temple updates and Church news reports and will be sure to bring word of those to you as I become aware of such updates. 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.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson Observes His 78th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! On the heels of yesterday's major temple news, I am back this morning for the purpose of posting a birthday tribute to Elder D. Todd Christofferson, who is today observing his 78th. As with the posts I have written for every other apostle, I will be sharing a biography herein with highlights about his life. Let's get right into all of that. David Todd Christofferson was born on this day in 1945 in American Fork, Utah (a place I proudly claim as my hometown) to Paul Vickery and Jeanne Swenson Christofferson . He spent his formative years in Pleasant Grove and Lindon, and his family subsequently relocated to Somerset New Jersey.

While there, he participated in the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant, and, having been urged by his bishop to do so, he earnestly sought a personal testimony of the gospel. Although he felt for a while that his prayer at that time had not been answered, the witness he was seeking came about a month later. At around this same time, his mother was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery for it. While his father learned later that he had gathered his brothers to pray for their mom, it would be years later before Elder Christofferson learned about his father's personal sacrifices to supply what his wife needed to help her with the housework.

Young Todd Christofferson also stepped in to help his mom by making homemade bread for his family, after being taught how to do so by his grandmother. After graduating from high school, he studied for a year at BYU prior to serving full-time in the Argentina North Mission, where he had two mission presidents, Ronald V. Stone, and his future colleague in the Quorum of the Twelve, Richard G. Scott. Following the conclusion of his missionary service, Elder Christofferson returned to BYU, and there he met Kathy Jacob, whom he married in May 1968.

He earned his bachelor's degree from BYU, and went on to get a doctor of law degree from the School of Law at Duke University. During his years as a young attorney, he clerked for Judge John J. Sirica at the time the Watergate hearings were occurring. When his clerkship ended, he took active duty with the US Army for a year, after which he served in the Army reserves for 8 years, by which time, he had achieved the rank of Captain. His professional career took his family to Washington DC, Nashville Tennesee, and Charlotte North Carolina.

During that same period of time, he would serve as a bishop, stake president, and in the now-defunct calling of regional representative to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. After being called as a general authority in April 1993 (at the same time as Elder Neil L. Andersen, alongside whom he now serves in the apostleship), he served in a variety of capacities (including as a member of area presidencies outside the US) until his call to the Presidency of the Seventy in August 1998. During his service in that presidency, he first served as the executive director for the Church's Family and Church History Department (which have since been split into two departments), where he worked to negotiate with Jewish religious leaders on the matter of performing temple ordinances for Holocaust victims, which in turn shaped the policy of Church members only being allowed to perform such ordinances for direct-line family members.

In 2004, the First Presidency announced that the Presidency of the Seventy would be relieved of responsibility for the Church Departments and would instead oversee areas in the United States and Canada. Elder Christofferson was given responsibility for the North America Southeast Area of the Church from August 2004-August 2007, at which time he was reassigned to oversee the North America Northwest and North America West Areas. He continued that assignment for 8 months, then, as we know, he was the first apostle called by President Thomas S. Monson in April 2008. At the time of his release from the Presidency of the Seventy, which came in conjunction with his call as an apostle, he had become the second-most senior member thereof.

During his first seven years as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as noted, Elder Christofferson served alongside his former mission president, Richard G. Scott. Since his ordination as an apostle, Elder Christofferson has filled a wide variety of assignments, and he was serving as the senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve assigned to oversee the Church Public Affairs Committee when he was asked by President Nelson to introduce the new First Presidency in a worldwide broadcast on January 16, 2018. He has given 36 addresses in General Conference so far, 1 of which was given in the conference following his call as a General Authority, with 5 others given during his near decade in the Presidency of the Seventy.

Elder Christofferson currently ranks as the fifth most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he is also the fifth oldest. He remains the ninth in overall apostolic seniority and the seventh oldest among all of the apostles.

I am grateful for the life and ministry of Elder Christofferson. I had a couple of choice opportunities to meet him. His niece and her family lived in my parent's ward, so when their newest baby was blessed, Elder Christofferson presided at our Sacrament Meeting. A few years later, our paths crossed again while I was a temple worker, and he was the speaker at our yearly devotional. As one who has had the opportunity to chat informally with him on these two occasions, I testify that his call as one of the Savior's special witnesses is divinely inspired.

I greatly appreciate the chance to share these thoughts with you. I continue to monitor all Church news updates and reported temple development and will bring word of those to you all here as I receive it. 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.