BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Dedication Dates Announced for Layton Utah, Puebla Mexico, and Urdaneta Philippines Temples; Groundbreaking Announced for the Knoxville Tennessee Temple; and Site Location Confirmed for the Antananarivo Madagascar Temple

Hello again, everyone! In a stunning single announcement, the First Presidency has released details for the open houses and dedication dates of the Layton Utah, Puebla Mexico, and Urdaneta Philippines Temples. That alone would be impressive enough, but they also announced a groundbreaking for the Knoxville Tennessee Temple and the site location and preliminary information for the Antananarivo Madagascar Temple. There's a lot to break down here, so let's jump right in:

We start with the open houses and dedications. I'll go by date of dedication. The open house for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple will kick off with a media day on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, followed by VIP tours Wendesday and Thursday, March 13 and 14, 2024. The public open house will run between Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 30 (excluding the Sundays of March 17 and 24). President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, will dedicate the Urdaneta Philippines Temple on Sunday, April 28, 2024 in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM PHT.

Moving on now to the Puebla Mexico Temple, a media day will be held on Monday, March 25, 2024, followed by VIP tours on Tuesday, March 26-Thursday, March 28, 2024. The public open house for that temple will run between Friday, March 29 and Saturday, April 20, with the exceptions of March 31 and April 6-7 and 14, 2024. The temple will be dedicated on Sunday, May 19, 2024, in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM CST by Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

For the Layton Utah Temple, a media day is planned for Monday, April 15, 2024, with VIP tours available Tuesday, April 16-Thursday, April 18, 2024. The public open house will follow between Friday, April 19 and Saturday, June 1, except for the Sundays of April 21 and 28 and May 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2024. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate that temple on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in two sessions that will be held at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM MDT.

Each of these dedications will be broadcast to the stakes in their respective temple districts. I am a little surprised we didn't also get an announcement about the Taylorsville Utah Temple, but hopefully that will come down the pike next week. I am also a little surprised at the timing for each of these dedications, which are more spread out than I thought they would be. This again suggests that the second half of 2024 will see a high number of temple dedications. My gut instinct is to say that Taylorsville Utah and Casper Wyoming may be the only other temples likely to be dedicated in the first half of 2024.

We now move on to the groundbreaking for the Knoxville Tennesee Temple. It is set to occur on Saturday, January 27, 2024. Elder Shayne M. Bowen, a General Authority Seventy currently serving as First Counselor in the North America Southeast Area Presidency, will preside thereat. This more or less confirms my theory that no other temple groundbreakings will occur this year.

And that brings me to the Antananarivo Madagascar Temple. A single-story temple of approximately 10,000 square feet will rise on a 9.8-acre site at Fokontany Andranoro, Ambohibao, Antehiroka, Andranomena, Madagascar. Patron housing and arrival facilities will accompany the construction of the temple. Based on the size and on the fact that Madagascar is an isolated island, I think the Church might opt to utilize the modular components for that temple, which would be easier to bring to the island nation than building materials would be. As we know, that temple was announced by President Nelson in October 2021.

This brings the number of announced temples for which no information has offically been confirmed yet down to 50. I am grateful for this massive announcement today and to be able to pass it along to you all 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Elder Patrick Kearon Called to Fill the Vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Hello again, everyone! I had shared my opinion that President Nelson wouldn't wait to fill the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and I was right. This morning, the Church announced that Elder Patrick Kearon, who had been serving as the Senior President of the Seventy, was ordained an apostle yesterday and set apart as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At 62 years old, he takes his place as the currently youngest apostle in the Church.

Born on July 18, 1961 in the United Kingdom, he was raised there and in the Middle East. He has lived and worked in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. He is an adult convert to the Church. He has served as a General Authority Seventy since April 2010 (called in the same General Conference as his now apostolic colleague Elder Gerrit W. Gong). He has served in the Presidency of the Seventy since August 2017, and as Senior President since August 2020. He married Jennifer Carole Hulme on January 12, 1991, in the Oakland California Temple. They are the parents of four children, one of whom is deceased.

I am very pleased by this news. Elder Kearon hopped on a plane today and flew to Hawaii, where he will give his first public address as an apostle during the BYU-Hawaii commencement. At some point in the next month or two, I anticipate he will meet with the press. And of course, he will speak to us during the April 2024 General Conference. This leaves a vacancy in the Presidency of the Seventy, and Elder Carl B. Cook now becomes the de facto Senior President of the Seventy. I expect that the vacancy will be filled before General Conference as well. 

I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 

Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Location and Preliminary Details Announced for the Renamed Temple in Prosper Texas

Hello again, everyone! A few minutes ago, the First Presidency officially announced the next major temple construction update. Contrary to what I had supposed, no temple dedications were announced, nor were any new groundbreakings set. Today's announcement is related solely to the temple announced in October 2022 as the Prosper Texas Temple. According to today's announcement, that temple will now be known as the McKinney Texas Temple. 

The location of the temple and preliminary information about it has also been confirmed. An 8.16-acre site adjacent to and east of the existing chapel at 651 Stacey Road will serve as the location of the multi-story temple, which is anticipated to be roughly 44,000 square feet in area. As a result of this announcement, the number of temples for which no official information has been confirmed yet now stands at 51.

I am grateful for today's announcement. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Locations Confirmed for the Toluca Mexico and João Pessoa Brazil Temples; Exterior Rendering Released for the Barcelona Spain Temple

Hello again, everyone! More breaking temple news was reported a short time ago. The First Presidency has confirmed locations and preliminary details for the Toluca Mexico and João Pessoa Brazil Temples and has released the official exterior rendering for the Barcelona Spain Temple. Let's get into those details:

The Toluca Mexico Temple was announced in April 2022 as one of four temples to be built in the greater Mexico City Mexico area. A 4.87-acre site at Calle Guadalupe Victoria corner Uruapan, Col. Las Jaras, Metepec, State of Mexico, 52166 will be the home of the single-story temple of 19,000 square feet.

Meanwhile, the João Pessoa Brazil Temple was just announced last month in General Conference. A 3.9-ace site at Rua Paulino Pinto and Avenida Ministro José Américo de Almeida in the Cabo Branco neighborhood will serve as the location for the temple, which is anticipated to be roughly 18,850 square feet. No indication as to whether it will be one or two stories, but I assume that will be clarified later.

On January 9 of this year, the site location and preliminary details were released for the Barcelona Spain Temple. With the release of the exterior rendering for that temple today, it now joins the list of temples for which a groundbreaking might soon be set. Since I was not expecting this additional announcement, I still have a lot to sort out. I will share any further analysis with you all ASAP, including updates on temples with groundbreaking announcements pending, those awaiting an exterior rendering and groundbreaking, and all other announced temples, and where things stand with temples announced by President Nelson.

I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Rededication Announced for Manti Utah Temple; President Jeffrey R. Holland Will Rededicate the St. George Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has announced opening arrangements for the Manti Utah Temple. A media day will be held on Monday, March 11, with VIP tours held March 11-13. The public open house will run from Thursday, March 14-Friday, April 3, excluding the Sundays of March 17, 24, and 31. The temple will be rededicated on Sunday, April 21, 2024, and will be broadcast to all units in the Manti Utah Temple district. Additional details, including who will preside at the rededication, will be released at a later date.

The Church additionally announced today that President Jeffrey R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will preside at the rededication of the St. George Utah Temple on December 10, 2023. I had suspected he would be involved if he was able to do so, so it's nice to have that officially confirmed. This announcement has me hopeful that President Holland might also be present for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple dedication, even though President Eyring has been assigned to preside at that event.

I'm a little surprised that we got the announcement about Manti so soon, and that it will be rededicated in April. The fact that we got this announcement while several completed temples are still awaiting theirs may suggest that getting Manti back up and running was a higher priority. This also means that mid-April may be the earliest the next temple dedication will be scheduled.

I am grateful for this update. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines.

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: President Jeffrey R. Holland Set Apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Hello again, everyone! Breaking news was just shared by the Church a short time ago. Yesterday (Wednesday January 15), President Russell M. Nelson officially set apart Elder Jeffrey R. Holland as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The announcement was made by the Newsroom and the Church News. So it is officially President Holland now, and he will be sustained in that capacity during the April 2024 General Conference. This is the news I expected, but it is coming sooner than I expected. 

I assume the new Acting President will be introduced as such if he speaks during the funeral services tomorrow for his predecessor. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar.  In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines.  

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: President M. Russell Ballard Passes Away at the Age of 95

Hello again, everyone Sad (but not unexpected) news to report today: President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, passed away late last night at the age of 95. Funeral arrangements are pending. The Newsroom and Church News articles to which I linked above speak very well of his life and accomplishments. That is a better tribute than I could give him. With President Ballard's passing, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland becomes the de facto Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and will likely be set apart in that capacity in the coming days.

President Ballard was the only current apostle who was a direct-line descendent of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The Church will likely be looking to fill this vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve with another direct-line descendent of Joseph or Hyrum Smith. Right now, to my knowledge, the only  direct-line descendent of Joseph or Hyrum Smith in the general leadership of the Church is Brother Jan E. Newman, Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency. There may be others of whom I'm not aware.

Either way, this means we will be getting a new apostle at some point either before or during the April 2024 General Conference. I will have some major work to do to update several documents in the coming days, including yet another revision of my General Conference predictions. This will also impact the report I prepared of the latest apostolic milestones that will be published on Sunday.

I anticipate there will be much more coverage on this throughout this week. I will continue to monitor that coverage and will pass it along here. In the meantime, if any of you have any thoughts you'd like to share with me on this announcement, I hope you will feel free to "sound off" yourselves in the comments below. 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. 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: Site Location and Preliminary Information Confirmed for the Viña del Mar Chile Temple; Rendering Released for Grand Rapids Michigan Temple

Hello again, everyone! According to a new First Presidency announcement, the site location and preliminary information have been released for the Viña del Mar Chile Temple, while an exterior rendering has been released for the Grand Rapids Michigan Temple. Here are the details: 

The Viña del Mar Chile Temple was just announced last month in General Conference by President Nelson. Chile's newest temple will be built between 3rd North Street and 4th North Street near 4 ½ West in Viña del Mar, Valparaiso, Chile. A 1.87-acre site will serve as the home for a single-story temple of approximately 30,000 square feet. 

Meanwhile, the site for the Grand Rapids Michigan Temple was released one year ago. It is a 20,000 square foot edifice, so not as small as the modular temples (with their 10,000 square foot plan), but not as big as the standard 30,000 square foot design being utilized for other temples in the United States. 

With this announcement, the Grand Rapids Michigan Temple joins a list of temples for which a groundbreaking announcement is pending (that total now rises to 14), while the Viña del Mar Chile Temple joins a list of temples for which the release of an exterior rendering and a groundbreaking announcement are pending (that total stand pat at 28 temples, in view of today's announcements).

Also, as a result of today's announcement, of the 97 announced temples, 1 (Kaohsiung Taiwan) has a groundbreaking scheduled, 14 have a groundbreaking announcement pending, another 28 have site locations and preliminary information confirmed, and we are awaiting official details on the remaining 54.

Once again, I was surprised that no temple opening arrangements were announced and that no other groundbreakings have been scheduled. However, with the Puebla Mexico Temple, I haven't been able to ascertain that it's been furnished, and that's the next temple most likely to have a dedication announced. So I may be rethinking my estimates for temple events in 2024 yet again.

I am grateful to have learned of this report and to be able to pass it along to you all 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Europe East Area Renamed Eurasian Area

Hello again, everyone! In a comment yesterday, I had mentioned that the Europe East Area had been renamed the Eurasian Area. A new report on Elder Quentin L. Cook's ministry to Europe officially confirms that. The report also states that he met with Russian leaders. I am hoping that part of that meeting included dialogue about the temple the Church hopes to build in Russia. If so, hopefully we might be able to hear news on that temple sooner rather than later. He also visited locations in the Europe Central and Europe North Areas.

I am glad we finally have confirmation on this change. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: Church Will Create 36 New Missions in 2024

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has made a stunning announcement this morning. In order to accommodate an ever-growing missionary force, effective July 1 of next year, 36 new missions will be created. The total number of missions will thus rise to 450, the highest it has ever been in the Church. While I'm sure Matthew Martinich will cover this himself on the Church Growth Blog, and I will defer to him for better analysis of this stunning development, I wanted to break down the details:

Each new mission will be created from an existing mission. Each of the following Church areas will see the addition of the following missions:

Africa Central

Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa South

Democratic Republic of the Congo Kolwezi

Kenya Nairobi East

Africa South

Madagascar Antananarivo North

Africa West

Ghana Accra North

Ghana Takoradi

Nigeria Calabar

Nigeria Port Harcourt North

Sierra Leone Bo

Asia

Cambodia Phnom Penh East

Thailand Bangkok East

Asia North

Japan Sendai

Brazil

Brazil Manaus South

Caribbean

Dominican Republic Santo Domingo North

Europe Central

Germany Hamburg

Europe North

Portugal Porto

México

México Mexicali

México Puebla East

North America Central

Montana Missoula

North America Southeast

Florida Tallahassee

South Carolina Charleston

North America Southwest

Nevada Henderson

Texas Dallas South

Texas El Paso

North America West

California Modesto

Philippines

Philippines Dumaguete

Philippines General Santos

Philippines Tuguegarao

South America Northwest

Bolivia Cochabamba South

Ecuador Quito West

Perú Lima Northeast

South America South

Argentina Tucumán

Chile La Serena

Utah

Utah Salt Lake City East

Utah Saratoga Springs

Utah Spanish Fork

I will just add a note here that the creation of new missions may also point to a major realignment in area boundaries in August of next year, and that I anticipate some of these locations with new missions might soon have temples announced (if temples are not already announced there). The missionary force is increasing in direct response to President Nelson's call for more missionaries, and it is good to see this development.

I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Held for Fort Worth Texas Temple; Site Locations and Preliminary Details Confirmed for 3 Temples in Europe and the United States

Hello again, everyone! New reports from the Newsroom have confirmed the groundbreaking for the Fort Worth Texas and have confirmed locations and preliminary information for the Vienna Austria, Harrisburg Pennsylvania, and Winchester Virginia Temples. While the first report speaks for itself, let's break down the details of the second:

The Vienna Austria Temple, first announced in April 2021, will rise on a 0.80-acre site at Silbergasse 2, Vienna, Austria. The edifice is planned to be a roughly 15,300-square-foot multi-story temple. I was particularly intrigued by the announcement that it will be built up rather than out. As I may have mentioned in the past, my sweet wife served in what was then the Germany-Austria mission. She only spent a day in Austria itself, so she's not too familiar with where this temple will be. But she was happy to hear of this announcement nonetheless.

The Harrisburg Pennsylvania and Winchester Virginia Temples were both announced in April of this year by President Nelson. In Pennsylvania's capital city, a single-story 20,000-square-foot edifice will rise on a 5.36-acre site at 605 Rutherford Road in Harrisburg. Virginia's second temple will be a single-story 30,000-square-foot temple built on an 11.27-acre site at 200 Merriman's Lane in Winchester.

As a result of today's announcement, of the 97 announced temples, 55 have not had any official information confirmed yet. Hopefully, that number goes down further before the end of the year. It's also worth noting that I'm not sure why no temple dedications were included in today's announcement. I also was hoping for additional groundbreakings. But 3 temple sites, including one for a temple announced more than two years ago, is nothing to be disappointed about.

I am grateful for today's announcement. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: Church Announces Schedule for 2024 Churchwide Events

Hello again, everyone! The Church has announced the schedule for the 2024 Churchwide Events. Here are the relevant dates:

January 28: Worldwide Event for Youth: “I Am a Disciple of Jesus Christ”

February 4: Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults

February 29–March 2: RootsTech Family History Conference and Family Discovery Session

April 6–7: April 2024 General Conference

May 5: Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults

October 5–6: October 2024 General Conference

October 27: Worldwide Event for Youth

November 3: Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults

December 8: First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional

A few surprises: The Worldwide Devotionals for Young Adults have typically been held in January, May, and August (the beginning of each third of the year). This year, they will be in February, May, and November. Likewise, although the First Presidency's Christmas Devotionals are typically held on the first Sunday in December, next year, it will be on the second Sunday, which may mean that new temples could be dedicated on the first and third Sundays of next year. The schedule otherwise speaks for itself.

Other noteworthy events are scheduled as follows:

January 26: Seminaries and Institutes Annual Broadcast

March 1: Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction

March 9: Friend to Friend for Children

March 31: Easter Sunday

June 18: CES Religious Educators Conference

June 20–23: Seminar for New Mission Leaders

July 19–20: Tabernacle Choir Summer Concert

August 10: Youth Music and Arts Festival

September 14: Friend to Friend for Children

November TBD: Seminaries and Institutes Annual Broadcast

November TBD:  Luz de Las Naciones

November 16: Church Music Festival from Temple Square

December 12–14: Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert at Temple Square

December 25: Christmas Day

Interestingly, there are two Seminaries and Institutes Annual Broadcasts scheduled next year, whereas there has typically been only one. There is also a CES Religious Educator's Conference, which I assume may allow several general Church leaders to provide training and counsel to seminary and institute instructors. 

I'm also fascinated that the Church has scheduled both a Youth Music and Arts Festival and a Church Music Festival, which I assume will be for all Church members. Although it was not specified, I assume that on Easter Sunday and the Sunday before Christmas, it will be Sacrament Meeting only. And I think we could potentially see a couple other Churchwide broadcasts as well. 

Looking ahead to 2024, I also wanted to put out a fun teaser of my own plans ahead for 2024. I have compiled a 2024 schedule showing content I will focus on in the new year. We will have several more apostolic milestones next year, as the current First Presidency will join the list of the longest-serviung First Presidencies and observe several milestones related to their tenure, unless there are forthcoming changes in the First Presidency that would prevent that.

So there will be a lot to look forward to in the next 14 months.  I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple; Groundbreaking Set for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the First Presidency announced the opening arrangements for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple and groundbreaking arrangements for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple. Let's get right into the details: Media tours will be held for the Red Cliffs Temple on Monday, January 29, 2024, with VIP tours held for the next two days. The public open house will occur from Tuesday, January 30-Saturday, March 2, 2024 (marking the first time that both VIP tours and public tours will be held at the same time).

The Red Cliffs Utah Temple will then be dedicated in two sessions (at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM) on Sunday, March 24, with President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, presiding over those sessions. I had assumed Elder Holland would preside at this dedication, but it could be he will be the apostolic companion to President Eyring, if he is able to be well enough to do so by that time. Since I had projected that the Red Cliffs dedication would only occur in May, this suggests an accelerated timeframe for temple dedications than what I had projected.

That being said, opening arrangements are easier to set for Utah temples than for many of their counterparts, so that's not surprising. Hopefully, by the end of this month, we see at least two more temple dedications set. In the meantime, if that wasn't reason enough for this post, as I stated, the Church has also set a groundbreaking for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple. That will occur on Saturday, November 23, 2023, with Asia Area President Elder Benjamin M. Z. Tai presiding. 

I also was surprised by the announced timing for the groundbreaking of Taiwan's second temple. I had projected that the groundbreaking would be in mid-2024 at the earliest. But I am grateful that the Lord once again proved to me today that His timing trumps any mortal reasoning or projections I might offer.  So I am going back to the drawing board on those projections. I will have updated thoughts published here in some form as soon as I can make that happen.

I am grateful for today's landmark announcements. I continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly-added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: Sister Kathleen J. Eyring Passes Away

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

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

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

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

President Eyring always spoke warmly, but carefully, about his wife, who is, as he has said "a very private person". My prayers are with him and his family at this time. I continue to monitor all other Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates, and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines.

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly-added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: First Presidency Provides Directive for Christmas Eve; Next Leg of Multiyear Global Tour Announced for Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square

Hello again, everyone! With Christmas Eve falling on a Sunday this year, the First Presidency has issued a directive for that Sunday. In a letter released on Monday, the First Presidency has indicated that all meetings except for Sacrament Meeting are canceled for Christmas Eve. In consultation with bishops and branch presidents, stake and district presidents have the option to adjust meeting times to best meet the needs of the members over whom they have stewardship.

I am grateful for the First Presidency's directive on this matter. I look forward to the Christmas season and all that it will bring with it. If that were the only breaking news, it would be reason enough for this new post. But while I was preparing this post to be published, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square announced the next leg of its' multiyear global ministry tour, which will take the Choir to the Philippines for the first time in its' 95-year history.

That tour will span from February 20-29, 2024. Local Filipino artists will join the Choir in the 9-day tour, which may include multiple venues. The Choir's concerts, which will also incorporate local music, will be available to livestream online. The Choir will continue to go to one location per year every year for at least the next 4, and venue information about the Choir's performances will be released later.

So there you have it: two major developments in one post. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Location and Preliminary Information Confirmed for the Budapest Hungary Temple

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, on the heels of the late September visit of Hungary's first female president to Church headquarters, the First Presidency has released the site location and preliminary information for the Budapest Hungary Temple, which had, before today, been the last temple announced in April 2019 that had not had any official information confirmed. Let's break down the details:

An arrival center and patron housing will join the planned single-story 18,000-square-foot temple, all of which will be built on a 5.92-acre site at Kocsis Sandor ut and Borsikafu utca, Harsanylejto, Budapest, Hungary. Though not explicitly stated, I take it as a given that project managers will begin working with government officials through the approvals process.

As a result of today's update, all temples announced between October 2018 and October 2020 have had official information confirmed. Between today's announcement (which also confirmed the Modesto California Temple groundbreaking) and the 20 new temples announced by President Nelson in General Conference over a week ago, of the 98 announced temples, 55 lack official information.

That may change in the near term (or so I hope). I was also surprised that there were not any temple openings announced, but hopefully such announcements will either come later this week or as the major announcement next week. I continue to monitor all such updates and will be sure to pass those along here as time and circumstances allow.

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.

October 2023 General Conference: Post-Conference Document Analysis

Hello again, everyone! As I have indicated on a few occasions, with General Conference weekend concluded, I anticipate a significant uptick in major temple construction announcements. Among those to which I think we can look forward in the near term are opening arrangements for the Red Cliffs Utah, Puebla Mexico, Layton and Taylorsville Utah, Urdaneta Philippines, Salta Argentina, and Coban Guatemala Temples. 

We could also potentially see groundbreakings set for the Knoxville Tennessee, Cleveland Ohio, Tarawa Kiribati, Cali Colombia, and Cape Town South Africa Temples (with the first two likely to be the only other temples likely to have groundbreakings before the end of this year), and something more official (whether just a rendering, or in addition to a groundbreaking) for the Teton River Idaho, Vitoria Brazil, and Charlotte North Carolina Temples, based on their latest updates). 

And I'm hoping it's not too long before we hear information about the Dubai UAE Temple, since the land for it was supposed to be turned over to the Church before the end of 2022.  These potential announcements aren't relevant to what I want to share in this post, but the anticipated announcements are the reason I am choosing to post a new update now. This post will share my post-conference document analysis. So let's get right into it. 

First of all, I have updated my document showing how many talks have been given by each of our apostles. That document reflects one more apiece for 13 of our 15 apostles. President Eyring's presentation of the sustaining of Church officers gives him 2 for this conference, and Elder Holland's number has not changed since last Octoer, since he was absent from and didn't speak during either conference this year. By next conference, the number of talks given by our apostles should total just above 800.

Second up is my document showing the length of each of the 15 talks given by our apostles, which should speak for itself. I have also put together my projection for what the table of contents for the November 2023 Liahona (General Conference edition) might look like. I also wanted to provide a look back at my projections for the speaker lineup, the projected changes in general Church leadership, and potential temple locations.

Based on my analysis on each of the predicted elements, the results are displayed in a scorecard. Longtime followers of this blog will know how I calculated the scores on each element, yielding the total. 

But in a nutshell, I assigned each predicted element a total of 3 points. For the speaker lineup, every time I correctly predicted the right person in the right order in the right session, 3 points were awarded. If I had the right person in the right session but the wrong slot, 2 points were awarded. 1 point was awarded if I correctly projected any speaker, even if that was in the wrong session and the wrong position within that session. 0 points were awarded if something happened that I didn't predict.

I noticed something interesting that I hadn't noticed before this go-round. With the exception of the first two General Conferences of President Nelson's prophetic administration and the April 2022 General Conference (which featured a Women's Session) Presidents Oaks and Eyring have alternated between conducting 3 and 2 sessions apiece per conference. But for the last few General Conferences, President Oaks has conducted 3 and President Eyring the other 2. That will likely be a trend that continues.

For the changes in general Church leadership, since I and several others had been convinced that an additional counselor in the First Presidency might soon be called, I gave myself half-credit for a potential change in the First Presidency and the resulting change that would then have been necessary for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Every other element was graded on whether I correctly predicted each change, whether I was half-right, or whether I was incorrect. And for the new temples, 3 points meant I had the right exact location, 2 meant I had the right general area but the wrong specific one, and 0 was for anything I wasn't expecting.

The results are otherwise self-explanatory, but if any of you have questions, feel free to ask. As I stated at the beginning of this post, I wanted to get this post-conference document update out of the way before what I expect will be a windfall of major temple construction announcements to round out the final quarter of the year. I will be sure to report on any such updates as they are announced. In the interim, when I am not focused on updates for this blog, I will be starting to work on my predictions for the April 2024 General Conference, and I will have an initial version of those predictions available ASAP.

One key consideration for those predictions will be the likely prospect that any GA Seventies likely to be granted emeritus status on August 1 of next year who have not spoken within the last few years or so will likely do so, which includes 2 current members of the Presidency of the Seventy. It is also likely that only 2-3 female speakers will be featured as a result. Stay tuned for those predictions as I can formulate 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: President Nelson Announces 20 New Temples

Note: An initial version of this post was published at 4:07 PM as scheduled. Due to circumstances, which I explained here, a full report on this update wasn't published between 5:00-6:00 PM. This post bears the original timestamp.

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to report that my theory was incorrect. President Nelson didn't speak until Sunday Afternoon, and in his prerecorded remarks concluding General Conference, he announced 20 new temples, the exact number of temples I had theorized would be announced. 

The temples will be built in each of the following locations: Savai’i Samoa, Kahului Hawaii, Fairbanks Alaska, Vancouver Washington, Colorado Springs Colorado, Tulsa Oklahoma, Roanoke Virginia, Cancún Mexico, Piura & Huancayo Peru, Viña del Mar Chile, Goiânia and João Pessoa Brazil, Cape Coast Ghana, Calabar Nigeria, Luanda Angola, Mbuji-Mayi Democratic Republic of the Congo, Laoag, Philippines, Osaka Japan, and Ulaanbaatar Mongolia.

I correctly predicted temples in Savaii Samoa, Fairbanks Alaska, Colorado Springs Colorado, Cancun Mexico, Viña del Mar Chile, Goiânia and João Pessoa Brazil, Cape Coast Ghana, Calabar Nigeria, Mbuji-Mayi DR Congo, Osaka Japan, and Ulaanbaatar Mongolia (12 of the 20) to the exact location. I had the right general area but the wrong specific one for the newest temples in Hawaii, Peru, and the Philippines, but the wrong specific cities. 

Angola had been on my list, but I had removed it, which was also the case for Tulsa. OOPS! I was blindsided by Roanoke Virginia, Vancouver Washington, Piura and Huancayo and Piura Peru. The accuracy calculation will be included in my General Conference predictions results post, which will come out at some point in the next two weeks.

It seems the plans of President Nelson regarding the temple program of the Church have not been exaggerated. I have received feedback that the Church could potentially have 400 temples operating by 2030, but I have not been able to substantiate that further. I anticipate that tomorrow, there will be another major temple construction update. Stay tuned for coverage on that.

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: Church Confirms Details of Consolidated Hymnbook/Children's Songbook

Hello again, everyone! On September 7, I reported an update on the Church's plans for a consolidated hymnbook/children's songbook, based on a Newsroom report which was subsequently removed. That report has been published again, with corroboration provided by the Church News. So I assume the Septtemer news release was just prematurely released before it was supposed to be.

Because I provided rather extensive analysis on the release in my September post, the only thing I will add to that today is that it's good to have this finally confirmed. Stay tuned for further coverage of General Conference weekend as those reports and updates are shared. 

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: Health Updates on President Nelson and Elder Holland

Hello again, everyone! New health updates have been provided for President Russell M. Nelson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  Shortly after his 99th birthday, President Nelson fell. Having prescribed similar treatment for other patients in similar information, the prophet will be following doctor's orders to rest and will not be present for General Conference weekend. 

His social media update on this indicates that he hopes to record his message (singular). I assume that refers to either his main message for Sunday morning or his concluding remarks on Sunday Afternoon. As a result, I anticipate his counselors will step up to the plate and fill in for him in opening and closing the conference, and, if necessary, announcing any new updates, including new temples, unless the prophet prerecords that message to close the conference.

Meanwhile, Elder Holland continues to recuperate at home from his recent hospital stay and will be watching remotely. The article didn't say anything about him prerecording his remarks, so I assume we won't hear from him again this weekend. But hopefully, both the prophet and Elder Holland will be able to be present and fully participate in General Conference in April.

I don't know what this means for my General Conference predictions, but I will figure that out and have the updates ready to go in my 10:00 PM post tonight that will share the final version of those predictions. In the interim, I continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will continue to pass those along as time and circumstances allow. 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.