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Monday, June 17, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

As a result of today's update, 48 temples have no official information confirmed yet. Also, all but 1 of the temples originally announced in April 2021 have now had some official information announced. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. 

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Saturday, June 15, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, June 10, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

Hopefully, other groundbreakings will be announced soon. For my part, I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. 

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.


Sunday, June 2, 2024

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Data

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

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

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

Hopefully, this post is of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to ask anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines.

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

Friday, May 31, 2024

President Henry B. Eyring Observes His 91st Birthday 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 91st birthday today. "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.

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.

In the last year or so, his health has begun to decline, as evidenced by the fact that he has periodically not been present when the First Presidency has met with dignitaries at Church headquarters, and as shown by the fact that he prerecorded his General Conference remarks last April, and that he was seated to conduct the Sunday Morning Session and was wheeled to and from his seat in the Conference Center. Despite what I felt as he spoke during the last General Conference (that he might not live much longer), he is still alive and actively serving to the best of his ability. 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 117 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 91st birthday.

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.

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

BREAKING NEWS: First 13 Hymns from the New Hymnbook Have Been Released

Hello again, everyone! As announced just before General Conference weekend, the Church has released the first 13 hymns that will be featured in the new global Hymns--for Home and Church. From the Sabbath and Weekday Section, the following hymns have been released: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing; When the Savior Comes Again; It Is Well With My Soul; I Will Walk With Jesus; His Eye Is On the Sparrow; Think a Sacred Song; As Bread Is Broken; Bread of Life, Living Water; and Gethsemane.

From the Easter and Christmas Section, the following hymns have been released: Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise; He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child; What Child Is This?; and Star Bright. I am pleased to see several that I personally recognize (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing; It Is Well With My Soul; I Will Walk with Jesus (a Primary song); His Eye Is On the Sparrow, Gethsemane; He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child; and What Child Is This?). I look forward to learning the others.

I was surprised and intrigued by the numbering system. The Sabbath and Weekday Hymns have a preface number of 10 and then numerical values from 01-09. The Easter and Crhstimas Section also uses numerical values from 01-04, but are prefaced by the number 12. I don't know if that's the numbering system that will stick, but I was intrigued by that. I am grateful for the release of these new selections. 

I will monitor when the next selections are announced and will post my analysis on those as they are released. 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.

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Set for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple

Hello again, everyone! Because yesterday (Monday) was Memorial Day in the United States, the next major temple construction announcement was deferred to today. We received word of the opening arrangements for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple. Let's get right into those details:

A media day will be held for this temple on Monday, September 9, with invited guests touring the temple the following two days. Public tours will be offered between Thursday, September 12, and Saturday, September 28, 2024. Two dedicatory sessions will be held for the temple at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM CDT (Central Daylight Time), which is 9:00 AM and 12:30 PM MDT, on Sunday, October 13,  2024, under the direction of Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple dedication will be held on the same day as the previously announced dedication of the Casper Wyoming Temple and one week prior to the previously announced dedication of the Salvador Brazil Temple. Due to the fact that San Pedro Sula's first dedicatory session begins at 9:00 AM Mountain Daylight Time and Casper's first dedicatory session begins at 10:00 AM MDT, San Pedro Sula will be the first of the two dedicated on that date.

While there were no other major temple construction announcements today, I am grateful we at least got this announcement of the opening arrangements for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. 

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Saturday, May 18, 2024

UPDATED: October 2024 General Conference Speaker Lineup Projection

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

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

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

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Monday, May 13, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Initial Predictions for the October 2024 General Conference

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

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

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

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

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

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

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