BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Announced for the Brussels Belgium Temple; Renderings Released for the Savaii Samoa and Tulsa Oklahoma Temples; and Site Location Confirmation and Exterior Rendering for the Houtson Texas South Temple

Hello again, everyone! With the First Presidency reorganized, they have hit the ground running and have made significant announcements on this Monday relating to four temples: a groundbreaking for the Brussels Belgium Temple, exterior renderings for the Savaii Samoa and Tulsa Oklahoma Temples, and the site location confirmation and exterior rendering for the Houston Texas South Temple. So let's get right into exploring these latest updates:

Elder Jack N. Gerard, First Counselor in the Euorpe Central Area Presidency, will preside at the Saturday, November 22, 2025, groundbreaking for the Brussels Belgium Temple, While the groundbreaking in question will not include any turning of the soil (as the edifice is being built within an existing building rather than on empty ground), there will be a short program followed by a dedicatory prayer over the construction process. 

It appeasrs that the Church is still trying to obtain the necessary approvals to turn the existing building intto a religious building with accommodations, but that the Church was able to get the go-ahead for this program and dedicatory prayer. Unless any other groundbreakings are scheduled between this Saturday (the groundbreaking for the Cape Town South Africa Temple) and November 22, 2025, the "groundbreaking" for the first temple in Belgium will be the 20th groundbreaking in 2025. But I still have a few temples I am anticipating will have groundbreakings this year, so we'll see what happens there.

Moving on to the Savaii Samoa Temple, the release of the exterior rendering today follows the March 11, 2024 site confirmation and the October 2023 announcement of that temple by President Russell M. Nelson. Hopefully a groundbreaking will follow either later this year or soemtime next year.  Meanwhile, the Tulsa Oklahoma Temple was also originally announced in October 2023, and the confirmation of its' site location on August 12, 2024. I have no particular insights about the temple renderings in question, so I will let them speak for themselves. if any of you have anything to share about either rendering, I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

Finally, we wrap things up with the details on the Houston Texas South Temple. Following its April 2024 announcement, also by President Nelson, the dual confirmation today of the location and the exterior rendering is fantastic. The single-story edifice of approximately 46,000 square feet, along with a meetinghouse and an ancillary building, will rise on a 15.7-acre site along Fort Bend Parkway, just north of Sienna Parkway in Missouri City, Texas. I guess I wsas somewhat confused by the rendering because it looks in some ways similar to the modular temple designs we've seen, but since it is the wrong size for a modular temple, I'm not sure why that was my first assumption.

With the release of the information about the Houston Texas South Temple, this document shows the latest count of temples for which no information has been released. That number now sits at only 64, and I'm sure that will go down further in the coming weeks. I am grateful to see that the First Presidency is (thus far) sticking to the Nelsonian practice of 2:00 PM Monday announcements. Hopefully that continues. And the fact that we got major announcements about four temples meanss we had just about everything I projected, except temple dedications. Hopefully those will follow in the coming weeks. 

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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.

2,500th Blog Post: BREAKING NEWS: New First Presidency Announced

Note: This post was originally published at 9:30 AM, when the broadcast was announced, and was updated following the broadcast, just after 1:00 PM the same day.

Hello again, everyone! As was reported this morning, a new First Presidency was announced just after 1:00 PM MDT today. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles conducted the broadcast to announce that. It goes without saying that President Dallin H. Oaks is the 18th Church President in this dispensation, having been ordained and set apart in that role on Tuesday, October 14, 2025. He has selected Presidents Henry B. Eyring and D. Todd Christofferson as his respective First and Second Counselors. 

President Jeffrey R. Holland is the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I did not see President Christofferson's call coming, but as the Lord said to Isaiah, His ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and thoughts. I fully sustain this new First Presidency, and I hope that is true for each of you.

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

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

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data every 7 weeks. Having last done so on Sunday, August 17, it is time to publish the newest such data on this General Conference Sunday. 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), 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. As previously noted, the current Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and apostolic group will not join that list until late next year, assuming no other apostles pass away between now and then.

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 apostolic data updates coming every 7 weeks, the next update will be posted here on the morning of Sunday, November 23 (which will be the last such update for this year)..

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.

Stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates.

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 2025 General Conference Predictions (Final Version)

Hello again, everyone! With just 36 hours left until the October 2025 General Conference, I wanted to present the final version of my General Conference predictions. I would like to note that I once again made adjustments that I felt would be appropriate. So with that introduction, let's review those:

First up, my projected speaker lineup (which has been slightly tweaked and restructured)/ Next is my predictions for changes in general Church leadership (which now includes the prospective call of one or twp additional counseelors in the First Presidency, one or two potential new membes of the Quorum of the Twelve as a result of the prospective First Presidency changes, possible changes to the Presiding Bishopric, and definite changes to area seventies).

And the final two elements of these projections are my master list of all prospective locations in which I feel a temple could be announced soon, and the more specific locations I most anticipate being announced in this General Conference (my selections for October are at the bottom of the document). As I've noted before, I fully anticipate that 18 temples will be announced, which will bring the worldwide total to 400 in any phase.

Well, there you have it: my complete predictions for the upcoming General Conference. This is the final version, so I don't plan on making any additional changes unless there is a very good reason to do so. I welcome any questions or comments on these predictions that any of you might have. As much as I enjoy making and sharing these predictions, I am most looking forward to the opportuniies we will have to hear from and sustain our leaders.

I will be watching General Conference weekend carefully, and will bring any major announcements and my analaysis thereof to you all here in either new comments or posts, including the much-anticipated announcement of new temples. Stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 

In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 

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

Elder Ulisses Soares Celebrates His 67th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased at this time to honor Elder Ulisses Soares, who is celebrating his 67th birthday today. As I've mentioned previously, Elder Soares has a most unique life story and background, and I am grateful to share some thoughts about him with you all. Ulisses Soares was born on this day in 1958 in São Paulo Brazil to Apparecido Soares and Mercedes Carecho Soares. He has European and Amerindian ancestry. When an aunt joined the Church, that was how the Soares' family first learned of the gospel. His parents, after being taught by the missionaries, were baptized when young Ulisses was five years old.

Regarding his experience with worshipping in the Church during his growing-up years, his small branch would meet in a tiny rental place that was located above a bakery. He served a full-time mission in Rio de Janeiro, Upon his return, he connected with Rosana Fernandes Morgado, who had served in the same mission at around the same time, but whom he had not met until after they both had returned. The two were married in the São Paulo Temple, and together they raised three children

His academic experience involved studying at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, from which, in 1985, he received a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting. He then continued his studies at the;National Institute of Postgraduate Study, where he earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration. He spent his professional career working for several multinational companies (one of which was Pirelli Tire Company) as an accountant and an auditor. Donald L. Clark, who at that time was serving as director of temporal affairs for the Church in Brazil, convinced him to take a job with the Church as a senior auditor.

When Brother Clark was asked to serve as a mission president, Brother Soares took over for him as director of temporal affairs. He went on to fill a special assignment for the Church's Presiding Bishopric. Within the Church, Elder Soares has served as an elder's quorum president, counselor in a bishopric, stake high councilman, and as a regional welfare agent.

When the São Paulo Brazil Cotia Stake was created in 1995, Elder Soares was called as the first president thereof. 5 years later, he served a three-year term as president of the Porto Portugal Mission. Less than two years after his return (during the April 2005 General Conference), he was called as a General Authority Seventy.

As a General Authority Seventy, he served as First Counselor in the Brazil South Area.from 2005-2007, as First Counselor in the Brazil Area from 2007-2009, and as President of that area from 2009-2011. He served from August 2011-January 2013 as First Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency, at which point he was called to serve in the Presidency of the Seventy, with responsibility for the North America Southeast Area. Then, in November 2015, Elder Soares was reassigned to oversee the Idaho and North America Central Areas of the Church. He still had oversight of both of those areas in 2018.

On March 31, 2018, Elder Soares was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he was ordained an apostle on Thursday April 5, 2018. He thus became both the first Latter-day Saint apostle from Brazil and the first one from Latin America. Elder Soares has had many opportunities to grow into his assignment. In the time he has has served as a general authority, he has given a total of 20 General Conference addresses, with the first 2 given as a General Authority Seventy, 3 more as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 1 given since his call to the apostleship. His talk during this weekend's General Conference will bring his apostolic total to 14, and his grand total to 19.

I testify without reservation or hesitation that the Lord inspired President Nelson to call Elders Gong and Soares as apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. I gratefully and wholeheartedly sustain all 15 “special witnesses of Christ” in their divinely-inspired and doctrinally-supported roles prophets, seers, and revelators in their roles and responsibilities as special witnesses of Christ, and am grateful to have been able to provide this birthday tribute to Elder Soares today. I continue to monitor 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.

If you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe. If you would like to support the work done on this blog, donations in any amount are never required but are always welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

UPDATE: End-of-Third-Quarter-2025 Temple Construction Progress Review

Hello again, everyone! As the third quarter of 2025 draws to a close, it's time to look back on temple construction from the beginning of 2025 to this point. In order to provide that contrast, I am happy to present a look back at where things stood as 2025 began, how things had progressed 4 days before the April 2025 General Conference, what had transpired by the rough mid-point of 2025, and what that looks like now.

I will largely let that data speak for itself. I am grateful for the progress that has been made in temple construction thus far this year and am looking forward to reviewing this progress again at the end of this year. Stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. 

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

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: Tribute Broadcast and Funeral Services Announced for President Nelson

Hello again, everyone! The funeral arrangements for President Nelson have just been confirmed. A special tribute broadcast will air on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at 10:00 AM MDT, featuring remarks from several Church leaders, Public funeral services, including a public viewing, will be held the week after the October 2025 General Conference, which will proceed as scheduled. The public viewing will be held on Monday, October 6, from 9 AM-8 PM.in the Conference Center. The official funeral services will follow on Tuesday, October 7, at 12:00 PM MDT. A private burial service will follow the funeral proceedings.

This released information answers a slew of questions. The only unknown factor is how soon the First Presidency might be reorganized. My feeling is that such a reorganization may only happen on Wednesday, October 8, after President Nelson is laid to rest. But at least we have more information now than we had this morning.

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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 APOSTOLIC NEWS: Church President Russell M. Nelson Passes Away at Age 101

Hello again, everyone! As reported by the Newsroom and the Church News, Church President Russell M. Nelson passed away just after 10:00 PM on this Saturday September 28, 2025, at the age of 101. His biography speaks for itself. With the passing of the prophet, the First Presidency is now dissolved, and Presidents Oaks and Eyring return to their places in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which now becomes the leading Quorum of the thChurch, and President Oaks assumes a de facto role as the Acting President of the Church.

I am not sure how long it will take to arrange a funeral or reorganize the First Presidency, but we will see. The most likely scenario I see at this point is the apostles leading the Church through General Conference weekend, with the funeral potentially following the concluding session of General Conference on Sunday, and the reorganization of the First Presidency coming the week after that. I'm sure the apostles had a heads-up that President Nelson's death was imminent, so I have no doubt there is a plan in place. The other option I see would be to delay General Conference, but we will see what happens there as well.

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News and the Newsroom on this and all other subjects. I'll be sure to pass along such updates, including updates from the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site and the Church Growth Blog, as soon as I can after I learn of 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 all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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: Ground Broken for the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple

 Hello again, everyone! In the Newsroom today, it was reported that ground was broken for the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple this morning. This was a surprise, as this groundbreaking had not been announced in advance. The history of that temple is available via the links shared above.Elder Michael A. Dunn, First Counselor in the North America Southwest Area, presided over the ceremony, I gather it was not announced in advance because the approval of that temple had been fought at every governmental approval level and even litigated in the courts, although a recent court complaint about the approval for that temple was dismissed for what I understand was a lack of legal standing.

This groundbreaking marks the 16th such ceremony conducted this year. On Saturday (2 days from now) ground will be broken for the Fairbanks Alaska Temple. With those and the other two recently announced  groundbreakings for the Kumasi Ghana and Cape Town South Africa Temples, the 2025 groundbreaking total through late October now rises to 19 total before the end of October. I think it is highly likely that other temples will have groundbreakings confirmed soon, based on where some of them are in the current temple construction approval process.

The latest such updates will be available to view in my end-of-third-quarter 2025 temple construction overview which will be provided about 5 days from now. I am grateful to have learned about this latest temple update and for the opportunity to share that information with you all here. I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. 

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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: 12 New Hymns Released (Including One Penned by President Nelson)

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to report this morning that 12 new hymns have been released. The new releases include African American, Geerman, Korean, Tagolag, and Tongan pieces, in addition to one penned by our beloved prophet, Church President Russell M. Nelson. What are these hymns? I'm glad you asked. They are as follows: 

“Thou Gracious God, Whose Mercy Lends”, “Help Us Remember”, “How Did the Savior Minister”, “Jesus Is the Way”, “Can You Count the Stars in Heaven?”, "He Cares for Me”, “Our Prayer to Thee”, “Joseph Prayed in Faith”, “Stand by Me”, “This Day Is a Good Day, Lord”, “Go Tell It on the Mountain”, and “Little Baby in a Manger”.

I am familiar with "Thou Gracious God, Whose Mercy Lends", "Our Prayer to Thee", and "Go Tell It on the Mountain", but not the others. The number of released new hymns for  “Hymns—For Home and Church”  now totals 60, 

We don't yet know what the ratio of new hymns vs. the core collection will be, but we do know that Primary General President Susan H. Porter, Young Men General President Timothy L. Farnes, and Elder Matthew L. Carpenter an Asssistant ExecutiveDirector of the Church's Priesthood and Family Department, are all quoted in relation to the newest release of the new hymns,

We also know that Church members are being encouraged to learn and share the new hymns. I pray that we will all do so. I am also looking forward to the next release of new hymns, which should occur sometime in December or so. And the entirety of the new hymnbook will be available to use and share at home and during Church services as well. I am grateful to have been able to learn of this update not long after it happened.

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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.