UPDATED: April 2026 General Conference Adjusted Speaker Lineup Predictions

Hello again, everyone! Given the recent confirmation that the Sunday Morning Session of the April 2026 General Conference will more particularly focus on messages about the life, ministry, mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have once again revised my predictions for the speaker lineup for General Conference weekend. 

Based on the aforementioned source, I now believe the Sunday Morning Session will include talks from each member of the First Presidency, alongside a couple of members of the Quorum of the Twelve and other general Church leaders.For that reason, I now believe that 4 members of the Quorum of the Twelve will speak on Saturday Morning, 3 each on Saturday Afternoon and Sunday Afternoon, and the remaining 2 on Sunday Morning, along with the First Presidency and a couple of other general Church leaders. 

I have adjusted my predictions accordingly.  And if, as I am projecting, the entire First Presidency speaks on Sunday Morning, President Oaks will likely close out the final session with brief concluding remarks rather than a full-length address. It is also possible that President Oaks could speak briefly before or after the Solemn Assembly is held, but I am less convinced that will be the case. And if the entire First Presidency speaks during the Sunday Morning Session, neither of the current counselors in the First Presidency will need to speak in any of the other sessions.

For all of these reasons, the adjustments make sense to me. I hope the revised speaker lineup predictions prove insightful to all who view them here. And again, I have no insider knowledge regarding the speaker lineup. This is my analysis based on past patterns. The elimination of a Saturday Evening Session  is a game-changer for sure. And whether I'm right or wrong about any such projections, I will still enjoy following along with what actually happens over General Conference weekend.

You can count on my analysis of any major news that will be announced during General Conference weekend. And leading up to that, I will have the final version of all predictions relating to the conference posted here on Thursday night at 10:00 PM (36 hours before the first session begins). 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 TEMPLE NEWS: Renderings Released for the Vienna Austria & Culiacán Mexico Temples

Hello again, everyone! As anticipated, the First Presidency made its customary Monday announcement at the top of this 2:00 PM MDT hour. Today, the renderings were released for the temples in Vienna Austria and Culiacán Mexico, and a new location was announced for the Charlotte North Carolina Temple.

We start in Vienna Austria, where the site location was announced in late October 2021 and the temple was originally announced the previous April. The release of this exterior rendering means a lot to my wife, who served in the Mission (which also covered parts of Germany).  Groundwater has been measured at that temple site, but grass has been resown over the boreholes in question. I don't know how close the Vienna Austria Temple might be to a groundbreaking, but I have promised my wife I will find a way to get her back there when the temple in question is dedicated, which may be 4-5 years out.

We now turn to the Culiacán Mexico Temple. The release of its' exterior rendering follows the site location confirmation in mid-February of last year, which in turn followed that temple's announcement in October 2021. Given the size of the edifice in question (around 10,000 square feet), it may or may not wind up being a modular temple. Given that temples in Mexico generally get approvals faster than European temples, I think the construction will only take 2-3 years once it's underway, unless this temple is modular, in which case it may only take 18-21 months to construct.

No reason was given for the altered site location of the Charlotte North Carolina Temple. The temple's original site was announced in late May 2023, following that temple's original announcement in April 2023.  The single-story edifice of approximately 30,700 square feet will now rise at 5926 Mathews-Mint Hill Road, Mint Hill, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Unless there is a later change, it will retain the Charlotte name.

So far, for the 106 announced temples, 1 has a groundbreaking scheduled, site locations have been confirmed for 56 more (all but 16 of which have also had renderings released), and 50 other temples are awaiting confirmation of any official information. So the queue of announced temples is moving along nicely. That said, I had hoped another temple dedication or two or one or two groundbreakings would be announced.

But I am not disappointed in the news that we got pertaining to these three temples, and hopefully, with one more Monday left prior to General Conference, we will see temple dedications and/or groundbreakings announced. Whatever happens in that regard, you can count on my covering it. In the meantime, 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 can after 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 TEMPLE NEWS: Exact Dates Noted for Salt Lake Temple Open House

Hello again, everyone! In the latest update on the Temple Square renovation, the precise dates have been released for the open house of the Salt Lake Temple. That open house will run from Wednesday, April 7, through Friday, October 1, and for the first time in open house history, the tours will run 7 days per week, Sundays included. It's wonderful to have this information confirmed.

We do not yet know when the temple will be rededicated, but I anticipate that the dedicatory sessions may be held for at least a week, and that there will be enough dedicatory sessions for each apostle to conduct at least one. Based on information available to me, my newest projections for that dedication window are Sunday, May 21, to Saturday, May 27, 2028. 

Again, that's just my personal estimate, based on what I have been able to ascertain on my end. Nothing official has been confirmed, nor will it be until closer to when the open house either begins or ends. Until official sources confirm, correct, or clarify this, that is no more and no less than my own personal estimate, based on known factors.

I will be interested to see what happens as we get closer to the open house for the Salt Lake Temple. 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: First Presidency Broadens Sunday School Leadership Opportunities, Among Other Updates to the Church Handbook of Instruction

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to report that, effective immediately, the First Presidency has broadened Sunday School leadership opportunities.  Going forward, a man or a woman may be called as Sunday School presidents in wards and branches. If a man is called, the entire presidency must be men as well, and if a woman is called, the entire presidency must be women. Sunday School General President Paul V. Johnson was quoted as follows on this change:

“This important change gives bishoprics additional options as they prayerfully consider who should lead the effort of teaching and learning in their wards. At the time of our call as Sunday School leaders in 2024, the First Presidency gave us a charge—as they have done with previous presidencies—to improve teaching and learning in the Church. There are many capable women and men who can help strengthen gospel instruction and foster spiritual growth.”

This comes as one of many recent adjustments reported to the Church's general handbook. This update was first announced in a First Presidency letter dated today. I am grateful for this inspired adjustment and can attest that, as soon as I read the announcement, I felt the spiritual confirmation that it is the right change at this time.

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 TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Cleveland Ohio Temple

Hello again, everyone! Contrary to my previous assertion that, aside from the Lindon Utah Temple media day, there would be no other major temple news, the First Presidency recently announced the opening arrangements for the Cleveland Ohio Temple. 

My assumption is that the main reason the Church is already announcing this update is because the Cleveland Ohio Temple is smaller and is in the United States, which makes those arrangements easier to set than the opening arrangements for their comparatively larger counterparts in both the United States and elsewhere in the world. That being said, let's get right into the relevant details:

The temple will host a media day on Monday, June 15, 2026, followed by two days of tours for invited guests, with the public open house following between Thursday, June 18, and Friday, July 3. The dedication of the temple will occur under the presiding direction of Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Sunday, August 16, 2026, at 10:00 AM local time, with a rebroadcast at 2:00 PM. 

Both the dedication and its rebroadcast will be carried to all units in the new temple district. The dedication is occurring sooner than I expected, although I had correctly surmised that at least one other temple dedication would be set to occur before the previously announced dedication of the Phonm Penh Cambodia Temple. I still think it is likely that at least one additional temple dedication will also be set to occur before the dedication of Cambodia's first temple at the end of August. But we'll have to see what's announced next week.

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 TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the San Diego California and Phnom Penh Cambodia Temples

Hello again, everyone! Today, the First Presidency announced opening arrangements for the San Diego California  and Phnom Penh Cambodia Temples. Let's get right into the details: We start with the San Diego California Temple. A media day will be held on Monday, June 15, 2026, with tours for invited guests the following two days. The open house will then occur from Thursday, June 18 through Saturday, July 11, 2026. The temple rededication will follow on Sunday, August 23, 2026, with the presiding apostle to be named at a later time. The dedicatory session will be held at 10:00 AM local time, with a rebroadcast at 2:00 PM to all units in the temple district.

Meanwhile, the media day for the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple will be held on Wednesday, August 12, with invited guest tours the next two days. The public open house for this comparatively smaller temple will be held for a week between the Saturdays of August 15 and 22. The temple dedication will follow on Sunday, August 30, 2026, with Elder Patrick Kearon presiding thereover. The 10:00 AM dedicatory session will also be rebroadcast at 2:00 PM local time to all units in the temple district.

I am not surprised that the open house for the San Diego California Temple is almost a month long, and the temple's rededication was around the time I htought it would be. I am also not shocked that the presiding apostle was not named at this time. That means the odds are very good that it could be rededicated by a member of the First Presidency, though I don't know whether any of them have connections to San Diego. In the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I believe that Elder Quentin L. Cook has some connection to the San Diego area, but I could be mistaken on that.

But I was surprised that the open house for the first temple in Cambodia will only last a week, and that the temple dedication in question will not take place until the end of August. Ihad projected it would occur on August 2, 9, or 16. I was only off by two weeks from the latter end of that estimate, but it still surprised me. I am cautiously optimistic that the mid- to late August windows for both of these events might mean that we could get other new temples dedicated in early to mid-August (August 2, 9, or 16). That might be a good window for the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple. But time will tell on that.

I am glad that two more temples have had opening arrangements announced. I hope for other opening arrangements tobe announced later this month, along with perhaps some groundbreakings, exterior renderings, and/or site location confirmations later this month as well. 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: Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data roughly every 7 weeks. Having last done so on Sunday, January 11, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 18 Church Presidents (including our current prophet, President Dallin H. Oaks), in addition to updated information on the tenure lengths for each of the 30 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (including Quorum President, Henry B. Eyring). 

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 not even making that list for the next 6 years), 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) The clock on the current group reset when Elder Gilbert was ordained last week.

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 2 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 13 apostles will become nonagenarians and join that list.

With these updates being published every 7 weeks, the next one will be provided here on Sunday, April 19.. Hopefully, this post is of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to 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. 

BREAKING NEWS: 12 Additional New Hymns Released

Hello again, everyone! Breaking news from the Church was reported a short time ago: the release of 12 new hymns that will be included in Hymns—For Home and Church. The selections are as follows: 

“Joyfully Bound” 

“My Covenants”

“When I Am Baptized” (current children's song with updated lyrics

“The Power of the Holy Ghost”

“Elijah and the Still, Small Voice”

“Jesus Is My Shepherd”

“My Song in the Night”

“This Is My Father’s World”

“Build an Ark”

“Love Will Bless Our Home”

“Lord, Accept Our Humble Fast”

“Long Ago, Within a Garden”

The new releases in Hymns—For Home and Church now total 72 in English, French, Spanish, and  Portuguese, with some of those hymns already being released in other languages. Aside from "When I Am Baptized", I am only familiar with "My Song in the Night" and "This Is My Father's World", courtesy of the many times those songs have been performed by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during "Music & the Spoken Word". But I look forward to learning these newest selections.

And speaking thereof, since many of the new selections are based on Old Testament stories, the new release of hymns includes comments from Sunday School General President Paul V. Johnson, in addition to comments from Primary General President Susan H. Porter. President Johnson offered the folllowing suggestions for implementing these newhymns in our daily lives:

Memorize the lyrics.

Listen to the prerecorded songs throughout the day.

Teach from and sing together as a family.

Sing enthusiastically at home and church.

Invite someone to play or sing as part of a lesson at church.

Aside from these notes, I will let the new releases speak for themselves otherwise. 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 TEMPLE NEWS: First Presidency Announces Major Updates on Six Temples

Hello again, everyone! On this Monday afternoon, the First Presidency has announced updates for 6 temples. There's a lot to cover, so let's get started: We begin with the Teresina Brazil Temple, for which a groundbreaking has been officially set. Elder Ciro Schmeil, First Counselor in the Brazil Area Presidency, will preside at the temple's groundbreaking on Saturday, April 18, 2026. 

This announcement follows that temple's April 2023 announcement by President Nelson, the confirmation of its' location in August 2023, and the release of its exterior rendering in February 2024. As things currently stand, the Teresina Brazil Temple will be the fifth temple to have a groundbreaking this year. The fifth temple groundbreaking laast year occurred on April 26, so that puts us 8 days ahead this year vs. last year. And there will likely be more groundbreakings coming down the pike.

We now move on to the 3 temples in the Philippines for which we received news today: Naga, Santiago, and Iloilo. That news included site confirmations and exterior renderings. We start with Naga. A single-story edifice of approximately 18,850 square feet, with an adjacent chapel and ancillary building, will rise on a 9.11-acre site on Lot 1045-A-1-A Barangay Concepcion Grande, Naga, Bicol, Philippines. Today's double announcement follows the October 2022 announcement of that temple.

The Santiago Philippines Temple, also announced in October 2022, will be a single-story edifice of 18,850 square feet and will rise on a 14.47-acre site east of Camella Isabella Main Road in Barangay Malvar, Santiago City, Province of Isabela, Philippines. The temple project will also include a meetinghouse, patron housing, and a distribution center. 

Meanwhile, the Iloilo Philippines Temple, announced in April 2023, will rise on a 7.7-acre site at Circumferential Road 1, Green Meadows, in Barangay Tacas, Jaro District, Province of Iloilo, Philippines, That temple will be the same size as the Santiago Temple, and the project will also include all 3 things mentioned in relation to the Santiago Temple, in addition to an arrival facility.

We now move on to the official details for the Rapid City South Dakota Temple. Announced in April 2025, the 11,800 square foot edifice will rise on a 4.86-acre site at the northeast corner of Mount Rushmore Road and Moon Meadows Drive in Rapid City, South Dakota. NO exterior rendering or gorundbreaking information has been released at this time. Thesquare footage is slightly larger than the standard for modular temples, but I'm hoping it will be modular. My dad served in the South Dakota Rpaid City Mission, so I'm particularly grateful for this announcement today.

And finally, the Houston Texas South Temple has been renamed the Fort Bend Texas Temple. The temple's location and rendering were released in October of last year.  I am grateful for the announcements about these six temples. In view of the release of the official details for the 3 Philippines temples and the first temple in South Dakota, the number oft temples without any official information now sits at 50. I am grateful for today's announcements and for the chance Ihad to share this analysis 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.

UPDATED: April 2026 General Conference Predictions

Hello again, everyone! In view of the November 17 announcement to discontinue the Saturday Evening Session of General Conference,the November 6 call of Elder Gérald Caussé, and the February 12 call of Elder Clark G. Gilbert to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I have made major revisions to my April 2026 General Conference predictions. So I now present my revised projections for the speaker lineup, my predictions for changes in general Church leadership (which also includes my estimates for the data in the Statistical Report for 2025)  and my masterlist of potential locations in which a temple could be announced.

As previously mentioned, during an interview in conjunction with the Burley Idaho Temple dedication, President Oaks said the following about the announcement of new temples: "It has occurred to me for a long time that the best place to announce a temple is in that temple district. And the best person to announce it is the file leader in that area, which can be an Apostle on assignment to a stake conference or another meeting, or it can be the area president if there’s no Apostle in the district when a decision is made by the First Presidency to have a temple there."

He further stated: "It’s a pattern that we will follow as long as I have influence in determining those things. This does not change the pattern of decision-making or gathering facts and determining the agreeable timing and the need. And all those things will continue to be analyzed. But when it comes to making a decision from all those facts, the First Presidency will continue to make the decisions. But they’ll assign someone else to make the announcement in the place where the temple will be built."

With that in mind, I don't think there will be any new temples announced in any General Conference at all under President Oaks' prophetic administration. But Iwanted to include mymasterlist anyways, though I would be  shocked if the Easter-centric General Conference included temple announcements. We may or may not see somethingelse announced, but that is harder to project. And with just 4 sessions instead of the 5, there may be fewer speakers, or the non-apostolic speakers may have shorter allotments of time.

Whatevermight happen during General Conference weekend, 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.