Elder L. Tom Perry Hospitalized; Released

I know I still haven't posted the general update I've been promising, but some important Church news crossed my radar today and I had to share.

Elder L. Tom Perry, the third most senior apostle , second most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve, and the current oldest living apostle, aged 92, was hospitalized earlier today for some breathing difficulties. By 8:30 MDT today, he was released and is reportedly resting comfortably at home. But his brief hospitalization served as a reminder to me of the fragility of life and how grateful I am to have the leading brethren of the Church to guide us. Though I'm sure I would equally love, revere, and sustain whomever the Lord calls, I am very grateful that for the moment we do not have to worry about any apostles passing away. And since I just recently did a health update on the brethren, I thought this was important news to note.

Elder Perry's amazing stature (6'3") is only surpassed by the sweetness of his spirit and the goodness of his heart. I had the privilege of meeting this choice apostle of the Lord when he came to speak to the temple workers at the Mount Timpanogos Temple Worker's annual devotional. This man towered above all those in attendance. His message was timely and just what we needed to hear. While I have long forgotten what that message was, I will never forget how I felt being in the same room as this good brother. And then you can well imagine my joy at the privilege to meet him afterwards and shake his hand. I looked into his eyes and I clearly saw the testimony that he bears of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and His gospel. He must have been anxious to leave and resume his evening, but if he was, it didn't show. As each person came up, he asked for their names and spoke to them briefly. When it was my turn near the end of the evening, I thanked him for his message and for taking the time to be there. As the temple president, President Clarke, introduced me to him, President Clarke called me one of the most diligent workers there. Elder Perry expressed his thanks for me and the work I was doing. He then turned to greet others. I had to wait for my mom to pick me up, so I was there when he left. He graciously wished me a good evening, then took his wife's hand and left. I will never forget the impact this man's visit had on me, and I will always treasure the moments spent in his presence.

How grateful I am that he is all right! I hope he is around to inspire us for many years to come. As I mentioned in the post about the health of the brethren,, he will become the oldest apostle in the history of the Church on July 5, 2020. I think he'll make it, as the hospitalization today was only an ordeal for a couple of hours and he is otherwise very healthy.  Time will tell.

I will keep you updated on this and all other major Church news as time and circumstances allow. For the moment, the storm has past, and everything is all right now. General update to follow perhaps on Sunday, with no blog posts plans in between, unless something comes up. That's all for now.

Temple Progress

I know I haven't yet posted the general update I've been promising since the beginning of the month, but there have been some exciting developments in temple progress that I just had to post about. Hang on to your hats! This will be a wild ride!

First off, the Star Valley Wyoming temple groundbreaking will be held this Saturday. It is unclear who will preside at this groundbreaking. President Monson did say he wanted to be the one to dedicate that temple because the fishing is good there. So he may decide to do it himself and get some extra fishing in, if he feels up to it. President Eyring might be asked to do it, or President Uchtdorf might have his first opportunity to break ground for a temple. Any members of the Twelve could do it. None of them have any ties to Star Valley as far as I know, but if a member of the Twelve is sent, there are possibilities there. Any member of the Presidency of the Seventy could do it, as they all have equal authority to preside over the areas in the US and Canada. Of course, it could be Elder L. Whitney Clayton, who has specific supervisory responsibility for the Utah North Area, where the temple is situated. Or it could be any member of the First or Second Quorums of the Seventy or the Presiding Bishopric. The Presiding Bishopric has direct responsibility for being part of the temple site selection process.

In the meantime, the Cordoba Argentina Temple open house is underway and will be completed on May 2, with the dedication to follow 15 days later. The Payson Utah Temple is currently being toured by VIP and the media. It will open for the general public this Friday. Tours will go until May 23, with the temple to be dedicated 15 days later. The Trujillo Peru temple will also have its open house starting May 8 and running until the 30th, and the dedication of that temple will take place on June 21. With three temple dedications in the near future, the question arises, which First Presidency member will dedicate each of these temples, and who will accompany them? I could easily see President Monson presiding at the Payson dedication, but I honestly don't know whether he's up for out of state events like the Cordoba and Trujillo dedications. So it'll be interesting to see what happens with those dedications.

In the meantime, no significant progress has been made on the under construction or announced temples. Provo City Center could be dedicated by the end of this year, but it's difficult to say. We have two other dedications and one rededication by the end of the year. Other temples are progressing as follows:

Temples Undergoing Renovation:

26. Mexico City Mexico Temple: Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday September 13, 2015.

86. Montreal Quebec Temple: Anticipated to be completed in late 2015.

91. Suva Fiji Temple: Anticipated to be completed in early 2016.

33. Freiberg Germany Temple: Anticipated to be completed in mid-2016.

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Anticipated to be completed in late 2016.

Under Construction:

145. Cordoba Argentina Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday May 17, 2015.

146. Payson Utah Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday June 7, 2015.

147. Trujillo Peru Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday June 21, 2015.

148. Indianapolis Indiana Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday August 23, 2015.

149. Tijuana Mexico Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday December 13, 2015.

154. Provo City Center Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2015-early 2016.

150. Rome Italy Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.

155. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.

156. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.

151. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-to-late 2016.

152. Sapporo Japan Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2016.

157. Paris France Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2016.

158. Meridian Idaho Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2017.

153. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Projected to be completed in 2018.

Announced:

166. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Building permit approved; groundbreaking scheduled for April 25, 2015.

167. Tucson Arizona Temple: Construction approval phase; general contractor selected; groundbreaking pending.

169. Cedar City Utah Temple: Local government approval phase; site plan presented at January 2015 meeting; groundbreaking pending.

159. Concepcion Chile Temple: Approval phase; temple and site design plans complete; groundbreaking pending.

160. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Planning and approval phase; land purchase finalized; groundbreaking pending.

168. Arequipa Peru Temple: Planning and approval phase; final piece of land for temple site acquired; groundbreaking pending.

163. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple and site designs complete; groundbreaking pending.

162. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.

165. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.

170. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.

161. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

164. Durban South Africa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

171. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

172. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

173. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

According to this, two other temples could potentially have their groundbreaking ceremony this year, with several more to follow by the end of next year. As soon as Urdaneta, Durban, Abidjan, Port-au-Prince and Bangkok have their sites announced, they will join the queue. And more temples are sure to follow. I will keep you all updated on this as events occur. Look for the updates here.

In the meantime, if I don't do it before then, you can count on me doing a substantially large general update on Sunday. Until I post again, all the best!

General Conference Predictions Results

I'm sorry to be getting back to this so late. Life caught up with me in a major way, and I simply have not been feeling up to posting lately. But the storms have calmed down, so now I can get back to things. After last general conference, I posted the result of my predictions. So this post will serve the same purpose. First, Church membership for the end of 2014 was announced as 15,372,337. This is 24,363 less than the prediction I made of 15,396,700. In all fairness to me, though, my method for predicting the increase in Church membership is somewhat obscure and not based on any particular method. The only factor determining my prediction is the average church membership increase of previous years. If the Deseret News was still putting out a Church Almanac, then that would list Church membership up to the end of the 3rd quarter of each year, which would give me a much better number to base my prediction on.

Now I will share how my predictions for changes in general Church leadership panned out. Below are my predictions, with each followed by a note that highlights what actually happened. All things considered, I didn't do too badly. See for yourself:

April 2015 Predictions for Changes in General Church Leadership

First Quorum of the Seventy: New members added from Second Quorum of the Seventy, Area Seventies, or Church at large. NOTE: Kim B. Clark, Von G. Keetch, Alan D. Haynie, Hugo Montoya, and Vern P. Stanfill were sustained as new members of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

Second Quorum of the Seventy: New members added from Area Seventies or Church at large. NOTE: No changes.

Area seventies: Releases and sustainings. NOTE: Releases and sustainings occurred.

Young Men General Presidency: David L. Beck, Larry M. Gibson, and Randall L. Ridd released; new Young Men General Presidency sustained (perhaps with Randall L. Ridd remaining as President or Counselor). NOTE: Young Men Presidency was released. New Young Men General Presidency: Stephen W. Owen, Douglas D. Holmes, and M. Joseph Brough.

Primary General Presidency: Rosemary M. Wixom, Jean A. Stevens and Cheryl A. Esplin released; new Primary General Presidency sustained. NOTE: Sisters Stevens and Esplin were released. Rosemary M. Wixom remains as Primary General President, with Cheryl A. Esplin as First Counselor and Mary R. Durham as Second Counselor.

The biggest surprises here were that there were no members added to the Second Quorum of the Seventy and that only the counselors in the Primary General Presidency were changed, rather than the whole presidency. I guess the Church has made a decision as much as possible not to have two new auxiliary presidencies called during the same conference. Which makes sense in a way, but it was still surprising. I wouldn't be surprised if we got a new Primary General Presidency next April, after this one has functioned for a year.

Now I will share how my predictions for General Conference speaking order turned out, followed by my analysis of them.

April 2015 General Conference Predictions

Session	Conducting	Speaker
General Women’s	Bonnie L. Oscarson [Linda K. Burton]	Cheryl A. Esplin
	[Carole M Stephens]	Carol F. McConkie
	[Bonnie L. Oscarson]	Carole M. Stephens
	[President Henry B. Eyring]	President Thomas S. Monson
Saturday Morning	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf	President Thomas S. Monson [President Henry B. Eyring]
	[President Boyd K. Packer]	Elder L. Tom Perry
	[Linda K. Burton]	Bishop Gérald Caussé
	[Elder Dallin H. Oaks]	Linda K. Burton
		Elder L. Whitney Clayton
	[No one]	Elder Richard G. Scott
	[Elder L. Tom Perry]	President Henry B. Eyring
Saturday Afternoon	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Sustaining of Church Officers)
	Church Auditing Department Report, 2014	Kevin R. Jergensen
	Statistical Report, 2014	Brook P. Hales
	[Elder David A. Bednar]	President Boyd K. Packer
	[Elder D. Todd Christofferson]	Elder David A. Bednar
	[Elder Wilford W. Andersen]	Elder Kevin W. Pearson
	[Elder Dale G. Renlund]	Elder Rafael E. Pino
	[Elder Michael T. Ringwood]	Elder M. Russell Ballard
	[Elder Quentin L. Cook]	Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Saturday Priesthood	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf	Elder Russell M. Nelson [Elder M. Russell Ballard]
		Elder Ulisses Soares
		Larry M. Gibson
		President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Thomas S. Monson
Sunday Morning	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf [President Thomas S. Monson]
	[Rosemary M. Wixom]	Elder Quentin L. Cook
	[Elder Jose L. Teixeira]	Rosemary M. Wixom
	[Bishop Gerald Causse]	Elder Jose A. Teixeira
	[Elder Brent H. Nielson] [Elder Jeffrey R. Holland]	Elder Neil L. Andersen
	[President Dieter F. Uchtdorf]	President Thomas S. Monson
Sunday Afternoon	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf	Elder Robert D. Hales
	[Elder Kevin W. Pearson]	Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
	[Elder Rafael E. Pino]	Elder Jorge F. Zeballos
	[Elder Neil L. Andersen]	Elder Mervyn B. Arnold
	[Elder Jorge F. Zeballos]	Elder Yoon Hwan Choi
	[Elder Joseph W. Sitati]	Elder Brent H. Nielson
	[Elder Russell M. Nelson]	Elder Dallin H. Oaks
	[No one]	President Thomas S. Monson

  77% accuracy on these predictions.

 The biggest surprises with these predictions were that President Monson spoke only twice, rather than the five times I had predicted, that Elder Scott did not speak, that there were 3 apostolic speakers Saturday Morning and 3 Saturday Afternoon (typically there are 2 and 4, respectively), that there were several seventies I dd not predict that spoke to us, and that we had a few more speakers this conference than is typical for an April General Conference. The closest I came to having a perfect prediction for a session was the Priesthood Session, where I only got the first speaker incorrect. As I explained last conference, I give myself 3 points per speaker: 3 if I got the right person in the right position in the right session, 2 points if I got them in the right session but the wrong position, 1 point if I got it right that they spoke at all, even if the session or order was incorrect, and no points if there was a wild card, or person I did not predict. So for the Priesthood Session, for example, there were 21 points possible. I got 18 because I got all the correct speakers in the correct position, except for getting the first person incorrect. As shown above, I was 77% accurate with these predictions. Which falls right in with my typical accuracy range of 60-80%. Not bad at all. I usually have my predictions for next conference made by this time, but haven't started on those yet. I will post those closer to October General Conference.

So there you have it: a report on my predictions and how they turned out. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will post probably within the next day or two with a much-needed update on how our lives have gone since my last general update. Until I write again, all the best!