Considering the Church's options for the October General Conference

Here I am once again as I promised, to consider the options the Church has in terms of handling President Monson's absence from General Conference. There are a few things to consider:

1. Temple announcements: In view of Elder Wilson's statement that there are around 80 potential temple sites that could have an official announcement during the next 15 years, the Church would need to add 5 or 6 new temples every year, which works out to around 3 per General Conference. As has been the case previously, I imagine that there will be some General Conferences in which no new temples are announced. After all, the last 12 temples have been announced during the April General Conference. That said, it would make sense if the Church spread out these temple announcements, so it seems logical to assume that we could have at least 2 or 3 announced in each General Conference, and have a few additional new temples announced in between each April & October.
2. What might be done with the time that President Monson would have taken to speak to us? I see three or four options, as follows:

First, one of President Monson's children could, at his request and with his consent, read a previously prepared message (if that happens, it will most likely be done by his oldest son Thomas L. Monson, but I'm sure an equal case could be made for his daughter Ann M. Dibb or his son Clark S. Monson). President Monson could also have his personal secretary read a prepared message. I'm not sure how likely that might be to happen.

Another option, as has been done in the past, is for one or both of the prophet's counselors to present messages in his behalf, with his advice and consent, using either the words President Monson has spoken previously, or providing an update on how he's doing and to testify that the Lord is at the helm of His work.

The final option that I find to be likely is one I favor the most above any of the others presented above. That would be to have President Nelson speak twice in the next General Conference. That could be done by removing President Monson from the speaking list of the Saturday Priesthood and Sunday Morning Sessions, having the Priesthood Session begin with President Uchtdorf's address, then the member of the Quorum of the Twelve & Presidency of the Seventy, adding a General Authority Seventy (whom I would transfer from the Sunday Morning Session) and having President Eyring conclude the meeting.

Then, with the Sunday Morning Session, President Eyring would be the first speaker. Elder Hales, if he speaks in that session, would be next, followed by the second speaker from the Presidency of the Seventy and either Sister Marriott or Sister Bingham (whichever did not speak during the Saturday Morning Session), then having the second apostle (I am predicting Elder Stevenson), a General Authority Seventy, and then the session would conclude with President Nelson's second address.

I am convinced that there are other things the Church can and probably might do. I have presented these as the most likely options, but they are not by any means the only options, and they may not even be the best options. Whatever happens, I know that the Lord will continue to govern how and in what manner the events of the General Conferences of His Church are conducted. For myself, I will be no less surprised if and when I find out that I am wrong in things I have thought and asserted than I will be profoundly grateful for anything I have correctly predicted.

I will be posting again in a moment with a completely updated copy of my General Conference Predictions for October 2017. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated. Until that next post, I wish you all the best.

President Monson will not be attending or speaking at General Conference

Hello, everyone! I have some sad news today. As many of you may recall, I had been keeping my eye out for news on how President Monson and Elder Hales are doing health-wise, in the hopes that I could find out whether or not they would speak or even be in attendance at General Conference this Saturday and the weekend after that. Though I kept checking the Church news sites I get most of my information from, I did not get any closer to an answer for my questions than I was when I first asked them. Then, about 12 hours or so ago, a comment was posted to my blog. The person making the comment said that Elder Renlund had presided at his/her stake conference last Sunday, and that when he was asked about President Monson, Elder Renlund replied that, because of his age and health, he would not even be in attendance at any of the sessions. So, it appears that we now know definitively that President Monson will not be in attendance. I will be posting later about what could be done as a result of President Monson not being able to participate. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you in all that you do.

Arequipa Peru Temple Reaches Another Construction Milestone

Hello again, everyone! In what will be my last post of the day, I wanted to note that more progress has been reported on the construction of the Arequipa Peru Temple. The walls of the second floor of that temple are now being poured. I have been amazed at how steadily progress has been noted on this temple. If that continues, I may need to revise my estimate for its completion for late 2019. For now, it does still feel like this temple could have another 14-16 months of construction, which would, at minimum, mean that a dedication would still only be held in March 2020. I was excited to learn of this development and am glad that I could share it with you. It has seemed to me as though there has been some degree of temple news every day for the last several weeks, and if that continues, the overall status of most, if not all, temples currently under construction or even announced, will likely look much different by the end of this month, and even more so by the end of this year. For my part, I promise to do my best to keep all of you updated on everything as I hear of it. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.