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Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Continuing Coverage of President Thomas S. Monson's Death

Hello again, everyone! Continuing now my coverage of President Monson's passing, the Church News released this story about how President Monson enjoyed the counsel he once heard to take an older person to lunch. and this story in which his counselors have released a statement. That is not, in my recollection, something we have seen with the passing of previous Church presidents, and it is great to hear from them. The First Presidency, as noted last night, is now dissolved. With funeral arrangements still pending, but with the Church generally having a precedent of not waiting too long to announce such arrangements, it will be interesting to see ongoing developments in this regard, and I will do my best to bring all of that to each of you. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Added at 12:40 PM Utah time: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has released this statement, and it is great to hear from them. And it probably goes without saying, but the Church has also released this article outlining the procedure through which the Church presidency passes from a deceased prophet to his successor. It is always amazing to see that occur. I did want to note that, in recent transitions, President Hunter died on March 3, and President Hinckley became Church President 9 days later, on March 12. Then following the passing of President Hinckley on January 27, 2008, the First Presidency was reorganized on February 3, 2008. While it is up to President Monson's family how soon his funeral will be held, 9 days between the passing of one Church president and the ordination of another has been the longest such period in recent years. So we will have to see how soon it all take place. Stay tuned for more here on that as I learn it. Thanks again.

Additional resources on the passing of President Thomas S. Monson

Hello again, everyone! I had originally added a bit to my post about President Monson's passing, as I found a link to an article written about him. But as I found several others as well, I thought I would include them all here in another post. So here goes!

From the Church News; this article is the introduction to the others. This article spoke of his ministry as a bishop to the widows of his ward. this one discusses his love for the people of Germany, this one  pays tribute to his time as a bishop, aside from his care for the widows in his ward, this one talks about his childhood, this one contains tributes from his family members, this one pays tribute to his service in the First Presidency, including his prophetic tenure, this one discusses his work on the Scripture Publication Committee, and this one is a Church news viewpoint containing even more tributes to him.

This is the summary article from the Church News & Events page on LDS.org, in addition to this one about his youth, this one (which may be a duplicate from the Church News about his service to the widows in his ward), and this one, likely a duplicate about his time on the scriptures committee. And this will contain Mormon Newsroom's coverage, which will no doubt be wide-spread in coming days, so you can catch the latest there.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: President Thomas S. Monson Passes Away

Hello again, everyone! I am here with some late-breaking news. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has confirmed a report that President Thomas S. Monson has passed away. With his passing, the First Presidency is now dissolved, and President Nelson and the remaining 12 apostles take over Church leadership, which will more than likely involve a reorganization of the First Presidency, probably within the next week.

Since this is a very late-breaking development, more information about the circumstances of President Monson's passing will be forthcoming. For now, I pass along this article, published by KSL. It appears his passing occurred at 10:01 PM, though the announcement came just barely over the airwaves, and I had just by chance pulled up KSL's website. I am sure more developments will be made known tomorrow, once the Church has a chance to process this news . And we will look for President Nelson to be sustained as the new Church President in General Conference next April. But he will have to act to fill two apostolic vacancies now.

With President Monson's passing, our most senior apostles are those three appointed during President Kimball's administration. How blessed it must be for this wonderful man to be free of his mortal mission to lead the Church, from which he stepped back less than one year ago today. He did not have to suffer long.

I could go on to share my feelings about our beloved prophet's passing, but I want to get this posted. So that does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, but I would ask that we all remain respectful of this man's wonderful life and those Brethren who will now have to carry on without him. May God bless the memory of our prophet dear, and prosper those left to carry on without him, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.