April 2018 General Conference Predictions Alterations: Part Eight--Slight Update to Speaking Order Projections

Hello again, everyone! I am back to add another part to the series of posts I published last month on how the announced and likely future changes in Church leadership would alter my April 2018 General Conference predictions. I wanted to note that I have done more research on the speaking history for general officers of the Church.

Based on what I found there (and also on what I believe the layout of the October 2018 Women's Session might look like, which I will be addressing in another post after publishing this one), my reasoning behind making these changes and what those changes entail follow below.

As some of you may recall, I previously noted we could potentially see the Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency, and Cristina B. Franco, who holds the same position but in the Primary General Presidency speak to us.

The additional study I have done since that time has led me to now believe that we will instead hear from the First Counselors in those two presidencies, with Sharon Eubank potentially speaking during the Saturday .Morning Session, and Bonnie H. Cordon speaking during the Sunday Afternoon Session.

This change has seemed to be a common-sense choice because of what I believe will occur during the first Women's Session held following the announcement last October that that session would only be held every October.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, especially any addressing your thoughts on this subject. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my net post, which will, barring anything unexpected, address my thoughts on how these changes to General Conference might affect the layout of the Women's Session every October, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Another Update Provided for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to report today that another update has been provided for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple. The latest reports on those construction efforts indicate that scaffolding has been removed from the steeple, and that while roof shingling continues, the driveway and parking area have been outlined.

This update gives me hope that we might see this temple dedicated by the end of this year (rather than the beginning of next year), especially since it seems to be making fairly steady process. With that said, if my memory serves me correctly, other temples have been a bit farther along in their progress when their dedications were anticipated within 8-10 months, so I will be keeping an eye on this temple and its' ongoing progress (or lack thereof), and I will be posting updates on that progress as I am able to do so.

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 Nelson & Elder Holland to Tour Europe, Africa and Asia in April

Hello again, everyone! Not sure when this was posted on the Church's official website, but my local news ran a story about half an hour ago sharing that President Nelson and his wife, accompanied by Elder Holland and his wife, would be touring Europe, Africa, and Asia in April.

According to this news release from the Church website, the tour will go from April 10-23, and will allow these Brethren to visit Church sites in these nations, which will almost certainly involve looking over temples under construction in Africa and also perhaps scouting out potential future locations for future temples in all three continents, in addition to holding gatherings for members and missionaries in these areas.

This is exciting news, primarily because it has been a while since a Church president has been able to travel extensively like this. I have not verified this through personal research, but I seem to recall that President Monson began gradually scaling back his duties in 2014 or so, which included limiting his travel and the number and length of his addresses in General Conference. So it may have been a couple of years prior to that that President Monson traveled to such an extent.

And this is the first time since 2006 or so that I can recall an older Church president doing such extensive traveling. This suggests that, in accordance with what he said in the press conference for him and his counselors on January 16, he is earnest in his desire to be out among the people as long as he can be, and to understand the local issues members throughout the world are dealing with.

I observed this on Facebook, but it is worth mentioning here as well: The fact that President Nelson is intent on serving and being out among the people for as long as he can has been perfectly verified by how fully he and his counselors have gotten right to work to get things done.

And that is no more evident than in the fact that he has done quite a bit since his ordination. He has spoken at the funerals of the longest-serving Area Seventy of the Church (Jon M. Huntsman) and of Elder Von G. Keetch, who unexpectedly passed away from a brief, sudden, and fatal illness. He and his counselors have also announced the rededication for the Houston Texas Temple and the renovation that is scheduled to occur for the temple in Hamilton New Zealand.

I never got around to mentioning this before now, but just a couple of days ago, Mormon Newsroom shared this report about how President Nelson and his wife spoke to a group of young adults in Las Vegas.

So it is plain that President Nelson is very committed to ministering to Church members. And it is interesting that this tour will begin about 1.5 weeks following his first General Conference as Church President. Mormon Newsroom indicated in the release about the tour plans that articles about that tour would be published as the tour progresses. So you can be sure to find coverage there.

Additionally, you can be sure I will be keeping my eyes open for more information on that tour, and on any and all other Church and temple news and updates and I will continue to do my best to pass those updates along to you as I become aware of them.

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.