Apology and Personal Update

Hello again, everyone! As this post title indicates, I have felt a need to share a personal update and to issue a general apology. I want to first explain some personal circumstances I have had to which I have previously alluded, but the details of which I have not shared here.

The best way I can describe things is to note that, in November, I had learned that my insurance would no longer cover one of my major medications, and the four months since then have involved my doctor approving a slight increase in another of my medications to compensate for this loss, only for my wife and I to find out that my insurance needed additional information from both my doctor and myself before they would cover the increase of the other medication.

So within the last four months, in addition to the general illnesses with which my wife and I are still struggling, I have had to spend a lot of time every week for at least three days per week doing everything of which I could think to get this situation figured out.

When not trying to settle that fiasco, I have continued to use my enthusiasm for Church and temple news to pass along the updates I have done within that same time. And I have also worked as I can on looking into increasing the number of views and comments on this blog and the amount I am able to earn from it. As part of that process, I have focused some efforts into increasing my blog's visibility in Google search results within the nations from which most of my page views come.

That brings me to my reason for wanting to apologize. I have been very gratified to see the number of views and comments increase on my blog during this time, in addition to seeing an increase, however slight, in my blog earnings as a result of my efforts to expand the reach of my blog.

But I am ashamed to realize that there have been a number of times within the last few months while all of this has been going on that my frustrations over the stress of this situation may have boiled over into my response to comments made here, and for that, I apologize to you all.

I am very much grateful to all who have been gracious enough to comment up to now, and I hope you will all continue to let me know your thoughts going forward. The conversations here make my day more often than not, and I appreciate the ongoing dialogue regarding those things about which I have "sounded off".

But I worry that I don't do as well as I should in showing the genuine appreciation I have for such insights, and I would like to commit here and now to doing that to a larger and more full extent going forward. Together with you, I hope to continue to celebrate all the wonderful Church and temple news that will occur for several years to come.

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: First Presidency Provides Letter with Updated Guidelines for Recognizing and Reporting Abuse

Hello again, everyone! In a letter dated earlier today that was published on Mormon Newsroom, and in the wake of the earlier report about missionaries abused by an MTC president, the First Presidency provided updated guidelines and resources for leaders to utilize in preventing abuse and responding to reports of such actions. You can find those resources here.

I am grateful that this is yet another example of how our new First Presidency is committed right out of the gate to tackle the issues facing members and leaders worldwide with tact, understanding, sympathy, and sensitivity. And I feel equally certain that General Conference addresses they, the apostles, and other leaders give this weekend will continue the trend of tackling the tough issues.

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.

Temple Construction Updates

Hello again, everyone! Late yesterday night, some new temple updates came to my attention. But I was not able to pass those along before now. It is time to remedy that by reporting those developments.

First of all, it may interest some of you to know that the amount of time between today and the Church's 200th anniversary has now reached 12.03 years. So if the Church were to dedicate roughly 3.41 temples each year before now and then, there would easily be 200 temples in operation by that day.

The Church has, of course, announced 2 dedications will occur later this year. And the major temple update for this post relates to the Barranquilla Colombia Temple, where more trees and plants have been added to temple grounds and perimeter gardens, and where the exterior work on the housing facility is almost complete.

At the moment, the Rome Italy Temple may be dedicated either later this year or in the early part of next year. As I have mentioned, if anything happens to delay this temple being returned to the Church (which is currently anticipated to occur by the end of May), then a dedication of that temple might not happen until early next year. Until we know otherwise, I prefer to be optimistic.

And even though that means this year will be somewhat on the lower side of dedicated temples (with only 2 or 3 anticipated before the end of this year), there will be at least 5 dedicated next year. In light of the news a few days ago that full-scale construction is anticipated to begin in Winnipeg within the next month, if we assume that the modified plans will not impact the 20-month estimate for the construction process on that temple, then it is likely that construction could conclude for this temple before the end of next year, with the dedication following in early 2020.

And if, as I have mentioned, several announced temples have a groundbreaking within the next year or two, there will be many other temples that could be dedicated during 2020 and the years following. There are several locations I am keeping my eyes on for a groundbreaking in the not-too-distant future, and as soon as anything official is announced in that regard, I will pass it along here.

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.