Two Additional Articles Posted on Mormon Newsroom

Hello again, everyone! Earlier today, I noticed that Mormon Newsroom had published two additional articles that I wanted to share with you all. I was not able to do so before now because my wife and I spent most of our afternoon and evening going to and from Salt Lake City for a doctor's appointment. But those two newest articles are worthy of mention, so I wanted to discuss them now.

Before doing so, I did want to mention something interesting which I have noticed. We have seen a lot of major Church news released since President Monson's passing four months ago. But it has been amazing and inspiring for me to realize that a greater number of those news articles have been published in the last four months on Mormon Newsroom than has previously been the case.

Mormon Newsroom has always had extensive coverage of the major Church news stories. But since January, the number of those stories published first on Mormon Newsroom instead of any other source have increased substantially.

A couple of examples of that have been the fact that Mormon Newsroom was the first source to publish the changes in area leadership (not to mention the fact that the first report of those changes came several weeks earlier this year than has been the case previously) and that more extensive coverage has also been devoted to the ministry of our current apostles and other Church leaders.

In short, there have been a greater number of news items first published on Mormon Newsroom in the last few months than has been the case in any other previous three-month period. That is the case for two reasons: First, there have been many more developments having an impact on the whole Church within that time than we have previously seen, and second, President Nelson mentioned during the January 16 temple broadcast and press conference that the Church was working towards greater transparency. It has been amazing to see that unfold.

Sorry for that lengthy commentary. That said, now let's turn our attention to the two items which I referenced at the beginning of this post. First, as some of you might recall, several months ago, the Church reported that the First Presidency had sent out surveys to all currently-serving missionaries to gague the conditions impacting safety and security in each area of the world. Mormon Newsroom provided this update, which highlights what the Church has done and plans to do in the near future in response to the results of those surveys.

As some of you might also recall, President and Sister Nelson had been slated to speak at the final session of the BYU-Provo Women's Conference, but had to cancel those plans due to a scheduling conflict. At President Nelson's request, Elder Gerrit W. Gong, newly sustained as an apostle last month, and his wife Susan filled that assignment in their stead. Mormon Newsroom shared a summary of the remarks they offered, along with a summary of the talks given by Sisters Sharon Eubank and Reyna I. Aburto, the counselors in the Relief Society General Presidency.

It has been customary for the entire Relief Society General presidency to address the Women's Conference every year, but in view of Sister Jean B. Bingham being in Washington D. C. over the last few days to participate in the National Day of Prayer, she was not able to join her counselors in speaking during the Women's Conference this year.

Both articles are well worthy of your attention, and I can wholeheartedly recommend them to you all. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will, to the best of my ability, bring you word of ongoing developments on either front as I learn 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.

Additional News Stories Reported on Mormon Newsroom

Hello again, everyone! Mormon Newsroom has published two additional news stories that are worth mentioning on this blog. In the first one, a report is given of how Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham participated in the National Day of Prayer that was observed at the White House. The full text of the prayer she offered can be found here.

The other story relates to the ministry of one member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. As most of you might recall, following his return to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf was given several assignments, one of which was to assume oversight of the Church's Europe and Europe East areas. In a previous post, I referenced how Elder and Sister Uchtdorf had visited the Rome Italy Temple site during a recent trip to Europe. Mormon Newsroom shared this report regarding some thoughts Elder Uchtdorf shared with the Saints in Russia during his trip, and with the Mormon Newsroom staff following his return about the temple that has been announced for Russia.

Both articles are well worth your time, and I commend them to you all. 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.

Additional New Temple Presidents Called; Article Published About New General Authority Seventy Jack N. Gerard

Hello again, everyone! This post will be for the purpose of reporting some major developments that have been shared in the Church News. First of all, it appears that the Church News is currently testing a new beta version of their website. From my preliminary examination of it, it will be much easier to navigate.

The other two developments piggyback on the first. On their beta site, the Church News has published an article introducing Elder Jack N. Gerard. And in another article, the calls of several additional presidents for currently operating temples, including the recently rededicated Houston Texas Temple.

The updated list of temple presidents called this year follows below. So as not to disturb the flow of that list, I will end here as I always do. 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.

New presidents have been called for the following temples:

1.      Manaus Brazil

2.      Boise Idaho

3.      Denver Colorado

4.      The Hague Netherlands

5.      Oquirrh Mountain Utah

6.      Helsinki Finland

7.      The Gila Valley Arizona

8.      Brigham City Utah

9.      Stockholm Sweden

10.  Palmyra New York

11.  Accra Ghana

12.  Papeete Tahiti

13.  Sao Paulo Brazil

14.  San Jose Costa Rica

15.  Albuquerque New Mexico

16.  Provo City Center

17.  Recife Brazil

18.  Cardston Alberta

19.  Payson Utah

20.  Porto Alegre Brazil

21.  Brisbane Australia

22.  Kansas City Missouri

23.  Oaxaca Mexico

24.  Regina Saskatchewan

25.  Cebu City Philippines

26.  Boston Massachusetts

27.  Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico

28.  Billings Montana

29.  Houston Texas

30.  Sydney Australia

The first presidents will likely be announced for the following new temples:

1.      Concepcion Chile

2.      Barranquilla Colombia

3.      Rome Italy

4.      Kinshasa DR Congo

5.      Fortaleza Brazil

6.      Port-au-Prince Haiti

New presidents may also be announced for the following temples:

1.      Atlanta Georgia

2.      Bountiful Utah

3.      Buenos Aires Argentina

4.      Cordoba Argentina

5.      Draper Utah

6.      Fukuoka Japan

7.      Guatemala City Guatemala

8.      Helsinki Finland

9.      Hermosillo Sonora Mexico

10.  Indianapolis Indiana

11.  Laie Hawaii

12.  Las Vegas Nevada

13.  Manti Utah

14.  Montevideo Uruguay

15.  Monticello Utah

16.  Redlands California

17.  Sacramento California

18.  St. Louis Missouri

19.  Taipei Taiwan

20.  Tegucigalpa Honduras

21.  Tijuana Mexico

22.  Trujillo Peru

23.  Vancouver British Columbia

24.  Veracruz Mexico

25.  Villahermosa Mexico

26.  Washington D. C. Temple (Note: The Church may opt to wait on calling a new president for this temple until 2020 when it is rededicated)