Miscellaneous Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now with some Church news updates. There's a lot to cover, so let's get right to it. First of all, a few days ago, the Church News shared this report on the funeral services held recently for Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone. General Church leaders in attendance at the funeral services included Presidents Russell M. Nelson and Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency (with President Eyring representing the Brethren in speaking at the funeral, in view of his long friendship with Elder Featherstone) and Elders Jeffrey R. Holland and Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It sounds like the service was a fitting tribute to this remarkable servant of God.

Less than 24 hours following the rededication of the Jordan River Utah Temple, the Church News released the text of the rededicatory prayer written and offered by President Eyring, who quoted many things said in the original dedicatory prayer penned by President Spencer W. Kimball, and offered by President Marion G. Romney, both of whom, as I mentioned earlier this week, have a familial connection to President Eyring.

The Church announced yesterday (May 22) that nearly 170 missionaries currently serving in Nicaragua would be relocated, due to political unrest and in consideration of their safety. Those nearing the end of their service period will be honorably released to return home, and those who remain will be reassigned to missions in North and South America or Europe.

It is heartbreaking in a way to see that happening, since the Church is in the preliminary stages of trying to get a temple built there, but hopefully things will settle down sufficiently enough to allow the missionaries to return and for work to begin on the temple before too much longer. You can find more details in this Church News article and this release from Mormon Newsroom.

President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in company with Elder Gary E. Stevenson and other leaders, recently visited Saints residing in Australia and New Zealand, at which time, he encouraged Church members to "keep it simple" when sharing the gospel. You can read more about their ministry among these members from the Church News and Mormon Newsroom.

In the meantime, from the Blog section of Mormon Newsroom, the Church shared this report highlighting Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf's recent visit to Germany, during which time he presented the president of Germany with his family history. And, in continuation of the cooperative effort between the Church and the NAACP, this article highlights a luncheon that featured addresses from individuals on both sides of that effort.

The Church News also shared this account of a recent address given by Elder Anthony D. Perkins of the Seventy during a BYU-Idaho Devotional, this article highlighting a message given during the BYU Women's Conference by Sister Kathy Andersen, wife of Elder Neil L. Andersen, which emphasized following the watchman on the tower, and this article from the new Young Women General Presidency, which notes that, while programs and methods may change, the doctrines of the Church will not.

And finally, in a continuation of the Church's ongoing efforts to increase transparency, this article was released on the subject of how Church finances are managed and distributed. That article was apparently a companion piece to this post by Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse, who wrote some thoughts on why and how the Church preaches and practices financial self-reliance. To provide more context for both of those resources, the Church included these questions (and their answers).

Here's the interesting thing about those materials being published now. I have been involved in my fair share of conversations with people not of our faith who suggest that, instead of spending money on temples or anything else, the money coming into the Church should be used to help the poor. I don't know how it is that people don't seem to understand that the Church is doing both. I have seen (and been positively influenced by) the process by which the Church holds itself accountable for the expenditures of Church resources. And so on that level, these materials are a timely release indeed.

We live in a most remarkable time. Not only is the Lord hastening His work in miraculous ways, but we have also entered an era where more information about the day-to-day ministry of the leaders of His church is being published, and where the Church and its' leaders are truly interested in being more transparent and promoting greater understanding of and cooperation with those not of our faith.

I continue to monitor all such developments and will do my level best to keep passing those 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.

Requesting Feedback for Refinement of October 2018 General Conference Speaking Order Predictions

Hello again, everyone! In an effort to refine my predictions for the potential speaking order of the October 2018 General Conference, I am posting a revised version of those predictions. These revisions have come as a result of study on my part. And I wanted to take this opportunity to solicit your feedback on the revisions. A few questions I considered in the process of those revisions were as follows:

1. It has typically been traditional for the counselors in the First Presidency to alternate being the last speaker during the Saturday Morning Session and the first speaker during the Sunday Morning Session. While there have been exceptions (such as last April), that has generally been the case. Will that prove correct this go-round?
2. In my opinion, President Oaks did an amazing job with the long list of releases and sustainings of area seventies last month. With that in mind, would it be fair to assume that President Eyring will continue to lead the sustaining vote in October, when comparatively less changes occur?
2. Will the Women's Session continue to be conducted by one of the three presidents of the female-led auxiliaries, or would that task be performed by a First Presidency member?
3. Would the entire First Presidency speak during the Women's Session every October, as they did for the Priesthood Session every conference before this upcoming one?
4. Would the First Presidency invite a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and/or other male general authorities to speak during the Women's Session?
5. If we do not hear from a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the Women's Session, when would the Church fit in the last member of the Quorum of the Twelve?
5. How might the Women's Session being held in the spot tradtionally reserved for the Priesthood Session alter the number of general officers who speak to us in the other four sessions.
6. Would the Church continue to have just one member of the Presidency of the Seventy speak (as we saw last month) or will we hear from 2 members of that presidency, as has been traditional in recent years?
7. Is there anything I need to keep in mind when considering the number or names of the General Authority Seventies who might speak? I know that the last few Octobers have seen a pretty even blend of new GA Seventies that were called the previous April and veteran General Authorities speaking for the second or third time (if not more than that).

In the revised predictions I have put together, I have attempted to provide the best answers I can to these questions. That said, I recognize we are going to be in somewhat uncharted territory next conference, primarily because the Women's Session will be held in the slot that has typically been reserved for the Priesthood Session.

Those revised predictions follow below. So as not to disturb their flow, 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.

October 2018 General Conference Predictions[i]

Session	Conducting	Speakers
Saturday Morning	President Russell M. Nelson	President Russell M. Nelson
		Elder Terence M. Vinson
		Elder Quentin L. Cook
		Elder Jack N. Gerard
		Elder Gerrit W. Gong
		Elder Walter F. Gonzalez
		Elder Ronald A. Rasband
		President Dallin H. Oaks
Saturday Afternoon	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Henry B. Eyring (Sustaining of Church Officers)
		Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
		Bishop Dean M. Davies
		Elder Gary E. Stevenson
		Elder D. Todd Christofferson
		Elder Craig A. Cardon
		Elder Juan Pablo Villar
		Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Women’s Session	Joy D. Jones	Cristina B. Franco
		Michelle D. Craig
		Jean B. Bingham
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
		President Russell M. Nelson
Sunday Morning	President Russell M. Nelson	President Henry B. Eyring
		Bonnie H. Cordon
		Elder Ulisses Soares
		Elder Robert C. Gay
		Elder Takashi Wada
		Elder Neil L. Andersen
		President Russell M. Nelson
Sunday Afternoon	President Henry B. Eyring	President M. Russell Ballard
		Brian K. Ashton
		Elder Mathias Held
		Elder Dale G. Renlund
		Elder Scott D. Whiting
		Elder Paul B. Pieper
		Elder David A. Bednar
		President Russell M. Nelson

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[i]Although General Conferences in the past 20 years or so have typically conformed to general patterns in terms of the traditional speaking order, there have been a handful of exceptions. The most recent of those, of course, occurred with the April 2018 General Conference, when a Solemn Assembly was held, two new apostles were called, and the announced changes in policy and practice resulted in a completely different speaking order format. And in view of the October 27, 2017 announcement that the Priesthood and Women’s sessions would both be held annually, with the former being held every April, and the latter every October, it is almost certain that this will necessitate additional alterations to the typical format. While it may be a year or two until we know what the “new traditional format” will look like, the predictions for the speaking order of this General Conference are molded by assumptions, which may or may not prove accurate. With that in mind, the thoughts below represent my best efforts to figure out how all of that might work. And until I have a better idea of what that will look like, I will, as previously noted, be allowing myself a very small margin of error.

Jordan River Utah Temple Is Rededicated

Hello again, everyone! Mormon Newsroom shared this report on the dedication of the Jordan River Utah Temple. President Henry B. Eyring presided at the first two sessions, and will also likely oversee the third and final one, which will begin in about 20 minutes.

Also in attendance were Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (who chairs the Temple and Family History Executive Council); General Authority Seventies Elder Timothy J. Dyches (an Assistant Executive Director of the Temple Department) and Mervyn B. Arnold (who is serving in undisclosed assignments at Church headquarters); Sister Joy D. Jones, Primary General President, who serves on the Temple and Family History Executive Council; and Bishop Dean M. Davies, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric.

With this temple now having been rededicated, normal operations will resume on Tuesday May 22. I continue to monitor all temple developments and will pass those along to you all as I receive 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 note (included at around 5:45 PM): The LDS Church News website provided additional context for today's rededication. Not only did President Eyring draw inspiration for the rededicatory prayer he wrote from the original prayer written by President Spencer W. Kimball and read by President Marion G. Romney, but I had somehow forgotten that President Kimball's wife was President Eyring's aunt, and that President Marion G. Romney was his father's first cousin.

So President Eyring's assignment to preside at this rededication was likely more a result of the double-layered familial connection to those involved in the first dedication than it was about President Nelson recognizing that President Eyring has had more experience in presiding at temple dedications. This assignment was personal for President Eyring, and it was a nice touch to see that recognized. Just wanted to add that. Thanks again to you all.