First Presidency Announces New Guidelines for Youth Interviews

Hello again, everyone! In this report released by Mormon Newsroom around half an hour ago, the First Presidency announced revised guidelines for youth interviews. As some of you may recall, in an earlier news release, the Brethren noted that these updated guidelines would shortly be published. And with the news release today, we got a look at what has changed.

Hopefully these revisions will enable the youth of the Church to be more comfortable and confident when such interviews are conducted. The guidelines also emphasize the importance of greater preparation on the part of youth, their parents, and the leaders who are conducting these interviews. There is also a specific paragraph advising all Church leaders to avoid circumstances that might be misunderstood.

I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will continue to bring those to you all ASAP after 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.

Church Issues Statement on Families Separated at the Border; Tabernacle Choir Embarks on "Classic Coast Tour"

Hello again, everyone! The Church News reported just a short while ago that the Church has issued an official statement on the separation of families at the US border. The full text of that statement can be found here. It is my fervent hope that the leaders of all governments, especially here in the US, will heed the petition for reason and fairness in this matter.

While Church leaders are typically neutral on political matters, they are justified in expressing their view that the separation of families at the border should not be occurring. It is my personal and fervent hope that both major parties in the US and their leaders will unitedly work to correct a situation that should never have arisen. It seems that the current approach, at least here in the US, is for both sides to shift blame onto the other side, while neither takes responsibility for affecting real change. And that is certainly not an ideal situation when families are needlessly separated from each other.

I would invite all my readers to join with me in praying for those who are making the decisions in this regard, that reason and compassion will prevail, and that efforts will be made by all concerned to cooperate rather than continuing to squabble and play the blame game.

In happier news, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir embarked today on their 2018 "Classic Coast Tour", and the initial report on that can be found here. I continue to monitor all Church news and will do my level best to pass word of developments along as I receive it.

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 thaat the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Temple Updates Provided

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now to pass along some temple updates. To start off our discussion of those developments, I wanted to first note an update on something which I have referenced repeatedly on this blog. As long-time readers of this blog may recall, I have previously offered my opinion that the Church will likely have a minimum of 200 operating temples by or before Saturday April 6, 2030, which will mark the Church's bicentennial celebration.

As I have also noted, there are 30 temples currently scheduled for dedication, under construction, or announced, and the total number of temples in any phase has now reached 189. This means that, for the Church to reach 200 temples in any phase, only 11 others need to be announced. The amount of time between today's date and the date mentioned above is now 11.80 decimal years. That means that the Church would need to dedicate an average 3.47 temples per year.

By way of reminder, there will only be 2 temples dedicated prior to the end of this year (unless something unexpected occurs), which is below that average I mentioned. But next year, the Church has already scheduled one temple dedication, and 5 others will likely be dedicated during 2019 as well. So 8 temple dedications in a 2-year period of time puts 2018 and 2019 above that average.

And that is, of course, not taking into account that 3 temples so far are anticipated to be dedicated in 2020. Additionally, any announced temples that have a groundbreaking within the next 18 months may be dedicated in 2020 and in the following years, so I have no doubt that, whether or not the Church makes an official goal to do so, there will be a minimum of 200 temples operating by that time, or perhaps even more than that.

That said, let's talk about some updates on the status of a couple of temples. The Church has identified 11 stakes, 1 district, and 2 missions throughout Italy and the surrounding nations that will be served by the Rome Italy Temple once it is dedicated next year.

And there has also been a change in the status of the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple renovation, where recent reports indicate that the spire is being sheathed. It appears that this temple is definitely on track to have its' renovation process completed within the first half of next year, and that a dedication will likely follow sometime between the beginning of May and the end of August.

While the LDS Church Temples site continues its' restoration process, all of us can easily keep up-to-date on temple developments via the Facebook page for that site. In the meantime, I continue to monitor all temple updates and Church News to the best of my ability, and I will pass those updates along to you all ASAP after 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.