BREAKING NEWS: Church To Release Come Follow Me Curriculum for Adults, Children, and Home Study

Hello again, everyone! I am posting right now with a breaking news development. In an earlier post, I had referenced a visit made by members of the Sunday School and Young Men General Presidency to African nations, during which time, they referenced new curriculum that would be coming in 2019. Today, we got a look at what that will involve.

The Church announced today that it was replacing the typical Primary, adult Sunday School, and home curriculum resources with another "Come Follow Me" set of curriculum, which will place emphasis more on individual preparation and responsibility for learning than on sticking to a manual. You can read more about these developments here,

I also previously referenced that President Nelson, by virtue of his previous experience as a heart surgeon, has kept very much in touch with modern technology advances. We saw evidence of that when the August 2018 Area Leadership Assignments were announced several weeks in advance of when they typically had been, when we have seen the Church magazine content approved and published on the website much more quickly than they have been, and again today, when the Church released this document, which shows the 2019 Instructions for Curriculum. Those had typically not been released until mid-August or so each year.

This is an outstanding and welcome development. I continue to monitor all Church and temple updates and will do my best to bring those to you as I receive word of them. I should note that I became aware late last night of several new updates on temples, which I am anxious to pass along to you all, but because I have a doctor's appointment later today that will take most of the afternoon, the earliest I may be able to pass those along will be later this evening. Stay tuned for that.

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.

Report on Additional Addresses From the Seminar for New Mission Leadership

Hello again, everyone! After trying and failing to make the alterations I had in mind for this blog, we are back to the previous design. And I am back to report on two other addresses from the recent Seminar for New Mission Leadership. The addresses were given by two more members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, both of whom also serve on the Missionary Executive Council.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave an address with his wife, and they highlighted the importance of missionaries owning their personal and companionship gospel study. The Christoffersons also said that, in addition to applying to missionary companionships, married couples of the Church can benefit from studying the scriptures together. So mission presidents and their wives were urged on a personal level to set the example for their missionaries. You can read more of what the Christoffersons said here.

In the meantime, our Brazilian junior apostle, Elder Ulisses Soares, drew on the example of Brazil's winding Amazon river as an analogy for the membership of the Church. He explained that that river is created at the point where the Solimoes River, which starts in Peru, and the Negro River from the Amazon Basin, converge into a single body of water.

In similitude to the river, the membership of the Church is comprised of those who have been lifelong or multi-generational members who combine and converge in various ways and settings with those who may be newer to the Church. Just as the converged river could not succeed without its' two distinct bodies of water, so too do converts need the support of their lifelong member counterparts.

He also reemphasized what the Church has taught about what all converts need: A friend, a responsibility, and nourishing by the good word of God. As members work together to make converts feel welcome (which is an effort that, by extension, includes the vital role of missionaries), and as all members draw from the strengths of their fellow Saints, the Church will be strengthened as a complete body of our Heavenly Father's worldwide family. You can read more about what Elder Soares said in this article.

The reports of this year's seminar continue to come in, so I will be sure to keep passing those on to you as I receive word of them, and I also will be posting any other important Church and temple news as I become aware of those developments as well.

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.

Altered Blog Layout

Hello again, everyone! While I have no desire to detract from the focus of my readers in the United States (as today is the anniversary of our nation's independence from England), I wanted to just quickly post to note that I am testing another new blog layout. I have been working periodically on finding ways to make this blog more user-friendly, so I'd like to know if that is working better.

And in the interests of being fully transparent, part of the reason for these changes is because I have also been looking into ways to improve my earnings from this blog. This new layout was one of a few suggestions I have looked into that I am hoping will help in that process.

As always, I continue to monitor all news and developments relating to the Church, General Conference, and temples worldwide, and I do my best to continue to bring those to you as I receive word 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.