President Oaks Marks His Third Tenure Milestone as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Hello again, everyone! As most (if not all) of you will recall, President Russell M. Nelson was ordained Church President on January 14 of this year, and his counselors and the President and Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were all set apart in those capacities on that same date. As some of you may also recall, I have promised to post my next update on the latest apostolic statistics on Sunday November 4.

I wanted to post now to note that President Dallin H. Oaks, who serves as both First Counselor to President Nelson and as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, is observing the third tenure milestone in terms of the length of his tenure as President of that Quorum today. He now takes the spot (previously held by President Gordon B. Hinckley) as the Quorum President with the 25th longest tenure. He has previously passed both David O. McKay and Joseph F. Smith earlier this year.

I should also perhaps note that today, his tenure is merely tied with that of President Hinckley. But since the latter has not been the Quorum President since his ordination as Church President on March 12, 1995, it is a pretty safe bet President Oaks will still be serving in that capacity tomorrow, unless there is something of which all of us are unaware.

I need to also mention here that, based on when President Nelson, President Oaks, and their apostolic counterparts will move up on the lists I keep, I have made several adjustments in the data I keep in that regard. An overview of those changes will be coming with my next update on those statistics, which I am planning to post here on Sunday November 4.

I do continue to monitor all such milestones, along with any Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such things. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time.

If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Correction (posted on 10/21/18  @ 6:56 PM): Hello again, everyone! With my thanks to twinnumerouno for pointing this out, it turns out that the milestone described above was President Oaks' third one as Quorum President, not the first. I have corrected the title of this post, and the earlier wording on that subject, but will let the comments on it stand. I apologize for the unintentional error. I will do better with my fact-checking going forward. Thanks again to you all, and especially again to twinnumerouno for drawing my attention to this unintentional error. As noted above, I will be posting my next update on the latest apostolic statistics on November 4. So stay tuned for that. Thanks again to you all.

Miscellaneous Temple Developments and Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to post now to bring you word of many temple developments and Church news items which have been reported recently. Let me get right into all of that, starting with the temple developments. We start with the Durban South Africa Temple, where a report has come in that the installation of the Angel Moroni on that temple is pending. The preparation for this milestone solidifies the idea that this temple will definitely be the next temple to have a dedication after the Fortaleza Brazil Temple.

I next wanted to reiterate something I said recently. Having confirmed that the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple will have its' groundbreaking in less than three weeks (on November 8 of this year), and that it is going to be larger than I originally thought. I have therefore adjusted my general estimate for its' completion to mid-to-late 2021, and am offering mid-September of that year as a more specific estimate for its' dedication.

Turning now to the Asuncion Paraguay Temple, new information indicates that interior and exterior renovations are underway. Still no word yet on whether or not that temple's exterior will be altered to match that of other temples originally dedicated in the Hinckley-era smaller temple building boom, but as soon as I have information on that, I will pass it along.

We move on to Church news updates. President & Sister Nelson and Elder & Sister Stevenson have left on the first South American leg of their Global Ministry Tour, which will culminate in the dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple 9 days from now. You can monitor the developments which will be occurring during this tour via this story on the Newsroom's website.

Next, the Church News, which has changed its' web domain name to "thechurchnews.com" (in order to comply with President Nelson's reiteration of the naming guidelines), joined the Newsroom in reporting that the special guest for the annual Christmas Concert (which will run three days instead of the standard two) will be actress and Broadway star Kristen Chenoweth, who will both sing with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and will also narrate the program.

The Newsroom also reports that Marie Osmond was featured recently at an interfaith devotional. And yesterday, another edition in the "Latter-day Saints Around the World" series of articles, which included articles from Cambodia, Jamaica, Bolivia, India, El Salvador, and Ecuador. Concluding now with articles exclusive to the Church News website, there was an article highlighting BYU-Pathway Worldwide.

The Church News continues to additionally provide a weekly edition of their "This Week on Social" series to pass along thoughts posted by Church leadership through various social networks. This week, thoughts on marriage, divine differences, and how to obtain extra measures of faith in the midst of great periods of trial and hardship. Those insights were shared this week by Elders Jeffrey R. Holland, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, David A. Bednar, D. Todd Christofferson, Neil L. Andersen, Gary E. Stevenson, and Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Sister Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.

As many of you know, throughout the history of the Church, welfare farms have operated to one degree or another. The Church News describe how a rural community here in Utah were blessed by an inspired bishop who felt impressed to have his community plant tomatoes. And finally, the Church News has published the latest chart in PDF form of the General Authorities and General Officers, which reflects the releases of 7 previous GA Seventies, and the sustaining of Elder Brook P. Hales.

I have no way to know for sure, but I feel that we will see the PDF version of the November 2018 Ensign available online in the not-too-distant future, likely within the next 3-4 days, if not sooner. When that happens, my analysis of what I find therein will be forthcoming. I also continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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 Developments Reported

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now to share some updated information I have received on the progress of temple construction around the world. So let's get right into our discussion of all of that. First, with 10 days left to go before the dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple, preparation for that event continues at a steady pace. In the meantime, the open house for the Barranquilla Colombia Temple will begin just over 2 weeks from now (on Saturday November 3).

Moving on now to temples anticipated to be completed in 2020, stone cladding continues to progress on the tower for the Arequipa Peru Temple. In the meantime, at the site of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, with the foundation laid for the on-site meetinghouse, piles have been set in preparation for pouring the foundation of that temple.

As I mentioned, with the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple anticipated to be larger than I originally assumed it would be, I have adjusted my general estimate for its' completion to sometime during early-to-mid 2021. Although the Church's English Newsroom website has yet to confirm this event, it will surely be something to look forward to.

I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.