President Russell M. Nelson's Prophetic Administration Reaches the One-Year Mark

Hello again, everyone! In the early hours of January 14, 2019, I am pleased to be able to post here in honor of the one-year mark of President Nelson's prophetic administration. As many of you may recall, I had found out about the passing of President Monson on January 2 after being prompted to check KSL's website, which resulted in my being able to find out and pass along that news not long after it was reported. During the 12-day apostolic interregnum which followed, mission calls were sent out with President Nelson's signature, since he was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and thus was the Acting President of the Church.

In my summary of the funeral services for President Monson (which were held on January 12), I had noted that President Nelson looked very worn out, unwell, and exhausted. Two days later, he was ordained and set apart as Church President, and two days after that, we had the inaugural broadcast of the announcement of the reorganization of the First Presidency, followed by the traditional press conference.

In both of those settings, President Nelson looked considerably better. I had remarked when covering the events of January 14, 2018 that the prophetic mantle had clearly been placed upon President Nelson, and ventured a guess that the reason he looked so unwell during the funeral was because he had not yet been ordained and set apart to lead the Church. Once that occurred in the temple, he was literally ready to go.

He selected as his counselors his apostolic seatmate and dear friend, President Dallin H. Oaks, and retained President Henry B. Eyring in the First Presidency, asking him to serve as Second Counselor for a second time. (President Eyring had served as President Gordon B. Hinckley's Second Counselor for roughly 4 months prior to President Hinckley's passing, and had been asked to serve as First Counselor to President Thomas S. Monson.)

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who had served as President Monson's Second Counselor, was not retained by President Nelson, and resumed his place in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, where he has been given quite a few responsibilities based on his status as a skilled administrator. The responsibilities Elder Uchtdorf has been given were those overseen by Presidents Nelson, Oaks, and Ballard prior to their new assignments. President Nelson made it clear on at least two occasions that neither President Eyring nor Elder Uchtdorf were being demoted, and that each was willing to serve now where they were most needed.

Since President Oaks was then the next most senior apostle, he (President Oaks) was also set apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. But because his simultaneous service in the First Presidency wouldn't allow President Oaks to actively function as Quorum President, the next most senior apostle, President M. Russell Ballard, was set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The new leaders literally hit the ground running. In the year that has followed, President Nelson has done so much to reshape the Church. Most of that process has involved reducing and simplifying programs and practices of the Church in a way that encourages more individual and familial responsibility, as well as greater Church-wide unity. But he has also done more to highlight and underscore the diversity which exists among the general leadership of the Church.

He had noted in the press conference that, although he and his counselors were all white and American, there would be a day when the Church would see "more flavors in the mix". He has fulfilled his own prophecy in that regard, as he felt impressed to call the Church's first Asian America and Latin American apostles. For the first time in a long time, 5 of the 15 apostles in the Church have come to the apostleship within the last 3.25 years. There may not be much turnover in the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the foreseeable future.

President Nelson and his counselors have focused on their worldwide ministry with great vigor and success. Perhaps the most impressive highlight of this first year of President Nelson's prophetic administration is the fact that 19 new temples have been announced within that time, and sites have been officially or unofficially confirmed for many of them. Sister Nelson shared some observations about her husband, saying that, as he speaks to Church members around the world, he looks 20-30 years younger than his 94 years of age. She also noted that President Nelson is serious and very earnest regarding his responsibility to prepare the Church and the world for the Second Coming of the Savior.

President Nelson has also traveled extensively, becoming the first Church president to deliver remarks in a language other than English during devotionals with members. He has observed the practice of only stopping long enough between trips to take care of necessary Church business, get some rest as needed, and grab a new apostolic companion before setting off again. It is anticipated that he will continue to travel extensive and expand the number of temples in various phases for as long as he can.

He has also taken action to make certain announcements, such as changes in area leadership, and new and consolidated missions, earlier than they have typically been announced in previous years. His career as a heart surgeon has honed his keen attention to detail in such a way that he is very much ahead of the curve in taking care of his ministerial responsibilities. He noted in an interview that if we thought 2018 was exciting, we should wait for this year, and the years that will follow. As a physician, he gave the Church membership a simple prescription: "Eat your vitamin pills. Get your rest. It's going to be exciting.

He has a very clear vision for the Church in the years ahead. I referenced previously a conversation someone overheard between Presidents Oaks and Eyring, in which President Nelson's two counselors marveled at the fact that President Nelson had just outlined the timing whereby future changes for the Church would be made over the following 2-3 years. President Nelson is clearly a man who takes seriously his responsibility to foresee what the Church will be facing in the days ahead, and what can be done to prepare the Church and its' members for what is to come.

It is all but certain that we are in for another historic year for the Church, and I look forward to finding out what is next in that regard. As I learn more, I will be sure to pass it along here. In the meantime, if his first year as Church President was any indication, 2019 is almost certain to be another big year that will change the Church as we know it currently. It will certainly be interesting to see all of that unfold.

This concludes my thoughts about the one-year anniversary of President Nelson's prophetic administration, so that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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.

BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson's Daughter Passes Away; Artist's Rendering Released for San Juan Puerto Rico Temple

Hello again, everyone! Two breaking news developments have just been reported by the Church. First, after a courageous battle with cancer, another of President Nelson's daughters, Wendy Nelson Maxfield, passed away yesterday at the age of 67 after a courageous battle with cancer. She leaves behind her husband, Norman Maxfield, 7 children, and 20 grandchildren.

And in temple news, an artist's rendering has been released for the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple. It will be a single-story temple, which is anticipated to begin the construction process later this year, and construction is anticipated to take two years. As many of you know, that temple was just announced last October, so the fact that construction will get underway on it later this year is significant. We could be seeing many temples announced by President Nelson being built on the smaller side.

The San Juan Puerto Rico Temple now joins the Brasilia Brazil and Pocatello Idaho Temples that will almost certainly have construction begin later this year. As I previously mentioned, the Saratoga Springs Utah, Lima Peru Los Olivos, Greater Manila Philippines, Nairobi Kenya, and Harare Zimbabwe Temples are also on my watch list for their future groundbreakings at some point this year.

I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will bring word of those to you all here as I receive them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Dedication Dates Announced for Fortaleza Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! As recently as yesterday, I had posted Church and temple news and noted that the announcement of the open house and dedication dates for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple was anticipated any day now. I am pleased to pass along to you the official announcement from the Newsroom about that, along with the Church news article on that subject as well. As those articles explain, the open house is set to occur during a 4-week period spanning Saturday April 27-Saturday May 18, with the exception of the Sundays of April 28 and May 5 and 12. The end date of the open house will coincide with the day the youth devotional is held for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple.

In a somewhat unusual but not entirely unexpected move, the First Presidency has scheduled this temple's youth devotional for Saturday June 1, with the dedication to follow on Sunday June 2. I am calling that unusual because it is not often that the dedication of one temple has been set to precede the rededication of another which had its'  dedication previously set. If there has been any relation in the past between a temple dedication and a rededication, it is usually that the rededication of one temple precedes the dedication of a new temple that was previously set. But as I also mentioned above, it was not entirely unexpected.

Given what we knew about the status of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple as of yesterday, the release of the dedication information was simply a matter of time. I think that, as a result of the Fortaleza Temple's dedication being set for June 2, with the rededication of the Oakland California Temple being set for June 16, we can safely conclude that the latter event will likely be the last temple event held before the annual July recess is observed by the General Authorities, unless a temple groundbreaking is held during the final two weeks of that month.

As always, I do continue to monitor any and all temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I receive it. In the meantime, I also wanted to mention one additional item of Church news. The Church News has provided highlights of President Nelson's first year as Church President by sharing 61 unique photographs taken of him in 2018. The photographs show his personal warmth, his love for his Brethren in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, and several pictures highlighting significant moments from General Conference or his personal ministry to the one in the midst of his travels.

As the article also notes, he will reach the 1-year mark of his Church Presidency in just four days. I will be posting here on that day in honor of that milestone. If other Church or temple news crosses my radar between now and then, you can also count on my passing those along as well. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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.