April 2019 General Conference Predictions Results: Part One—Speaking Order Results

Hello again, everyone! Although it has been more than a month since General Conference, I wanted to share the results of my April 2019 General Conference predictions. I am going to do so in 3 parts. This first part will share how my projection for the speaking order compared with the actual thing. The second part will cover the results of my projections for the changes in general Church leadership and the statistical report numbers, and the final part will share the results of my temple predictions and the overall percentage. With that overview out of the way, Part One follows below.  

In order to not disturb the flow of that information, I will end here and now as I always do: 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 newly0-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.

April 2019 General Conference Predictions[i] (Text in brackets denote differences)

Sess.	Conducting	Speaker
SAM	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Russell M. Nelson [Did not speak]
		Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf [Elder Ulisses Soares]
		Bishop W. Christopher Waddell [Becky Craven]
		Elder Terence M. Vinson [Elder Brook P. Hales]
		Lisa L. Harkness [Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf]
		Elder Gerrit W. Gong [Bishop W. Christopher Waddell]
		President Henry B. Eyring
SAA	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dallin H. Oaks (Sustaining of Church Officers)[ii]
	Church Auditing Department Report[iii]	Kevin R. Jergensen
		President M. Russell Ballard
		Elder Scott D. Whiting [Elder Mathias Held]
		Elder Neil L. Andersen
		Elder Quentin L. Cook [Elder Takashi Wada]
		Elder Mathias Held [Elder David P. Homer]
		Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
SPH	President Dallin H. Oaks	Elder Gary E. Stevenson
	[Elder Carl B. Cook]	Stephen W. Owen
	[Elder Kim B. Clark]	Elder David P. Homer
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
		President Russell M. Nelson[iv]
SUM	President Russell M. Nelson [President Dallin H. Oaks]	Elder D. Todd Christofferson [Elder Dale G. Renlund]
		Sharon [L.] Eubank
	[Elder Quentin L. Cook]	Elder Carlos A. Godoy
	[Elder D. Todd Christofferson]	Elder Ulisses Soares
	[Tad R. Callister]	Elder Marcus B. Nash
	[No one]	Elder Dale G. Renlund
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUA	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dallin H. Oaks[v]
	[Elder Juan Pablo Villar]	Tad R. Callister
	[Elder Gerrit W. Gong]	Elder Anthony D. Perkins
		Elder David A. Bednar
		Elder Kyle S. McKay
	[No one]	Elder David S. Baxter
		Elder Ronald A. Rasband
		President Russell M. Nelson

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[i]General Conferences within the last two decades or so have almost always conformed to general patterns. There have, however, been a handful of exceptions in recent years, and both the April and October General Conferences held last year were examples of that. With that in mind, I have used more of a traditional pattern, but made some alterations to the speaking order offered here which seem practical based on what is not currently known. And I will continue to allow myself a very small margin of error for the next 2-3 General Conferences until I can get a better feel for how the typical patterns have changed.

[ii]Because President Eyring led the Sustaining of Church Officers last October, and because President Oaks did such a great job with the long list of new Area Seventies in April of 2018, I feel confident that President Oaks will continue to lead that process each April, and that President Eyring will do so each October.

[iii]This report has traditionally been read during each April General Conference for the preceding year. The purpose of the report is to certify the financial stability of the Church, based on practices prescribed by revelation. The report is usually presented by the managing director of the Church Auditing Department (with Kevin R. Jergensen serving in that position as of last year). But according to an article published in “The Daily Herald”, in late May 2018, this report may no longer be read over the pulpit either. If it is not, then the Church could adjust the amount of time allotted for the other speakers, or call on one other leader to speak during this session.

[iv]If there are any changes to priesthood quorums, curriculum, or practices, those will likely be detailed at some point by President Nelson during this session, whether he does so in his customary time-slot at the conclusion of this session, or by a separate brief address to present the changes earlier in that session, followed at the session’s end by his usual address.

[v]While this session has typically seen the last 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve speak, last April, the final 5 members of that Quorum spoke during this session. As mentioned in note 8 above, President Eyring opened this session last October, and the remaining 2 members of the Quorum also spoke. Since 7 of the 12 apostles have spoken during this session within the last year, it is my theory that President Oaks may open this session, with the final two members of the Quorum also giving their addresses here. In subsequent conferences, the traditional patterns may resume as has been usual for General Conferences.

Church Leaders Break Ground for 3 New Temples

Hello again, everyone! Church leaders in 3 different parts of the world broke ground today on temples announced by President Russell M. Nelson for Saints living in the remote areas of Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, and San Juan Puerto Rico. While I had hoped to provide coverage of those by way of a breaking news post ealrlier today, it was not until just now that I found sufficient coverage of these events. So let's get right into that coverage. First of all, the main Newsroom shared general coverage on each groundbreaking ceremony.

The thing that stuck out to me particularly about this first article is that it notes this is "one of the first times" ground has been broken for 3 temples on the same day. I looked back at the August 2018 article published by the Church about days on which more than one temple had a groundbreaking, and this is only the third time that has happened in Church history. But I have a sneaking suspicion this will not be the last time that occurs. In fact, there very well could be a day coming when 4 or more temples having a groundbreaking on the same day could become the "new normal".

With that said, let me share the links to the individual articles about the groundbreakings for each of these 3 temples. Although coverage of the Yigo Guam Temple groundbreaking is not yet available, within the next few days, that will be published on the Japanese edition of the Newsroom. The Cabo Verde edition of the Newsroom shared more about the Praia Temple groundbreaking, and more about the groundbreaking ceremony for the San Juan Temple comes from the Puerto Rican edition of the Newsroom.

Although time will tell how accurate this might prove to be, I have heard that the odds of full-scale construction beginning for these temples within the next week or less are very good, and that the construction time-frame for each could turn out to be closer to 18-21 months than it would be to 24. If that turns out to be the case, one or two of them could potentially be dedicated prior to the end of next year. Time will tell how likely that turns out to be. It is also worth noting that it has been over 3 months now since the groundbreaking for the Bangkok Thailand Temple was held, and full-scale construction has not yet begun for that temple as of yet.

Additionally, tomorrow will mark the private one-session rededication for the Memphis Tennesee Temple, over which Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has been asked to preside. Tomorrow night, Elder Carl B. Cook of the Presidency of the Seventy will speak in the second of the three Worldwide Devotionals for Young Adults which have been planned for 20ni19. The final devotional for this year will be held on Sunday September 8, and given that the Church has still not announced who the speaker will be for that yet, it is appearing more and more likely that that devotional will feature Church President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Wendy.

Aside from that,  on Saturday May 11, as we know, Elder Enrique R. Falabella will be presiding over the groundbreaking for the Quito Ecuador Temple. And that same day, open house tours will begin for the Oakland California Temple. The following Saturday, open house tours will wrap up for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple. I am still holding out hope that we could see the open house and dedication schedule fir the Arequipa Peru Temple announced in the near future, and it is appearing more likely that that temple's dedication will be scheduled to occur in December, with both the rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple and the dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple likely to be deferred until after Christmas 2019 and New Year's Day 2020.

To the best of my ability, I will have all of these developments covered here as I receive word of them. I also continue to monitor all Church news and work on the many projects I have lined up to publish on this blog in the near future. 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 Houses, Rededications Announced for Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples

Hello again, everone! In a stunning announcement which I certainly didn't expect this soon, the First Presidency detailed the open house and rededication information for the Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples. Open house tours will be offered for the Raleigh NC Temple from Saturday September 21-Saturday September 28, except for Sunday September 22. The temple will be privately rededicated in 1 session by President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on Sunday October 13, and will reopen for ordinance work on Tuesday October 22, 2019.

In the meantime, the open house for the Baton Rouge LA Temple will take place from Saturday October 26-Saturday November 2, with the exception of Sunday October 27. The single-session rededication for this temple will take place on Sunday November 17, with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presiding thereat.  I'd just like to make a few general comments on this news:

First, this information replaces the estimates I offered earlier this morning. Second, the one-week open house and private rededications in one session may become the new normal for the smaller Hinckley-era temples. Third, it is apparent that, at least for the moment, the First Presidency may call on any of the seven most senior apostles to rededicate temples, while the dedications for new temples could be done by any of the apostles, and particularly those who have personal connections to those temples.

I say that because what I have seen on my end demonstrates that the authority to dedicate or rededicate temples is inherent in the keys of the apostleship, since those ordained as such have the power, under the direction of the Church President, to bind and seal on earth and in heaven. I was also pleasantly surprised by this news, since I thought for sure the next temple event to be announced would be the dedication of the Arequipa Peru Temple. I could still see the Church scheduling that soon, and that could still be set to occur in October or November/

What that means for the remainder of the year may be difficult to determine. Clearly any temple groundbreaking could be announced and held for any day of the week except Sunday, and I hope there will be many of those in the second half of this year. But temple dedications or rededications are much harder to pin down in terms of their timing. I would anticipate at least that the dedication for the Arequipa Peru Temple may be announced soon, and it is possible that the dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple and rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple may round out the end of this year.

I do continue to monitor all temple-related developments and will be sure to pass along word of those as I learn of such things. 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.