Initial Predictions for the October 2019 General Conference: Part Two—Changes in General Church Leadership

Hello again, everyone! I am back now with the second post in this series, to cover the changes in Church leadership which I am anticipating will be announced during the October 2019 General Conference. The reaasoning for these changes is provided in the relevant notes. I will return in within the next hour or two with my initial list of potential locations in which a new temple could be announced, on which I am putting the finishing touches, That list will constitute the third and final part of this mini-series of posts about the upcoming General Conference.

The projected changes speak for themselves and follow below. 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.

Predictions for Changes in Church Leadership

General Authority Seventies: Elders Wilford W. Andersen, Kim B. Clark, Lawrence E. Corbridge, Claudio R. M. Costa, Bradley D. Foster, O. Vincent Haleck, Donald L. Hallstrom, Steven E. Snow, and Larry Y. Wilson released and granted emeritus status[i]; Elder Steven E. Snow released and Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. sustained as Church Historian and Recorder; Elder Kim B. Clark released and Elder Paul V. Johnson sustained as Commissioner of Church Education[ii]

Area Seventies: The following area seventies may be released for the following reasons: Called as mission presidents: Aley K. Auna, Walter Chatora, J. Kevin Ence, Jose L. Isaguierre,  Bryan R. Larsen, W. Jean-Pierre Lono, Khumbulani Mdletshe, Hoi Seng Leonard Woo Called as temple president: Milan F. Kunz; Yutaka Onda; ’Aisake K. Tukuafu Longest-tenured[iii]: Ruben Acosta, Frederick O. Akinbo, Omar A. Alvarez, Grant C. Bennett, Wilson be Calderon, Hernando Camargo, M.T. Ben Davis, Robert J. Dudfield, E. Xavier Espinoza, Meliula M. Fata, Sam M. Galvez, Claude R. Gamiette, John A. Koranteng, Jose E. Maravilla, Joaquim J. Moreira, Adeyinka J. Ojediran, Gennady A. Podvodov, Abraham E. Quero, Francisco J. Ruiz de Mendoza, Gordon H. Smith, Raul S. Villanueva, Hoi Seng (Leonard) Woo, and Kevin J. Worthen[iv]

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[i]In recent years, the Church has released General Authority Seventies when they reach the age of 70. With the first 9 Brethren listed above having been born in 1949, they will all be released.

[ii]On April 10, 2019, the First Presidency announced these changes to the Church Historian and Recorder and the Commissioner of Church Education. Since both assignments are sustained positions, these changes should be presented for a formal sustaining during this General Conference.

[iii]While the length of service for area seventies have varied according to inspiration from the prophet, the following list includes those area seventies who have served for the last 5 years or longer (which includes those called before October 2014 who have not yet been released).

[iv]Regarding Elder Worthen, since he currently serves as President of BYU-Provo, he might not be released until his assignment as such concludes, or until he may subsequently be called as a General Authority Seventy.

Initial Predictions for the October 2019 General Conference: Part One—Overview and Projected Speaking Order

Hello again, everyone! Given the fact that I will likely be knee-deep in covering the events of the Pacific leg of the ongoing Global Ministry Tour over the next week, among other topics as needed, I wanted to take some time tonight to post my initial predictions for the October 2019 General Conference.

Given the nature of these predictions, another miniseries of posts is needed. This post will provide an overview of those predictions, and will be followed up by a post sharing the changes I am anticipating to be made in general Church leadership, then my temple predictions, whether those last  two are in the same post, or whether they are two separate posts.

For now, we begin with my predictions for the speaking order. A few preliminary notes: Given the difference between what happened in April 2018, October 2018, and April 2019, General Conferences under what has been termed the Nelsonian era are going to be harder to predict. President Nelson did not open the April 2018 or 2019 General Conferences, but did open the October 2018 General Conference.

It could be that we as a Church have gotten too comfortable with the routine as it has been observed for at least the last few decades or so, so I could see President Nelson continuing to do things in an unexpected way that keeps us on our toes, and that applies, I think, specifically to General Conferences of the Church. The longer the status quo is maintained, the more comfortable we might get, and the less likely some might be to actually pay attention to what is said and done in General Conference.

So the idea of changing the game frequently as far as conferences are concerned is a very smart move. That is one reason I loved the assessment of the April 2019 General Conference as found in the May 2019 Ensign: the conference was rightly observed as providing constancy in the midst of change, while still being significant in its' own right in terms of the subject matter covered in each address.

With all of that in mind, I put these predictions together based on what I knew: The First Presidency members will speak multiple times, each member of the Quorum of the Twelve will do so once. One member of the Presiding Bishopric will speak. Given the new precedent set during the last 3 General Conferences, it is likely that only 1 member of the Presidency of the Seventy will speak.

Although the number of general officers that speak has fluctuated in recent General Conferences based on what has occurred, given that the General Women's Session will be held during the upcoming General Conference, in addition to the 3 female leaders in that session, I have 3 other speakers from among the general officers in 3 other sessions.

Given that 8 new General Authority Seventies were sustained in April 2018 (with 1 more announced a month later) and that 3 of those spoke during the subsequent October General Conference, with 10 GA Seventies sustained last April, I am theorizing that a minimum of 3 of those Brethren will do so during the upcoming General Conference, and that 3 other seventies who have previously spoken will do so during this General Conference.

These are the most relevant notes relating to the predictions I have put together. I post them 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. 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.

October 2019 General Conference Predictions (Text in brackets denote differences)

Sess.	Conducting	Speaker
SAM	President Henry B. Eyring	President Russell M. Nelson
		Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
		Douglas D. Holmes
		Elder Gerrit W. Gong
		Elder Ruben V. Alliaud
		Elder Dale G. Renlund
		Elder David S. Baxter
		President Dallin H. Oaks
SAA	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Henry B. Eyring (Sustaining of Church Officers)
		Elder Quentin L. Cook
		Elder Terence M. Vinson
		Elder Ronald A. Rasband
		Elder Jorge M. Alvarado
		Elder Scott D. Whiting
		Elder David A. Bednar
GW	Joy D. Jones	Jean B. Bingham
		Lisa L. Harkness
		Bonnie H. Cordon
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUM	President Henry B. Eyring	Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
		Cristina B. Franco
		Elder Ulisses Soares
		Elder Gary E. Stevenson
		Bishop Gerald Causse
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUA	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Henry B. Eyring
		President M. Russell Ballard
		Mark L. Pace
		Elder D. Todd Christofferson
		Elder Anthony D. Perkins
		Elder Hans T. Boom
		Elder Neil L. Andersen
		President Russell M. Nelson

BREAKING NEWS: Elder Soares to Preside at Fortaleza Brazil Temple Dedication; Sissel to Headline Tabernacle Choir's 2019 Pioneer Day Concert

Hello again, everyone! As mentioned in a recent comment here, and shared by the Church of Jesus Christ Temples website, a Brazilian newspaper has featured an article noting that our native Brazilian apostle, Elder Ulisses Soares, will be presiding over the dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple on June 2. This marks the second time in a row that a new temple was dedicated by a more junior apostle than the one who conducted a groundbreaking. Elder David A. Bednar broke ground for that temple.

The other recent time this occurred was in April, when Elder Dale G. Renlund dedicated the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple, for which the groundbreaking had been presided over by Elder Neil L. Andersen. That Elder Soares has been given this opportunity is not at all surprising, given that he has numerous connections to various Brazilian cities. Apostles dedicating a temple in an area to which they have a strong connection seems to be becoming the new normal.

In light of this information, I am more convinced than ever that Elder David A. Bednar, who was born in Oakland California, will preside over the rededication of that temple. I know that since Elder Quentin L. Cook has connections to the Bay Area of California, there is a chance he'd be called on to do it, but he has been asked to presiding over the November private rededication for the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple.

It is also worth noting that I believe that, while any current apostles could preside over temple dedications in areas to which they have a personal connection, for the time being, I believe that the least-junior apostle who may be asked to preside at a temple rededication will be Elder Christofferson. Time will tell how correct that might turn out to be, but that is my theory.

Turning now to another late-breaking news development, the Tabernacle Choir has announced that world-renowned vocalist Sissel, who originally performed with the Tabernacle Choir in the 2006 Christmas Concert, will be the special guest artist for the 2019 Pioneer Day Concert in July. I was anticipating that the special guest would be announced soon, and it is nice to have that confirmed.

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.