The Announcement of the Layton Utah Temple Site Coincides With a Significant Anniversary

Hello again, everyone! By now, I'm sure many of you have seen the First Presidency's announcement confirming the location of the Layton Utah Temple site. This was a temple announcement I was not bargaining on occurring when it did, but I welcome the fact that the newest temple in Davis County Utah is now the fourth of the seven temples announced by President Nelson in his first General Conference as Church President to have information mentioned that gives some indication of when we can anticipate a groundbreaking.


Just by way of reminder, the other  are the Salta Argentina Temple, which had a site confirmed not long after its' announcement; the Bengaluru India Temple, for which Bishop Dean M. Davies, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, said in mid-May 2019 that more information (including a site announcement and design) were anticipated to be announced before the end of this year; and the Richmond Virginia Temple, for which the Church announced on March 22, 2019 that preliminary plans had been filed with the city.

That brings me to a couple of additional points: First, given this announcement, and some information that has (and by extension, has not) been made public about this temple, and others among those that are announced, I will likely have to again revisit two sections of my temple construction progress report, including the estimated timing for temples that may, given the information currently known, be considered in a "Groundbreaking anticipated" section and those "Announced" temples for which more information is needed before the timing of a groundbreaking can be offered.

The second is that this announced confirmation of the site and preliminary details for the design of the Layton Utah Temple is coinciding with a significant anniversary. As many of you likely recall, just over 4 years ago, President Boyd K. Packer, who at that time was President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and consequently the second most-senior apostle, became the second member of that Quorum to pass away that year. As a result of his passing, and the late May passing of Elder L. Tom Perry, who was the next most junior apostle, at the end of May, the passing of President Packer left President Russell M. Nelson as the second most senior apostle.

As a result, upon President Packer's passing, President Nelson became the de facto President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, overseeing the business of the Quorum in an informal role for the next 12 days. On Wednesday July 15, 2015, President Thomas S. Monson, who had begun that same year to scale back his participation in the administration of the Church, set apart President Nelson as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  And, as we know, President Nelson, being almost 3 years older than the one apostle senior to him, filled a role in supporting President Eyring and then-President Uchtdorf as President Monson continued to scale back his responsibilties before fully stepping back from any active role in Church administration in mid-May 2017.

Upon President Monson's passing away on the second day of 2018, President Nelson served as Acting Church President for the intervening 12 days before the apostles met 18 months ago yesterday to formally designate, ordain, and set apart President Nelson as President Monson's rightful prophetic successor. So the significance of the Layton Utah Temple site being confirmed on the 4th anniversary of the course of events set in motion by President Monson formally setting President Nelson apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is not lost on me personally. I apologize for that lengthy ramble, but thought that was worth a mention.

In the meantime, although I will hope to redo the two sections of my temple construction progress report to which I referred earlier on in this post, and to have those revisions posted here within the next 36-48 hours (but hopefully sooner, if all goes well), before publishing this post, I wanted to mention a few other Church News stories which have been reported, including one covering the site announcement for this temple, one introducing and providing a biographical sketch for new Sunday School General President Mark L. Pace (who, much to my surprise, does not seem to be any direct relative of emeritus General Authority Glenn L. Pace), and some fun facts about the formation of the Young Women's general auxiliary.

Regarding that last article, it mentions that the "fun facts" in question may not be familiar to some members of the Church. Those facts were, however, more than familiar to me, as a result of that sequence of events having been portrayed in a movie released by the Church in 1969, entitled "Pioneers in Petticoats". That particular short movie was part of a collection of other short films rereleased by the Church as a first-time collection in the 1980s or 1990s, and I am familiar with it because it was one of the many Church-released videos owned by my parents.

With all of that noted, all that remains is to reiterate that I continue to monitor any and all Church news stories and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such things. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in compliance 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.

July 14, 2019 Marks Two Significant Milestones for the Church

Hello again, everyone! Tomorrow will mark two milestones in the Church. First, the Tabernacle Choir broadcast that airs will be focused on the 90th anniversary of "Music and the Spoken Word". With the first brodcast thereof having aired on July 15, 1929, this Sunday will mark the closest broadcast date to that anniversary. Over the course of the last 9 decades, the Choir and its' associated personnel have very aptly and capably filled their roles as emissaries for the Church. The Spoken Word which will be provided tomorrow in conjunction with that anniversary will pay tribute to all those who made the milestone possible, from those on camera or microphone to those behind the scenes, to the music directors and the organist, to the many people who have offered the "Spoken Word" messages.

But it will also allow those currently involved in the brodcast to pay tribute to the many who have listened to or watched the brodacast over the years. The Church News has shared the Spoken Word message that will be offered tomorrow. And from the Tabernacle Choir's website, a page sharing the highlights of the broadcast, including the musical selections which will be featued in tomorrow's broadcast, has been provided. Additionally, from time-to-time, the Tabernacle Choir has made a live stream of the Choir broadcast available each Sunday, which remains available for a few hours following the broadcast's original airing.

That will be the case for the live stream of the broadcast tomorrow, for any of you who may not have TV or radio access to it. If this milestone broadcast is not reason enough for us to rejoice, tomorrow also marks the day on which President Nelson will be observing 1.5 years as Church President. Within that time alone, the Church as we know it now has been transformed in all sorts of significant ways, from the many temple milestones which have been observed, to the calling of the first Asian-American and Latin American apostles, to changing the status quo of tradition in programs, policies, procedures and practice as they have been observed for decades, to extensive travel, to so many "firsts", including one yet-to-be observed in September, when President Nelson's first milestone birthday as Church President will be his 95th.

And such developments show no sign of stopping. President Nelson has observed that we, as Church members, have gotten used to things being done in a certain way, where tradition has become more observed than intent. So much of what has been done during this time has been with a view to both reduce and simplify the work of the Church, and to unfy and streamline Church practices, programs, and resources on a more global scale. When we look at where the Church was at at the time of President Thomas S. Monson's passing on January 2, 2018 in comparision to where things are now, the Church has been indelibly and most postively changed in the last 1.5 years alone. If the words of President Nelson, his wife, and all of his apostolic colleagues is to be believed, such developments will continue to shake up the status quo and defy prior traditions and expectations.

Although all prophets have been as clear as they are able to be regarding how much their actions have been inspired and directed by the Lord, President Nelson is making that far more plain, transparent, and clear than it ever has been. What may be coming in the next 1.5 years remains to be seen, but if there will be an accelerated pace for everything in the Church now, then the unprecedented territory which has been marked from January 14, 2018 to now will almost definitely be overshadowed and outpaced by what will come in the next 1.5 years between tomorrow and the third anniversary of his prophetic administration (which will occur on January 14, 2021). President Nelson clearly wasn't kidding when he offered his physician's presription: "Eat your vitamin pills. Get your rest. It's going to be exciting."

For my part, I am grateful to have been able to acknowledge both of the significant milestones covered herein. I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will keep doing my level best to bring you word of such things as I become aware of them. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in compliance 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.

Church Releases New Curriculum Information for 2020; New Resource Available

Hello again, everyone! Not sure how I missed this, but two days ago, the Church released information and instructions for curriculum that will be used Church-wide next year in our block meetings. This continues the second year of the "Come Follow Me" curriculum, which will focus our study on the Book of Mormon. There will be, as there was this year, a manul for individuals and families, a manual specifically for Primary-aged children (3-11 years old) with the nursery manual "Behold Your Little Ones" to be used for those 18 months-3 years old.

The adults and youth will use the same Sunday School manual, and in youth quorums and classes, there willl be a "Come Follow Me" manual for Aaronic Priesthood holders, and another for young women. With the seminary curriculum fully aligning with the Come Follow Me course of study, there will be separate manuals for seminary instructors and students. But there will also be a minor change in the available resources for Elders' Quorums and Relief Society members, who will continue to study General Conference addresses on the second and fourth Sundays of the month.

That particular change was made in part with the release of the May 2019 Ensign. In 2018, the relevant sections of the Ensgin had provided summaries and suggestions for those teaching from the talks given by the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and general officers of the Church. But in the May 2019 Ensign, a two-page section was used to offer more general suggestions and guidelines, placing the emphasis on the inspiration of the instructors, and on the preparation of members of Quorums and Relief Societies to be prepared to discuss what they learned from the addresses.

It appears that section will become the new standard which will be shared in each subsequent May and November General Conference Ensign, and the instructions for curriculum include a separate link to that particular resource.  With the timing of the release of these particular instructions, we again see a prime example of how President Nelson is ahead of the curve. In years past, it was not uncommon for those instructions to be released in August or September, with the expectation that each Church unit would order the needed curriculum before the end of October.

The comparatively earlier release of these instructions which we have seen under President Nelson's administration appears to be an acknowledgement by the Brethren that more time may be needed for individual congregations to figure out what materials to order. And that is wonderful to see. For my part, I am grateful to have been able to find and share this news here. I also continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates and will bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such things.

That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in compliance 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.