Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf Observes His 79th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! As it is now past midnight Utah time, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf is marking his 79th birthday today. As Elder Uchtdorf has long been one of my favorite apostles, I am pleased to offer this tribute in honor of this milestone. Dieter Friedrich Uchtdorf was born to Karl Albert and Hildegard Else Opelt Uchtdorf on this day in 1940 in the city of Ostrava, which, at that time, was known as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, but is now identified as the Czech Republic. With his family twice becoming refugees, he grew up in Germany, where his family joined the Church in 1947. In order to and went on to study engineering, business administration, and international management, after which he joined the German Air Force in 1959, where he trained to be a fighter pilot. In 1965, he joined Lufthansa German Airlines as a pilot, working as an airline captain from 1970-1996. He held many responsible executive positions with German Airlines. He reported feeling discouraged about having to learn English, but has also described how he was able to do so.

He married Harriet Reich on December 14, 1962 (whom he had met when the missionaries brought her and her family to Church while he was a young man),and they both have different recollections of the details whereby they actually got together). They raised two children and now have several grandchildren, along with a few great-grandchildren. He served as a stake president before his call as a General Authority. During that time, he gave an instrumental interview to the press in which he tackled tough topics related to his faith as the Frankfurt Germany Temple prepared to open.

He was subsequently sustained as a General Authority on April 2, 1994, and was initially assigned to the Second Quorum of the Seventy. Roughly two years later, on April 6, 1996, he was sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy. He became a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on August 15, 2002 and was sustained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 2, 2004 and ordained an apostle on October 7, 2004 (becoming the 11th apostle born outside the United States).

On February 3, 2008, he was set apart as the Second Counselor in the First Presidency to President Thomas S. Monson. Although 12 men born outside the United States have served as apostles, he became only the sixth apostle born outside the United States that served in the First Presidency. At the time of his call to the First Presidency, he was the 13th in apostolic seniority. During the period of almost a decade in which he served alongside President Monson and First Counselor President Henry B. Eyring, the deaths of six apostles senior to him meant he had become the 7th in apostolic seniority.

And with the death of President Monson occurring just three months after the death of Elder Robert D. Hales, the First Presidency was dissolved. The new Church President, Russell M. Nelson, chose as his counselors his seatmate Elder Dallin H. Oaks and President Eyring. As a result, Elder Uchtdorf returned to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. When he departed that Quorum to serve in the First Presidency, he had been the tenth most senior member of that Quorum, and he returned to it as the third in seniority, with only Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland ahead of him.

In recognition of his administrative capacities and capabilities, his assignments as a recently-reassigned Quorum member were those that had previously been held by the three who had been the most senior members of the Quorum prior to that time (Presidents Nelson, Oaks, and Ballard). Elder Uchtdorf has spoken frequently about ways in which Church members should consider themselves called to action. I enjoy hearing what he has to say in his General Conference addresses every six months.

Throughout his 25 years as a general authority, and his now-15 years as a special witness of the Savior, (including almost a decade of service in the First Presidency, he has now given 71 addresses in General Conference, only 2 of which were given prior to his apostolic call.  Elder Uchtdorf is a man of great personal warmth and charm, and we are blessed indeed to have him among the Special Witnesses of Christ at this time. He has always struck a very warm and welcoming tone in his public discourses, and his current assignments are a clear testament to the great faith the Brethren have in him. In addition to being the third-most-senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he is also the third-oldest, behind only President Ballard and Elder Quentin L. Cook. He is also the seventh-most-senior apostle overall, and the sixth-oldest of the 15 apostles overall.

Although he may never personally read this tribute, it was an honor to provide it for him on this, his 79th birthday. I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. 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 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 all that you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site & Preliminary Design Information Announced for the Moses Lake Washington Temple

Hello again, everyone! Although there has been somewhat of a famine in terms of temple news since General Conference, that is now officially over. Around 2-3 hours ago, the First Presidency announced the site location and preliminary information for the Moses Lake Washington Temple. Some of you may recall that in late July-early August, several local reports indicated that the Church had purchased land in the city on Yonezawa Boulevard between Division Street and Road K NE. Today, that land has been confirmed as the location for the temple.
The Church has also released preliminary information about the designs for a temple. Plans call for a single-story temple that will have a square footage of 20,000 square feet with a center spire, and an adjacent meetinghouse of 17,000 square feet. In the coming months, project leaders for that temple will be working with city officials through the approval process. It may be a while before a groundbreaking is set, but due to its' size, I anticipate that approval will be fairly rapid. And this now makes a total of 12 temples which could have a groundbreaking within the next year or less, just from what is known so far.

In that regard, there is something I wanted to mention here: I honestly don't know at this point if any temples might unexpectedly have a groundbreaking between now and the already-scheduled groundreaking for the Puebla Mexico Temple (which has been set for November 30), or whether any other temples might have a groundbreaking before the end of the year, but these are the temples for which I am keeping my eyes open in the coming months: Harare Zimbabwe (per a statement from Elder Andersen made to Zimbabwe's Vice President one year ago); Nairobi Kenya (for which a construction contract has been awarded); Bengaluru India (per a statement from Bishop Davies in mid-May of this year); Brasilia Brazil (for which concept designs are floating around social media); and the Greater Manila Phiippines (for which an official name announcement is pending, and which is the only other temple announced by President Monson to not have had a groundbreaking yet).

Additionally, the following temples announced by President Nelson have seen major annnouncements made, and could thus see a groundbreaking within the next year or less: Richmond Virginia, Layton Utah, Feather River California, Tooele Valley Utah, Auckland New Zealand, and now Moses Lake Washington. Above and beyond that, however, a statement from Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham in this article, a site has been acquired that will be used for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple. I therefore anticipate that the next year will see at least these 12 temples have a groundbreaking, though I wouldn't be shocked at all if more temples than that were to have a groundbreaking or more information announced as well.

For my part, I continue to monitor all such developments and will pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. 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 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.

Updated Estimates for Future Temple Events: Part Two—All Remaining Estimates

Hello again, everyone! I am back again to share the third and final part of my updated estimates for known temple events. This part covers all remaining known or anticipated events which have not yet been shared. They follow below. In order to not disturb the flow of that information, I will end here as I always do: 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 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.

2022:

Saturday & Sunday April 2 & 3: 192nd Annual General Conference

Note: Given that there have been 27 new temples announced during the first 3 General Conferences of President Nelson’s prophetic administration, I believe he will continue to announce temples every six months in General Conference, with the focus between each General Conference centered on doing all that can be done to clear the backlog of announced temples, at least for the time being.

Mid-to-late April: Dedication of the Urdaneta Philippines Temple (176th operating temple)

June: Dedication of the Belem Brazil Temple (177th operating temple)

September: Dedication of the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple (178th operating temple) 

Saturday & Sunday October 1 & 2: 192nd Semiannual General Conference

Note: Given that there have been 27 new temples announced during the first 3 General Conferences of President Nelson’s prophetic administration, I believe he will continue to announce temples every six months in General Conference, with the focus between each General Conference centered on doing all that can be done to clear the backlog of announced temples, at least for the time being.

Mid-to-late October: Dedication of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple (179th operating temple) 

December: Dedication of the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple (180th operating temple) 

Final note on 2022: Between now and the end of 2022, the face of the Church’s temple construction program will likely look very different. We currently have a Church President who has clearly prioritized bringing the temples to the people, having announced 35 new ones during his first 4 General Conferences as Church President. We have also seen him taking decisive action between each General Conference to clear the queue of announced temples. For that reason, any temples announced in 2018 or 2019 which have not yet had a groundbreaking by this time will likely see that occur during this year. With that in mind, there will likely be many more temple events to add before, during, and after 2022 as a result.

2023:

March: Dedication of the Puebla Mexico Temple (181st operating temple)

Saturday & Sunday April 1 & 2: 193rd Annual General Conference

Note: Given that there have been 27 new temples announced during the first 3 General Conferences of President Nelson’s prophetic administration, I believe he will continue to announce temples every six months in General Conference, with the focus between each General Conference centered on doing all that can be done to clear the backlog of announced temples, at least for the time being.

Mid-to-late April: Rededication of the St. George Utah Temple

June: Dedication of the Bangkok Thailand Temple (182nd operating temple)

Saturday September 30 & Sunday October 1: 193rd Semiannual General Conference

Note: Given that there have been 27 new temples announced during the first 3 General Conferences of President Nelson’s prophetic administration, I believe he will continue to announce temples every six months in General Conference, with the focus between each General Conference centered on doing all that can be done to clear the backlog of announced temples, at least for the time being.

Final note on 2023: Any other temple events which may occur during 2023 will be determined by whatever temple-related announcements are made within the next few years. I will be sure to add such events as I learn about their likelihood.

2024:

Saturday & Sunday April 6 & 7: 194th Annual General Conference

Note: Given that there have been 27 new temples announced during the first 3 General Conferences of President Nelson’s prophetic administration, I believe he will continue to announce temples every six months in General Conference, with the focus between each General Conference centered on doing all that can be done to clear the backlog of announced temples, at least for the time being.

May or June: Rededication of the Salt Lake Temple

Note: Given that this is the first time ever that this temple will have undergone a multi-year closure for full-scale renovation that will culminate in an open house which is anticipated to be held for a couple of months to accommodate the anticipated numbers, and a rededication which may last for a couple of weeks in order to enable it to be carried worldwide to all who want to participate, the timing of these events will largely depend on how quickly and how on-schedule the renovation process winds up being. For that reason, this more specific completion estimate for this temple may be pushed up into earlier this year, or potentially moved back. 

September: President Nelson’s 100th Birthday Celebration Broadcast

Note: Barring anything very unexpected, it is almost a near-certainty that President Nelson will still be very much alive to observe his 100th birthday around this time. And given all that he has thus far or may yet contribute to the temple construction efforts of the Church, it seems highly appropriate to list the anticipated celebration of this monumental milestone among other temple events noted here for 2024, as the milestone will mark President Nelson becoming the first centenarian apostle and prophet.

Saturday & Sunday October 5 & 6: 194th Semiannual General Conference

Note: Given that there have been 27 new temples announced during the first 3 General Conferences of President Nelson’s prophetic administration, I believe he will continue to announce temples every six months in General Conference, with the focus between each General Conference centered on doing all that can be done to clear the backlog of announced temples, at least for the time being.

Final note: Any other temple events which may occur during 2024 will be determined by whatever temple announcements are made within the next couple of years. I will be sure to add such events as I learn about their likelihood.