BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: All Operating Temples Will Temporarily Close at Midnight Tonight

Hello again, everyone! Breaking news has just been shared through another official letter from the First Presidency. Effective at the thime of their closures tonight, all temples of the Church worldwide will temporarily close in continued response to COVID-19.  After a couple of temples were impacted by the attandance of one or more patrons who had COVID-19, this is the next logical step in the Church's ongoing COVID-19 response. The letter notes that this is a temporary and precautionary measure, and that the First Presidency is looking forward to the day when all temples can resume normal hours. This supercedes anything which has previously been noted on this blog about temple closures. With all temples now closing for the time being, more time and attention can be devoted to other worthy pursuits, particularly indexing and more fully preparing for the upcoming April 2020 General Conference, which, insofar as I am aware, still scheduled to go forward as planned with the arrangements most-recently announced. It was wonderful to hear the hope conveyed in the letter, and I am grateful that the First Presidency is willing to take this next step to help protect the Saints and citizens of the world during this continuing COVID-19 crisis.

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.

Third Edition: April 2020 General Conference Predictions

Hello again, everyone! Far later than I had anticipated, I wanted to publish here the latest fully-annotated edition of my predictions for the April 2020 General Conference. The content and notes largely speak for themselves, and anyone with the link should be able to view them. The open commenting period, which began with the first posted version of these predictions, remains in effect for the next three weeks.,at which point I will take the 36 hours between that time and Saturday morning of General Conference to do any fine-tuning or make any adjustments. As usual for an April General Conference, the predicsions are split into four sub-categories, the speaking order predictions, the possible changes in general Church leadership, the statistical report (for which the numbers are estimated), and potential locations in which a new temple may be announced. And it is in that latter section that I'll really need good feedback. There are several nations or states where I could not narrow the likely prospects down to the top one for each. So if any of you have any insight that helps me thin out the proverbial herd, I'd appreciate it.

Other than these notes, the rest speaks for itself. That does it for now. I look forward to your feedback, any or all of which is always welcome and appreciated, as long as it is offered 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: Additional Ajdustments Announced for the April 2020 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! In light of additional recommendations which have been made due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the First Presidency has just announced by letter that there will be another format change to the April 2020 General Conference. Rather than broadcasting from the Conference Center, each session will originate from a small auditorium on Temple Square. The First Presidency will preside at and conduct each session, but aside from the First Presidency, only those invited to speak or pray during in each session will physically attend. All conference music has been prerecorded. I believe this is a common-sense adjustment based on the changing recommendations. And given that the conference will be carried by technology, any Church leaders who would have ordinarly attended all sessions can catch the sessions in the same way the rest of us will. I had a feeling that an adjustment like this would be coming down the pike, and I believe it is a wise strateegy. No word on where the sessions are specifically going to originate from, but perhaps that will be in the Conference Center theater. And this is another precaution that can ensure the conference will go ahead as scheduled. When I had mentioned this prospect previously, I had thought only those speaking or praying would attend, but it makes sense that the First Presidency will be the only leaders attending all sessions. That's a doctrinally-mandated provision. And as a former physician and surgeon, I am sure President Nelson has been very sure that he and his counselors observe best practices to keep themselves healthy enough for this conference.

The format and location may be different, and it will be a slightly unusual scenario, but these are slightly unsusual times. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will pas word of those along to you all as I become aware of them. In the meantime, 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.