BREAKING NEWS: Elder and Sister Gong Test Positive for COVID-19; First Presidency Encourages Latter-day Saints in the United States to Vote

 Hello again, everyone! Breaking news on two fronts unrelated to temples has been reported by the Church within the last hour or so. The Newsroom, with additional context provided by the Church News has confirmed that Elder and Sister Gong have both tested posititive for COVID-19. As some of you may recall, due to having had contact with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19, Elder Gong had prerecorded his remarks for the recent General Conference, and neither he nor his wife attended conference in person.

What we do know at this point is that the Gongs are only experiencing very mild symptoms, and are actively involved in the process of contact tracing and self-isolation. This is the first time that a positive COVID-19 diagnosis has been provided for any of the Church's top leaders. That being said, with at least two former physicians as fellow apostles, and with Elder and Sister Gong adhering to the proper guidelines for self-isolation and contact tracing, I have no doubt they will both pull through. I urge all my readers in light of this news to join me in praying for the welfare and healing of Elder and Sister Gong.

In the meantime, it has been a time-honored tradition for the First Presidency to also urge Latter-day Saints in the United States to vote in the general elections each year. Usually, those invitiations and reminders come down the pike in mid-to-late October, so to have that earlier than usual underscores how impartant it may be for members of the Church and their friends of other faiths to participate in the political process. You can find more information on this year's invitation from the leading Quorum of the Church in the Newsroom and the Church News. 

Although the Church as an institiution, and its' top leaders, of necessity, maintain the practice of political neutraility when it comes to all political candidates and most political or civil issues, with the exception to the latter occurrinlg when there is a solid doctrinally-based reason to oppose a meaure (fas we saw years ago when the Church mobilized some resources and issued a statement against California Proposition 8, which legalized same-sex marriage in that state), or where issues of human life are at stake (the subject of abortion comes to mind), or where any measure would trample on the rights of any religious organization (issues relating to religious freedom). 

Those are the main exceptions of which I am presently aware in the recent past. Having shared the First Presidency statement and some relevant thoughts on that, I will just observe on a personal note that I urge any of my readers to prayerfully approach the process of voting especially this year. Pray about issues of concern, the candidates who have taken stands one way or another on those issues, and the character of the candidates themselves. If any of you find anything lacking in your current local or national leaders, it is a duty all Church members and friends of other faiths should hold dear to vote them out appropriately, and to seek to appoint leaders that will do the right thing for the right reasons in all important  matters.

I hope that that statement was sufficiently politically neutral on my personal part here. As a citizen of the United States, I have my own thoughts about the upcoming election, but I have vowed to keep this place as a safe haven for my readers where all can express their opinions on the news shared and can share ideas as guided by the Spirit, and I am determined to personally hold myself to that standard. The one thing I will say is that, for so many in the United States, we are at a critical juncture where, in many cases, the leaders we select will shape the future of our nation and localities as we currently know them. 

So I hope with that in mind that all of us will approach the privilege of voting  as the solenm and sacred duty that it truly is. When we can do so, we will know we have discharged our obligation as citizens in accordance with the counsel given yearly and renenewed today by the First Presidency. For my part, I will continue to monitor all Church and temple news, and be sure to pass word of the latest developments on to you all here. I have no doubt that, coming out of the recent General Conference weekend, the best is yet to come prior to the end of the year. 

I am also more than slightly surprised that the Church has not yet released the calendar of Churchwide events for next year, as that has typically happened during or just prior to Semptembe every year. Perhaps there are a few other details to iron out with that, since COVID-19 and a few other factors are definitiely unknown. I will keep my eyes open in that respect as well, and bring you all word of that here as I become aware of 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: President Nelson Announces 6 New Temples As the October 2020 General Conference Concludes

Hello again, everyone! I have breaking news to share from the Sunday Afternoon Session of General Conference that has just concluded. During his remarks that served as the capstone to this conference, President Nelson announced 6 new temples, which will be built in the following locations: Tarawa Kiribati; Port Villa Vanuatu; Lindon Utah; Greater Guatemala City Guatemala; East Sao Paulo Brazil; and Santa Cruz Bolivia. Along with covering this announcement, I wanted to share some preliminary information based on what is known about each of these new temples. First, the Church News also covered this announcement. Secondly, when Church Growth expert Matthew Martinich last updated his list of the top ten natons with the strongest Church presence without a temple last April, Kiribati and Vanuatu were on that list in the first and eighth positions.

Additionally, some have offered the opinion in the past that the forecasted sinking of both Kiribati and Vanuatu within the next hundred years or so might deter the Church from building a temple in either or both places. I am grateful that the Lord moved upon His prophet to announce temples for both island nations, and I look forward to seeing how the construction of both temples may lead to a change in those mortal opinions.

Lindon may or may not have been on my list, given that two temples are operating in Provo, with one more currently under construction in Orem, but it's clearly needed in this part of Utah County. Bolivia's second temple being announced for Santa Cruz was expected, as were additional temples in Guatemala and Brazil, but I didn't anticipate the announcement of general rather than specific locations for those. Overall, without conducting a more thorough analysis of the locations announced vs. what I predicted, I probably came close to my 60-80% accuracy rate for that part of my predictions.

I am grateful to have been able to learn of this development and pass word of it along to you all. I am confident the remainder of this year will see several other breaking Church news updates and temple developments, and I will be sure to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of such news in the future.

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.

BREAKING NEWS: Church Announces Changes in General Leadership During Saturday Afternoon Session

Hello again, everyone! During the traditional Saturday Sustaining of Church Officers, which just concluded, some changes were noted in general Church leadership I thought that the changes were sufficient enough to provide a breaking news update, as some of the changes were not expected. Firstly, the changes in the Presidency of the Seventy that took effect on August 1 (with Elder L. Whitney Clayton released as Senior President, Elder Patrick Kearon becoming the new Senior President, and Elder Brent H. Nielson joining that Presidency) were not presented for stastaining vote. So apparently, an official announcement from the Church as took place for those has negated the need for a subsequent sustaining vote, at least this go-round.

It was next no great surprise when Elders L. Whitney Clayton, Enrique R. Falabella, and Richard J. Maynews were released as General Authority Seventies and granted emeritus status. Nor was it surprising that no release was presented for Elder David S. Baxter, who is still on leave from his assignments for medical reasons. The surprising thing was that Elder L. Todd Budge, who was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in April of 2019, was released from that assignment.

I was further surprised when Bishops Dean M. Davies and W. Christopher Waddell were released as First and Second Counselors in the Presiding Bishopric. But then President Eyring presented the name of Bishop Davies to be a General Authority Seventy.

Although I wasn't aware of this at the time, the reason the Church amde that change, as noted in the news release, is that he has been dealing with health issues for the last year, so it was thought that an assignment change at this time would allow him to take care of those issues and still serve as a General Authority of the Church while he does so. I do not know if that means that he will still be granted emeritus status this time next year, when he will have passed the age of 70. 

As a result of the change to Bishop Davies' assignment, Bishop W. Chistopher Waddell hss been released as Second Counselor and called as First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. With the Second Counselor spot vacant, Elder Budge will now serve in that assignment in the Presiding Bishopric, now becoming Bishop Budge. He is presently serving as First Counselor in the Asia North Area Presidency outside the United States, so a subseuqnt change in that presidency will soon be necessary, assuming it is not already in progress.  

Meanwhile, President Eyring also announced the release of 47 area seventies (if I have correctly counted) and 4 new area seventies were called to serve from Tanzania, Nevada, Ecuador, and Russia. Given the other announced changes and my need to report on them here, I have not taken a look at how many area seventy releases I correctly predicted. More to come on that as I can analyze it.

I should also note here another major item: President Oaks, in announcing the first speakers for this session, noted that Elder Gong had recorded his remarks from home and was not in attandance after having been exposed to someone who later tested positive for COVID-19. He reassured the Church that Elder Gong and his family are not exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19; but the Brethren felt it wise to be safe rather than sorry. This is the first confirmation of the direct impact that COVID-19 has had on the leAding Quorums of the Church. That being said, I am glad that it does not appear that there is a need to be unduly concerned about Elder Gong in light of this news. I'm sure there is also much more ahead in terms of this General Conference weekend, and I will be sure to bring word of all such developments here as I leanr 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 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.