BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Held for Bengaluru India Temple

Note: This post was originally published at 10:00 AM, with subsequent updates added roughly 2 hours later.

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the Newsroom reports that ground was broken for the Bengaluru India Temple two days ago (December 2). As previously announced, Elder Robert K. William, an area seventy based in Bangalore, presided at the groundbreaking ceremony for this temple, marking the first temple groundbreaking held in the month of December since 2016.  It also might be of interest to some of you to know that, with the report of this temple's groundbreaking, the number of temples under counstruction (32) now exceeds the number of those announced temples left in the queue (31).  

But the count of those under construction also technically includes both the Rio de Janeiro Brazil and Winnipeg Manitoba Temples, both of which are awaiting the announcement of their revised opening dates. So if those temples are not considered, then there are 30 under construction and 31 announced, with 2 completed and awaiting dedications.  Getting back to the first temple in India, as many of you may recall, during President Nelson's first Global Ministry Tour in 2018, he visited the Saints in Bengaluru. 

During that visit, he provided insight into the impromptu impression he received the night before General Conference was to begin that led to the announcement of a temple in India. He also talked about how it is easier for the Church to build a temple than it is for the Church to build a people who are ready for the temple.  Subsequently, in January of this year, an exterior rendering for that temple was released. In that release, the location and design of that temple were first provided. The news release on the rendering and location noted: 

"The 38,670-square-foot temple will be built on a 1.62-acre site at 2-B, Garudachar Palya, Mahadevapura, Bengaluru, Karnataka, in India. The temple was announced in April 2018 by Church President Russell M. Nelson.

"In addition to construction of the temple, existing Church offices and a meetinghouse on the site will be removed. A new two-level meetinghouse will be built, along with new Church offices, a distribution center and housing for patrons. The site will also include new residences for the temple president, temple and service missionaries and the mission president."

With that verb Iatim quote in mind, based on the exterior rendering and the plans for the temple project, I'm anticipating that, once construction is underway, it could take anywhere from 2.75-3.75 years to complete. In the portion of the news release I quoted above, it mentioned that the temple had been announced in April 2018. So I wanted to also note that, of the 7 temples originally announced in April 2018, 4 of those 7 (Salta Argentina, Bengaluru India, Layton Utah, and Richmond Virginia) have had groundbreakings in 2020.

And although it may be anyone's guess how soon action could be taken on the Cagayan de Oro Philippines and Russia temples, it's worth noting that, if the information I have is correct, ground could be broken on  the temple in Managua within the first half of next year, if not sooner than that. It is also worth noting that the Church is now down to 3 temples that have groundbreakings scheduled to occur before the end of this year (Mendoza Argentina, which had been announced to occur last month, but which has not seen that occur), Harare Zimbabwe, and Okinawa Japan.

I have no idea what to expect in terms of how soon any annnouncement may be made about the first groundbreaking(s) that may occur next year, but hopefully that might occur soon. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of all such developments. 

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.

Honoring Elder Jeffrey R. Holland on His 80th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! With today being December 3, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is observing his 80th birthday. I know that the Lord is no respector of persons, and doesn't play favorites, but on a personal level, I wanted to reiterate again that Elder Holland is one of my favorite apostles. I have a couple of familial connections to him. My dad was born and raised in St. George, and his father (Dean Stokes), was Elder Holland's home teaching companion when "young Jeff" was an Aaronic Priesthood holder. According to my dad, his father often expressed his wonder that a boy like Elder Holland had been could become an apostle of the Lord.

I know that at times, it may seem that some members of the Church, to varying degrees, have put the leading Brethren of the Church on a pedestal, but I am reminded in accounts, such as that which was shared by my grandfather, that these men may have been foreordained to the apostleship, but they are no different than any other member of the Church; the Lord just ordered their lives based on their personal choices in such a way that when such calls came to them, they were qualified through years of service in the Church and living what they believe. That is important for all of us to remember.

My mom is a freelance proofreader, and in the early days of her marriage to my dad, she worked on many projects for the Church Educational System. Since that occurred at the time when Elder Holland was the Commissioner of the CES, he was essentially my mom's "boss." And she speaks warmly of the experiences she had working with him on such projects. Personal connections aside, I wanted to share a brief biographical sketch of Elder Holland.

Jeffrey Roy Holland was born in St. George, Utah to Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland on December 3, 1940. He served a full-time mission in the British Isles. His mission president was Marion D. Hanks, (who at that time was a member of the now-defunct First Council of the Seventy and later served in the First Quorum and Presidency of the Seventy). One of young Elder Holland's missionary companions was Quentin L. Cook, alongside whom he would later serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Of Elder Holland, Elder Cook has remarked that it is interesting to him that he, as the previously-senior missionary companion to Elder Holland, is now the junior apostle to his former junior companion. Following the concusion of Elder Holland's missionary service, he attended BYU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in religious education.

Additionally, shortly after his release from missionary service, he married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Terry, in 1963. They are the parents of a daughter and two sons, one of whom, Matthew, has served as the President of Utah Valley University and as president of the North Carolina Raliegh Mission. During General Conference in April of this year, Matthew Holland was sustained as a General Authority Seventy, marking the first time a fahter-and-son duo have served together as general authorities since the July 2015 death of President Boyd K. Packer. 

Once Elder Holland earned his bachelor's and master's degrees, he went on to earn a doctorate degree in American studies from Yale. He then became a professor at BYU, serving as Dean of the College of Religion. He served as Commissioner of Church Education from 1976-1980. In 1980, President Dallin H. Oaks, who was then serving as President of BYU-Provo, announced his intention to move on to other opportunities. Commissioner Holland was put in charge of the committee to find the new BYU President. 

Two days later, he was stunned when the First Presidency appointment him to that assignment. He had reportedly been favored for the position by President N. Eldon Tanner, who was then serving as First Counselor in the First Presidency, and was the protege of then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, who at that time was the senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles asssigned to the Church Board of Education. Elder Holland would go on to serve as president of BYU for 9 years himself, until his April 1, 1989 call as a General Authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. 

Prior to his call to general Church service, Elder Holland also served as a bishop, counselor in a stake presidency, and regional representative. After the First Presidency was reorganized following the death of President Ezra Taft Benson, President Howard W. Hunter took immediate action to fill the apostolic vacancy. In the space of a few short hours on Thursday June 23, President Hunter issued a call to the apostleship to Elder Holland, gave him his apostolic charge, set apart and ordained him to that calling,  and had him join the other 14 apostles in their weekly meeting at the temple. That action was sustained by Church membership during the Solemn Assembly that was held exactly 100 days later.

Elder Holland has given a total of 56 addresses in General Conference.  Of those, 3 were prior to his apostolic call. The first time he spoke during General Conference was in April 1983, while he was serving as the President of Brigham Young University. He spoke alongside his son during that session, and for unknown reasons, that talk is not listed with the others in the first link I shared at the start of this paragraph. He gave the remaining 53 General Conference addresses as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 

To me, it always seems as though the talks given by Elder Holland are specifically focused on something I have been dealing with personally at the time. As a consequence, listening to him speak every six months is one of my favorite things about General Conference weekends. The last thing I want to mention about Elder Holland is that he is currently the second most-senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the fourth in seniority among all current apostles. 

He is also the fourth-oldest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and is the seventh-oldest among all living apostles. Interestingly enough, although he is the most senior of the three apostles born in 1940 (with Elders Uchtdorf and Cook being the other two), he is the youngest of the three. His apostolic seatmate, Elder Uchtdorf,  obsrved his 80th birthday just under one month ago, with Elder Cook having done the same two months prior to that.

Given his age and current apostolic seniority, some, myself included, have suggested that Elder Holland could one day serve as Church President. Right now, the only apostles senior to him are Presidents Nelson, Oaks, and Ballard. If President Nelson does indeed the lead the Church for the next decade or two, our current prophet may outlive a few more of the apostles junior to him. So it will be interesting to see what happens there. I am grateful for the life and ministry of Elder Holland, and for the chance I had to write this post in his honor today 

I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates and will do my best to bring you all word on those developments as they occur  That does it for now. Any 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.

Some Thoughts in Advance of the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional

Hello again, everyone! As many of you are no doubt aware, the First Presidency's 2020 Christmas Devotional is coming up on Sunday. Through 2012, the devotional featured addresses from the entire First Presidency. But in 2013, the Church announced that the format would change to allow other general Church leaders to participate. Beginning in 2014, and clear through last year, almost every year has seen 4 speakers: 1 member of the First Presidency, 1 member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 1 member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and 1 of the 15 General Officers of the Church.

The one exception to that general pattern occurred in 2017. For that year's devotional, aside from a member of the First Presidency, only 1 General Officer of the Church and 1 of the Church's General Authority Seventies were selected to speak. But since that was the sole exception to the general format, I have a rough standard template to draw on when considering who might speak each year. What might the general pattern tell us about the potential speaking lineup for this year's devotional? That is a question I will attempt to answer in this post.

Firstly, since the new format and general template for the Christmas Devotional was introduced in 2013, only the counselors in the First Presidency have conducted the devotional, generally alternating each year. We also know that since President Nelson became Church President, he has only opted to conduct 1 session of General Conference (the Sunday Morning Session in April 2018). 

Since his almost three years as Church President, he's done an excellent job of delegating things, so I think it may safely be assumed that, for the most part, President Nelson will leave the task of conducting each year's Christmas Devotional to either of his counselors on an alternating basis. With President Oaks having conducted the 2018 devotional and President Eyring conducting the one held last year, I am predicting that President Oaks will be the one to conduct this year's devotional. And since President Nelson spoke during the 2018 deovotional and President Oaks did so last year, it seems safe to predict that President Eyring will be the representative speaking on behalf of the First Presidency.

In terms of the speakers from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, we have heard from then-Elders Nelson and Oaks, along with Elders Bednar, Christofferson, Stevenson, and Soares. Based on which Quorum mebers have spoken, among those who have not done so are President Ballard and Elders Holland, Cook, Andersen, Renlund, and Gong. You may note the omissions of Elders Uchtdorf and Rasband. In listing the current Quorum members who have not spoken, I didn't include Elder Uchtdorf, since he previously spoke twice during that devotional while he was serving as President Monson's Second Counselor in the First Presidency. 

While it is also true that Elder Rasband has not yet been tapped to speak in the Devotional since his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October 2015, he was the first member of the Presidency of the Seventy assigned to speak when the noew format first took effect in 2013, so I'm considering that in my analysis. Although any of the others I mentioned could speak, for some reason, the thought occurred to me that Elder Neil L. Andersen might do so this go-round. But any of those who have not yet done so would be great to hear from this weekend.

Meanwhile, the mmbers of the Presidency of the Seventy who have spoken to us have included Elders Ronald A. Rasband (as noted above), Richard J. Maynes, L. Whitney Clayton, Craig C. Christensen, Terence M. Vinson, and Patrick Kearon. Only two of those just mentioned remain in the Presidency of the Seventy. In 2017, General Authority Seventy Elder Kevin R. Duncan was asked to speak. From among the ranks of the General Authorities of the Church, only the Presiding Bishopric has not been represented in aan assignment to speak during the devotional. In view of that fact, I am predicting this go-round that Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse may be tapped to do so this go-round. 

As far as general officers of the Church are concerned, we have heard twice from the Primary General President (the current one and her immediate predecessor), and once each from the since-released Young Women and Relief Society General Presidents and the since-released First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency, the current Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency and First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency .

Although we have not yet heard from a member of the Sunday School General Presidency, the last time we heard from the Young Women General President in the Christmas Devotional was 6 years ago, so I'm predicting that Sister Bonnie H. Cordon may be tapped to speak this time around, though I would not in any way be shocked to see something else happen. 

In summary, I am predicting that, for this year's devotional, which will be held this Sunday, that President Oaks will conduct, and that the speakers will be Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, Young Women General President, Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency.

Anyone interested in doing so is more than welcome to look over the history I have kept on these Christmas Devotionals, and if any of you have any thoughts on the predictions I've laid out for this year, I'd love to hear from you. I look forward to this Sunday's devotioynal regardless of whether or not I correctly predicted any or all aspects of this devotional. Whatever might happen in that respect, you can count on my passing along whatever is reported after that is made available.

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.