BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church President Russell M. Nelson Will Rededicate the Washington D.C. Temple on August 14; Other Participating General Leaders Identified

Hello again, everyone! Within the last 20 minutes, the Church News has shared a breaking update on the rededication plans cfor the Washington D.C. Temple. According to the news article, Church President Russell M. Nelson will preside at the 3 sessions, set to be held at 9:00 AM, 1:30 PM, and 5:00 PM on Sunday August 14. He will be accompanied by both of his counselors, Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring. 

Other general Church leaders participating to varying degrees in the 3 sessions are Elders Quentin L. Cook and Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder Paul V. Johnson (who may have supervisory oversight for the North America Southeast Area as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy); Sister Amy A. Wright, the new First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, who, while serving as Second Counselor in that presidency for the last year, was a member of the Temple and Family History Executive Council (as Elder Gong is currently); 

Elder Kevin R. Duncan, Executive Director of the Temple Department; and the presidency of the Church's North America Northeast Area (Elders Allen D. Haynie, W. Mark Bassett, and Vaiangina Sikahema). I am grateful the Church News has confirmed these details, including verifying my theory that President Nelson will personally preside at this temple's rededication.

I continue to monitor all other updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples site and will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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: 2022 Days of '47 KSL Parade Makes History

Hello again, everyone! KSL just shared a major new report regarding how the 2022 "Days of '47" KSL Parade will make history. As some of you are no doubt aware, for a long time, members of the First Presidency rotated the assignment to serve as grand marshal of that parade. In recent years, two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles did so (Acting President M. Russell Ballard, who has prominent pioneer ancestry, and Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who, at that time, had apostolic supervisory oversight for the Utah Area).

Elder Craig C. Christensen, who served for several years as the president of the Utah Area of the Church, also served as the grand marshal of the parade one year. Today, in a teaser for a story coming during the 6:30 PM newscast, KSL showed longtime religion reporter Carole Mikita with outgoing Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham, with the voiceover description indicating that the story would cover how this year's parade grand marshal will make history.

I am pleased to thereby confirm that Sister Bingham will fill that role this year, as one of the last (if not the very last) public appearances she will make as Relief Society General President before her release becomes effective August 1. This is another example of the Brethren publicly acknowledging the important role of Latter-day Saint women in the Church. Although this will be the first time the Church does this, I have no doubts it will not be the last, and I look forward to seeing when it will happen next.

I am grateful to have been able to learn of and pass along this news. I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time.

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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: Current Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data every 7 weeks. Having last done so on May 29, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents. The first part also includes updated information on the tenure length records for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The first document also shows information on the three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (which will not be updated with the First Presidency as presently constituted until 2024), in addition to the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles).

The latest version of that document also shows when the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as currently comprised will move up on the list of the longest-serving Quorums of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to specifics on when the current members of that Quorum, along with the current First Presidency, will reach the next milestones on that list.

Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the apostolic groups overall, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 2 of the current 15 apostles being on that list, and the timing noted for when each of the other 13 apostles will join that list).

Hopefully this shared data will be of interest to you all, and again, I offer an open invitation to anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. I will, of course, continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of all such reports. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.