BREAKING NEWS: "Tithing Settlement" to be Retired & Replaced with "Tithing Declaration"; Bishops Can Begin Annual Reviews In September

 Hello again, everyone! Breaking news has been announced by the First Presidency this morning. For years, at the end of each year, members have been invited to meet with the bishops of their congregations yearly to declare their tithe-paying status. These interviews have been known as "Tithing Settlement". But in a continued effort to differentiate between doctrinally-defined practices and traditions, that term will now be retired.

Instead, members will be invited to meet with bishops, and may begin doing so as early as September of every year, for a "Tithing Declaration" interview. The rationale offered for the change in terminology is that those interviews are not meant to "settle" anything, but instead are intended to enable each Church member once a year to declare the degree to which they have followed the doctrinal practice of paying tithes and offerings. 

I originally became aware of this update courtesy of a Church News report to which I was alerted on my phone. This change makes perfect sense to me, and it of course follows the other recent announcement about the simplification of the categories for other offerings. This change makes perfect sense to me, and I'm grateful to have been able to learn of it and pass it along to you all here. 

I continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates, and will do my best to pass those along here 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.

Tribute to Elder Neil L. Andersen, In Celebration of His 71st Birthday

Hello again, everyone! Let's get right into the latest birthday tribute I'm posting in honor of Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Neil Linden Andersen was born on this day in 1951 to Lyle and Kathryn Andersen in Logan Utah. His family relocated to Pocatello when he was five to run a dairy farm. He served a full-time mission in France, then obtained a bachelor's degree in economics, eventually earning his MBA from Harvard, also in economics.

During his time at BYU, he met and married his wife, Kathy Sue Anderson, and together they raised four children. He spent his professional career working various jobs. At the pinnacle of his career, he was Vice President of the Morton Plant Health System. He has served in the Church as a stake president’s counselor, stake president and mission president (assigned to the France Bordeaux Mission) from 1989-1992. Less than a year after his return, he was called to be a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Interestingly, his call as a General Authority occurred in the same conference as that of his future apostolic seatmate, Elder D. Todd Christofferson.

Through the next couple of decades as a Seventy, he served in a wide variety of Church assignments, including as executive director of the church's Audiovisual Department, assistant executive director of the Priesthood Department, and in the presidencies of the following areas: Europe West ,Utah North, Utah South, North America Southwest, North America Northeast, and the Brazil South Area (during which time he also served as the area president).

In 2005, Elder Andersen was called to the Presidency of the Seventy, where he was assigned to preside over the Idaho Area (from 2005-2007). By the time his stewardship switched to the North America Southwest Area (2007-2009), he had gone from being the second-least senior member of that Presidency to being the third-most-senior member. In 2008, with Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (in April) and the release of Senior President Elder Earl C. Tingey (in August, in preparation for his being granted emeritus status in the October General Conference), Elder Andersen then became the Senior President of the Seventy, a role in which he would only serve for around 8 months.

With the December 2008 death of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Elder Andersen was subsequently called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the April 2009 General Conference. An interesting bit of trivia is the fact that Elders Christofferson, Andersen, and Rasband were all seatmates in the Presidency of the Seventy as of August 2007, and they would all go on to be apostolic seatmates, with their apostolic calls occurring in April 2008, April 2009, and October 2015 respectively.

Since Elder Andersen's original call as a General Authority Seventy in April 1993, he has given a total of 32 addresses in General Conference (3 of which he gave as a General Authority Seventy, with 2 others given while he was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 27 since his call to the QuorIum of the Twelve Apostles).

Elder Andersen continues to be the seventh in both senirotiy and chronological birth order among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and ranks tenth among the 15 total apostles in both seniority and birth chronology. I gladly sustain him and each of his 14 apostolic colleagues as prophets, seers, and revelators, and am grateful to have been able to publish this tribute in honor of his birthday today. 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: President Nelson Officially Becomes the Oldest Living Apostle in This Dispensation

Hello again, everyone! I do have a breaking news development to get to this morning. From his death on the last day of July 2004 until today, Elder David B. Haight has distinguished himself as the oldest living apostle. Effective today, the age of our current prophet, Church President Russell M. Nelson, has officially surpassed that of Elder Haight, who died at the exact age of 97 years, 10 months, and 29 days. With President Nelson officially reaching the age of 97 years, 10 months, and 30 days today, that is the official new record for the oldest living apostle, which will continue to be broken as long as he lives.

By all reports, our prophet continues to be healthy, and every Church leader has reported having trouble keeping up with him. I have also not heard anything currently to contradict previous reports I've mentioned that his public appearances, vigor, and energy match or exceed that of someone 20-30 years younger than he is. So I have no doubts whatsoever that he will continue to set a new record for the oldest living apostle every day for the foreseeable future.

If I hear anything to contradict that impression, I will be sure to post a correction ASAP. 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.