2,500th Blog Post: BREAKING NEWS: New First Presidency Announced

Note: This post was originally published at 9:30 AM, when the broadcast was announced, and was updated following the broadcast, just after 1:00 PM the same day.

Hello again, everyone! As was reported this morning, a new First Presidency was announced just after 1:00 PM MDT today. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles conducted the broadcast to announce that. It goes without saying that President Dallin H. Oaks is the 18th Church President in this dispensation, having been ordained and set apart in that role on Tuesday, October 14, 2025. He has selected Presidents Henry B. Eyring and D. Todd Christofferson as his respective First and Second Counselors. 

President Jeffrey R. Holland is the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I did not see President Christofferson's call coming, but as the Lord said to Isaiah, His ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and thoughts. I fully sustain this new First Presidency, and I hope that is true for each of you.

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish 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 Sunday, August 17, it is time to publish the newest such data on this General Conference Sunday. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents, in addition to updated information on the tenure lengths for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.The first document likewise notes information on the tenure length rankings for three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (with the current First Presidency now moving up on that list), 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). and an overview of when each of those current groups will move up on the list. As previously noted, the current Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and apostolic group will not join that list until late next year, assuming no other apostles pass away between now and then.

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 same data for the combined First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 3 of the current 15 apostles being on that list), and a final table showing the remaining time between today and when each of the other 12 apostles will become nonagenarians and join that list.

With these apostolic data updates coming every 7 weeks, the next update will be posted here on the morning of Sunday, November 23 (which will be the last such update for this year)..

Hopefully, this post is of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to ask anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here.

Stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates.

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

October 2025 General Conference Predictions (Final Version)

Hello again, everyone! With just 36 hours left until the October 2025 General Conference, I wanted to present the final version of my General Conference predictions. I would like to note that I once again made adjustments that I felt would be appropriate. So with that introduction, let's review those:

First up, my projected speaker lineup (which has been slightly tweaked and restructured)/ Next is my predictions for changes in general Church leadership (which now includes the prospective call of one or twp additional counseelors in the First Presidency, one or two potential new membes of the Quorum of the Twelve as a result of the prospective First Presidency changes, possible changes to the Presiding Bishopric, and definite changes to area seventies).

And the final two elements of these projections are my master list of all prospective locations in which I feel a temple could be announced soon, and the more specific locations I most anticipate being announced in this General Conference (my selections for October are at the bottom of the document). As I've noted before, I fully anticipate that 18 temples will be announced, which will bring the worldwide total to 400 in any phase.

Well, there you have it: my complete predictions for the upcoming General Conference. This is the final version, so I don't plan on making any additional changes unless there is a very good reason to do so. I welcome any questions or comments on these predictions that any of you might have. As much as I enjoy making and sharing these predictions, I am most looking forward to the opportuniies we will have to hear from and sustain our leaders.

I will be watching General Conference weekend carefully, and will bring any major announcements and my analaysis thereof to you all here in either new comments or posts, including the much-anticipated announcement of new temples. Stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 

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 all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.