BREAKING NEWS: Women Can Now Serve Missions at the Age of 18

The First Presidency just announced that, effective immediately, women can now serve missions at the age of 18. This puts the minimum age at which women can serve as equal to that of men. The announcement reiterates that for men, missionary service is a priesthood responsibility, and for women, it is an optional opportunity. The First Presidency writes: "We recognize that for those young women who desire to serve a full-time mission, the choice of age to begin service will not be the same for everyone. We extend our love to the youth of the Church and commend them for their faithfulness."

I am grateful for this update, which allows women and men to serve at the same age. It follows the change mentioned previously that young people can receive their own endowment once they have graduated from high school. This is the next step in an evolving missionary program. And I believe it will have a widespread effect worldwide as far as missions are concerned. Others more qualified than I am can speak more to the perspective on the effect this could potentially have for the worldwide missionary program, so I will leave that to them to do so.

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.

BREAKING NEWS: First Presidency Announces Changes in Mexico & United States Area Presidencies

Hello again, everyone! Effective immediately, the Church has announced changes in its Mexico & United States Area Presidencies. Let's break down the details: Bishop Sean Douglas, the new Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, has been released as Mexico Area President. Elder Jose L. Alonso has been released as the President of the United States Northwest Area. Elder Michael A. Dunn has been released as Assistant Executive Director in the Church Communication Department and as a member of the Church Communication and International Coordinating Committees.

Elder Moises Villanueva, who had been serving as the First Counselor in the Mexico Area Presidency, will now serve as the Area President. Elder Jose L. Alonso will be his new First Counselor, and Elder Brik V. Eyre continues his service as Second Counselor. In the United States Southwest Area Presidency, Elder Michael A. Dunn, the former First Counselor, will now serve as the Area President. Former Second Counselor Jonathan S. Schmitt will now serve as First Counselor, and Elder Steven C. Barlow has been called as the new Second Counselor in that area presidency.

Information on who has succeeded Elder Dunn in his former department and committee assignments remains unavailable. But it is good to at least have these changes identified. 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.

Initial Predictions for the April 2026 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! As I mentioned in my previous post, I had already done a rough draft of my initial predictions for the April 2026 General Conference before today's announcement discontinuing the Saturday Evening Session of General Conference. 

That announcement took me back to the drawing board as far as those predictions were concerned. I am pleased to now present my revised initial predictions for the April 2026 General Conference. As per my usual custom, I have my projected speaker lineup, my predictions regarding changes in general Church leadership (which also includes my projected data for the 2025 statistical report), and my masterlist of possible locations in which temples could be announced.

With reference to the last document, I would not be surprised to either just see a few new temples announced or for the current hiatus on temple announcements to continue until the queue of announced temples is significantly smaller, although I am hoping by the time this General Conference rolls around that the queue will be much smaller than it is right now. This masterlist is being included in these predictions just in case there are new temples announced.

The rest of the predictions speak for themselves, I think. If any of you have any questions, I welcome the opportunity to address them in the comments section below. 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.