Anticipated Changes in General Church Leadership and Statistical Report Estimates for April 2019 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! I am back with the second post about my April 2019 General Conference predictions, which I hope will kick off a more thorough discussion of the topic. The purpose of this post is to share those changes in general Church leadership which I have felt are likely, along with the estimates I have assembled for the statistical report. That part of my predictions follows below.

So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will end here and now as I always do. That does it for this post. 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.

Predictions for Changes in Church Leadership

General Authority Seventies: New General Authorities sustained from among the Area Seventies or the Church at large (including any current mission or temple president); Elder Steven E. Snow released as Church Historian and Recorder, with a new Church Historian and Recorder called from among the current or newly-called General Authority Seventies. Note: It is traditional for new General Authority Seventies to be sustained each April, so I would anticipate that occurring for this General Conference. Additional note: Elder Steven E. Snow, who has served as Church Historian and Recorder since 2012, will be 70 in November 2019, so the Church will likely sustain a current or new General Authority in that assignment to succeed him. Result:

Area Seventies: Some area seventies released, others called. Note: Although there have been exceptions in recent years, April General Conference has generally seen a large number of area seventies called, and a few released, especially if any of the new General Authorities are currently serving as area seventies. I am anticipating the same will be true for this General Conference. Additional note: The following area seventies may be released for the following reasons: Called as mission presidents: Aley K. Auna, Walter Chatora, J. Kevin Ence, Jose L. Isaguierre,  Bryan R. Larsen, W. Jean-Pierre Lono, Khumbulani Mdletshe, Hoi Seng Leonard Woo Longest-tenured: Kevin J Worthen (sustained in April 2010; is serving as BYU-Provo President; if he is released, he may be sustained as General Authority Seventy) Result:

Sunday School General Presidency: Tad R. Callister, Devin G. Durrant, and Brian K. Ashton released, new Sunday School General Presidency called. Note: Brothers Callister and Durrant have served together in the Sunday School General Presidency since April 2014, and Brother Ashton joined this presidency in June 2015. Since it has been somewhat standard in recent years for the Church to make a change in auxiliary presidencies after 5 years of service, I would anticipate that a new presidency will be called, with the new presidency comprised of either or both of the current counselors, members of the current Sunday School General Board, members of the current Young Men General Presidency or General Board, area seventies, or the Church at large. Result:

Additional note: Reid L. Neilson, who has been serving as Church historian and recorder and is not a General Authority, will likely be released from that assignment, since he has been called as a mission president as well. As far as I know, he was never sustained in that position, so his release may or may not be presented.

April 2019 General Conference Speaking Order Predictions

Hello again, everyone! Roughly 4 days ago, I did two new posts to explain my thought process in terms of the potential speaking order for next April's General Conference. This post will again share those predictions as they now stand, and I hope that reproducing those here will generate a more thorough dialogue on this subject, particularly those of you who may have knowledge about the patterns thereof.

As I mentioned in that earlier post, I did thorough research on which Church leaders (aside from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) might speak during this next conference, including those among the current General Authority Seventies. Those predictions follow below, and will in turn be followed by other posts detailing more of my predictions for this upcoming General Conference. So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will end here and now as I always do:

That does it for this post. 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.

April 2019 General Conference Predictions[i]

Session	Conducting	Speaker
SAM	President Dallin H. Oaks[ii]	President Russell M. Nelson
		Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
		Bishop W. Christopher Waddell
		Elder Terence M. Vinson
		Lisa L. Harkness
		Elder Gerrit W. Gong
		President Henry B. Eyring
SAA	President Henry B. Eyring[iii]	President Dallin H. Oaks (Sustaining of Church Officers)[iv]
	Church Auditing Department Report[v]	Kevin R. Jergensen
		President M. Russell Ballard
		Elder Scott D. Whiting
		Elder Neil L. Andersen
		Elder Quentin L. Cook
		Elder Mathias Held
		Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
SPH	President Dallin H. Oaks	Elder Gary E. Stevenson
		Stephen W. Owen
		Elder David P. Homer
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUM[vi]	President Russell M. Nelson	Elder D. Todd Christofferson
		Sharon Eubank
		Elder Carlos A. Godoy
		Elder Ulisses Soares
		Elder Marcus B. Nash
		Elder Dale G. Renlund
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUA[vii]	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dallin H. Oaks
		Tad R. Callister
		Elder Anthony D. Perkins
		Elder David A. Bednar
		Elder Kyle S. McKay
		Elder David S. Baxter
		Elder Ronald A. Rasband
		President Russell M. Nelson

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[i]The speaking order for General Conferences of the recent past have generally, for the most part, conformed to general patterns, with only a few exceptions. That said, the two General Conferences held in 2018 saw several deviations from past patterns. With that in mind, the speaking order I am predicting for this General Conference is more traditional, with a few exceptions that make sense. As I did for the two General Conferences in 2018, I will be allowing myself a very small margin of error when calculating the accuracy of these predictions 

[ii]President Eyring conducted the Saturday Morning session for both General Conferences last year. It is more likely than not that the reason he was asked to do so last October was in view of President Oaks being the last speaker in that session. So if President Eyring is the final speaker in this session this go-round, then it seems logical that President Oaks will conduct the session.

[iii]If President Oaks does conduct the Saturday Morning Session, since he will likely also present the Sustaining of Church Officers in this session (for the reasons detailed more fully in note #4 below), it would make sense if President Eyring conducted this session.

[iv]Because President Eyring led the Sustaining of Church Officers last October, and because President Oaks did such a great job with the long list of new Area Seventies in April of 2018, I feel confident that President Oaks will continue to lead that process each April, and that President Eyring will do so each October.

[v]In sections 119 and 120 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord set up the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes, which consists of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Presiding Bishopric. That council meets each December to review expenses for the last year and discuss budgetary items for the following year. After the expenditures are verified, they are audited by an independent group of individuals. This report, presented each year by the managing director of the Church Auditing Department, notes whether or not tithes have been appropriately distributed and how the Church is doing financially. Having this report read publicly ensures that the membership of the Church can be certain their tithes and offerings are being properly disposed of.

[vi]Although it has typically been traditional for the counselors in the First Presidency to alternate being the final speaker during the Saturday Morning Session and the first speaker during the Sunday Morning Session (at times when the Church president was able to open the former session and close the latter one), the two Sunday Morning Sessions held in 2018 diverted from that pattern. In April of last year, all three First Presidency members spoke to conclude the Sunday Morning Session (because it was Easter Sunday). Then last October, President Oaks was the last speaker during the Saturday Morning Session, and President Eyring was the first speaker during the Sunday Afternoon Session. As a result, 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke during the Sunday Morning Session. As I will detail more fully in the note below, I am assuming President Oaks will be the first speaker in the final session this go-round, and if that turns out to be the case, then 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will likely speak during this session.

[vii]In April 2018, almost half (5 members) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke during this session. Then last October, 2 more Quorum members spoke, along with President Eyring. This means that in 2018 alone, over half the members of that Quorum (7 total) spoke during this session. So my theory for this General Conference is that President Oaks will be the first speaker during this session, and, as a consequence, the remaining two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will speak during this session as well. 

Elder D. Todd Christofferson Celebrates His 74th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back as promised in the early-morning hours of January 24 with my tribute to Elder D. Todd Christofferson, who is celebrating his 74th birthday. As with the posts I have written for every other apostle, I will be sharing a biography herein with highlights about his life. Let's get right into all of that. David Todd Christofferson was born on January 24, 1945 in American Fork, Utah (a place I proudly claim as my hometown) to Paul Vickery and Jeanne Swenson Christofferson. He spent his years growing up in Pleasant Grove and Lindon, and his family subsequently relocated to Somerset New Jersey.  While there, he participated in the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant, and, having been urged by his bishop to do so, he earnestly sought a personal testimony of the gospel. Although he felt for a while that his prayer at that time had not been answered, the witness he was seeking came about a month later. At around this same time, his mother was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery for it. While his father learned later that he had gathered his brothers to pray for their mom, it would be years later before Elder Christofferson learned about his father's personal sacrifices to supply what his wife needed to help her with the housework. Young Todd Christofferson also stepped in to help his mom by making homemade bread for his family, after having learned how to do so from his grandmother. After relocating to New Jersey and graduating from high school, he studied for a year at BYU prior to serving full-time in the Argentina North Mission, where he had two mission presidents, Ronald V. Stone, and his future colleague in the Quorum of the Twelve, Richard G. Scott. Following the conclusion of his missionary service, Elder Christofferson returned to BYU, and there he met Kathy Jacob, whom he married in May 1968. He earned his bachelor's degree from BYU, and went on to get a doctor of law degree from the School of Law at Duke University. During his years as a young attorney, he clerked for Judge John J. Sirica at the time the Watergate hearings were occurring. When his clerkship ended, he took active duty with the US Army for a year, after which he served in the Army reserves for 8 years, by which time, he had achieved the rank of Captain. His professional career took his family to Washington DC, Nashville Tennesee, and Charlotte North Carolina. During that same period of time, he would serve as a bishop, stake president, and in the now-defunct calling of regional representative to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Called as a general authority in April 1993, he served in a variety of capacities (including as a member of area presidencies outside the US) until his call to the Presidency of the Seventy in August 1998. During his service in that presidency, he first served as the executive director for the Church's Family and Church History Department (which have since been split into two departments), where he worked to negotiate with Jewish religious leaders on the matter of performing temple ordinances for Holocaust victims, which in turn shaped the policy of Church members only being allowed to perform such ordinances for direct-line family members. In 2004, the First Presidency announced that the Presidency of the Seventy would be relieved of responsibility for the Church Departments and would instead oversee areas in the United States and Canada. Elder Christofferson was given responsibility for the North America Southeast Area of the Church, holding that assignment from August 2004-August 2007, at which time he was reassigned to oversee the North America Northwest and North America West Areas. He continued that assignment for 8 months, then, as we know, he was the first apostle called by President Thomas S. Monson in April 2008.

During his time as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as noted, Elder Christofferson served alongside his former mission president, Richard G. Scott. Since his ordination as an apostle, Elder Christofferson has filled a wide variety of assignments, and he was serving as the senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve assigned to oversee the Church Public Affairs Committee, in which capacity, he was asked by President Nelson to introduce the new First Presidency in a worldwide broadcast on January 16, 2018. He has had 28 opportunities to speak in General Conference so far, 1 of which was given in the conference following his call as a General Authority, with 5 others given during his near decade in the Presidency of the Seventy. You can review any of these addresses here.

Elder Christofferson currently ranks as the fifth most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he is also the fifth oldest. He remains the ninth in overall apostolic seniority and is now the seventh oldest among the apostles. I am grateful for the life and ministry of Elder Christofferson. I had a couple of choice opportunities to meet him. His niece and her family lived in my parent's ward, so when their newest baby was blessed, Elder Christofferson presided at our Sacrament Meeting. A few years later, our paths crossed again while I was a temple worker, and he was the speaker at our yearly devotional. As one who has had the opportunity to chat informally with him on these two occasions, I testify that his call as one of the Savior's special witnesses is divinely inspired. I appreciate the chance to share these thoughts with you. That does it for this post. 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.