PDF Version of the November 2016 Ensign Available/How My Predictions for the Table of Contents Turned Out

The PDF version of the General Conference editions of the magazines is now available. As per my usual tradition, I made a mock-up of what I felt the table of contents would look like for the General Conference Ensign. I was able to compare what I had prepared with what it actually looked like with the following results:

Possible Table of Contents for the November 2016 Ensign

Session	Page	Title	Speaker
	2	Conference Summary for the 186th Semiannual General Conference
	3	Indexes
	4	Highlights from the 186th Semiannual General Conference
GW	6	I Will Bring the Light of the Gospel into My Home	Jean B. Bingham
	9	The Master Healer	Carole M. Stephens
	12	Rise Up in Strength, Sisters in Zion	Bonnie L. Oscarson
	15	Fourth Floor, Last Door	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
SAM	19	O How Great the Plan of Our God!	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
	23 (22)	“Come Follow Me” by Practicing Christian Love and Service	Elder Robert D. Hales
	26 (25)	The Soul’s Sincere Desire	Carol F. McConkie
	29 (27)	“A Choice Seer Will I Raise Up”	Elder Craig C. Christensen
	32 (30)	The Lord Jesus Christ Teaches Us How to Pray	Elder Juan A. Uceda
	34 (32)	Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It?	Elder J. Devn Cornish
	37 (35)	A Witness of God	Elder Neil L. Andersen
SAA	41 (39)	The Sustaining of Church Officers	President Henry B. Eyring
	42 (40)	Valiant in the Testimony of Jesus	Elder Quentin L. Cook
	46 (44)	Look to the Book, Look to the Lord	Elder Gary E. Stevenson
	50 (48)	“Abide in My Love”	Elder D. Todd Christofferson
	53 (52)	For Our Spiritual Development and Learning	Elder W. Mark Bassett
	56 (55)	Be Ambitious for Christ	Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita
	58 (57)	Sharing the Restored Gospel	Elder Dallin H. Oaks
SPH	62 (61)	Emissaries to the Church	Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
	70 (68)	There Is Power in the Book	Elder LeGrand R. Curtis
	73 (71)	Learn from Alma and Amulek	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
	77 (75)	That He May Become Strong Also	President Henry B. Eyring
	81 (78)	Principles and Promises	President Thomas S. Monson
SUM	82 (80)	The Perfect Path to Happiness	President Thomas S. Monson
	83 (81)	Joy and Spiritual Survival	President Russell M. Nelson
	86 (85)	The Sacrament Can Help Us Become Holy	Elder Peter F. Meurs
	88	The Great Plan of Redemption	Linda S. Reeves
	90	To Whom Shall We Go?	Elder M. Russell Ballard
	93	The Blessings of Worship	Bishop Dean M. Davies
	95 (96)	The Righteous Judge	Elder Lynn G. Robbins
	97 (99)	Gratitude on the Sabbath Day	President Henry B. Eyring
SUA	100 (102)	“If Ye Had Known Me”	Elder David A. Bednar
	103 (106)	The Doctrine of Christ	Brian K. Ashton
	105 (110)	Serve	Elder Carl B. Cook
	107 (113)	Lest Thou Forget	Elder Ronald A. Rasband
	111 (116)	God Shall Wipe Away All Tears	Elder Evan A. Schmutz
	113 (119)	No Greater Joy Than to Know That They Know	Elder K. Brett Nattress
	115 (121)	Repentance: A Joyful Choice	Elder Dale G. Renlund
	64	General Authorities and General Officers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
	119	They Spoke to Us: Making Conference Part of Our Lives	(Not included)
	121 (125)	Conference Story Index
	122 (126)	News of the Church
	128	Last Page in Conference Ensign

Thoughts?

Book Progress

Though I have not worked solidly on adding any scenes to my first book, a couple of developments have been made. I had originally titled the first book in the series "The Lord Looks on the Heart Book 1--The Teenage Years". But I felt that since this is a book about LDS teens growing up, I wanted something different that sounded better. In doing some research, I have come up with a better title. I thought I remembered in the scriptures something about someone "growing up unto the Lord." The more I thought about it, the more that made sense as a subtitle for my book. For those who aren't aware, I am writing a series of books chronicling the adventures of a group of friends. I had originally envisioned having this book encompass from the teenage years to when my characters paired off with other characters (in the book or yet to be introduced) in marriage, but when I shared what I had written with Brandon Sanderson, he suggested that I divvy up the book into a series: the first discussing the teenage years, the second on missions, the third on marriage, and so on to include their posterities. I liked that idea so much that this is what I am going to do. I will keep you posted on the progress I make towards making this series a reality. When I get closer to publishing it, I will plan on posting excerpts of the book on this blog. That's the latest on my writing. Thanks so much for your kind attention.

Average Ages of the Brethren

Hello, all! Though the next apostolic birthdays are not until next month (President Uchtdorf's 76th two weeks from today and Elder Renlund's 64th exactly one week later), I wanted to bring you up-to-date on the latest apostolic age averages. As of about an hour ago when Sunday the 23rd of October 2016 was born, the average age of the First Presidency is 82.84 (with just President Uchtdorf being younger). The average age of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is 74.39, with half of those 12 being younger than the average. Finally, the average age of the apostles overall is 76.08, with 8 of the apostles (53.33%) being younger than the average. Again, not sure how those averages compare historically with the average throughout the ages, but there it is, such as it is. Thanks so much to you all for your readership and support.

Big news

As all of you who have been following my blog know, I lost my job in the middle of July. With my health not improving, and with Amy's health not being good as well, I have been praying about what to do to make money. The Lord has indicated to me that the time has come for me to turn my full energy to my writing. He has promised me that if I apply myself, I will finish my book in no time. In the meantime, I will be working on some minor writing projects to submit to the Church once they are accepting manuscripts again. I have one or two such articles already written. I am glad I will be able to focus on my writing. I know that the Lord will help me support my family through this, because I was promised in a pre-wedding father's blessing that I would be able to find a job to support my family. Now that I know what I need to do, it's just a matter of doing it. Because I will be focusing on my writing, I can't promise how consistent I will be in posting on this blog. But I believe everything will come together as I take this leap of faith and do as the Lord has instructed. Thanks to you all for your faith, prayers, and support at this time.

Important posts by Matthew Martinich

Matthew Martinich, who does many blogs, including one for LDS Church Growth, has done several important posts lately. Among the highlights have been the creation of stakes in Arizona (2), Florida, and Idaho, a new district in Brazil, a second stake in the Marshall Islands, and many more milestones. To review these posts, please click here. Thanks.