Elder Quentin L. Cook Observes His 81st Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back to share some thoughts about Elder Quentin L. Cook in honor of his 81st birthday today. Let's dive right into that subject. Quentin LaMar Cook was born to J. Vernon and Bernice Cook on this day in 1940 in Logan, Utah. His ancestry includes his great-great-grandfather, Elder Heber C. Kimball, who was one of the original apostles of the Church and who was instrumental in bringing the gospel to England and supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith at key moments when apostates made efforts to replace Brother Joseph as the Lord's mouthpiece.

Young Quentin was a middle child, having an older brother and a younger sister. He grew up in a very gospel-centered home, although his father eventually lost interest in Church activity .At age 15, he had a discussion with his brother Joe that changed his life. Joe was unsure whether to continue with his medical school studies, or to delay that in order to serve a mission, with their father favoring the former. During that conversation, they determined that either the gospel was true or it wasn't, and that if it was, serving a mission would be the best use of Joe's time. Joe’s decision to go resulted in young Quentin eventually accepting his own call to serve in the British Mission.

One of his two mission presidents was Elder Marion D. Hanks, who simultaneously served as a general authority. At one point during his mission, his companion was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Though the two didn't know it at the time, both would go on to serve as General Authority Seventies and as colleagues in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Cook later noted the following in relation to Elder Holland:

"Sometimes we receive revelation even when we do not know the Lord’s purposes. Shortly before Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was called to be an Apostle in June of 1994, I had a beautiful revelatory experience that he would be called. I was a regional representative and could see no reason I would be given that knowledge. But we were companions as young missionaries in England in the early 1960s, and I had a great love for him. I considered the experience a tender mercy for me. In recent years, I have wondered if the Lord was preparing me to be junior in the Twelve to an incredible missionary companion who was my junior companion when we were young missionaries. I sometimes warn young missionaries to be kind to their junior companions because they never know when they might be their senior companion."

Elder Cook returned from his mission with a strong testimony of the Savior and a resolve to associate with people who love the Savior, both within and outside of the Church. He married his high school sweetheart Mary Gaddie in the Logan Utah Temple on November 30, 1962. Their posterity includes three children and numerous grandchildren.

He graduated from Utah State University with a degree in political science and from Stanford University with a juris doctorate degree.As a managing partner in a San Francisco Bay area law firm, he specialized in business law. He later became president and chief executive officer of California Healthcare System, and vice chairman of Sutter Health Systems. His church service has included being a bishop, stake president’s counselor (during a period of time when his brother Joe was president of that same stake), stake president, regional representative, and area authority. While he was in the stake presidency, he was instilled with a love of people from all nations when he had responsibility for Spanish, Tongan, Samoan, Tagalog, Mandarin, and Cantonese congregations.

He was named a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy on April 6, 1996, and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 4, 1998. He served as a member of area presidencies in the Philippines, the Pacific, and North America, and he also served executive director of the Church Missionary Department during the period of time that "Preach My Gospel" was developed and instituted as the standard guidebook for missionaries, and was subsequently called to the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1, 2007.

Nine days after that, the death of President James E. Faust, who had been serving as Second Counselor to Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, would wind up having an unexpected impact on Elder Cook's life. As the October General Conference rolled around, then-Elder Henry B. Eyring was called as President Hinckley's new Second Counselor, which created a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. On October 6, 2007, Elder Cook was sustained to fill that vacancy, and he was ordained an apostle five days later.

Elder Cook has spoken 30 times in General Conference: twice as a General Authority Seventy and 28 additional times in the almost-14 years since his call to the apostleship. I am grateful for his service as a special witness of Christ, and I wholeheartedly sustain him and the other apostles.

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 TEMPLE NEWS: Phased Reoping of Temples Worldwide Continues as the Latest Adjustments Are Announced

Hello again, everyone! With another Tuesday comes the latest weekly updates on the process of reopening all Church temples worldwide in a phased manner that adapts week-by-week on the variables assosciated with COVID-19. As always, those updates have been detailed in the latest update from the official Newsroom, with updates also mentioned by the Church News, and reflected in the latest updates to the temple reopening status tracker. 

Before I get into my analysis of those changes, I wanted to note one other thing. I've found through my coverage of the weekly updates that the Newsroom's coverage thereof is always featured at the same web address, while for the Church News update on each week's change and the temple reopening status tracker have been shared with almost-identical web addresses (but on any given week, the dates in those articles are updated weekly as each new update is shared).

That has made it easier to pre-set a version of this post for publication at the time of day when those announcements have typically been released. But today, I had other things I needed to get sorted out. So although this post bears the original time-stamp I had preset, in the hours leading up to that time, I reverted the post to its' draft version. Because of the other priorities I needed to focus on first, it was around noon before I could actually detail the updates in this post.

Having acknowledged those circumstances, let's get to the updates themselves. As early as next Tuesday (September 14), 2 temples in Peru (Lima and Trujillo) and 1 in Bolivia (Cochabamba) are anticipated to move to phase 3, allowing all living ordinances in priority order and limited proxy work by appointment. In addition, the Church also noted today that the Manila Philippines Temple, which had been puased in its' reopening, will unpause now. 

But in consideration of COVID-19 conditions and restrictions, the Church will donwgrade the Manila temple from phase 2-B, allowing all living ordinances and limited proxy baptisms by appointment, to phase 1, only allowing living ordinances in priority order. Additionally, a pause has been announced for the Papeete Tahiti Temple, which had been operating in phase 3. 

It has also been noted that the Medford Oregon Temple, for which an anticipated shfit to phase 3 had been tentatively announed to occur sometime last month but has not yet actually done so, will make that shift at a yet-to-be-determined date. The Church now has a total of 11 temples which are not in a phase that allows proxy work. 6 of those are in Latin America, with 1 each in the Philippines and Asia. 

The remaining 2 temples (Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan), currently closed for renovation, have not been given any phase designation, while the districts of the other 6 temples closed for renovation have been given phase 3 designations. And with the latest adjustments announced, as of next Tuesday, 5 temples will be paused in their reopenings, with 4 of those 5 in phase 3, and 1 in phase 2 at the time their reopenings were paused. 

There are also 2 temples in phase 1, 6 in phase 2, 7 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 140 in phase 3. With 140 of the 168 temples worldwide now in phase 3, roughly 83.33% of all temples will be in phase 3. It is humbling to see how the Church has adapted to constantly-shifing COVID-19 facttors, and I gratefully testify of the inspired process whereby these reopening adjustments continue to occur. I will continue to monitor all major Church news and temple updates, and remain fully-committed to bringing you all word of those as I become aware thereof. 

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 TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Date Set for the Casper Wyoming Temple

 Hello again, everyone! On the heels of yesterday's announcement about the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple, more breaking temple news has been shared this morning.  The Church has officially set a groundbreaking date for the Casper Wyoming Temple. The Church has set that event to occur on Saturday October 9, coinciding with both the Saturday following General Conference and the same date previously announced for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple.

And it appears that the city of Casper is actually 5 hours ahead of Pago Pago American Samoa, which means if both temple groundbreakings occur at the same time of day, Casper would actually be the first of the two to have a groundbreaking. Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, who serves as the president of the North America Central Area of the Church, will preside at the groundbreaking for Wyoming's second temple.

It's also worth noting that the Church has not yet released a rendering for the Casper Wyoming Temple, but that was apparently not enough of a reason for the Church to delay the Casper groundbreaking any further. If I am correct, and if this temple does have a similar or identical design as the Helena Montana Temple, then we have some idea of what Casper will look like.

On my end, I am personally grateful that my hunch proved correct. In my post from yesterday about Oregon's newest temple, I had mentioned the theory from the Church Growth Blog that temples of a similar size and design as Helena would be delayed until Helena was further along, so that the Church could ensure that the "test case" in Helena was fully working as a faster way to build temples. I am grateful the Lord has proven otherwise today.

And it gives me hope that within the next week or two, we might also see a similar announcement (a groundbreaking scheduled) for the Elko Nevada Temple( sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the fact that the Church is moving forward on the Casper Wyoming Temple also gives me hope that other North American temples that have had preliminary information anonunced would be able to also see a groundbreaking sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, this development was also covered by the Church News not long after the Newsroom announcement was made. I am more certain than ever that the final four months of this year will be chock full of temple announcements. I continue to monitor all such developments and remain committed to bringing you word thereof as all Church news updates or temple developments are shared.

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 TEMPLE NEWS: Location, Rendering, Name, and Preliminary Details Released for the Eugene Oregon Temple (Renamed the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple)

Hello again, everyone! Within the last half hour or less, the Church has released initial details on the temple to be built in Eugene Oregon. So let's break down those official details. First of all, the official name by which that temple will now be known is the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple. Those familar with early Church history will note the significance of that name. 

The temple's location has been announced as a 10.5 acre plot of land that is at the intersection of Corporate Way and International Bouelvard in Springfield Oregon.  The temple is planned to be a single-story edifice that will be roughly 30.000 square feet in area. And in contrast to the other US temples for which preliminary details have been announced, this temple has had an exterior rendering released. 

The released rendering in question seems to incorporate similar (if not identical) designs and parameters as the temple currently under construction in Moses Lake Washington. That makes sense because both temples have been planned for construction in the Northwestern United States. Having acknwlwedged that, anyone who knows me knows thatt I have some issues with visual perception problems, so with that in mind, I think I will defer to some of you, my readers, to post any other observations you have about that temple design.

When it comes to past temple plans, longtime follower Jim Anderson, who has also extensively commented on developments I share here, has brought a lazer-like accurate assessment of new temple designs, so I would particularly defer to him. And if he dcides to weigh in here on this, I will warmly welcome any such insights he might have.

I would just add something else here. I had the opportunity to read subsequent comments that have been published on the comment threads of the newest Church Growth Blog's post. I have referred to previous commients which have been part of that discussion, particularly the one that noted that, if the Church utilizes modular components for other US temples and even some outside of the United States, that could speed up construction of all temples.

It was also mentioned that, even when the modular design is not being used, precast concrete paneles are also becoming more widely used. Subsequent comments noted in addition that if the Helena Montana Temple is being used by the Church as a "test case" for modular components, it seemed more likely that temples of a similar size which might also use the modular components, whether inside the United States, or elsewhere in the world, might not have their construction begin until the Church is farther along in the process of seeing how well such plans work with the test case of the Helena Montana Temple.

I can certainly understand the rationale behind those expressed opinions. But in general, based on what we saw last year, it seems more likely that most temples going through the approvals process should have their groundbreakings within 6-9 months of when their site locations and preliiminary information were confirmed. And particularly with the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple, since  so much information has been shared in conjunction with the initial announcement, I would be absolutely stunned if ground was not broken for that temple before the April 2022 General Conference.

In the meantime, with the Church getting further into the construction process for the Helena Montana Temple, the similarly-sized temples announced for Casper Wyoming and Elko Nevada might have renderings released and groundbreakings announced perhaps either just prior to or not long after the October 2021 General Conference. 

And until futher evidence suggests otherwise, I'm also reasonably confident that the number of temples that will have a groundbreaking this year will exceed the number of temples that had a groundbreaking last year (21), which is especially true now that the Church can resume setting specific dates for those events. With only one temple (thus far) set to have its' groundbreaking after the October 2021 General Conference, I anticipate subsequent announcements this month will set other groundbreakings to occur on that same day, or on any of the other 3 Saturdays in October.

I likewise anticipate temple groundbreakings could be set for at least 3 of the 4 Saturdays in November, and that the first 2 or 3 Saturdays in December might also see groundbreakings occur. Additionally, at this point, it's also worth noting that, barring anything every unexpected, I don't see the Church scheduling any other temple dedications or rededications to occur prior to the end of this year. But it does seem likely that subsequent announcements about temple dedications or rededications could be made before the end of this year, with the events themselves set for the early months of 2022.

Right now, there are a lot of moving parts relating to temple construction, and it's interesting to think about all that has happened in that respect up to now. I feel reasonably certain that the remaining 4 months of this year will see a high number of announcements relating to temple construction. It's also worth noting that subsequent comments on the Church Growth Blog have seen quite a few people noting that they don't think as many temples might be announced in General Conference next month as were announced in April and May 2021.

While I also understand the rationale behind that opinion, and while I agree to a certain point, as some of you mgiht recall, in advance of General Conference next month, I identified 24 specific locations throughout the Church's 22 geographical areas wherein new temples could be announced. And given the fact that all but 1 of the temples in the United States which were announced by President Nelson thus far this year have had at least preliminary information confirmed (that one temple is the Ephraim Utah Temple), I anticipate that jaround 30-35% of the temples that might be announced next month could be for locations in the United States.

And given the fact that the Church was able to move so many US temples from an announced status into the construction queue last year, I am hopeful that several more US temples and hopefully a good number of temples outside the US might also have groundbreakings occur. I continue to monitor all such developments and will bring you all word thereof here as I am able to discover all such updates.

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 TEMPLE NEWS: Phased Reopening of Temples Continues Into September

Hello again, everyone! A short time ago, the Church released the latest information in the ongoing process of reopening all temples Churchwide, which continue to bring more temples worldwide yet another step closer towards resuming normal operations. The latest changes have, as always, been detailed in the latest update from the official Newsroom, with updates also mentioned by the Church News, and reflected in the latest updates to the temple reopening status tracker, The strategy observed by the Church remains the same: focus on a cautiously-coordinated carefully-planned approach to changes in temple reopening stauses, and adapt to circumstances as necessary.

The results of that strategy speak for themselves. Let's now explore the changes that have been most recently announced this morning. The Church has announced updates that will impact the status of 8 temples in total, with 6 that will now offer proxy ordinancces in either phase 2-B or phase 3, and the remaining 2 unpausing and resuming an operational phase. 1 of those 2 is retruning to the same phase it had been in, while another is tranisitioning to a different phase.

Now, regarding specifics: As soon as one week from today (Tuesday September 7), 5 Brazilian temples (Campinas, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, and Sao Paulo) and 1 European temple (The Hague Netherlands) are expected to tranisition to phase 3, and offer all proxy ordinances on a limited availability basis, so that the Church can thus ensure that they are doing their best to keep Church members who are able to work in and attend the temple ast patrons are safe. 

I am not sure how temples elsewhere in the world might work, but I do know that when I worked at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple for 6 years (2006-2012), although a fair porition of the workers there were older retired individuals and couples, there were also a fair number of young adults, both single and married, who rounded out the workforce for the temple. 

I imagine that age, health, and likely susceptibility to COVID-19 would factor into the decisions each temple makes about who staffs the various areas  Most temples are probably using the proverbial "skeleton crew" and having areas staffed by individuals who are either younger, not as susceptible to catching the virus, or those that have been fully vaccinated.

In the meantime, the other two temples having changes announced are the two in South Africa (Durban and Johannesburg). Both have come out of recent pauses in their reopening process. For Durban, the unpausing also involves a shift to phase 2-B, which will allow limited proxy baptisms to occur, in addition to all living ordinances in priorirty order. And with the Johannesburg South Africa Temple, following the conclusion of its' recent pause, it's going back to phase 3, which will allow all living and proxy ordinances by appointment.

Additionally, the Church had previously noted that the Medford Oregon Temple was anticipated to transition to  phase 3 at some point this month, but that change has not yet been able to occur, likely because the Church prefers to be cautious in that temple's particular case, but hopefully, during any one of the 4 Tuesdays in September, that change might be able to go into effect. And the Church News again shared the list of 10 temples that have not been able to offer any proxy ordinances yet, with no phase designation given to the Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan Temples (both of which are closed for renovations).

6 others are in Latin American nations, and 1 of those 6 remains in phase 1, while 1 other had reached phase 2 but has since paused. And the remaining 2 temples are in Eastern Europe and Asia. In view of the changes announced today, the Church has the 8 temples closed for renovations (all but the previous 2 Asian temples I mentioned above have had a phase 3 designation given to the patrons in their districts). And in view of updates announced today, 5 temples remain "paused" in their reopening due to local COVID-19 conditions (of which 3 had reached phase 3 at the time of their pauses, with 1 each in phases 2-B and 20.

Of the temples not closed for renovation or currently impacted by a pause in their reopening statuses, only 1 remains in phase 1, with 6 in phase 2, 10 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 138 are now in phase 3. I willingly and gratefully testify to the inspired nature of the latest announced adjustments, and am grateful that process continues to go as well as it has. For my part, I continue to monitor all developments announced by the Church News and the Newsroom, and remain committed to continuing to provide those reports as I become aware thereof.

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.