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 February 20, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents. The first part also includes updated information on the tenure length records for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The first document also shows information on three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (which will not be updated with the First Presidency as presently constituted until 2024), in addition to 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).

The latest version of that document also shows when the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as currently comprised will move up on the list of the longest-serving Quorums of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to specifics on when the current members of that Quorum, along with the current First Presidency, will reach the next milestones on that list.

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 apostolic groups overall, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 2 of the current 15 apostles being on that list, and the timing noted for when each of the other 13 apostles will join that list).

Hopefully this shared data will be of interest to you all, and again, I offer an open invitation to anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. I will, of course, continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of all such reports. In the meantime, 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 feedback offered is consistent with 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. 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.

Initial Predictions for the October 2022 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to report to you all now that I have completed the initial draft of my predictions for the October 2022 General Conference. At the outset, I would like to note that there has not yet been any official announcement about the type of session that will be held on Saturday evening. Therefore, for the purposes of these predictions, I am assuming that it will be another Saturday Evening Session for all members and friends of the Church. A First Presidency announcement in the coming months will either confirm, clarify, or correct that supposition.

That being said, here are my predictions for the potential speaker lineup (for which I used patterns of the past to attempt to predict the future). I have also prepared a list of the most likely changes in the general leadership of the Church. The final document I have is the list of locations in which a new temple announcement is most likely. On that document, where I have felt impressed to do so, you'll see that I have added one or more new locations to just about every area of the Church.

This is because the trend of announced temple locations by President Nelson has been harder to anticipate. So in addition to everything else I typically do to prepare the list of locations (searching existing temple districts, weighing in considerations for lengthy or dangerous travel, current known conditions that could impact such announcements, and the unpredictability of the times in which we live), I also took more time to look at any trends in the announced temples under the direction of President Nelson.

The times have changed, so the usual criteria for likely new temples has changed as well. Given the recent Nelsonian trend of temples being announced in more isolated areas, I have particularly opened up my Brazil and Mexico picks. And I needed to make additional considerations for any type of surprising or unexpected scenarios. Anyways, hope that information is helpful to all who view and comment on these predictions. Effective immediately, I am initiating an open commenting period. Since General Conference Saturday is on October 1, that commenting period will run from now until 10:00 PM on Thursday, September 28.

And of course, whenever that First Presidency announcement confirming the details relating to General Conference is made public, I will be adjusting the Saturday Evening Session information if needed. I look forward to your feedback.

In the meantime, 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 feedback offered is consistent with 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.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.

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to report to you all now that I have completed the initial draft of my predictions for the October 2022 General Conference. At the outset, I would like to note that there has not yet been any official announcement about the type of session that will be held on Saturday evening. Therefore, for the purposes of these predictions, I am assuming that it will be another Saturday Evening Session for all members and friends of the Church. A First Presidency announcement in the coming months will either confirm, clarify, or correct that supposition.

That being said, here are my predictions for the potential speaker lineup (for which I used patterns of the past to attempt to predict the future). I have also prepared a list of the most likely changes in the general leadership of the Church. The final document I have is the list of locations in which a new temple announcement is most likely. On that document, where I have felt impressed to do so, you'll see that I have added one or more new locations to just about every area of the Church.

This is because the trend of announced temple locations by President Nelson has been harder to anticipate. So in addition to everything else I typically do to prepare the list of locations (searching existing temple districts, weighing in considerations for lengthy or dangerous travel, current known conditions that could impact such announcements, and the unpredictability of the times in which we live), I also took more time to look at any trends in the announced temples under the direction of President Nelson.

The times have changed, so the usual criteria for likely new temples has changed as well. Given the recent Nelsonian trend of temples being announced in more isolated areas, I have particularly opened up my Brazil and Mexico picks. And I needed to make additional considerations for any type of surprising or unexpected scenarios. Anyways, hope that information is helpful to all who view and comment on these predictions. Effective immediately, I am initiating an open commenting period. Since General Conference Saturday is on October 1, that commenting period will run from now until 10:00 PM on Thursday, September 28.

And of course, whenever that First Presidency announcement confirming the details relating to General Conference is made public, I will be adjusting the Saturday Evening Session information if needed. I look forward to your feedback.

In the meantime, 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 feedback offered is consistent with 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.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 and Initial Details Confirmed for the Montpelier Idaho Temple

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the First Presidency announced the initial details for the Montpelier Idaho Temple, which was announced in General Conference less than 7 weeks ago. The temple will be built on the corner where Sixth North and Washington intersect. The site upon which the Church will build the 27,000 square-foot temple is 2.6 acres. 

Although no exterior rendering or groundbreaking date has been released yet, we do know, per a report from the Church Temples site, that the final residence was removed from the temple site late last month. In view of that, I anticipate that approvals are going to be fairly swift. I tried to ascertain if the Montpelier temple was going to be comparable in size to any current temple under construction, but was unsuccessful

I look forward to seeing how swiftly things happen with this temple. I also continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates and will bring you all word thereof as I become aware of those. In the meantime, 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 feedback offered is consistent with 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. 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: 9 More Temples Will Transition to Phase 4

Hello again, everyone! The Church News shared yet another new report on temple reopenings this morning. The latest update indicates that 9 more temples of the Church will begin to transition to phase 4 (normal operations). Let's get into the details: 162 of the Church's 171 dedicated temples are operational. With 8 closed for major renovations, 1 other (the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple) has been dedicated and is anticipated to begin operations soon.

The 9 temples moving toward normal operations include: 4 in the United States (Boston Massachusetts, Hartford Connecticut, Louisville Kentucky, and Nashville Tennessee);  2 in Europe (Madrid Spain and Preston England) and 1 each in Canada (Montreal Quebec); Central America (San Salvador El Salvador); and Asia (Seoul Korea).

As a result of these details, the status of the Church's 171 temples stands as follows: 1 (Rio de Janeiro Brazil) will begin operations soon; 8 are closed for major renovations (with all 8 having been granted phase 3 status, allowing patrons in those districts to schedule phase 3 living and proxy work at the nearest temple); 1 (Kyiv Ukraine) has had operations paused/suspended in phase 3 out of an abundance of caution due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine; and 1 (Suva Fiji) remains in phase 1.

With no temples currently in phases 2 or 2-B, of the remaining temples, 26 are in phase 3 (those 26 do not include the 8 temples undergoing renovation, which are being separately categorized for the time being), and, with the changes announced today, the total number of temples now in phase 4 is 134. The Church News has also updated the temple reopening status tracker, which shows an area-by-area breakdown of temples worldwide.

Incidentally, on that status tracker, if you look at the Brazil Area specifically, there is an entry for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple. The text on that entry reads: "Dedicated May 8, 2022. Ordination work for patrons begins May 19, 2022." I assume that "Ordination work" was supposed to be "Ordinance work" because otherwise, it doesn't make much sense. But if the temple is officially open for ordinance work on May 19, I assume that it will be granted phase 4 status right away, since all other Brazilian temples are now in phase 4. 

Either way, the status of that temple is likely to be clarified by the Church News in the update next week. I will continue to monitor all updates from the Newsroom and the Church News, along with any updates on the status of temples in the construction queue (under construction, undergoing renovation, or those in various other phases) and pass those along to you all here as I become aware thereof.

In the meantime, 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 feedback offered is consistent with 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. 

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: August Groundbreakings Set for Ephraim Utah and Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo Temples

Hello again, everyone! I have breaking temple news to report today. Two temples of the Church will have groundbreakings in August. This morning, the First Presidency announced the arrangements for such ceremonies for the Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ephraim Utah Temples. In conjunction with today's announcement, the general location, artist's rendering and details were announced for the Democratic Republic of the Congo's second temple.

Let's break down the details: The groundbreaking for the Lubumbashi DR Congo Temple will take place on Saturday August 20, 2022, under the direction of Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, the current First Counselor in the Africa Central Area presidency who, by the time of the groundbreaking, will transition to being the Area President. The temple will be built on a 2.57-acre site near the intersections of Av. Kashobwe, Av. Biyayi, and Av. Du Lac Kipopo. Plans call for a single-story temple of 19,300 square feet. Ancillary buildings (note the plural) of 31,000 square feet will house a distribution center for the Church and patron and missionary housing. We have another temple announced in April 2020 that has had official details confirmed.

In the meantime, as we know, the Ephraim Utah Temple was announcedin May of last year, with site identification following five months later (last October) and a rendering resed on March 4 of this year.

Ground will be broken for that temple on Saturday August 27. The First Presidency has asked Elder Walter F. González, the current Second Counselor in the Utah Area Presidency who will be released from that assignment on August 1 and will be released and granted emeritus status in October, to preside at that groundbreaking.

The fact that these two events are set for back-to-back weeks in mid-to-late August gives me hope that perhaps other temples might have their groundbreakings on the Saturdays of August 6 and 13.

I continue to monitor all such updates and will pass word of those along to you all here as I receive it. In the meantime, 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 feedback offered is consistent with 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. 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.