BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Announces Locations and Initial Details for Temples in Singapore and California

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the Church announced locations and initial details for temples in Singapore and California. Let's get right into all of the details. A temple for the city of Singapore within the Republic of Singapore was first announced during the April General Conference last year. Today's news release only references this temple as the Singapore Temple, so a decision might have been made to reduce and simplify the name. 

Plans for this temple call for an 18,000-square-foot two-story temple and an adjacent meetinghouse and an arrival center to be built on a one-acre site at 33 Pasir Panjang Road in that city. The other temple for which the location and initial details were announced is the Modesto California Temple, announced in April of this year. will be a single-story 30,000 square-foot edifice that will be built on a vacant 17.63 site adjacent to the meetinghouse at 4300 Dale Road in Modesto. 

As a result of today's announcement, and bearing in mind that ground was broken for the Heber Valley Utah Temple on Saturday, there are currently 73 announced temples in the Church. Of those 73, a groundbreaking has been officially set for 1 (Willamette Valley Oregon, which is scheduled to take place later this month), and sites have been announced for an additional 13 (with exterior renderings released for all but 4 of those).

Therefore, the total number of announced temples for which no official information has been confirmed yet has now been lowered to 59. And hopefully, that number will continue to be lowered in the remaining weeks of 2022 ahead. I am grateful to have learned about and been able to share this development. And the timing thereof seems to indicate that Monday may indeed be a new standard day for such announcements.

I am a bit surprised that the next temple announcement was not reopening arrangements for the Columbus Ohio Temple or opening arrangements for the Saratoga Springs Utah, Bangkok Thailand, and/or Richmond Virginia Temples, but I am assuming that there is a reason for the delay in all of those announcements. I continue to track such updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware thereof.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered 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 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.

President M. Russell Ballard Observes His 94th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! With the wonderful spirit of the October 2021 General Confeence still strongly impacting all of us, I wanted to post in honor of President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is observing his 94th birthday today. Among the 20 total nonagenarian apostles, President Ballard is currently the eighth-oldest and he will next move up on that list in August of next year. That said, let's get to some biographical details: Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. was born in Salt Lake City Utah to Melvin Russell Sr. & Geraldine Smith Ballard, on this day in 1928. Both his paternal and maternal grandfathers (Melvin J. Ballard and Hyrum M. Smith) were apostles, and Elder Ballard is thus a direct descendant of the early leaders of the Church (Hyrum M. was the son of Joseph F., who was the son of Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph).

As I previously mentioned, the Church has, by tradition, had at least one apostle currently serving who has ancestral ties to the Smith family. It is further interesting to note that Bruce R. McConkie, who was the last apostle indirectly related to the Smith family (being the son-in-law of Joseph Fielding Smith, who was the son of Joseph F. who was the son of Hyrum, who was the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith), was the apostle whose death resulted in the apostolic vacancy that necessitated Elder Ballard's call.

As a young man, now-President Ballard served as a missionary in England, as has been noted in previous blog posts. Upon his return, he served in the US Army Reserves, where he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. As a result of obtaining his secondary education from the University of Utah, he met a young lady named Barbara Bowen, whom he married on August 8, 1951 in the Salt Lake Temple. Sister Ballard passed away roughly three years ago.

They became the parents of 7 children, and one of their daughters, Brynn, married Peter Huntsman, whose mother, Karen Haight Huntsman, is the daughter of Elder David B. Haight, one of Elder Ballard's apostolic colleagues. It is interesting to see the additional relationship Elder Ballard has to other LDS apostles. Brother Ballard worked professionally in auto sales. His Church service included serving as a counselor to his mission president, as a bishop twice, and as president of the Canada Toronto Mission. He completed the final year of that assignment as a General Authority Seventy, having received that call in April 1976.

Less than four years later, on February 20, 1980, he was called to the Presidency of the Seventy. Both before and as a result of that assignment, he served in a wide variety of capacities. Particularly, the Church had established an International Mission in the late 1970s, and in 1985 then-Elder M. Russsell Ballard was called to serve as president of that mission, overseeing the isolated congregations within it from Church headquarters. During his roughly 5 years and 7 months or so in the Presidency of the Seventy, he had moved up in that Presidency from being the junior member thereof to the third most senior member.

A few short weeks after rising from his sickbed to give his powerful final testimony, Elder Bruce R. McConkie passed away, and Elder Ballard was then called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Now-President Ballard is known and respected for the emphasis he has placed on missionary work in his apostolic ministry. Since October 1985, he has moved from the position of the junior apostle to now being the third in apostolic seniority. In his 43 years as a general authority (with 36 years as an apostle), he has given a grand total of  86 addresses in General Conference, including the one he gave just this last weekend. Of those 86, 7 were given prior to his apostolic call.

And, as we know, the death of President Thomas S. Monson in early January of 2018 resulted in the First Presidency being reorganized on January 14, with President Russell M. Nelson choosing his apostolic seatmate and the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Dallin H. Oaks, as his First Counselor. Consequently, President M. Russell Ballard was set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve. He thus is tasked, with the approval of the First Presidency, with giving the other 11 members of that Quorum their various assignments around the world and at Church headquarters. I am grateful for the life and apostolic ministry of President M. Russell Ballard, and on this, his 94th birthday, testify of the divine inspiration that attended both his apostolic call and the way and timing by which he has moved up in ranks of apostolic seniority and among all apostolic nonagenarians. I gladly sustain him and the other apostles in their foreordained roles. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will bring word of all such developments to you all here as I learn about them.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered 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 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: Prophet Announces 18 New Temples, Including Multiples for Major Metropolitan Areas, as the October 2022 General Conference Concludes

Hello again, everyone! The October 2022 General Conference concluded a short time ago, and I am pleased to report that, in the final minutes of his concluding remarks, Russell M. Nelson, the Prophet and President of the Church, announced 18 new temples to be built in the following locations:

Busan Korea; Naga and Santiago Philippines; Eket Nigeria; Chiclayo Peru; Buenos Aires City Center Argentina; Londrina and Riberao Preto Brazil; Huehuetenango Guatemala; Jacksonville Florida; Grand Rapids Michigan; Prosper Texas; Lone Mountain Nevada; and Tacoma Washington. 

Additionally, President Nelson noted that, in view of the growing Church, large metropolitan areas of the world will need multiple temples to serve the members and save them from unnecessary hardship for temple worship. Since the above total was only 14, four new temples were also announced to serve the greater Mexico City area: Cuernavaca, Pachuca, Toluca, and Tula Mexico.

Of those 18, I had the exact location correct for 8 (Santiago Philippines, Chiclayo Peru, Buenos Aires #2 (no surprise it will be built in the center of the city), Ribeirao Preto Brazil, Huehuetenango Guatemala, Jacksonville Florida, Grand Rapids Michigan, Tacoma Washington) and the right general location but the wrong specific one for the temples in Nigeria, Texas, and Nevada. For Brazil and the Philippines, I had one of the two locations correct and the other incorrect.  

Since I also had no way to predict multiple temples in major metropolitan areas, it goes without saying that I didn't see the 4 Mexico City area temples coming all at once. The Lord has once again proven, as He always does, that His ways ad thoughts are higher than my ways and thoughts (I know that will come as a great shock to so many of you). The total number of temples has now risen to 300 in any phase, and hopefully, the temple-related announcements will continue to finish out the year and for the foreseeable future.

For my part, I am monitoring all such developments and will bring word of those to you all here as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered 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 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.

In Tribute to Elder Ulisses Soares on His 64th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! With the Sunday Morning Session of the October 2022 General Conference a little over an hour from now, I am pleased to bring you all a post honoring Elder Ulisses Soares, who is celebrating his 64th birthday today. As I've mentioned previously, Elder Soares has a most unique life story and background, and I am grateful to share some thoughts about him with you all. Ulisses Soares was born on this day in 1958 in São Paulo Brazil to Apparecido Soares and Mercedes Carecho Soares. He has European and Amerindian ancestry. When an aunt joined the Church, that was how the Soares' family first learned of the gospel. His parents, after being taught by the missionaries, were baptized when young Ulisses was five years old.

Regarding his experience with worshipping in the Church during his growing-up years, his small branch would meet in a tiny rental place that was located above a bakery. He served a full-time mission in Rio de Janeiro, Upon his return, he connected with;Rosana Fernandes Morgado, who had served in the same mission at around the same time, but whom he had not met until after they both had returned. The two were married in the Sao Paulo Temple, and together they raised three children

His academic experience involved studying at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, from which, in 1985, he received a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting. He then continued his studies at the;National Institute of Postgraduate Study, where he earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration. He spent his professional career working for several multinational companies (one of which was Pirelli Tire Company) as an accountant and an auditor. Donald L. Clark, who at that time was serving as director of temporal affairs for the Church in Brazil, convinced him to take a job with the Church as a senior auditor.

When Brother Clark was asked to serve as a mission president, Brother Soares took over for him as director of temporal affairs. He went on to fill a special assignment for the Church's Presiding Bishopric. Within the Church, Elder Soares has served as an elder's quorum president, counselor in a bishopric, stake high councilman, and as a regional welfare agent.

When the;São Paulo Brazil Cotia Stake was created in 1995, Elder Soares was called as the first president thereof. 5 years later, he served a three-year term as president of the Porto Portugal Mission. Less than two years after his return (during the April 2005 General Conference), he was called as a General Authority Seventy.

As a General Authority Seventy, he served as First Counselor in the Brazil South Area.from 2005-2007, as First Counselor in the Brazil Area from 2007-2009, and as President of that area from 2009-2011. He served from August 2011-January 2013 as First Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency, at which point he was called to serve in the Presidency of the Seventy, with responsibility for the North America Southeast Area; Then, in November 2015, Elder Soares was reassigned to oversee the Idaho and North America Central Areas of the Church. He still had oversight of both of those areas in 2018.

On March 31, 2018, Elder Soares was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he was ordained an apostle on Thursday April 5, 2018. He thus became both the first Latter-day Saint apostle from Brazil and the first one from Latin America. Elder Soares has had many opportunities to grow into his new assignment. In the last 1.5 decades in which has has served as a general authority, he has given a total of;14 General Conference addresses, with the first 2 given as a General Authority Seventy, 3 more as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 9 given since his call to the apostleship, not counting his address given this General Conference weekend.

At this point, I wanted to mention one additional thing: Both the Deseret News and the Church News published articles about the recently-released biography of President Dallin H. Oaks. One of the elements featured in those articles about President Oaks’ biography detailed the conditions under which President Nelson called Presidents Oaks and Eyring as his counselors: Those callings were only made after President Nelson had personally met individually with each of his other 12 apostles. President Nelson requested these interviews with each of his fellow apostles with a desire to have his Brethren’s best thoughts about which two of them should serve as his counselors and who should be called to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

While we don’t know specifically how Presidents Oaks and Eyring were selected, iit seems to be a safe conclusion that most of the apostles felt those two should be his counselors. And with that being the apparent outcome there, I am reasonably certain that a high percentage of those 12 apostles recommended that Elders Gong and Soares be called to fill the resulting vacancies in the apostleship.

In any case, if nothing else, we know that the Lord inspired the calls of Elders Gong and Soares. I gratefully and wholeheartedly sustain all 15 “special witnesses of Christ” in their divinely-inspired and doctrinally-supported roles prophets, seers, and revelators in their roles and responsibilities as special witnesses of Christ, and am grateful to have been able to provide this birthday tribute to him today. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring you all word of the major developments as I learn thereof, particularly those that will occur during this weekend of the October 2022 General Coferece.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered 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 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.

UPDATE: Third Quarter Temple Construction Progress

Hello again, everyone! With General Conference now less than 12 hours away, the third quarter of 2022 is almost in the history books. But before it completely passes away, I couldn't let it go without reporting on the latest temple construction updates. As has been customary for all such reports in the past, we will look back on that progress from the beginning of the year until now. 

So as a refresher, you can look back at where things stood as this year began, one day before the April General Conference, and at the rough mid-point of 2022. And as we conclude the third quarter of 2022, one last report shows where things stand now. So much has happened with temple construction thus far this year, and with General Conference weekend upon us, even more milestones are anticipated throughout the end of this year.

That includes the likely announcement of new temples this weekend. So, concerning temple construction developments, buckle up! It's going to be a wild ride. For my part, I continue to monitor all such updates and will bring the highlights to you all here through breaking news updates in new posts or progress updates on the comment threads of existing posts.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered 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 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.