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Saturday, November 8, 2014

Temple Predictions

On the LDS Chuch Growth Blog post about potential new missions, some people in the comments were making predictions about completion dates for future temples. That sounded like fun, so I just had to get on board. And since I am using this blog as a forum to discuss such topics, I thought I would reproduce my personal predictions here. The following is a verbatim copy of a comment I posted on that blog post just a few minutes ago. Enjoy!

Based on information about temples as found on ldschurchtemples.com, these are my predictions for temple order of completion and date:
First, of the three temples undergoing renovation, two will be dedicated in late 2015: Montreal Quebec and Mexico City Mexico. The remaining temple, Suva Fiji, will either be rededicated in late 2015 or early 2016.

Now, of the ones under construction, this is my prediction for completion dates and order:
144. Phoenix Arizona Temple: Will be dedicated on November 16, 2014.
145. Cordoba Argentina Temple: Will be dedicated in early 2015.
146. Payson Utah Temple: Will be dedicated in early- or mid-2015.
147. Indianapolis Indiana Temple: Will be dedicated in mid-2015.
148. Trujillo Peru Temple: Will be dedicated in mid-2015.
149. Tijuana Mexico Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2015.
150. Provo City Center Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2015.
151. Rome Italy Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2015.
152. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Will be dedicated in early 2016.
153. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Will be dedicated in mid-2016.
154. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2016.
155. Paris France Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2016.
156. Sapporo Japan Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2016.
157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Will be dedicated in mid-2017.
158. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2017. (with all going well. Note that though ground was broken on this temple in 2011, full scale work has yet to begin on this temple.)

Now, if I may be so bold, I would like to give a progress report on the announced temples that haven't had their ground broken. I provide a number for them as well, though the numbers are VERY tentative and will change based on groundbreaking date. This, again, is based on information found at ldschurchtemples.com.
159. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Planning and approval phase; land purchase finalized; groundbreaking
anticipated in late 2014-early 2015.
160. Concepcion Chile Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple and site designs complete; groundbreaking pending.
161. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple and site designs complete; groundbreaking pending.
162. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Planning and approval phase; initial design plans complete; groundbreaking pending.
163. Arequipa Peru Temple: Planning and approval phase; initial design plans complete; groundbreaking pending.
164. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
165. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
166. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
167. Tucson Arizona Temple: Awaiting official site announcement; proposal submitted to Pima County.
168. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
169. Durban South Africa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
170. Cedar City Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Well, what do you think?

Friday, November 7, 2014

Potential New Missions for 2015: Matthew Martinich's predictions

Matthew Martinich, whom I've mentioned in the past, is a fellow blogger that focuses on posting developments in LDS Church Growth. Two of his hobbies are to post potential new temple sites (around general conference time) and to post sites where new missions might potentially be established. He has recently posted his projections for which new missions might potentially be created in 2015, and with his permission, I am sharing those predictions. Rather than having an extra long post, I will post a link to his post and anyone interested can follow his predictions there. Before doing so, I want to make it absolutely clear: These are Matthew Martinich's predictions, not mine, and a link to them only appears here with his express permission. That said, here's the link:

Matthew Martinich's Predictions for Potential Missions that may be created in 2015

This is really exciting stuff. His research is thorough, his predictions well thought out and reasoned. I am amazed at how well he is able to pinpoint such changes as this. So let's all show our support to him by keeping our eyes out for new missions in 2015, shall we? Thanks, friends!

My first published work

I am excited to announce that my first published piece will appear in the July 2015 Ensign in the Young Adult section, unless it gets bumped to a future issue for something more important. Here's how it happened: Years ago, I wrote an article in response to a request in the New Era. I sent it in to them. After the staff of the New Era read it, I received word from them that they couldn't use it but were handing it over to the Ensign. Soon after that the Ensign contacted me to have me fill out the necessary paperwork and set the rate for my work and give them permission to publish my work and ownership of it. I waited and nothing happened. I shared the article with only a select few because it wasn't mine anymore. Then on Wednesday I got word from the Ensign that they would be publishing my article finally. They sent me a copy of the final draft to look over. I was kind of bummed out a little because they cut out half of the experience I had written about. But they had warned me up front that the article would be edited for length and clarity. The most important thing is that something will be published under my name. This will be great, because this way I will already be a published author when my first book finally comes out. Anyways, I just wanted to post and let all my readers know this exciting news! All the best until I write again.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Update/Three important Church History Developments/Four Church History Upcoming Events

Hello, readers! I am updating the blog for a few reasons, the least of which is to bring you all up to speed on what has happened since my last post. My weekend went about how I expected it to. I went to training for my job on Monday. When I mentioned that I would have two upcoming doctors appointments in the near future (one with my neurologist Dr. Sharon Weinstein the next day and another with spasticity specialist Nurse Katarina Waters the following Monday), my supervisors determined that, since the training built upon itself day after day, it would be wiser for me to discontinue the training for the job until the following Tuesday. So I enjoyed the training the rest of the day and then came home, tired but happy that I would have another week before I had to worry about continuing the training. I should mention that while I will be working at ROI Solutions, the company I will be serving will be Young Living Essential Oils. The instructor was  kind enough to give us samples of her four favorite essential oils: Stress Away, Peppermint, Lavender and Lime.

Then today, I went to see Dr. Weinstein. She determined that the stress headaches I have been struggling with will likely go away as I get into the job. She also said that the nausea should likewise diminish with the stress but that if it doesn't, I should see my gastroenterologist about whether there was a stomach issue. She said I could discontinue one of my medications since it seems I am doing better. I will be going to Physical Therapy tomorrow and hopefully enjoying the rest of the week before I have to be back at work on Tuesday.

That being said, there were three important developments in Church History that occurred and four Church History upcoming events that I wanted to blog about. First, it was announced by Elder Paul V. Johnson, Commissioner of Church Education, on November 2 during a CES devotional, that where in previous years CES devotionals had been held in January, March, May, September, and November, effective immediately, CES Devotionals will be renamed "Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults: An Evening with (name of speaker)." They will be held three times a year, "on the second Sunday in January, the first Sunday in May, and the second Sunday in September." The devotional will be open to "all young adults, both married and single . . . Students finishing high school or the equivalent are also invited to attend. January devotionals will be held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah; at BYU–Idaho; or at BYU–Hawaii. May devotionals will be held in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City or at other sites at Church headquarters. September devotionals will be held at other locations in the United States." (announcement can be found here.)

Also at the devotional, Elder Johnson additionally announced a change in curriculum for religious requirements for Church-owned schools and institutes as well as seminaries, effective Fall 2015. There are four new courses that will span all standard works: “Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel,” “Foundations of the Restoration,” “The Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon” and “The Eternal Family.” While the standard scripture courses will still be available as electives, these will be required for graduation. Those who have already completed the previous "required" classes are being encouraged to take the four new courses as electives. As I said, this is also supposed to be effective for seminaries, but I haven't found an official source to substantiate that. Here is a link to a couple of sources about that: LDS Church Announces Changes to Religious Education Curriculum
New Religion Classes

The third thing of note that happened was that Pope Francis of the Catholic Church has invited religious leaders and scholars representing 14 faith traditions from 23 countries to a meeting at the Vatican later this month to discuss how men and women complement each other in marriage. The LDS Church was one of the religions invited. The Church will respond to this invitation by sending President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency (who will speak on November 18 representing the Church), Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Bishop Gérald Caussé, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. For more information on this monumental meeting, click here.

These developments stacked up to make November a very important month in Church History. But that's not all that's going on this month. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf turns 74 on November 6. Elder Richard G. Scott will turn 86 on November 7. A cultural celebration will be held in Phoenix Arizona on November 15, with the temple scheduled to be dedicated the next day, though it is still unclear who will dedicate that temple. (Though likely not President Eyring, as he will be at the Vatican at that time). On November 19, President Thomas S. Monson will surpass President John Taylor to become the 10th longest serving President of the LDS Church. All of these events stack up to make November a most exciting month.

It's past midnight on November 5, so I want to wish my dad, Lee Stokes, a very happy 59th Birthday. The older I get, the more I realize he is not perfect. But with that realization, I also acknowledge that a good majority of what I know about being a good husband and father I learned from him. So Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!

Not much else to report. I will try to write again once my training is complete to let you know how it went. Until I find something else to "sound off" about again, all the best, dear readers!

Friday, October 31, 2014

LDS Church: Women's Meeting now an official General Conference Session

Posting today with some game-changing news that impacts Church history. I have mentioned on this blog before the disagreement I had with fellow Wikipedia editors about whether the General Women's Meeting for women, young women and girls aged 8 and older was an official session of general conference. Well, I found out that yesterday (Thursday), a spokeswoman for the Church officially stated that it is a session of general conference, just as President Uchtdorf had said it was. The First Presidency has announced that from now on, that gathering will be referred to as the "Women's Session" of General Conference. The heading on the general conference website has been changed to reflect this. I was gratified to read of this news. It confirmed what I had been maintaining all along. I was highly tempted to rub this in the face of those editors who moved heaven and earth trying to convince me that I was wrong in so thinking and stating, but thankfully Amy persuaded me to take the higher road. The Church has officially spoken, and the issue is resolved now. So there are and will be six sessions of general conference from here on out. I did feel kind of bad about one thing. Before the news articles came out announcing this change in terminology, the PDF version of the November Ensign had made mention of this "Women's Session" of General Conference in three places: in the table of contents, in the conference summary section, and on the page where the talks from that gathering are reported. I had looked through that PDF file several times and never noticed that. This will not come as a surprise to anyone who knows that my powers of observation are severely lacking and that sometimes I fail to see things that are right in front of my face. For more on this issue, I refer you to two great articles, one from the Salt Lake Tribune and the other from the Deseret News.

Salt Lake Tribune: Women's Meeting now part of General Conference

Deseret News: Women's Meeting now part of General Conference

I will admit, my first inclination was to gloat and rub this in the faces of those who refused to believe me. But my sweet wife, Amy, helped me to realize that I needed to take a more Christlike approach and that the important issue was not that I was right, but that the issue was resolved, especially after so much contention about it, where I could not convince anyone else I was right, and no one else could convince me I was wrong. It will be interesting to see what impact this has on the way the other sessions of General Conference are referred to. Sorry if I bored any of you with this post. I just had to blog about this exciting new development in Church history.

In other news, I was able to find out the name and address of the company I will be working for today. It is ROI Solutions, located at 792 East 280 South in American Fork. I also found out that on Monday the company will be starting the day at 7:30 instead of 8:00 am to allow for a half hour meet and greet and for the necessary paperwork to be filled out. So I will have to wake up at 5:30 on Monday to get to work on time, which I am not thrilled about. And it may be that the stuff they have will not be gluten free, which is a double bummer. But I will make sure to have a good breakfast before I go and will then be prepared either way.

I may have mentioned in a previous post that I will be unable to continue seeing my physiatrist ( Dr. Judy Gooch) because the type of Medicaid I have won't allow me to see her at her new clinic in Murray. Someone from her office recommended that I find someone new to see ASAP, but they didn't offer any recommendations. So I e-mailed Dr. Gooch and asked her who she would recommend. She said that Katia Waters, a nurse at the University of Utah Hospital Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, was the best person she could recommend for me. So I made an appointment, and we will be seeing her next Monday. That will be excellent, because it has been too long since I last saw anyone about my spasticity issues. While I have managed on my own okay with physical therapy and Baclofen, it's still nice to have the support of a go-to person in case of questions or emergencies. And since Dr. Gooch couldn't continue to prescribe my Baclofen without seeing me in clinic anyways, it will be good to get in to see Nurse Waters. She comes very highly recommended. If she's even half as good as her reviews say, I'll be in excellent hands. If I can't be seen by Dr. Gooch, it sounds like Nurse Waters is the next best person.

Still no luck on the neurosurgeon search. I will be calling Kathy, the nurse of Dr. Walker, my pediatric neurosurgeon, to explain my situation and see if there is anyone other than the jerk that she would recommend. Mom found a clinic in Murray that I could potentially go to as well. But the only problem with that is that the address for one of the neurosurgeons in Murray that accepts Medicaid Healthy U is different from the one of the clinic in Murray that Mom found. The difference is subtle, which means it might be in the same building, just a different section. I will be trying to sort this all out tomorrow.

In addition, I went to physical therapy today. I thought it would be wise to get in one more weekday visit while I could, because starting on Monday, I'm restricted to Saturday visits once a week and will have to try and be disciplined with my home program (doing it at least once but preferably twice a week). Yesterday, I called my Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor to let her know that I had a job. Had to leave a message, though. Hope to hear back from her soon. I also took time yesterday to call Vanessa Howell, my SSI Benefits Specialist, to find out what, if any, impact my working full time at $10 per hour wages would do to my SSI. I also asked her (in a message because of course I can never speak in person to her when I call) what impact, if any, Amy's inheritance (her dad paying for a modest home for us) would have on my SSI if the money never actually came into our hands. She told me at one point that if Amy's dad gave us the money to buy a house that I would lose my SSI, but I don't know if it's a different situation if the money never actually comes into our hands. I also don't know if I would lose my SSI only temporarily or permanently. So hopefully I hear back from both Annemarie Smith and Vanessa tomorrow.

I see Dr. Weinstein on Tuesday. It would be my luck to have made an unbreakable appointment that can't be rescheduled for a later time on the same day during the very week I have training for a job. But I look forward to that visit. I will be glad and grateful to report the good news to Dr. Weinstein that I am feeling better.

I don't know what all will happen with the three days remaining before I start working. I do know that I have Physical Therapy on Saturday morning and Stokes Family pictures and the monthly dinner that night. It will be fantastic to go to Church on Sunday and have the opportunity to fast and listen to testimony meeting and the lessons. Then in the evening there's a CES fireside for Young Adults. The featured speaker will be Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy. Directly after that, I will be going with Amy to my parents' house to get a father's blessing from my dad prior to starting work the next day. Hopefully we don't stay up too late on Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights.  I don't know why it happened, but something woke me up at around 6:15 this morning. I got up and took my first set of pills and tried to go back to sleep. It worked for a couple of hours, but by around 8, I was done for the night. Which is probably just as well, since I will have to get up at 5:30 on Monday and 6 every weekday morning after that to get ready for work on time. It wasn't bad to be restless, though. I had a wonderful morning prayer (which practice I had sadly been neglecting for far too long of late) and had some cereal and read some of the talks from General Conference. It was such a good experience. I wouldn't mind if that happened again tomorrow. But I will be okay if it doesn't. Tomorrow will be my last day to sleep in for a good long while, so if I can make the most of that, all the better.

Well, I've rambled on longer than I meant to. I hope you all are well and that you all are enjoying these updates as much as I enjoy writing them. With the acquisition of a full-time job, some have speculated that my blogging will be more sporadic. But I am determined to make it as regular as I possibly can. Please bear with me if large intervals of time pass between posts. I will write as often as time and circumstances allow. I haven't forgotten my promise to consider posting excerpts from my book, but I will look at doing that when it is closer to the publishing stage. Until I write again, all the best!