Massive Update on our personal lives (finally!)

Hello, friends! Here I am with the long-promised update. Since it has been about three months since my last general update, I hope you'll bear with me. This will not be a chronological post, but rather a snippet here and a snippet there.

First, on the work front, I have big news to announce. Some of you may know that I have twice switched shifts on the job. The first time was because of the shift bids. By the time they got to me, the only shift available that would work for me was 11:00 am-7:30 pm. So I worked on that shift for a number of weeks. You may recall me mentioning that I had problems with sleeping on the job. Well, one day, I was hauled in for two meetings with Trent, my former team leader who has been promoted to be a supervisor under our top man on the project. He told me during those meetings that I had twice been caught sleeping on the job. During the first meeting, I was written up for it. During the second meeting, Trent was very frank and direct. He explained that since I had once again been caught sleeping on the job, Young Living wanted me fired, even though I have been getting mostly great reviews from the members I interacted with. Trent told me he had been able to intervene in my behalf and had offered Young Living a compromise: If I would agree to start working on the late shift the next day (Friday; the shift goes from 12:30 pm-9 pm or whenever the phone lines close for the day), Young Living would give me a one-week trial period. If I had no problems during that time, I would be allowed to keep the job. If I fell asleep again or would not agree to this shift change, my employment would be terminated.

They had me over a barrel. Since I wanted to keep my job so we could maintain eligibility for a loan to buy a house, I had to agree to switch. So I am now working the evening shift. It's turned out to be a good thing. Due to health problems, I have had to miss work on several occasions, even taking many unscheduled days (like today) off because I didn't feel well. Where on other shifts, all my absences would ordinarily result in write-ups and perhaps employment termination, I have found, much to my delight, that the afternoon shift supervisors are a lot more easygoing and would only have me written up if I have unexcused absences. They are also much more easygoing about what we can do during our downtime at work. Where the day shift has to stick to the rule of no non-work related internet, my supervisors on the late shift don't mind if we visit favorite sites during our downtime, as long as we are not checking our e-mail or using Facebook. That's why I've been able to post so much Church-related news after work that I find out about during work. And with the late shift, I can get most of my medical appointments (including physical therapy) taken care of before work, rather than having to take time off during work for them.

Additionally, my work has given us 16 hours of approved time off for each month. Any time not used during a month rolls over to the next month. Also, I haven't had one single incident of sleeping on the job since changing shifts. Trent stopped by my desk the other day to tell me that my trial period had ended and that I had proven to Young Living that I was worth keeping, that there had been no complaints about my conduct since switching shifts. This was great news. I am out of the woods as far as that is concerned. One thing that does trouble me is my continuing absences due to health difficulties. I am working with my doctors to resolve these problems, but I  still am missing one or two days per week due to my health, and that's not good.

In the interim, I have developed vertigo. I have been seen by many doctors for it. Just yesterday, we went to the Hearing and Balance Clinic in Provo. The doctor there has suggested some things that he hopes will help me. I have met numerous times since my last major update with my neurologist, and she has suggested things that, so far, are helping me feel better. The main problem for me health-wise now is my vertigo. That is what prevented me from going to work today. Thankfully, I have been able to get notes from my doctors that have kept me from getting into any trouble at work for my absences.

Our families are doing well. My older sister, her husband, and their son moved to the small British-owned islands of St. Kitts and Nevis on my sister's birthday, May 4th, so Lyle can go to medical school. He will be on an accelerated program that should only take 1½ to 2 years. We are missing them, but know it is wonderful for Lyle to finally fulfill his life-long dream to become a doctor. I have been able to Skype with them a couple of times, and that has proven to be a great way to keep in touch. Amy's brother that is just older than she is was admitted to the hospital a few days ago with a torn aorta. He is out of the woods now, thankfully, but that still gave us a bit of a scare. My brother Neal's wife Sammi was admitted to the hospital several days ago after she passed out. What's going on with her remains to be seen, but we hope and pray for the best for them.

We continue to look for a house. There have been a couple that we have been interested in, but either they are bought by someone else while we have been trying to get a loan to pay for them, or they are out of our price range. The Lord has told me that He wants us to stay in the American Fork East Stake, where I have been ever since moving to American Fork 16 years ago. I have felt very strongly that I haven't finished the purposes I have come to the East Stake to fulfill. This makes our search for a house difficult, as many of the houses in this stake are over-priced, but I know it's where the Lord wants us to be. So something will work out.

Amy had a doctor's appointment last week because she was feeling ill. We had her thyroid levels checked, and she was also tested for mono. I hope the doctor is able to find out what is causing her to feel so sick all the time. Our lives are complicated enough without both of us being plagued by health issues.

My headaches are a lot better controlled now that I am on a better medication schedule. I take my first set when I wake up rather than having to get up early in the morning to take my first set, and making allowances so I am covered pain medication wise even when we stay up later.

I will be getting a new home teaching assignment next week that is effective this month. I will lose one of the families I home teach and perhaps pick up one or two new ones. Sundays have been great days for us with visiting family after going to Church, or just relaxing at home.

Saturday was my 10 year (where did the time go?) High School reunion. It was much better attended than the 5 year one. We had a lovely catered dinner (although I did cheat on my celiac disease diet for it) and got a tour of the new parts of the high school from one of the janitors that works there. That was great fun. I found that I had the stamina to deal well with the walking tour of the school. And my strength and energy held out for the whole reunion, which I was grateful for. It was an awesome event, and I am very grateful to all the Senior Class officers of the class of 2005 for making this 10 year reunion such a success. Directly after the reunion, we did some errands. At the Wal-Mart market, we ran into Dallas Smith, one of my teachers from AF Junior High School. We greeted each other enthusiastically, and he asked about my family. It was a good capstone to a great day.

We were able to go to the Payson Utah Temple Open House. I was able to walk all the way through the temple with just my cane, and I was grateful to be there for that. I was VERY excited to find out about the Provo City Center Temple open house and dedication. I am glad the First Presidency is making the temple dedication available to all LDS members in Utah, rather than just restricting it to those who live within that temple district.

I have loved keeping my eye on Church-related news, and I know that for the most part, those posts have been widely read and appreciated by my readers. I am so grateful that the article I wrote for the Ensign will be featured in the July edition. I have also gotten back to writing my first book. I've come a long way with that, and I'm grateful for all the support I have gotten and the interest that has been shown about my first book. I fully anticipate that I will have that book published before the end of the year.

Amy and I will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary in December, so we've been making tentative plans for that. That has been great fun. How grateful I am that the Lord saw fit to bring Amy into my life. She is everything I ever wanted in a wife, plus infinitely more. The only way our lives could be richer is if we were blessed with children. But I feel confident that will come when the time is right. For the moment, we treasure any and all time we can spend together.

That, in a nutshell, has been our lives for the past three months. It's been wonderful to be alive, and I have every confidence that life will continue to be fantastic. There is so much to be grateful for in this life! I would like to end this post by thanking all of you who follow this blog and have expressed interest in and support for all that is going on in our lives. This blog would be nothing without my readers. You all give me a desire and reason to write. If I become any success as a writer, it will be because of the wonderful people like you all. Thanks again. Until I write again, all the best!

Concepcion Chile Temple Groundbreaking Date Announced/Progress Report on First Book/Reminder about Ensign article

I know most of you will probably be let down by the fact that I haven't posted that general update yet. I meant to do it this weekend, but other things got in the way. I had to post today to share some more exciting LDS Church Temple News. As reported by ldschurchtemples.com, the Church has scheduled the groundbreaking ceremony for the Concepcion Chile Temple to take place on Saturday October 17. This will be the third temple groundbreaking in 2015. I anticipate at least one or more temples will have their groundbreaking announced before the end of the year, whether they take place late this year or early next year. Construction on the temple is anticipated to take 2-2½ years, which means it will be completed either late in 2017 or early in 2018. How thrilling it is to see all these temple-related developments! I will keep my ears open for temple news and will share it with you as time and circumstances allow.

Here's a updated list of temple developments. I have included all updated dedication and construction news that I am aware of.

Temples Undergoing Renovation:
26. Mexico City Mexico Temple: Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday September 13, 2015.
86. Montreal Quebec Temple: Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday November 22, 2015.
91. Suva Fiji Temple:Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday February 21, 2016.
33. Freiberg Germany Temple: Anticipated to be completed in mid-2016.
8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Anticipated to be completed in late 2016.
41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Scheduled for renovation beginning September 7, 2015.

Under Construction:
147. Trujillo Peru Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday June 21, 2015.
148. Indianapolis Indiana Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday August 23, 2015.
149. Tijuana Mexico Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday December 13, 2015.
150. Provo City Center Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday March 20, 2016.
151. Rome Italy Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.
155. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.
156. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.
152. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-to-late 2016.
153. Sapporo Japan Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2016.
157. Paris France Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2016.
158. Meridian Idaho Temple:Projected to be completed in mid-2017.
159. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2017.
154. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Projected to be completed in 2018.

Announced:
160. Cedar City Utah Temple: Local government approval phase; site plan presented at January 2015 meeting; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday August 8, 2015.
161. Concepcion Chile Temple: Approval phase; temple and site design plans complete; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday October 17, 2015.
168. Tucson Arizona Temple: Construction approval phase; general contractor selected; groundbreaking pending.
165. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple and site designs complete; groundbreaking pending.
162. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Planning and approval phase; land purchase finalized; groundbreaking pending.
169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Planning and approval phase; final piece of land for temple site acquired; groundbreaking pending.
164. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
167. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
170. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
163. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
166. Durban South Africa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
171. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
172. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
173. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

I will also announce an exciting new development in my personal life outside of the personal update: I have resumed work in earnest on my book. I have been adding scenes to previously written chapters, and doing a touch up here and and a touch up there, Once that's done, I will write scenes for the final part of the book. No word yet on when it will be ready to publish. It all depends on how swiftly I can finish it and how quickly Brandon Sanderson reviews it. Then before I submit it to a publishing company, I plan on enlisting the services of my mother to proofread it. I have tried to be conscientious about grammar and punctuation errors, but it will help to have Brandon and my mom review it for content needing to be changed and grammatical errors, since they aren't nearly as emotionally tied to the project as I am.

I also remind my readers of something else: my first published work will be an Ensign article that is scheduled to appear in the July 2015 edition, unless it gets bumped for something more important, like Elder Perry's funeral proceedings (which may be included in an insert rather than the magazine proper) or something else similar. It will appear in the Young Adult section. Be on the lookout for that. It will be good to get my name more widely known before publishing my first book.

As always, I will keep you updated on temple, writing, or publishing news. And I promise, I will very soon do the massive personal update I've been promising. You can count on that.

Two Major Addresses given recently by General Authorities/Sunday School General Presidency Reorganized

I am posting today for two good reasons. The first is to give a brief report on two major addresses given to two major governmental organizations, and the second is to report on (Friday) today's reorganization of the Sunday School General Presidency.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, during a Europe tour, addressed an All-Party Parliamentary Group in the United Kingdom's House of Lords on June 10 on the subject of how the Church's humanitarian aid can help in the midst of religious conflict. For a report on his address, please see this article. Yesterday,Elder Jörg Klebingat encouraged dialogue and deeper understanding among global faiths in an address to the Fifth Congress of Traditional and World Religions, which convened in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, June 11, 2015. For a report on his address, please see this article.

Mormon Newsroom reported today (Friday) that the Sunday School Presidency had been reorganized. Tad R. Callister remains Sunday School General President. His former second counselor, George D. Durrant, is now the first counselor, replacing John S. Tanner, who will start his new assignment as the new President of BYU–Hawaii on July 27. This made necessary the calling of a new Second Counselor. Brian K. Ashton will assume that assignment immediately following his return from being president of the Texas Houston South Mission. He becomes the youngest currently serving auxiliary leader in the Church. I knew that a reorganization of the Sunday School General Presidency would follow the announcement of soon-to-be President Tanner's new assignment. But I didn't expect it to happen this fast. It makes me wonder if perhaps a new apostle might be called soon. But I really don't anticipate that happening until the week before General Conference. Anyhow, I got off topic. This was exciting news to me, and I am happy to share it with my readers.

Barring any unexpected post to report on Church News, I fully anticipate that the next post will contain my long-promised massive life update. The longer time goes by, the more things happen that I need to report to you who read this blog. And the more things happen, the more daunting the update becomes. So I bump it in favor of the latest Church News. But I promise, it is coming soon. You have my word on that. Thanks, as always, for reading my posts.

Big Temple News

I know I said the next post would likely be the general update I've been promising for 3 months now, but some temple news crossed my radar that I just had to share. First, the Frankfurt Germany Temple will undergo a renovation starting on September 7. Additionally, the First Presidency announced the open house and rededication dates for the Suva Fiji Temple. The temple open house will only span a 12-day period from Monday January 30-Saturday February 6, 2015, excluding Sunday January 31. A cultural celebration will be held on Saturday February 20, and the temple will be dedicated the next day. Dedicatory services will only be broadcast within the temple district, which spans the small island nations of Fiji, Kiribati, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. I wasn't aware of this, but apparently those islands and the others immediately within that area comprise the region of what is called Melanesia. Who knew, right? Anyways, that's the newest exciting temple-related developments. I will post more about temples when news is available to me, and, in the meantime, my next post should be this weekend and contain the long-promised and hopefully long-awaited update on my life, unless any Church news catches my attention tomorrow. Thanks for your readership. I hope you all are still enjoying my posts. "Happiness to you in your life ahead!"

Payson Utah Temple Dedicated/Provo City Center Temple Dedication Dates Announced

The Payson Utah Temple was dedicated on Sunday. Just as I'd thought and predicted, President Henry B. Eyring presided at the dedication. He read the prayer for the first two sessions, and invited Elder Neil L. Andersen to read it for the final session. Additionally, the sessions were attended by Elder Russell M. Nelson, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, and Elder Quentin L. Cook, all of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elders Ronald A. Rasband, Donald L. Hallstrom and Ulisses Soares of the Presidency of the Seventy; Elder Kent F. Richards of the Second Quorum of the Seventy and Temple Department Executive Director; and Bishop Gérald Caussé. The new Payson Temple Presidency and matrons also spoke. I have not yet ascertained who exactly did what in each session, but I will post such a list if and when it becomes available.

Additionally, the Church announced today the open house and dedication dates for the Provo City Center Temple. The temple will be open to the public Friday January 15-March 5, 2016. A cultural celebration will take place on Saturday March 19, 2016. The dedication will take place in three sessions (10 am, 1 pm, and 4 pm) on Sunday March 20, 2016. Due to the ties many in Utah have to what was once the Provo Tabernacle, the dedication will be broadcast in all stake centers in Utah. I am excited by this news. As can well be expected, this dedication bumps other temples who had, prior to the Provo City Center Temple groundbreaking, had their ground broken. In light of this most exciting news, I thought I would post my list of temple progress again. Numbering and approximate dates for events come from ldschurchtemples.com. Here's the list:

Temples Undergoing Renovation:

26. Mexico City Mexico Temple: Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday September 13, 2015.

86. Montreal Quebec Temple: Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday November 22, 2015.

91. Suva Fiji Temple: Anticipated to be completed in early 2016.

33. Freiberg Germany Temple: Anticipated to be completed in mid-2016.

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Anticipated to be completed in late 2016.

Under Construction:

146. Payson Utah Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday June 7, 2015.

147. Trujillo Peru Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday June 21, 2015.

148. Indianapolis Indiana Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday August 23, 2015.

149. Tijuana Mexico Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday December 13, 2015.

150. Provo City Center Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday March 20, 2016.

151. Rome Italy Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.

155. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.

156. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.

152. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-to-late 2016.

153. Sapporo Japan Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2016.

157. Paris France Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2016.

158. Meridian Idaho Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2017.

159. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2017.

154. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Projected to be completed in 2018.

Announced:

160. Cedar City Utah Temple: Local government approval phase; site plan presented at January 2015 meeting; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday August 8, 2015.

168. Tucson Arizona Temple: Construction approval phase; general contractor selected; groundbreaking pending.

161. Concepcion Chile Temple: Approval phase; temple and site design plans complete; groundbreaking pending.

165. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple and site designs complete; groundbreaking pending.

162. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Planning and approval phase; land purchase finalized; groundbreaking pending.

169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Planning and approval phase; final piece of land for temple site acquired; groundbreaking pending.

164. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.

167. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.

170. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.

163. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.

166. Durban South Africa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

171. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

172. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

173. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Any feedback is welcome. I will keep my eye on temple-related developments, and you can be sure to find the information here. Massive update still pending.

Report on Elder Perry's funeral/Who will be the next apostle?/Payson Utah Temple Cultural Celebration

Elder Perry's funeral was Friday. President Henry B. Eyring conducted, the invocation was offered by Elder Russell M. Nelson, and the benediction was offered by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Elder Perry's only son, Lee T. Perry, gave a beautiful tribute to his father. Elders Dallin H. Oaks and M. Russell Ballard both shared different portions of their final tender visit with Elder Perry. President Monson, looking hale and hearty, paid a beautiful tribute to Elder Perry. That should debunk some rumors about his health. Anyways, the Tabernacle Choir sang some of Elder Perry's favorite hymns. It was a beautiful service, with all testifying that they knew Elder Perry still lives and continues to carry on the work of salvation on the other side of the veil, unencumbered by the health conditions that hindered him for the last month or so of his life. I watched most of it when it originally aired (on Friday morning on a sub-channel of KSL (I overslept and missed the first 20 minutes or so)), then watched it in its entirety late last night. I think it went very well.

Now that the funeral is over, speculation can begin in earnest about who the new apostle will be. I offer my thoughts on the matter. As mentioned in a previous post, 6 of our 14 currently serving apostles came from the Presidency of the Seventy. So it is most likely that the apostle could come from that presidency. The most likely candidate? When Elder Ballard was called to be an apostle, he was the 3rd most senior member of the Presidency of the Seventy. When Elder Scott and Elder Christofferson were called to be apostles, (Scott in 1988 and Christofferson in 2008) they were both the 2nd most senior members of the Presidency of the Seventy. When President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder Quentin L. Cook were called as apostles, (Uchtdorf in 2004 and Cook in 2007) they were both at that time the 5th most senior member of the Presidency of the Seventy. And when Elder Neil L. Andersen was called to be an apostle, he was serving as the Senior President of the Seventy. So any one of the currently serving Presidency of the Seventy could be called. If I had to give my top three picks from this body, I would pick Elder Ronald A. Rasband (Senior President), Elder L. Whitney Clayton (2nd most senior member) or Elder Ulisses Soares (who as the 6th most senior member would also be an international apostle).

Two currently serving apostles (President Henry B. Eyring and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland) were serving as members of the First Quorum of the Seventy. So the new apostle might come from there. My top three picks would be Elder Michael John U. Teh (who would be the first Filipino apostle), or either Elder Joseph W. Sitati or Elder Edward Dube (either of whom would make history as the first black apostle of the Church), If I had to pick my top candidate for the First Quorum, it would be Elder Teh. In April 2008, after the First Presidency had been reorganized and there was a vacancy in the quorum) I was praying for the new apostle and felt distinctly that it would be Elder Teh. I didn't pray for Elder Teh by name at that time, and it was just as well because Elder Christofferson was called. But I just can't shake the hope that my gut feeling was right and that Elder Teh will be called as an apostle one day, perhaps even this time.

The new apostle could also come from the Presiding Bishopric. Elder Robert D. Hales was the Church's Presiding Bishop, and, Elder Eyring, prior to his call to the Seventy, served as his counselor. This means it's not out of the question for the new apostle to come from the Presiding Bishopric. The most likely candidate in my mind is Bishop Causse, who would be the first French apostle and also become the youngest apostle.

Of course, the Lord could surprise us by inspiring President Monson to call the new apostle from either the Second Quorum of the Seventy, Area Seventies, the Sunday School or Young Men's general presidencies, or the church at large. Whomever the Lord inspires President Monson to call will have my full support.

I also wanted to remind my readers that the Payson Utah Temple will be dedicated tomorrow. It looks like President Eyring will preside over that dedication, as he was there for the cultural celebration. If that's the case, this will be only the second temple President Eyring has dedicated solo. (The first was the San Salvador El Salvador in 2011, though he has rededicated or been the presiding member of the First Presidency at some sessions of other temples.) Four apostles (Elders Nelson, Oaks, Cook and Andersen) were also there and may participate in the dedicatory services tomorrow. There were three members of the Presidency of the Seventy there (Elder Rasband, Elder Hallstrom, and Elder Soares). Bishop Causse was there as well as Elder Richards, the Temple Department's Executive Director, and Sister McConkie of the Young Women General Presidency, and Sister Esplin of the Primary General Presidency. I hope the Church publishes who participates in which sessions, because that will make me feel a little better about not having the privilege of attending the dedication (which is only open to those living in the Payson Utah Temple District). I will report more on that as information becomes available.

In the meantime. I've "sounded off" enough for one day. I will try to post tomorrow with a report on the Payson Utah Temple Dedication participants and a general update. Until I write again, all the best!

Elder Perry's funeral is Friday

The Church has announced that Elder Perry's funeral will be held this Friday @ 11:00 am. It will be carried live on LDS.org and KBYU's and KSL's subchannels. I imagine we will hear from at least one apostle and perhaps each member of the First Presidency, and either of his two surviving children. I don't know quite what to expect. But one thing I do know. It will be a celebration of life focused on the doctrinal foundation that death is just another step in our progression to eternal life. How grateful I am to know that Elder Perry still lives and that he is now free of health problems and can be about the work on the other side of the veil. Still no word on who might replace him, though I have my own theories on this matter. I have elected not to post any speculation at least until Elder Perry's funeral is over. After that, I make no promises. Still intend to do that much-needed update. Just wanted to post the latest developments.

Elder L. Tom Perry passes away.

Elder Lowell Tom Perry passed away at around 3:00 pm today due to cancer. Yesterday, it was learned that his cancer was terminal and would result in his demise in quick order. I just didn't expect it to happen this quickly. He had a good run. He was born on August 5, 1922. He became an Assistant to the Twelve (a now-defunct position) in 1972 and was ordained an apostle in April of 1974. He has now been reunited with his first wife, who died in 1976, and his daughter, who died of cancer when she was only in her 30's. He is survived by his second wife, the former Barbara Dayton,  whom he married two years after the death of his first wife, Virginia. Elder Perry was, at the time of his death, the oldest living apostle. Now that distinction belongs to Elder Russell M. Nelson.

Now the questions arise, who will be called to fill the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and how soon will that happen? It could be any time between now and the October general conference. I personally believe it will happen sooner rather than later. All but one of the currently serving apostles were called at conference time. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was called in the summer.

As to the question of who might be called to fill the vacancy, it could be any man currently serving in the Church but will more than likely be a general authority. Of the now 14 apostles serving, 2 have come from the Church membership at large (President Thomas S. Monson and Elder Dallin H. Oaks) one was an Assistant to the Twelve (President Boyd K. Packer), one was a Regional Representative (Russell M. Nelson), 6 have come from the Presidency of the Seventy (Elder M. Russell Ballard, Elder Richard G. Scott, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Elder Quentin L. Cook, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, and Elder Neil L. Andersen), 1 was the Presiding Bishop of the Church at the time of his call (Elder Robert D. Hales), 2 were serving in the First Quorum of the Seventy (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and President Henry B. Eyring (who had, previous to his call as a Seventy, served as one of Bishop Hales's counselors)), and 1 was an area seventy (Elder David A. Bednar). So it could be any of the General Authorities, though there's always a chance he could be called from the Church at large.

I will keep tabs on this matter and post news as soon as I can after I find out about it. In the meantime, if time and circumstances allow, I will post that general update I've been promising. Just had to share this sad news today.

Elder L. Tom Perry's cancer is terminal

Sad news today from the Church. Elder L. Tom Perry's cancer is reported to be terminal and has spread to other parts of his body. He will continue to receive treatment but has basically been sent home to die. He will be receiving hospice care at home. He will no longer participate in meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles but will reportedly still be receiving visitors from the First Presidency and his fellow apostles, as well as close family. It appears that, by all accounts, Elder Perry is on his way out of this life. It is somber news, to be sure. I cried when I first heard it. Then someone at work with whom I shared the news put it into perspective for me. He said, "Well, I guess this means we'll be getting a new apostle next conference." It didn't make me any less sad about Elder Perry, but it did serve as a gentle reminder that, even when the leading brethren of the Church pass on, there is a provision for succession by those who are appointed by the Lord's prophet. If and when Elder Perry does pass on, someone else will be called in his stead that we will love and sustain as fully as we do Elder Perry. As stated in previous posts, I will not speculate about how long any of the Brethren will live, nor will I ever post a prediction about potential new apostles unless and until an apostle passes on. I know I promised that my next post would be the much-needed update, but this news warranted a post of its own. I anticipate that I will likely do that general update post at some point this weekend. I know I've been promising an update for a while and not delivering. I will get to that very soon, I promise. In the meantime, I've said enough.

Temple District Changes in Utah

I wanted to post about other important news about temples in Utah. Two changes have been made to temple districts here. Wording for these district changes has been taken verbatim from ldschurchtemples.com: "In preparation for the Payson Utah Temple dedication next month when numerous temple workers will be transferred from the Provo Utah Temple, all of the stakes in Orem have been reassigned from the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple District to the Provo Utah Temple District." That update was posted on May 4, and my mom, who works at the Mount Timpanogos Temple, tells me that this change has taken effect already. All Orem residents serving temple workers at the Mount Timp. Temple had to reapply and be reinterviewed and set apart specifically to work at the Provo Temple. Hopefully the dust has settled there. In the meantime, this update was posted on May 19. "Announcements were made on Sunday [May 17] to Layton congregations that the city's 13 stakes would belong to the Bountiful Utah Temple District which now covers 49 stakes. Layton had formerly belonged to the Ogden Utah Temple District, which now covers 63 stakes." I imagine that the temple workers from Layton who were serving in the Ogden Temple also had to reapply and be reinterviewed and set apart specifically to work in the Bountiful Temple. I imagine we will see many more temple district changes in Utah as the Provo City Center Temple nears dedication and then the Cedar City temple is built and dedicated. I will keep an eye on such developments and keep you all informed. In the meantime, since this weekend is a three-day weekend, I will likely post the long-promised personal update either tomorrow night or sometime Monday. Stay tuned for that. Until I post again, all the best!