Further Travels of the Apostles/Church related news

I wanted to post an update regarding the recent ministry efforts of the apostles. Elder D. Todd Christofferson recently spoke at a Boy Scout luncheon is West Virginia on the subject of the freedom to associate. As part of that speech, he paid tribute to the Scouting legacy of President Thomas S. Monson, for whom a scouting complex is being named. For an overview of what Elder Christofferson said during that speech, please see this article.

Additionally, Elder Ronald A. Rasband was in Ecuador on a trip to bring comfort and greetings from Church headquarters to the Saints in Ecuador, where a powerful earthquake recently struck. He conveyed to the Ecuadoran Saints the love of President Monson and all his brethren of the apostleship, and took his first of many opportunities to bestow an apostolic blessing on them. For an account of what transpired during his trip, please see this article.

In other Church news, the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manit is celebrating its 50th continuous year. This is important news to me personally because my parents, who were set up oriiginally on a blind date, spent their first date at the Manti Pageant.

Also, the newly-implemented Doctrinal Mastery program is already seeing results in the way it has increased the faith and testimony of the seminary students who participate in it.

Sad news today out of Tulsa Oklahoma, where the "ma" of one youth trek pioneer "family" has died. The cause of death is still unknown, but the investigation into what happened is ongoing.

Another death of a Church member was reported. This time, it was a missionary serving in Venezuela, who died of injuries sustained during a taxi accident. The Church has sent out an expression of sympathy to all who knew and loved the missionary, as well as for any and all others affected by this tragedy.

That's the latest on the Church News front. I will keep you posted on the latest news as time and circumstances allow. Thanks for your readership.

Update on temple progress

There have been monumental strides in temple construction lately. In order to better update you on all that's been happening, I am posting an updated report of temple construction progress. Please note that I have tweaked the wording slightly to make things more clear.

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 6/22/16)

Current Temple Status: 150 operating, 16 under construction (5 scheduled for dedication), 11 announced (2 groundbreakings anticipated to be announced soon), 4 undergoing renovation (1 scheduled for rededication).

Dedication scheduled:

151. Sapporo Japan Temple Open house tickets available beginning Monday June 27, @ 10:00 am JST; dedication scheduled on Sunday August 21, 2016.

152. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Accepting free reservations for public open house; dedication scheduled on Sunday September 18, 2016.

153. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Open house tickets available beginning Monday July 11 @ 10 AM MDT; dedication scheduled on Sunday October 16, 2016.

154. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Facing landscape structures with ledge rock; installing fence posts around temple; dedication scheduled on Sunday October 30, 2016.

155. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Granite being attached to front façade; building entrance plaza and temple president’s residence; dedication scheduled on Sunday November 20, 2016.

Under Construction:

156. Paris France Temple: Planting trees and plants;awaiting art glass installation; completion estimated for sometime in early 2017.

157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Stained glass windows installed; pouring parking lot curbing; completion estimated for sometime in late 2017.

158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Exterior panels attached; work continues on interior and grounds; completion estimated for sometime in late 2017.

159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Laying zinc shingles on dome; completion estimated for sometime in  either late 2017 or early 2018.

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work underway including some material replacement and rework; completion estimated for sometime in 2018.

161. Concepcion Chile Temple: Exterior walls poured; completion estimated sometime during 2018.

162. Durban South Africa Temple: Site fence erected; completion estimated sometime in either 2018 or 2019.
163. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Site clearing and preparation phase; completion estimated for sometime in either 2018 or 2019.

164. Fortaleza Brazil Temple Site clearing and preparation phase; completion estimated for sometime in either 2018 or 2019.

165. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Ground broken on Saturday December 5, 2015; completion estimated for sometime in 2019.

166. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Ground broken on Saturday February 20, 2016; completion estimated for sometime in  2019.

Rededication scheduled:

33. Freiberg Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication scheduled on Sunday September 4, 2016.

Undergoing Renovation:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication estimated for sometime in early 2017.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication estimated for sometime in mid-2017.

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication estimated for sometime in late 2017.

Announced:

167. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; groundbreaking date anticipated to be announced soon.

168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Construction preparation phase; plans approved by local government; groundbreaking may be announced soon and scheduled sometime after the summer Olympics.

169. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

170. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

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

174. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

175. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Key:

Bolded numbers and text denote temples whose number already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as dedication or groundbreaking dates.

Italicized numbers and text denote temples whose number may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose number may change based on the order in which their future groundbreakings are announced.

Thoughts?

Article about new General Authority Seventy Elder Gary B. Sabin

The Church News today ran an article about new General Authority Seventy Elder Gary B. Sabin. To view that article, click here. Enjoy!

Help Needed: Determining the Order in Which the Apostles will Speak Next Conference

Hello. Since my blog is getting more traffic now, I wanted to enlist the help of my readers in deciding something: my prediction for the order in which the apostles will speak. Ordinarily, it's an easy choice for me. But I have come up with two possibilities, and I can't decide which would be better.

Some preliminary information. I will include two copies of the table I use to track when each apostle last spoke in each of the five general sessions.

Key to abbreviations used in the charts:
SAM=Saturday Morning
SAA=Saturday Afternoon
SPH=Priesthood
SUM=Sunday Morning
SUA=Sunday Afternoon
70 Pres=Presidency of the Seventy
PB=Presiding Bishopric
1stQof70=First Quorum of the Seventy

In the charts below, the month and year each apostle spoke in each session is listed, if known. When it happens that one of the three new apostles have not spoken as an apostle in that session of general conference, the month and year of when they last did so, along with the position held at the time, will be listed. The prediction shows simple addition as well, which I also like to do. When the numerical order of each apostle matches the number order they are, that notation will have an asterisk next to it. I have also added the apostolic order number to the speaking order number and have listed each time the result is odd or even. I will now post each individual chart, along with some brief commentary.

Scenario #1

	SAM	SAA	SPH	SUM	SUA
Nelson	Oct 2012	Apr 2014*	Apr 2016	Oct 2015	Apr 2015
Oaks	Apr 2015	Oct 2015	Apr 2014	Oct 2013*	Apr 2016
Ballard	Oct 2015	Apr 2016	Apr 2015	Apr 2014	Oct 2014*
Hales	Oct 2013*	Oct 2015	Apr 2013	Oct 2014	Apr 2016
Holland	Apr 2014*	Oct 2015	Oct 2011	Apr 2015	Apr 2016
Bednar	Oct 2013	Apr 2016	Apr 2012	Apr 2014*	Oct 2015
Cook	Oct 2015	Apr 2015*	Oct 2014	Apr 2016	Oct 2013
Christofferson	Oct 2014	Apr 2015*	Oct 2012	Apr 2016	Oct 2015
Andersen	Apr 2014	Apr 2016	Oct 2015	Apr 2013	Apr 2015*
Rasband	Apr 2014 (70 Pres)	Apr 2016	Apr 2010 (70 Pres)	Oct 2015	Oct 2000 (1stQof70)*
Stevenson	Apr 2016	N/A*	Oct 2012 (PB)	Oct 2015	Apr 2009 (1stQof70)
Renlund	Apr 2016	Apr 2015 (1stQof70)	N/A*	Oct 2015	Oct 2009 (1stQof70)

Scenario #1 Results

Nelson	SAA1	SAM	Hales (4 is 1)
Oaks	SUM2		Holland (5 is 2)
Ballard	SUA3	SAA	Nelson (1 is 3)
Hales	SAM1		Stevenson (11 is 4)
Holland	SAM2		Cook (7 is 5)
Bednar	SUM1		Christofferson (8 is 6)
Cook	SAA3	SPH	Renlund (12 is 7)
Christofferson	SAA4	SUM	Bednar (6 is 8)
Andersen	SUA2		Oaks (2 is 9)
Rasband	SUA1	SUA	Rasband (10 is 10)*
Stevenson	SAA2		Andersen (9 is 11)
Renlund	SPH		Ballard (3 is 12)

When adding the number of the apostle who spoke to the apostolic number they are (seniority order) they are, is the resulting figure odd or even?

Odd: 6

Even: 6

I favor this scenario for a variety of reasons: It is very unusual to have someone go more than 2 years without speaking in the Saturday Afternoon Session, which is Nelson's situation. I think it would also be good to have the new apostles begin speaking in the Priesthood Session, as none of them have done so since they were called in October 2015. I love that with this one, it isn't hard to picture it happening. And I love that this one has the three new apsotles spread out. Note also on the Sunday Morning session: Last time Elder Oaks spoke in that session, he was the first apostle to do so. When Elder Bednar last spoke in the Sunday Morning session, he was the second speaker. I also love in this one that the odd and even numbers are equal. Note for above: It is not necessary for more senior apostles speaking in a session to be assigned before their junior counterparts. That will become important for the next scenario.

Scenario #2

	SAM	SAA	SPH	SUM	SUA
Nelson	Oct 2012*	Apr 2014	Apr 2016	Oct 2015	Apr 2015
Oaks	Apr 2015	Oct 2015	Apr 2014	Oct 2013*	Apr 2016
Ballard	Oct 2015	Apr 2016	Apr 2015	Apr 2014	Oct 2014*
Hales	Oct 2013*	Oct 2015	Apr 2013	Oct 2014	Apr 2016
Holland	Apr 2014	Oct 2015	Oct 2011*	Apr 2015	Apr 2016
Bednar	Oct 2013	Apr 2016	Apr 2012	Apr 2014*	Oct 2015
Cook	Oct 2015	Apr 2015*	Oct 2014	Apr 2016	Oct 2013
Christofferson	Oct 2014	Apr 2015*	Oct 2012	Apr 2016	Oct 2015
Andersen	Apr 2014	Apr 2016	Oct 2015	Apr 2013	Apr 2015*
Rasband	Apr 2014 (70 Pres)	Apr 2016	Apr 2010 (70 Pres)	Oct 2015	Oct 2000 (1stQof70)*
Stevenson	Apr 2016	N/A*	Oct 2012 (PB)	Oct 2015	Apr 2009 (1stQof70)
Renlund	Apr 2016	Apr 2015 (1stQof70)*	N/A	Oct 2015	Oct 2009 (1stQof70)

Scenario #2 Results

Nelson	SAM2	SAM	Hales (4 is 1)
Oaks	SUM1		Nelson (1 is 2)
Ballard	SUA2	SAA	Stevenson (11 is 3)
Hales	SAM1		Renlund (12 is 4)
Holland	SPH		Cook (7 is 5)
Bednar	SUM2		Christofferson (8 is 6)
Cook	SAA3	SPH	Holland (5 is 3)
Christofferson	SAA4	SUM	Oaks (2 is 8)
Andersen	SUA3		Bednar (6 is 9)
Rasband	SUA1	SUA	Rasband (10 is 10)*
Stevenson	SAA1		Ballard (3 is 11)
Renlund	SAA2		Andersen (9 is 12)

When adding the number of the apostle who spoke to the number representing the order in which they are, is the resulting figure odd or even?       
Odd: 4

Even: 8

It is not unusual to have such a disparity between the even and odd numbered speakers. I favor this one because it allows apostles who have not spoken recently tin a session to do so. It would make sense if Elders Stevenson and Renlund both spoke in the Saturday Afternoon Session. I like that President Nelson, who hasn't spoken in the Saturday Morning Session for four years, will get a chance to do so sooner this way. On the Sunday morning session, I like that they are speaking in seniority order. As we saw last Sunday afternoon session, that wasn't in order (Hales, Oaks, Holland), so I like how this one breaks up Rasband and Andersen. Plus, last time Andersen spoke in the Sunday afternoon session, he was the second speaker, and things rarely happen the same way twice. It would also be good to have some more time before any of the new apostles speak in the priesthood session. As you can see, most apostles (Oaks, Ballard, Hales, Bednar, Cook, Christofferson, Andersen, Rasband, Stevenson) only changed slightly from where they were in either prediction.

Note for above on the Saturday morning session: In both scenarios, I have Hales speaking first. Ordinarily, when a President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks, he is the first in the session to do so. Obviously there are exceptions. But with Hales's health reportedly not well, it would give Hales a reason for speaking before his quorum president, as it is also not uncommon for a quorum president to be the last apostolic speaker in a session.

Finally, I could see either prediction as a very feasible option. But I've babbled on enough. What do you guys think? Any and all comments are welcome.