Utah's Ninja Newscaster

KSL recently ran a story narrated by Dave McCann and featuring his co-anchors on the 10 pm newscast, Deanie Wimmer and Mike Headrick. The purpose of the story was to determine who was Utah's Ninja Newscaster. Anyone familiar with NBC's American Ninja Warrior will by now know what such a competition usually entails. For those who don't know, what happened is this: Deanie and Mike went head-to-head competing in several obstacle courses. Though Deanie had more nimbleness and was quick, the title of Utah's Ninja Newscaster went to Mike because he got all the way through the course due to his large arm muscles. Dave, Deanie, and Mike joked with meterologist Kevin Eubank that a rematch was needed, perhaps getting Dave in on it this time. It was fun to watch. If you'd be interested in seeing that and reading more about it, please click here.

What an awesome news story!

More on how the new Russian law will affect missionaries and the Church's progress

KSL ran a story yesterday on how the new Russian law will affect missionaries serving in Russia. Missionaries will now be referred to in public and private as "volunteers" They will be referred to as such in both public and private. Instead of saying "My son is a missionary in Russia" people will say "My son volunteers in Russia for our C hurch." For more on this, click here. Thanks.

More Work on the List of Soon-to-be-announced temples

As those who follow this blog are aware, I've been posting A LOT lately about temples that may soon be announced. As you will recall, I narrowed my list down to 20 temples that I listed last time in geographical order. Now I am posting this time to list them in order of relevant likelihood. And again, please feel free to notify me if you disagree with this order or with any of the 20 I've selected.

1.      Nicaragua (Managua)

2.      Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby)

3.      Puerto Rico (San Juan)

4.      Kiribati (Tarawa)

5.      Sierra Leone (Freetown)

6.      Uganda (Kampala)

7.      Kenya (Nairobi)

8.      Arkansas (Bentonville)

9.      Montana (Missoula)

10.  Utah (Lehi)

11.  Hungary (Budapest)

12.  Bolivia (La Paz)

13.  Mexico (Quezon City)

14.  Chile (Valparaiso)

15.  New Zealand (Auckland)

16.  Philippines (Davao)

17.  New Zealand (Auckland)

18.  Nigeria (Lagos)

19.  Idaho (Pocatello)

20.  Scotland (Edinburgh)

Thoughts?

Apostolic Travels During July Recess/We Honor the Pioneers

As many of you may know, July is the one month of the calendar year that the leading Brethren (primarily the apostles) take off to spend time with their families, as their ecclesiastical duties don't allow them that much time to do so the rest of the year. As we have seen by what has happened with Church growth, this July has been one in which many stakes have been created. Additionally, on Facebook, Mormon Newsroom reported President Uchtdorf recently taking time to return to his native Europe to be with family. One of the things he is doing while in Europe is touring the temples announced or under construction. That was neat to hear about.

Then, I just found out that Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Angel's game on Friday July 15. The pitch was caught by Elder Ruben Acosta, an Area Seventy. To read more about this fun night, please click here.

That's the latest going on in apostolic news.

In the meantime, Brother Tad R. Callister, Sunday School General President, spoke on how we can honor our pioneer ancestors by the way we live. To read more about the event in which he spoke and what he said, click here.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available. Thanks for your readership, friendship, and interest.

Down to the top 20 most likely temples/Feedback appreciated.

I have been working on whittling down my list. I have gotten the list down to 20. I have done the list by world region.

I hope to refine the list further to the top seven or so. Let me know if you disagree with any of my choices or if you feel there are any glaring oversights.

Refined list of cities that may receive a temple soon.
1. South America (1. Managua Nicaragua 2. La Paz Bolivia. 3. Quezon City Mexico. 4. Valparaiso Chile. 5. Brasilia Brazil)
2. Pacific (1. Port Moresby Papua New Guinea) 2. Tarawa Kiribati. 3. Auckland New Zealand. 4. Quezon City Philippines)
3. Caribbean (1. San Juan Puerto Rico)
4. Africa (1. Freetown Sierra Leone 2. Kampala Uganda. 3. Nairobi Kenya. 4. Lagos Nigeria)
5. USA (1. Bentonville Arkansas. 2. Missoula Montana. 3. Lehi Utah. 4. Pocatello Idaho)
6. Europe (1. Budapest Hungary 2. Edinburgh Scotland)

I find it really difficult to think about cutting this list further. I think I will go with all of them as possibilities. 20 temples is not that many. Let me know if there are any glaring oversights. Thanks.