Will You Be My Valentine?

As Valentines' Day comes to a close, it is time for my yearly tradition on this blog. Every year since I started blogging, I have posted a copy of the same poem to which I first penned the words in High School. The poem, capturing all the angst associated with teenage love, is not based on an actual experience. I was never really successful in matters of the heart until my wife and I met and my hesitancy and reticence in not approaching her led her to find me and send me the letter that started everything. There followed what I have referenced before many times in the past: a whirldwind dating relationship,  in which our prior association of the past year or so led to our first "I love yous" and the idea that the question of marriage would be when and how rather than if just after the first week of dating, to our engagement after the end of the third week of dating (I think 14 dates in the first 3 weeks qualifies as "whirlwind") made the best Independence Day of my life. And even though we would have preferred to be married in October sometime, things fell into place so neatly to enable our marriage to coincide with the day her parents celebrated their anniversary (December 18). Amy, who had been the primary caregiver for her MS-stricken mother (who passed away several months before Amy sought me out), willingly set aside her own life and interests to take on this man and all his health challenges. For the first two years of our marriage, until she could no longer handle doing so, she worked tirelessly at a job that was so physically taxing, she still suffers from the physical toll that job took on her.

Sad to say, in all she has done in the entirety of our seven years together, I have been her biggest stumbling block. When we originally got together, I was serving at the temple two days a week, going to school (albeit online), pushing myself to accomplish everything I could, and was obviously enough of a good man to be attractive to her. But after my attitude and approach to life had her convinced I would be a wonderful man to spend this life and eternity with, I was so relieved in so many ways that I would once again be "taken care of" that I slipped into complacency.

I wish I could go back and redo the ensuing years. I have slipped into physical (gaining weight and not exercising consistently as many of my doctors have advised repeatedly), medical (throwing asd much money as I could at the next fix, no matter how it might be affecting me), spiritual (denying myself the blessings of personal prayer and scripture study, not tending to my family duties or being a very good steward, nor attending the temple regularly with my sweetheart to remind us where and how it all began) and financial (using every excuse to not give an honest day's work and also justifying my own foolish and poor impulse buying) ruin. Over and over again, I have taken her for granted, acted like I am single and living on my own, and I have never failed to make my needs and wants more important than anything she wants or needs. In short, she has been nothing but selfless with me, while I have only been selfish towards her. Somewhere along the line, I have forgotten to ensure I maintain my status as the man she fell in love with and to work to become the man she deserves and the man who deserves her. And my cavalier and careless attitude has taken a toll on our marriage. Amy has assured me that she has no intention of ending the commitment she's made to be mine eternally, but in looking over my conduct since she came into my life, I have not given her very many reasons to stay.

I am grateful for the times when I have listened to her wonderful and often inspired advice. For about a year before it actually happened, she had voiced her opinion we should discontinue our temple service. But not until I was convinced it was the right thing to do did I agree with her assessment that it needed to happen. And I was grateful when I did listen to her. Right after, we had a major health crash, in the aftermath of which she had to quit her job, and I finally stepped up to the plate and started looking for one myself. The Lord made me pay a hefty price for my not having done so earlier, and I spent the better part of two years unsuccessfully trying to find one. When I did find the job at ROI Solutions, I started out as one of the most committed employees they had, and I was constantly trying my hardest to do the best I could for our customers. And my work ethic was rewarded by ROI, first by a pay raise, then by them extending special considerations in view of my health.

Sad to say, this lulled me into a sense of false security, and I used every excuse, every minor health complaint, as a reason to not work as assigned. When I was there, I was still the most committed employee they had. But my not pushing myself to work the assigned shift led to them not being able to keep me on when the project was closed because the agent company felt the ROI agents were "too good" at serving their customers, and that we were posing somewhat of a threat to the agents that represented the actual company.

There followed the hardest five months of my life in which we had many financial troubles. It was not until my first Team Leader from the previous ROI mentioned that he had a spot open on a project at another branch that I was able to resume employment. Thankfully, I was able to be set for the same rate of pay, and my project manager, who knows me well, has worked around my health issues. Even so, I have had issues with attendance again, and some of the things I have done with this new project have led at times to corrective actions. My wife has not ceased to support me in these opportunties, and has been my first and foremost source of encouragement and comfort when I have been worried about my job.

Just this weekend, my wife and I had a pivotal conversation in which I realized just how careless I had been in my attitude towards our relationship in general, and my duty to provide for our family. I resolved this week would be different and would mark the start of my genuine efforts to change everything that has been wrong in our relationship for so long.

Unfortunately, as a result of that conversation, I made some drastic changes in reducing the amount of some alternative remedies I had been taking, and eliminated some others and also one of the prescriptions I had been regularly taking. The result was that after a doctor's appointment early on Monday morning, I crashed big time. I realized that my body was in shock after abruptly stopping so many medications that were doing much more harm than good. Under the advice of my PCP, I have laid low for the last couple of days.

But if I can do so at all tomorrow, I am determined to be on time for work whatever else happens. And from now on, I will work with that same integrity with which my wife labored so hard to support us for as long as she was able to. And with the Lord's help, I will exert every possible effort to provide a good living for my family.

In the meantime, to my credit, I have been doing well in some regards. Well-meaning members of my family have carelessly and sometimes very cruelly suggested that Amy should be the only one to work for our maintenance, completely disregarding everything we try to tell them about her condition. I have made every effort to defend her from such awful and unjustified attacks on how much she has suffered in her life. And I have attempted to do everything in my power to help her resolve her health issues, even though those efforts have been fruitless up to now thanks to the fact that our mutual PCP has disregarded, overlooked and downplayed her symptoms while making every extra effort to resolve whatever issues I bring to his attention about what I am going through. We have been able to find her great insurance coverage with a completely different group of health care professionals, one of whom I hope will be able to figure out why she's feeling this way and actually do something about it.

Every year, we have a tradition where she drives us to the grounds of the Mount Timpanogos Temple on July 4th. There I lead her to the bench where I first proposed, and I do so again. This one tradition of renewing our engagement and commitment is something I greatly treasure.

And so, on this Valentines' Day, even though it is small thanks, I have posted this tribute to my beloved eternal companion for all to view. This woman, who has given everything to ensure that we are taken care of, and who now unfailingly has supported, loved, and stuck with me in spite of all my stupidity thoughtlessness, and selfishness, serves as a reminder that, if I live worthy of her, not only will she be mine in this life and in all the eternities to follow, but that I will never have to ask again the question posed in this poem. Enjoy it, and let me know what your thoughts are on this post in general or on the poem in particular. In the meantime, before sharing it, I want to include this statement: I love you, my beloved eternal sweetheart, now and forever, and I will work as hard as it takes to prove that from now on.

“Will You Be My Valentine?”

I cast my eyes to the sky above,

It's so long since I've dared to love.

Will I be rejected again?

I need another special friend,

One with whom to share my dreams.

I had one once, or so it seemed.

But she abandoned me for another,

And they're now wrapped up in each other.

To see them now, it makes me sick.

I wish that I were half as slick,

As the one who took my girl away.

But now, alas, she will not stay.

So as to make her feel disgrace,

I've found another pretty face.

One whom I feel I can trust,

Or will it be another bust?

I do not know, I cannot guess,

If she at last will ease my stress.

And yet, unsure, these thoughts are mine,

“Will you please be my valentine?”

Temple Construction Progress Update

Hello. This is my first chance to blog since the weekend (another one spent not feeling well). And I can't think of a better subject for this newest blog post than a temple construction progress update. There has been a lot of progress reported since my last such update was posted almost a week ago. And the progress is significant. I enjoyed reading about it all, and I am excited to share these developments with any who care to read about them.

That said, the biggest change was the fact that, on the LDS Church Temples Website, instead of giving a more specific status to the announced temples, now has them all listed in the category of "planning and approval". Even with that change, it is apparent to me that some of those temples are still ahead of others in terms of how close they are to having an official site and/or groundbreaking announced. With that in mind, I have looked into that status of each of those announced temples and have tried to regroup them by the most likely order in which they will have a groundbreaking scheduled. I welcome any and all feedback on such ideas. I should also note that, in spite of the fact that it seems to be in the planning and approval phase while others are just in the planning phase, the temple that was announced in Urdaneta Philippines seven years ago this October is still very much stalled, with no indication whatsoever of how long that status might prevail and remain in place. For that reason, I have moved that temple to the very bottom of my personal list of announced temples.

That said, the latest update is below.  Please enjoy it, and, if you feel so inclined, feedback is always appreciated. Thank you!

Temple Construction Progress Update (current as of 2/13/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 4 scheduled for dedication; 8 under construction; 2 groundbreakings scheduled; 1 scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 8 announced. NOTE: In addition to the two groundbreakings already scheduled this year, the chances are very good that we will see several others also have a groundbreaking in 2017.

Dedication scheduled:

156. Paris France Temple: Interior artwork being shipped for hanging inside the temple; dedication scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.

157. Tucson Arizona Temple: Desert landscaping progressing; exterior architectural details gilded; installing interior art glass and millwork; dedication scheduled for Sunday August 13, 2017.

158. Meridian Idaho Temple: Interior painting and millwork underway; dedication scheduled for Sunday November 19, 2017.

159. Cedar City Utah Temple: Installing art glass windows; hanging drywall on interior; dedication scheduled for Sunday December 10, 2017.

Under Construction:

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Applying waterproofing membrane to exterior walls; setting rebar; roughing in plumbing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

162.  Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Concrete walls poured for steeple; attaching waterproofing membrane to exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Concepcion Chile Temple: Exterior cladding going up on north wall; framing the interior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2018.

164. Durban South Africa Temple: Backfilling foundation; preparing for ground floor; missionary housing walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2018.

165. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Parapet poured; some scaffolding coming down; preparing to pour tower base; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

166.  Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation underway for temple; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Construction pending:

167. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between 2018 and 2019 (assuming the delays that may be preventing construction are sufficiently resolved.)

Groundbreaking Scheduled:

168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Preparing for groundbreaking; environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday March 4, 2017.

169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Preparing for groundbreaking; erecting construction barrier; clearing and leveling site; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday March 4, 2017.

Rededication Scheduled:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; finish work underway; rededicatiemon scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.

Undergoing Renovation:

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime between early-and-mid 2018.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; some exterior stone removed; foundation exposed; old meetinghouse razed; rededication anticipated sometime between early-and mid-2018.

Announced:

170. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; site announcement anticipated in the very near future, with the groundbreaking anticipated to take place shortly thereafter.

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and design phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: According to member reports, a potential site has been identified but has yet to be confirmed.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: Some reports have indicated that a Church office building may be redesigned and renovated as a multi-purpose building that will not only continue to house Church offices but also a meetinghouse in addition to a temple.

173. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: Even though this was the last of the four temples that was announced most recently, and in spite of the fact that an official site has not yet been announced, the announced name for this second temple in Lima seems to indicate that it will be constructed somewhere in the Los Olivos District. For that reason, it seems appropriate to put this temple ahead of the others.

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

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

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

177. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: Even though this temple is technically ahead of the temples listed above in terms of its status, because it is unclear why progress has been stalled or how long those delays might last, we could see any or all of the temples above have their constructions commence before anything gets resolved with this one.

Key:

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

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval, and groundbreaking.

Red text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress report.

BREAKING NEWS: Europe East Area Presidency Changes

A comment on my blog tipped me off to the information I had been seeking about what changes had taken place with the Europe East Area Presidency as a result of the release in early December and subsequent death of Elder Bruce D. Porter. As I had expected, Elder James B. Martino, who served as Elder Porter's First Counselor, succeeded him as the new area president. Elder Larry S. Kacher, Elder Porter's second counselor, is the new First Counselor. But what blew me away is that the new second counselor is an Area Seventy, Alexey V. Samaykin. As I observed in response to the comment that shared this news, I am not sure of how long it has been since we last had an area seventy serve as an area presidency member. In the days of President Hinckley, it was not that uncommon to have several Area Presidencies comprised either mostly or entirely of area seventies But that role has shifted again of late to General Authority seventies, presumably enabling  area seventies to focus more fully on their local occupations and Church service. I know that when an area seventy has served in recent years as an area presidency member, it is almost always a temporary assignment, lasting only until the annual area presidency changes happen in August. I fully anticipate the same being true for the assignment of Elder Samaykin. But time will tell. In the meantime, I am grateful to have learned of this and to have now been able to report it after waiting so long to do so. I welcome any feedback. Wonderful news!

Land has been purchased for a temple site in Missoula Montana

Hello.  I am doing this blog post to share that land has been purchased in Missoula Montana for  a temple. I have before mentioned in other blog posts how such a temple had been proposed in 2014 by Elder David A. Bednar during his assignment to a stake conference in the area. Missoula now joins three other locations that I know of in the world where land for a temple site has been purchased: Managua Nicaragua, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, and Bentonville Arkansas. The report of the land purchase in Missoula has come from an unimpeachable source. And I know that some will argue that the purchasing of a temple site is in no way a solid indicator of how imminent a temple announcement might be for that site. But I disagree. Someone else, who has no small familiarity on the matter, has advised me that such sites will have a temple announced when Church unit growth and activity in the area such a temple would cover warrants that happening. So I have no doubts that we will see all of those temples announced soon, and that is why those four sites are at the top of my list of most imminent future temple announcements. Please let me know what your thoughts are on this developments. Thank you.

Churchwide Change in Calling Title/Elder Stevenson Visits South America

Due to some personal issues, now is my first opportunity to blog about two major Church news stories that I first became aware of a day or two ago when they were first published.

First, the Church officially announced a change in the title of a calling. Those presently referred to as "Family History Consultants" will now work under the designated expanded title of "Temple and Family History Consultants". The intent is that such consultants will be focused on working with the end goal of enabling people to take names to the temple. It has been a long time in coming, but the change is most welcome and definitely needed. As one who has previously served as a Family History Consultant, my main job was to help those members of my Elders' Quorum prepare and take names of their ancestors to the temple. The change was announced during the Family History Leadership Session at RootsTech, the annual family history gathering held by the Church. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was the one who made the announcement. That was exciting to read about. Click here to read more on the change.

In the meantime, those who read my post about the apostles asked to represent the Church at the inauguration of now-President Donald Trump (got to get used to saying that, however much I hate to) will recall that one of them, Elder Gary E. Stevenson, departed directly after the inauguration to fill another assignment, an extensive visit to South America. The Church News ran a report on that visit. Click here to read about what he did during that visit. His experience there, returning as an apostle to a place he had visited as Presiding Bishop, was significant. And based on the Church News report, there is even more evidence than before that this particular apostle could truly claim international experience. If more evidence was needed that our apostles truly are apostles to the world, there it is.

Thanks for reading this, and, if you feel so inclined, commeting on it. I hope to do several blog posts this weekend, including a long-overdue report of the Seminar for New Mission Presidents. With everything that has happened in my personal life lately (which I hope I will share in another blog post), I somehow overlooked getting that taken care of sooner. So I will make it happen this weekend. Thanks again.