Area Leadership Assignment Analysis

Hello. As most of you are aware, the Church announced the changes in area leadership that would take place later this year, becoming effective on August 1. I have taken time to analyze those changes and thought I would post the results of that analysis today. I hope this information may prove interesting to some of you. I have also taken the opportunity to check into how these new changes might affect the editors and advisers of the Church magazines.

We are a Church that believes in rotating responsibilities, and that means that assignments are only of a temporary duration. Many who have served for several years outside the United States are returning and assuming assignments at Church headquarters. It is an exciting time to live in, where the changes are at once both subtle and significant.

As previously noted, there will be two changes in the leadership of the Presidency of the Seventy, where Elders Donald L. Hallstrom and Richard J. Maynes will be replaced by Elders Juan A. Uceda and Patrick Kearon, both sustained in 2010. This will mark the first time in Church history where more members of that Presidency have been born outside of the United States than within it, which is significant. It is also the first time in Church history of which I am aware in which we have had just under half (3 total) Presidency members that were called as General Authority Seventies within the last 7 years. I would have to crunch the numbers to verify that, but it is significant.

There has been lots of talk lately about how the Church is no longer a Utah- or US- based institution. The little stone that Daniel envisioned is rolling forward to fill the earth, and the vision that Brother Joseph had about the Church filling the world is fast coming to fruition. These new assignments are a reflection of that.

I am also gratified to see that the Church is continuously changing out assignments to give newer General Authorities a chance to serve in positions of responsibility. Among the changes I have noted is that many GA Seventies who have been called within the last two years are being given a chance to serve in some of these new area assignments.

So, without further ado, here are those changes. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks for your interest, feedback, and support.

Changes in Area Leadership August 2017

NOTE: Where applicable, I am also noting changes that are likely in the advisers of the Church magazines in view of these assignments, which appear in bold type.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: There is one case, noted in italics below, where the noted changes will likely take place sooner than August 1, in view of Elder Wong’s call as a mission president.

Presidency of the Seventy:

Elders Donald L. Hallstrom (who has been supervising the North America Northwest and North America West Areas) and Richard J. Maynes (who has been supervising the North America Southeast Area) will be released from the Presidency of the Seventy and, as noted, will take other assignments at Church headquarters.

Elders Juan A. Uceda and Patrick Kearon will fill the resulting vacancies in this presidency, with Elder Uceda overseeing the North America Southeast Area (succeeding Elder Maynes) and Elder Kearon overseeing the North America Northwest and North America West Areas (succeeding Elder Hallstrom).

Additionally, in view of his new assignment in the Presidency, Elder Patrick Kearon will be released as President of the Europe Area.

General Authority Seventies:

Marcos A. Aidukaitis released as First Counselor and called as President of the Brazil Area.

Jose L. Alonso released as Second Counselor in the Central America Area Presidency and called as Second Counselor in the Caribbean Area Presidency.

Wilford W. Andersen released as the junior administrator of the Middle East/Africa North Area, and called as the senior administrator (referred to for the first time as Area President.)

Ian S. Ardern called as Second Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency.

W. Mark Bassett released as Second Counselor and called as First Counselor in the Brazil Area Presidency.

Craig A. Cardon released as Second Counselor and called as First Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency.

Valeri V. Cordon called as Second Counselor in the Central America Area Presidency.

Claudio R. M. Costa released as President of the Brazil Area Presidency.

Joaquin E. Costa called as Second Counselor in the Brazil Area Presidency.

Massimo De Feo called as Second Counselor in the Europe Area Presidency.

Kevin R. Duncan released as President of the Central America Area Presidency.

Stanley G. Ellis released as First Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency.

David F. Evans released as Second Counselor and called as First Counselor in the Asia Area Presidency.

NOTE: Elder Evans is succeeding Elder Wong, as noted below. It is therefore likely that we will see this change happen sooner than August, if it has not already taken place.

Robert C. Gay called as President of the Asia North Area Presidency.

Christoffel Golden called as First Counselor in the Europe East Area Presidency.

NOTE: Elder Golden’s new assignment will necessitate his release as an adviser to the Church Magazines.

Paul V. Johnson released as First Counselor in the Europe Area Presidency and called as the Area President.

Larry S. Kacher released as First Counselor in the Europe East Area Presidency and called as Second Counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency.

Larry R. Lawrence released as the senior administrator of the Middle East/Africa North Area.

NOTE: It is likely that Elder Lawrence will be granted emeritus status in October, which would also necessitate his release as an adviser to the Church magazines.

Joni L. Koch called as Second Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency.

Hugo E. Martinez released as Second Counselor in the Caribbean Area Presidency.

Peter F. Meurs called as Second Counselor in the Asia Area Presidency.

NOTE: Elder Meurs replaces Elder Evans, who is succeeding Elder Wong, as noted below. It is therefore likely that we will see this change happen sooner than August, if it has not already taken place.

S. Gifford Nielsen released as First Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency.

Adrian Ochoa released as First Counselor and called as the President of the Central America Area

S. Mark Palmer released as Second Counselor and called as First Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency.

Anthony D. Perkins called as the junior administrator of the Middle East/Africa North Area (referred to for the first time as the First Counselor of that area).

Gary B. Sabin released as Second Counselor and called as First Counselor in the Europe Area Presidency.

Vern P. Stanfill released as Second Counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency.

Scott D. Whiting released as President of the Asia North Area.

Chi Hong (Sam) Wong released as First Counselor in the Asia Area Presidency.

NOTE: Elder Wong, who has been asked to serve as president of the Canada Vancouver Mission starting in July, has likely already been released from this assignment to allow him to prepare for this new one.

Jorge F. Zeballos called as First Counselor in the Central America Area Presidency.

Church begins announcing New Temple Presidents

Hello again to you all. The time of year has come when the Church has started to announce the callings of new temple presidents. In addition to the Calgary Alberta Temple, which had a change in president earlier this year for reasons not made public, and three of the four temples that will be dedicated later this year (as the first president of the Paris France Temple was called during the summer of last year), new presidents have been called so far for 23 temples.

I could also see presidents being called for as many as 12 other operating temples. There are three others which will probably be dedicated in the early months of next year that might also have their first presidents announced soon. As I observed from my own six-year service as a temple worker, temple presidents generally usually serve for three years or so. So in that regard, there is one temple whose president has been serving for around 5 years, which is a comparatively longer period of time than temple presidents usually serve.

And there are other temples that have had presidents in place for several years as well, but in those cases, their active service time was interrupted at some point by a renovation. I was elated to find that the new president of the Mount Timpanogos Temple has been a counselor in the temple presidency for several years, and also happened to be someone I knew personally who had been in my parents' ward. He is a very good man whom I respect a lot. That was great to learn about. It made my day. I enjoy following the calling of new presidents, and I hope that some of you will find this list of mine to be informative and interesting. If any of you have any feedback, please let me know.

Here is that list of new presidents:

Operating Temples whose president was changed earlier this year:

1.      Calgary Alberta (president changed sometime during March for an undisclosed reason, likely because the previous president died or became incapacitated)

General Note #1: The president of the Tokyo Japan Temple died during his active service in late April of this year. The Church will no doubt be calling one of his counselors as the new president within the next few days to ensure that the work of the temple presidency can move forward uninterrupted.

New Temples whose presidents will begin serving later this year:

1.      Paris France (President announced in 2016; will begin formal service on May 21)

2.      Cedar City Utah (President  announced in March; will begin service on December 10)

3.      Tucson Arizona (President announced in March; will begin formal service on August 13)

4.      Meridian Idaho (President announced in April; will begin formal service in November 19)

General Note #2: The presidents of the Freiberg Germany Temple (closed for renovation in 2014 and rededicated last year) and Idaho Falls Idaho Temple (closed for renovation in 2015 and scheduled for rededication in June of this year) started serving in 2014, months before their closures. If not for that, both would be marking the completion of their third years of active service later this year. As it is, they only actively served for a few months maximum. Therefore, it is possible that the Church may retain him for a couple more years. I could see them calling a new president, but it doesn’t seem probable.

General Note #3: Other operating temples, as has already been announced, will be getting a new president later this year as well, and if those changes take place as they did during my six-year service in the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple, the new presidents will start their service on the first Monday or Tuesday of November, which fall this year on the 6^th and 7^th. Those temples that will have a new president this year include the following:

1.      Apia Samoa

2.      Logan Utah

3.      Vernal Utah

4.      Toronto Ontario

5.      Snowflake Arizona

6.      Phoenix Arizona

7.      Salt Lake

8.      Bern Switzerland

9.      Quetzaltenango Guatemala

10.  Louisville Kentucky

11.  San Diego California

12.  Mount Timpanogos Utah

13.  Madrid Spain

14.  Bogota Colombia

15.  Edmonton Alberta

16.  Newport Beach California

17.  Adelaide Australia

18.  Kona Hawaii

19.  Caracas Venezuela

20.  Bismarck North Dakota

21.  Mesa Arizona

22.  Columbia South Carolina

23.  Ogden Utah

Temple presidents generally serve for around three years. With that in mind, I feel confident in predicti.ng that the following temples may also have a new president announced:

1.      Asuncion Paraguay

NOTE: The current president has served since 2014, which means that this year would mark time for a charge. But this temple will close for renovation in October, one month before usual changes are made. As a subsequent rededication of this temple is anticipated sometime in 2019, it is more than likely that the Church will hold off on naming a new president until that time.

2.      Baton Rouge Louisiana

3.      Buenos Aires Argentina

4.      NOTE: The current president has been serving since this temple’s rededication in 2012. As that is well beyond the standard 3 years of service, it seems reasonable to assume that there will be such a change this year.

5.      Fort Lauderdale Florida

6.      Guayaquil Ecuador

7.      Los Angeles California

8.      Lubbock Texas

9.      Manila Philippines

10.  Oakland California

11.  San Salvador El Salvador

12.  Washington DC

NOTE: Though this temple president will have marked three years of service later this year, the temple will close for renovation next March. With that in mind, I could see the Church calling a new president this year for a few months prior to that renovation, or holding off on calling anyone until after the renovation is completed sometime during 2020.

Temples that will most likely be dedicated during the early or middle part of next year and might therefore have their first presidents announced at some point during the fall of this year (since the first president of the Paris France Temple had its’ first: president called during summer 2016):

1.      Rome Italy

2.      Kinshasa DR Congo

3.      Barranquilla Colombia

ADDITIONAL NOTES: The current president of the Jordan River Utah Temple has been serving in that capacity since 2014, which would have made his release possible this year, but as it has been undergoing renovations since 2016, he has had less than two years of active service. It is therefore highly probable that he will retain his presidency until sometime during 2020, which would be two years of additional active service following the rededication, for the total standard service period of three years. The current president of the Frankfurt Germany temple has a slightly different but similar situation, as he started serving in 2013, and had roughly two years of active service prior to that temple’s renovation closure in 2015. We could therefore see a change in that temple presidency sometime within the next two years or so. Time will tell. In both cases, the Church might always decide to make those changes sooner, but that seems unlikely. As far as I have been able to ascertain, every other temple president whose active service has been interrupted by a temple renovation has subsequently gone on to fill the remainder of his three-year term.

Church News article about New General Authority Seventy Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella

The Church News this weekend featured an article about newly sustained General Authority Seventy Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella. It was great to read that article and get to know him a bit better. Click here to read that article. Thanks to you all for your interest and support.

First Presidency Announces Area Leadership/Presidency of the Seventy Changes

Earlier today, the Church News put out a report of the changes in area leadership that will be effective as of August 1 of this year. You can read about  those changes here. I will be posting an analysis later today on what these changes mean in terms of new area leadership.

In the meantime, among the reported changes is this interesting tidbit: there will be changes in the Presidency of the Seventy. Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, who is second in seniority in that presidency and has been serving since the April 2009 General Conference when Elder Neil L. Andersen was called to the apostleship, will be released, as well as Elder Richard J. Maynes, who has served in the Presidency of the Seventy since January of 2012, when his call was the result of Steven E. Snow's call from that Presidency to become the Church's new historian and recorder.

Called in place of these two brethren were Elders Juan A. Uceda and Patrick Kearon, who were both sustained as General Authority Seventies at the same time as Elder Gerrit W. Gong. This change marks the first time of which I am aware within which 4 General Authority Seventies born outside the United States have all served together in the Presidency of the Seventy. How wonderful it was to be able to read about that. More coming on general Church news and the specific area leadership changes very soon. Thanks to you all.

Tokyo Japan Temple President Passes Away/Minor Construction Developments Reported

Hello, all! Before sharing some minor updates on temple construction, I wanted to note the report today that the president of the Tokyo Japan Temple died during his active service on April 28, and his funeral services were held earlier today. It is therefore logical to assume that a new president will be called within the next couple of days, and that new president will most likely be one of the counselors of the deceased president. More to come on that once more is known. I am also actively working on a list of temples that have had or will have a new president this year and the long-promised update on the latest apostolic statistics.

For the moment, I wanted to share some minor but still significant updates on temple construction progress, updates which  I have added to my report. While I had reported previously that exterior floodlighting was being installed at the Cedar City Utah  Temple grounds, and while that update was featured on the main and news pages of the LDS Church Temples site, that detail has not subsequently appeared on the construction status page of that site, so I have felt it advisable to restore the status that was most recently reported on that temple, which is that, in addition to trees and flowers being planted on the grounds, interior paint and millwork installation is underway.

Meanwhile, at the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple, steel roof trusses are nearing completion. At this point, it appears that either that temple, or the Barranquilla Colombia Temple could be completed first. A lot will depend on what happens with the construction of both over the next several months.

Also, there has still not been any reports that the construction of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple has started in earnest. Canadian seasons tend to follow those of the US pretty closely, as they are neighboring nations. That said, Canadian winters in some places, Manitoba being one of them, have been historically known to be very bad. So full-scale construction could begin anytime this month or next month. I have been very surprised that no progress has happened with that temple as of yet. I do know that, here in Utah County, winter conditions cleared a while ago. Rain and snow is still possible within the next month or so, but Utah has not seen a bad storm for a while. So I am not sure how much prior winter conditions might still figure in to progress on this temple. But it should start anytime now.

As always, I am trying my best to keep a faithful eye on  all developments, and will pass along news and updates as I find them out. In the meantime, any and all comments are appreciated. Thanks so much, friends, for taking an interest in things about which I "sound off." I know that my efforts to put such posts together would be a lot more difficult if I didn't know that my thoughts were important to so many of you. Readership of my posts continues to be more than I ever could have imagined when I started out. And I always treasure comments that are made, which, more often than not, change the direction of my thought patterns and future posts. I particularly appreciate all of you who have pointed out incorrect information I have posted previously. I always strive to be as accurate as possible, and I thank all of you for helping me continue to do so. Thanks again!