Issue Preventing Comments on this blog has been fixed (correctly this time)

After trying and failing repeatedly to fix the issue preventing you all from commenting on this blog, I finally discovered the problem: I had ad blocking software installed on my computer that appeared to be the issue. Having disabled both that and Disqus, the problem should be fixed completely and permanently this time. I am assuming (but not certain) that if an ad blocker was enabled on this site, it prevented the commenting option from initiating. I will puzzle over why that is later. For now, just know that it is fixed and hopefully fixed entirely and correctly this time. Please do let me know if there are any other issues. Thanks to you all for not just your interest and support but also your patience with me as I have worked on resolving these issues.

Providing More Details on Ailing Church Presidents

I had started this post intending to provide an update on the Seminar for New Mission Presidents, but when it was written, it turned out to focus almost entirely on what was done during the years when Presidents Benson and Kimball stepped back from active involvement in day-to-day Church operations and what that might indicate in the current circumstance of President Monson. So, here goes.

It seems that with President Monson stepping back from active service, senior members of the Twelve will be taking a more active role in assisting Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf in the day-to-day operations of the Church. That is not unexpected or unprecedented. The two counselors to President Monson are currently the 7th and 8th most senior apostles. And it appears that the 4 or 5 functioning apostles that are senior to the two in the apostleship but their juniors by virtue of Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf forming the Quorum of the First Presidency have much the same attitude as did President Benson.

President Benson, prior to his own time as Church President (during which he suffered a similar decline) was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that filled a role supporting President Hinckley while the latter was the sole functioning member of the First Presidency during the prophetic tenure of President Kimball. The apostles who served under President Benson's direction during that time noted (this is my best recollection of what I read, as I could not find the exact quote), "No one was more supportive of President Hinckley during this time than President Benson. When business came to the Twelve from the First Presidency, President Benson always said, 'Brethren, we must be about this NOW!' "

In a time where 20+ years has passed since the last time we saw a scenario like this (and I only know of it from what I've read: I was too young to recollect this first-hand), it is comforting to know that not only has the Church been here before, but that there is still great unity between the leading Brethren in the time of a prophet's declining years. Because the Church has been there before, we know that the 14 other apostles will do the best they can, being sure to not go further than they know President Monson would in their decisions and approaches to deliberations that are ongoing. How wonderful it is to know that, even when the prophet is not able to actively serve, the work will carry on.

As a side note, I am still trying to ascertain from the sources I have whether or not anything is in the works for President Monson's 90th birthday (coming up in just over 1.5 months), and how the announcement from Church headquarters regarding his stepping back might impact whether or not he will speak during General Conference. If he does not, I could see the Church doing what has been done previously, with the counselors delivering a message for President Monson, having his secretary or a family member deliver his prepared remarks, or having other Church leaders step in to take that time (one example has previously been having the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak twice during General Conference, once during the Priesthood Session, and once as assigned during another session).

You can depend on my keeping an eye on all of this, and passing news along as it comes my way. Thanks to you all for taking time to read this. For the moment, I paraphrase something President Hinckley often said both as a counselor to previous Church Presidents and during his own tenure as such: "The Church is in good hands, God is at the helm, and all is well." I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Church News Updates (including article about RS General First Counselor Sharon Eubank)

Hello, all! Big Church news updates to post today. As the Church News reports, Elder M. Russell Ballard returned to Canada, where he once served as a mission president. As most of you are no doubt aware, both Elder Ballard's paternal and maternal grandfathers served as apostles. Elder Ballard is also the one apostle that we know of who can trace his ancestry back through several apostles, Joseph F. Smith, sixth Church president, and his father, Hyrum Smith, brother of the prophet Joseph, who restored the Church established by Jesus Christ. Elder Ballard's paternal grandfather, Melvin J. Ballard, had ties in his ministry to Canadian Saints, and Elder M. Russell Ballard has carried on that apostolic ministry in his own right. To read of all that transpired during his recent trip, click here.

The Church News also ran a biographical article on Sister Sharon Eubank. It was good to learn more about her. You can find that article here.

The report of presentations and addresses at the Seminar for New Mission Presidents for this year continued. You can find links following for addresses by Elder Cook, Bishop Waddell, Elder and Sister Rasband, Elder Andersen, and Elder Oaks. Perhaps by the time the Church News has shared a complete report of every address, I will be able to provide a more in depth analysis and report of these addresses.

Also, for what it's worth, I'm sure many of you are aware of the recent report that the dress code for Church employees has been adjusted, and the Church is now expanding benefits for paternal and maternal leave, as well as for medical and other health-related leaves of absence. To read more on that subject, here.

For the moment, that's all I have to report. I am currently I am hard at work studying present and potential future temple developments (an evolving and ongoing process, to be sure), including the most likely future time-frames for dedications, rededications, and groundbreakings for all temples currently in any phase, and the most likely sites for immediate and near-future announcements. More to come on that as I am able to work on it.

Thanks for taking time to read this. I will have so much more to report on within the next little while as events unfold. If any of you would like to and are able to, please share your thoughts. If the problem with doing so has yet to be resolved, please let me know through my contact information on my blogger profile. Thanks again.

Church Begins Reporting on the Annual Seminar for New Mission Presidents

Hello, all! The Church today began reporting on the talks given during the annual Seminar for New Mission Presidents. While we only have the report of the addresses given by Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf, the seminar also featured talks by each member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (except for Elder Hales; we also know that the talks given by Elders Rasband and Stevenson involved presentations by their wives), Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, representing the Presiding Bishopric, and presidents of the women's auxiliaries.

There were likely other speakers, but we do not yet know who those might have been. More information will come in the days ahead. The seminar took place between June 24 and today. For the details that are currently known (which will be updated with additional articles as those are published) here.

I had wondered until know what to anticipate regarding the health of both President Monson and Elder Hales, but this is the first year in a long time that this seminar has not included President Monson, and this is not the first time that I know of that Elder Hales has missed.

I had been wondering whether or not President Monson would speak at all in future General Conferences. It is looking like he might not. And I don't know what this means in terms of whether or not Elder Hales will speak next General Conference either. As I find out more, I will pass that along. For now, just wanted to share this. Thanks.

Church unit growth from last Sunday

In a recent post a day or two ago, I had reported the latest unit creation information, and thrown out some potential figures for continued unit growth in 2017. In checking into such developments just a few minutes ago, I found that the Church created 1 district and 3 new stakes last Sunday (one of which was upgraded from a district). There has also been the report of several Church units being created. You can track the changes reported on the LDS Church Temples site here, where the creation of stakes and districts is followed half-way down the page by the specific changes in wards and branches, and you can also depend on a more thorough analysis of these developments by Matthew Martinich on the the LDS Church Growth Blog, which can be found here. For now, I will leave things at that.