Regional Face-to-Face Event (featuring Elder Dale G. and Sister Ruth L. Renlund) originates from West Africa

Hello again, everyone! The Church News and Mormon Newsroom posted a report on the regional Face-to-Face event for youth, which featured Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Ruth L. Renlund. The event originated from the MTC in Accra Ghana. Youth from the Africa Southeast and Africa West Areas participated, asking Elder and Sister Renlund the questions that were on their minds.

It was good to read the reports of this event. Face-to-Face events have been held for the youth by the Church for the last several years. Such events were established as an opportunity for the youth to receive answers to their questions from either Church leaders or prominent Church members. The Church established such events for the purpose of allowing the youth to ask questions and address concerns about how they can live their faith and prepare for the future in the midst of peer and societal pressures that are part of the last days.

I am grateful to belong to a Church that cares so much about the youth in their congregations. The work is expanding at a miraculous rate all over the world, and we are blessed to be part of that process.

That wraps up this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments continue to be welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

First Apostolic Birthday in August: Elder Gary E. Stevenson turns 62

Hello, all! Though one of my first blog posts this month discussed the dates in August on which 5 of our apostles (33% or 1/3 of all 15) would mark their birthdays, where possible, I will also be doing posts for each of these 5 on the day of. Therefore, the first apostolic birthday this month is for our youngest apostle, Elder Gary E. Stevenson, who celebrates his 62nd birthday today. As most, if not all, of you are no doubt aware, Elder Stevenson is right now the second most junior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and also of the 15 apostles overall.

I thought I would present a brief biography of Elder Stevenson, including important highlights of his time as a general authority. Born in Ogden, Utah in 1955, Elder Stevenson served in the Japan Fukuoka Mission. He obtained his secondary education at Utah State University (where he majored in business). During his time at USU, he met his wife, Lesa Jean Higley, whom he married in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple and with whom he raised four sons. Fun fact: Elder Stevenson's mother and wife share the middle name of Jean. I found that intriguing.

Elder Stevenson worked for ICON Health and Fitness, eventually getting promoted to Chief Operating Officer. He additionally served on both the USU Foundation Board and the Marriott School of Management National Advisory Council.

Prior to his call as a general authority, he served in a variety of callings, including as a bishop, a counselor in a stake presidency, and returned to Japan to serve as president of the Church's mission headquartered in the city of Nagoya. He filled that assignment from 2004-2007.

Approximately one year after returning from that assignment, Elder Stevenson was among the first General Authorities called by President Monson in April 2008. In the almost four years that followed, Elder Stevenson was assigned to live in Japan again, this time as a counselor and then as the president of the Church's Asia North Area.

During the April 2012 General Conference, the Presiding Bishopric that had been serving together since late December 1995 was released, and Elder Stevenson was called as the new Presiding Bishop. Part of his duties included involvement with temples. And one of the temples that went from announcement to groundbreaking to construction during that time was the Sapporo Japan Temple, for which he, as the Asia Area President, had broken ground in 2011.

About 2.5 years into his service as Presiding Bishop (just prior to the October 2015 General Conference), he was called to the apostleship, becoming the youngest apostle called since Elder David A. Bednar (who was 52 years old at the time of his call in October 2004).

Since his call as a general authority, Elder Stevenson has given 7 amazing and inspirational talks during General Conference, one as a General Authority Seventy, 2 during his time as Presiding Bishop, and the other 4 as a special witness of Jesus Christ. To review any of these talks (which have covered some significant and important topics), click here.

As a brief aside, one thing that really impresses me about his talks (and likewise those of President Eyring) is that the covered subject matter is so important to both of them that they have teared up almost every time they give their prepared remarks. I know that may bother some people, but it doesn't bother me. In fact, when something like that does happen, if anything, it strengthens the Spirit I have felt in such situations.

But getting back to Elder Stevenson, I was gratified to see that the Church has been using him for a wide variety of assignments as he comes closer to marking two years in the apostleship. Together with Elders Rasband and Renlund (who were called to the apostleship the same day), Elder Stevenson has made very valuable contributions to the furthering of the work of the Lord. I look forward to seeing him continue his apostolic ministry.

This concludes my post paying a birthday tribute to Elder Stevenson. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. I am anticipating that this next week will be another big one for new posts, as there is no shortage of Church and temple-related news. And among those planned posts (barring anything unexpected) will be birthday tributes like this one for Elder Andersen (who will be 65 on Wednesday) and Elder Oaks (who will celebrate his 85th birthday on Saturday). Until I post again, I wish each of you all the best.

Unit Growth Thoughts

Hello, all! I am posting with some thoughts and estimates about the potential for unit growth during this year. I will not offer analysis of this information, just my thoughts on what the Church might be looking at numbers-wise by the end of this year. Here's what I know: By the end of 2017, 53 Sundays will have been observed. Tomorrow marks the 32nd Sunday of this year. Within the 31 Sundays thus far, the Church has seen a net increase of 35 stakes (or just over 1.13 new stakes established each week). The Church has also seen a net decrease of 12 districts (although quite a few of those districts were upgraded to stakes, as noted by many of you who regularly read and comment on my blog posts. The number of wards and branches has seen a net increase of 36 (with many created and several discontinued). And with the merge of the two Russian missions (which the Church announced several months ago), the number of current missions stands at a worldwide count of 420.

So what does this mean in terms of what may happen by the end of the year? Well, with the 1.13 stakes created per week thus far (which, as noted, is a net increase of 35 stakes), if that continues for the remaining 22 Sundays of this month, a net increase of 25 stakes could happen. If it does, that means the Church would have seen an overall net increase of 60 stakes.

My research on this matter demonstrates that within the last 4 months of last year, 37 of the 100 new stakes from last year were created. Since around 3 stakes were discontinued during that time (if my research is correct), then the Church last year had a next increase of around 34 stakes from August-December of last year.

With all that in mind, I am venturing a prediction that the Church could see an overall net gain of around 57 stakes, which, in the 53 Sundays of the year, would mean that roughly 1.07 stakes would then have been created during each week of 2017.

Whatever the case, we can be sure that the LDS Church Growth Blog and the unit page of the LDS Church Temples site will continue to contain the latest updates in that regard. And I will continue to do my best to keep track of all of that as well, and to pass along anything I find out.

For now, hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best.

Birthday Celebration to mark President Monson's 90th Birthday Not Likely

Hello, all! While I am still waiting to find out more about some questions that some of you have asked about relating to some of my latest posts, I was able to find out one thing: Barring something unexpected, and in view of the fact that President Monson's 90th birthday is now just over two weeks away, it is not likely that a formal celebration will be held to mark this milestone. I can understand that completely. President Monson has said he is a very private person. And depending on what his condition is, it may be hard for him to muster strength to attend such a celebration. That information did not come as a surprise to me. Generally for milestone birthdays of Church presidents, an announcement is made about such a celebration several weeks (if not a month or two) in advance. So I am sure this year, between his desire for privacy and whatever his condition is, President Monson will have a low-key, low-profile, quiet celebration with just his family and Church colleagues. Either way, I am grateful for the life and ministry of our dear prophet, and I wish him all the best, however he chooses to mark this milestone. May the Lord continue to bless and inspire him to the fullest extent possible is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Changes made to numbering of temples that may be completed during 2019

Hello, all! Although no significant developments have been reported on any temples within the last 24 hours, I have changed my thinking on the numbering of temples under construction that may be completed during 2019. The Winnipeg Manitoba Temple (which may be completed sometime during mid-to-late 2019) is now listed as 167, the Lisbon Portugal Temple (which may be completed sometime during late 2019) is now listed as 168, and the Arequipa Peru Temple (which may be completed sometime during late 2019 or early 2020) is listed as 169.

Depending on what happens during the remaining 4 months of this year (including how soon construction begins on the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple after its October 28 groundbreaking), that may change again. For now, I wanted to pass that along. As today has been comparatively more quiet in terms of Church and temple news, this post may be my only one today. Thanks for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. All the best to all of you until my next post.