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Monday, August 21, 2017

President Thomas S. Monson celebrates his 90th birthday today, becoming the 7th nonagenarian prophet in this dispensation

As noted above by the somewhat abnormally lengthy title of this blog post, not only are we marking a solar eclipse today, but our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, marks his 90th birthday today, becoming the 7th of our 16 prophets to become a nonagenarian. That is significant any way it's considered. So much has been written and said about our prophet, both prior to and as a result of this monumental day. and it is therefore a very daunting task to provide a fresh perspective of his life. But I will try.

As many know, his service in the Naval Reserve precluded his ability to serve a mission. However, right around the age he would have been after returning from a mission (22), he was called to be the bishop of his ward. A few years later, he would serve for a time as a member of his stake presidency. At the young age of 32, he uprooted his family (which then consisted of his wife and his two children; the youngest son would be born a short while later) to serve as a mission president in Canada. After three years in that assignment, he came home and served on Church committees while continuing a profession of publishing. A short time later, he was called by President David O. McKay to fill a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that had arisen when the junior apostle, N. Eldon Tanner, who had been called to the apostleship the year before, was called to the First Presidency.

Elder Monson would serve in the apostleship for 22 years before the death of President Kimball, the 12th Church President, led to a reorganization of the First Presidency. When Ezra Taft Benson became the prophet, he selected Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson as his counselors. President Benson functioned actively as prophet for just a few years. Presidents Hinckley and Monson saw the Church through a period of several years when the Lord's prophet was not able to function fully as such.

When President Benson passed away in May of 1994, his successor, President Howard W. Hunter, retained Presidents Hinckley and Monson. But President Hunter's presidency would only span a short period of just under 9 months.

When President Hunter passed away in March of 1995, President Monson's status as the second in line to new Church President Gordon B. Hinckley made him a natural fit to serve as both the First Counselor to President Hinckley and as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a position he held for the next almost-13 years.

When President Hinckley himself passed away in January of 2008, President Monson, as had many before him, spent several hours in the temple pouring out his soul in prayer to our Heavenly Father for guidance about how to lead the Church. He was then able to oversee the funeral arrangements for President Hinckley, and a day after that funeral, convened a meeting with the 14 remaining apostles to reorganize the First Presidency. He was unanimously sustained by his Brethren as Church President, and the next senior apostle Boyd K. Packer set him apart in that position.

President Monson then noted that, acting under the inspiration of the Spirit, he was calling Elders Henry B. Eyring (who was the first apostle called by President Hinckley and had served alongside President Monson in the first Presidency for almost four months prior to President Hinckley's passing) and Dieter F. Uchtdorf (called to the apostleship in 2004 and who, as a native German, had been blessed by President Monson's apostolic ministry to that nation, was a good friend of the new prophet) as his counselors.

The next 9.5 years, as we know, between February 2008 and now has seen quite an expansion of so many wonderful things for the Church, including the changing of the missionary age and so many more temples. But perhaps best of all, Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf have, through these last 9.5 years, learned how President Monson thinks and feels about things, and were thus prepared to continue to lead the Church forward in the wake of the announcement made on May 23 of this year, when we learned that President Monson would be scaling back his duties and not actively participating in meetings or decisions. We have also, in the last several years, seen the 7 apostles junior to President Monson but senior to President Nelson pass away.

I could go on forever about the accomplishments of our prophet. But I think it sufficient to say merely that the Church has been in good hands under his inspired leadership, and will continue to be so now as he takes a less active role in Church leadership. Over his apostolic ministry, which will, as of this October, have spanned 54 years, he has given a number of masterful general conference addresses. If I have counted correctly, the total number of those addresses now stands at 247. And that is just in general conference alone. I do not know how many more times we may be privileged to hear from this wonderful man, but if any of you would like to review any of those addresses, you can find most of them (from April 1971-April 2017) here.

In the meantime, that does it for this tribute to our prophet. I hope he had a wonderful day.  Any comments are, as always, welcome, but I hope any such comments will be respectful of our prophet. In the meantime, thank you all for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

No change reported in Church magazine editors/advisers

Hello, everyone! Earlier today, I stumbled across the PDF version of the September 2017 Ensign. There were a couple of surprises there. First of all, the First Presidency message for the month was done by our beloved prophet, who will be 90 on Monday. This suggests to me that there is a very high likelihood President Monson will speak at least once during General Conference, even if that address is only a few minutes long, and even if that is his only talk. It wouldn't surprise me if he gives two shorter talks, though, as he has in the last few general conferences. As I learn more on this, I will pass it along.

In the meantime, I expected that the September magazines would show any changes that have been made in the editors and advisers of the Church magazines as a result of the changes that were made in area leadership. Primarily, I was sure that Elders Christoffel Golden (who is now serving as First Counselor in the Europe Area Presidency) and Larry R. Lawrence (who will celebrate his 70th birthday on August 25 and may thus be granted emeritus status during the October General Conference) would be released from their assignment as advisers. But it could just be that whatever changes were made in the editor and advisers of the Church magazines will only show up in the October magazines. There has at times been a lag of one or two months for such changes, which we have seen before. As always, I will pass more along as I learn of it.

In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Minor but significant update reported on the Frankfurt Germany Temple Renovation Process

Hello, all! As you may be aware, there have not been all that many significant milestones in temple construction to be reported lately. However, one significant development, which I learned of earlier today, warrants mentioning: The Frankfurt Germany Temple renovation process has seen a roof slab poured for the basement addition. The last time progress was reported on this temple, the basement addition was merely underway.

So the question now becomes, what might this progress indicate about its potential future completion time frame? I have before ventured my thoughts that the Jordan River Utah Temple rededication would be among the first temple-related events of 2018, and we have seen that be the case with the announcement that a rededication will take place on the third Sunday in May.

It makes sense that the Rome Italy Temple dedication may be scheduled next, and that dedication might be scheduled in June. We could then see the rededication for the temple in Frankfurt sometime in August, following the annual July recess for the General Authorities (though the open house could be held in June, as was the case for the Tucson Arizona Temple this year).

While I have my own thoughts about when other temple-related events might happen during the year (including other dedications and groundbreakings), I am waiting for more information before I post more exact estimates for those. But if what I know about temples is any indication, by all appearances, I would not be surprised if next year is a big year for dedications and groundbreakings.

As always, I will post updates to this line of thought as I find out more. In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Report of Articles Featured on Church Websites to Honor President Monson's 90th Birthday

Hello, all! I am back today to report on articles published on Church websites in honor of President Monson's 90th birthday. There are a lot of them to feature, so let's get right to it.

First, his family members describe what they believe he would want us to do to honor his birthday, and it mirrors the request he gave some years ago on another birthday: Find someone who is having a hard time and help them. For more on this birthday wish, click here.

President Monson's family members shared precious memories they had of experiences with him. To read about that, click here. The Church News also wrote an article summarizing many of his greatest apostolic sermons.. You can read about that here.

The Church News viewpoint was written about how we can honor President Monson on his birthday by praying for him and by serving others. You can find that article here. The Church News also shared a history moment recounting President Monson's role in the progression of the gospel in East Germany. You can read more about that here.

Rounding out these tribute articles are this one sharing tributes of general Church leaders to President Monson as he approaches this milestone birthday, and this one from the Mormon Newsroom website, describing how President Monson will have a quiet family celebration as he observes this milestone and sharing some of the same tributes from Church leaders featured in the first article linked in this paragraph.

For myself, I will say this: Because of how extensive the ministry of our prophet has been, he deserves a chance to celebrate this milestone quietly and without fanfare. I am sure he would love another more public celebration this go-round, but I know for myself how valuable such quiet moments can be. His long life of service, and his continuing to press on in spite of age-related difficulties that limit his ability to function is deserving of our admiration, respect, and deference. I will be taking time next Monday (on the exact day) to put together my tribute to this man for his birthday.

For now, I join in the pleas of the songs written to honor Church Presidents in saying that I hope God will bless our prophet dear from now until whenever he is called home. Until that time, may we continue to follow his example.

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments are welcome and appreciated, except for any that are derogatory about our dear prophet or any that imply the Church should let him retire. That is not, never has been, and never will be the Lord's way. That said, with few exceptions, I have found all comments on this blog to be uplifting and inspirational, and I thank you all for that. Until I post again, I wish you all the best.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Church News Update

Hello, all! I am posting today with an update on Church News that has come to my attention within the last 3 hours or so. Let's dive right in to the latest news.

First, the Church News has reported the deaths of seven members of the Church in a mud slide. There were 330 people total who died in that mudslide, so Latter-day Saints only constituted 2% of all casualties. Church representatives further noted that all missionaries serving in that nation are safe and accounted for, and that no Church buildings were impacted by that mudslide. 3,000 people were displaced, while almost six hundred people were reported missing. It is unclear whether or not any of those 600 or so were Church members, nor is it known  if those people are still alive and lost somewhere.. In the meantime, I don't know how or if this natural disaster will impact any plans that might be under consideration for a possible temple in Sierra Leone. You can find the full report of this news here.

The Church also released today a copy of the dedicatory prayer offered by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf for the Tucson Arizona Temple. You can read the text of that prayer here.

Members and missionaries in Ghana are celebrating the opening of the MTC in that city. For a full report on that, click here.

This year marks 50 years since BYU professor and Book of Mormon scholar John Welch, while serving his mission, discovered chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Chiasmus, for those not aware with the concept, is the way a sentence is put together for it to build from beginning to middle, then to repeat the same ideas in reverse order until the end of that sentence. Other religious texts (the Bible included) feature some form of this concept, so it is not new to most religions. But Brother Welch was the first person to actually notice this concept in the Book of Mormon, which is part of what likely influenced his career path.

The Church News wrote an article about this which I read earlier today, but cannot find anywhere now, but it was also covered here, in an article about how Elder Holland spoke at the BYU annual chiasmus conference. Because John W. Welch wrote about this discovery in an Ensign several years before I was born, I somehow never came across that article when perusing old Church magazines in my parents' basement. But this is a most intriguing concept, and I hope it will enhance my study of the Book of Mormon going forward..

Aside from these new items, I am not aware of any other news from any Church website I regularly visit.. So for now, thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.