Two New Stakes Created

Hello, everyone! I am back again, this time to report on how the Church created two stakes yesterday: 1 YSA Stake (in Lethbridge Alberta; AFAIK, that is the first YSA stake to be created in Canada) and the Eagle Mountain Nolan Park Stake. I will not attempt to analyze what this might mean in the context of Church history, nor do I intend to report on which units comprise these new stakes. Other resources do that well, and it's not my specialty. Others do that so well, and I will not take that from them.

For the details that are known, you can find information here (the LDS Church Temples page devoted to newly created units) and also within the next few days or so on the LDS Church Growth Blog (where Matthew Martinich, a Church growth expert, will put these developments into their proper context). For now, I wanted to mention that, with recent unit developments, there has been a net increase of 37 stakes, a net decrease of 11 districts (though some of that is due to districts being upgraded to stakes) and a net increase of 53 wards and branches.

That said, I do also want to note what has been so well observed by a couple of you that have commented on this blog: the number of wards & branches do not reflect what are called "sensitive units" that are counted on the Church's end of year report but are not counted by many sources that track general units developments. I am told there are around 100 of those. That being the case, the number of stakes now stands at 3,303, while the number of districts is 545, and the total number of units counted by most sources is 30,357, with the actual number of total units somewhere around 30,475 or so. That does it for this update. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord continue to bless you all.

Church News Articles Describe Devastation in Texas; Face-to-Face with Young LDS Musical Artists

Hello, everyone! The Church News this evening released this article describing how Hurricane Harvey has devastated Texas, including how it has impacted Church members. Among the highlights of the article are that all missionaries are safe and accounted for, some Church buildings have sustained damage, and that some Church units cancelled their block meetings yesterday to allow members to focus on cleaning up and helping their neighbors, both their fellow Saints and friends of other faiths. As I previously reported a day or two ago, the Church has made preparations to send aid to the state of Texas, and it is badly needed.

Connected to that storm, the Deseret News published this article about the Houston Texas temple being threatened by the storm, along with reiterating missionaries safety and the damage done to some meetinghouses. That article mentions that the Houston Texas Temple Presidency is requesting prayers for that temple and those who serve there. The temple closed before the devastation began, and it is unknown at present when it will be able to reopen.

To stay up-to-date with the latest on the storm, how it is affecting local members and missionaries, and how each of us can help the Saints in that area at this time, click here. Updates will be regularly shared at that link until the devastation and the storm both end.

The Church News also released this article about the featured guests scheduled for the next Face-to-Face event for LDS youth. While I am not familiar with any of these artists, I am grateful to hear how they have used their talents to spread their testimonies. The youth of the Church will be greatly blessed by the opportunity to ask these talented individuals the questions they have.

That does it for this Church News update. Comments are welcome and appreciated. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you all.

Minor Progress Reported on the Arequipa Peru Temple

Hello, all! This will just be a brief post to provide a minor update on the construction of the Arequipa Peru Temple. While I last reported that that temple was having rebar set for the main floor structural walls (as of yesterday), I got word today that rebar had expanded to the second floor structural walls. That was great to hear about, and I am happy to pass that minor update along. For now, any comments are welcome and appreciated, as they always are. Thank you for the privilege of your time, and until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Church Announces Removal of Restrictions on Who Can Serve As Temple Workers

Hello, everyone! Though this is somewhat older news (an article about it was originally published a few days ago), I was reminded of it just a few minutes ago and realized I hadn't focused on it in a blog post. This article, published in the Deseret News (the parent company of LDS Church News) describes how Church leaders have determined that both divorcees and single adult men over 30 years of age can serve as temple workers. This is somewhat big news. As a former temple worker myself, I remember how some of my former colleagues had to discontinue their temple service either because they reached the age of 30 or because, through no fault of their own, their marriages ended abruptly. This news especially touched me because I remember one particularly good brother who had served several years in the temple with his wife who had to be released because she found someone else. It was heartbreaking to hear about that. This news continues to demonstrate the Church making great strides to recognize that people in both of these unique situations may not always be so by choice. I applaud the Church's compassion in making this adjustment. Just wanted to note that, for what it may be worth to anyone. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Average Age Update For the Apostles

Hello, everyone! Given how I am feeling right now (my wife and I have felt unwell all weekend, and I was unable to get up and get going until about an hour ago), I won't be able to do the promised full-scale update on apostolic statistics. I did, however, want to share an update on the average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the 15 apostles overall.

With President Eyring having marked his birthday last May, President Monson six days ago, and President Uchtdorf's birthday coming up in November, their total years of life experience have now reached 251.07 years, and that averages out to 83.69 years.

As we are all aware, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is ranked not by age as it was originally, but by date of call and ordination. The birthdays of our quorum members go from January (for Elder Christofferson) to December (for Elder Holland), and the busiest month for apostolic birthdays is August each year, when 5 (1/3) of our current 15 apostles celebrate their birthdays. With that in mind, the life experience of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve stands at a total of 902.82, with the average age of that Quorum standing now at 75.24 years.

With simple addition, we conclude that the total life experience of all 15 apostles stands just short of 1154 years (it will probably be just above that by next week), it now stands exactly at 1153.90, which averages out to 76.93 years.

While we can clearly see how the deaths of President Packer and Elders Perry and Scott in 2015 and the subsequent calls of Elders Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund in October that year have lowered those averages substantially, there are still so many who claim that the Church should enact some kind of emeritus status for the apostles (I have heard both 85 and 90 floated around commonly). But the practice of apostles serving for life is divinely directed, as is the process by which Church administration passes from one group of apostles to the next. Since the Lord is the one who put that into place, He is the only one who can change it, and I can guarantee he never will. Elder Bednar spoke in 2015 about the importance of the practice of LDS apostles serving for life, and he shared at that time the valuable lessons he had learned from the last General Conference addresses of the following Brethren:

Presidents James E. Faust (who passed away on August 10, 2007), and Gordon B. Hinckley (who passed away on January 27, 2008), Elders Joseph B. Wirthlin (who passed on December 1, 2008),and L. Tom Perry (who passed away on May 30, 2015), President Boyd K. Packer (who passed away on July 3, 2015), and Elder Richard G. Scott (who passed away on September 22, 2015).

If an emeritus status had been enacted for any of these Brethren, we would have missed the wonderful lmessages they were able to share in their final conference talks. I remember how much I was touched by each of these final messages. There is a reason why the Brethren always have and always will serve for life. I testify that this is true. And, as I have mentioned more frequently of late on this blog, you can be sure that anyone who suggests anything else, unless they are the President of the Church or representing him, are not being moved upon by the spirit of the Lord. It will never happen.

I testify that this is true and leave this information and this post with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.