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Saturday, September 23, 2017

Report: How My Predictions for the General Women's Meeting Turned Out

Hello, everyone! As the General Women's Session of General Conference has concluded, I wanted to give a report on how my predictions for that session panned out. Before doing so, I was grateful for the way the session began, with Relief Society President Jean B. Bingham (not Primary General President Joy D. Jones) opening the meeting and recognizing the Brethren on the stand, and also recognizing that President Monson was watching the proceedings on television from his home. It was nice to have that acknowledgement, brief though it was, that General Conference is still under the direction and with the consent of the Church President, even if he cannot physically be in attendance.

In terms of the speaking order, I got just about half-and-half (half wrong, and half right). Though she did not conduct, Sister Jones did participate, as the representative speaker from the Primary General Presidency. Sharon Eubank (referred to in this session as having the middle initial of "L", did speak, but was the first speaker instead of the second as I had predicted. The speaker representing the Young Women General Presidency was Sister Neill F. Marriott, not Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson as I had predicted. But I did correctly predict that President Dieter F. Uchtdorf would represent the First Presidency, which he did, giving a marvelous address, including expressing the love of President Monson for the women of the Church.

And I was especially touched by the scene after the session. Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf greeted the General Authorities and some of the auxiliary presidency members in attendance, then turned to greet the women approaching them: President Uchtdorf's beloved wife Harriet, and President Monson's daughter, Ann, who has accompanied her father to previous sessions and to whom, with his own wife not being well enough to attend, President Eyring graciously offered his arm as they all headed out of the General Conference session.

So, in light of how that session actually transpired, that opens up a whole slew of questions. I have never been fortunate enough to get any General Conference predictions 100% correct, so I have no doubt I got several things incorrect this go-round, but it is interesting that I am projecting that President Nelson may give a second address during the Sunday Morning Session and that Sister Marriott, whom I had listed as potentially speaking during the Sunday Morning Session, will not do so now in light of having spoken during the General Women's Session.

Therefore, either the Church will have another female auxiliary presidency member speak in that slot, or the Church will continue the precedent set last April and have only two talks by the auxiliary leaders, one female, and one male. And if that is the case, then it will in turn affect future General Conferences as well. I could see the reasoning behind doing things that way. If three of the auxiliary leaders (four if we count the person conducting) are involved in the General Women's Meeting, then having only one female auxiliary leader speak in any of the other four sessions does make a lot of sense.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how the other five sessions of this General Conference unfold. And whatever happens during the course of the next weekend, you can depend on my reports of the latest news and information.

That does it for this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments continue to be welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Friday, September 22, 2017

Revised Speaking Order and Changes in General Church Leadership Predictions for this next General Conference

Hello, everyone! When I posted my revised temple site predictions a few days ago, I thought that I had also posted my revised predictions for the speaking order and for changes in General Church Leadership, but it turns out that I had not done so. Here they are. Again, with the knowledge that President Monson will not be speaking during or even be attending General Conference, I have felt that the easiest and most likely possibility is that a General Authority Seventy will take the time in the Priesthood Session that would have been taken by President Monson (which means the other talks might be shorter) and that if Elder Hales does not speak at all or only speaks briefly in the Sunday Afternoon Session, the extra time in that session would be taken by President Nelson, who would give a second talk.

That is just based on what has been done previously. Obviously, the Church has several options, and it could very well be that President Monson has given entirely different directions for how that is to be handled. I will be just as glad if I am wrong on this as I will be if I find these changes are justified. For now, here are those revised changes. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. I will be back tomorrow (if not before then) with my report on what happened during the General Women's Session. In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you all in all you do.

October 2017 General Conference Predictions

PRELIMINARY NOTE: With the May 23 announcement that President Monson would no longer be attending meetings or participating in the day-to-day governance of the Church as a result of difficulties incident to his age, I was unsure for quite a while what that might mean in terms of whether or not he would attend and be able to speak in any other General Conferences. I found out in the late night hours of September 19 that, unless his condition improves, he will not be attending, nor will he be speaking at the remainder of the General Conferences that may be held until the Lord calls him home. I am not ruling out a miracle by any means, but that did mean that I needed to find a way in these predictions to fill up the time he would have taken if he had been able to speak. I determined the best way to do that would be to rearrange some speakers, and to have the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Russell M. Nelson, give a second address at some point during the remainder of the conference. Whatever actually happens during this General Conference will, of course, set the precedent that will be followed for however much longer President Monson lives.

Speaking Order (Text in brackets indicated what actually happened.)
Session
Conducting
Speaker
General Women’s
Joy D. Jones
Christina B. Franco


Sharon Eubank


Bonnie L. Oscarson


President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Saturday Morning
President Henry B. Eyring
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf


Bishop W. Christopher Waddell


Jean B. Bingham


Elder David A. Bednar


Elder Massimo De Feo


Elder O. Vincent Haleck


Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Saturday Afternoon
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
President Henry B. Eyring
(Sustaining of Church Officers)


President Russell M. Nelson


Elder Dale G. Renlund


Elder Larry Y. Wilson


Elder Joni L. Koch


Elder Ian S. Ardern


Elder Quentin L. Cook


Elder Ronald A. Rasband
Saturday Priesthood
President Henry B. Eyring
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf


Elder D. Todd Christofferson


Elder Patrick Kearon


Elder Brian K. Taylor


President Henry B. Eyring
Sunday Morning
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
President Henry B. Eyring


Elder Robert D. Hales


Elder Juan A. Uceda


Neill F. Marriott


Elder Gary E. Stevenson


Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella


President Russell M. Nelson
Sunday Afternoon
President Henry B. Eyring
Elder Neil L. Andersen


Tad R. Callister


Elder David F. Evans


Elder M. Russell Ballard


Elder Taniela B. Wakolo


Elder Jose L. Alonso


Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Changes in General Church Leadership
Presidency of the Seventy: Elders Donald L. Hallstrom and Richard J. Maynes released from the presidency, Elders Juan A. Uceda and Patrick Kearon sustained.
NOTE: These changes, announced on May 3, became effective on August 1. For that reason, they will likely be ratified by sustaining vote. However, because there has also been a time or two when such changes have not been so ratified, I would not be surprised if this is not noted. Until further notice, I have felt it would be wiser to include the information.
RESULT:
General Authority Seventies: Elders Stanley G. Ellis, Larry R. Lawrence, and W. Craig Zwick released as General Authority Seventies and granted emeritus status.
NOTE: Elder Ellis turned 70 in January this year, just as Elder Zwick did in June, and Elder Lawrence did in August, so it would make sense if these men were released and granted emeritus status.
RESULT:
Area Seventies: Releases and sustainings.
NOTE: It has been customary for most changes in area seventies to take place in April, when President Uchtdorf leads out in the sustaining vote, and for only a few to take place in October, when President Eyring leads out in the sustaining. Since we are talking about an October General Conference, it would make sense if only a few changes happened this go-round.
RESULT:
                                                                                                                       

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Interesting wording in article about President Eyring minstering to Puerto Rican Saints

Hello, everyone! Though there have been several new Church news articles published today that are important and are very worthy of a blog post devoted to discussion and summary on this blog, because I have had quite a bit more health issues to battle in the last week, particularly in the last couple of days (nothing to be concerned about, just a bit more overwhelming than usual), my energy and ability to do such a post is lacking for now. I hope that changes tomorrow, and that today was just a product of my body not knowing how to react after a fairly good night's sleep (which followed several restless nights, on some of which I was not able to sleep at all). If that's all that has made today slightly more difficult than usual, then I should be back to normal tomorrow, especially if I am able to sleep well again.

Anyways, one thing I did want to note is that  an article about how President Eyring has been ministering to Puerto Rican Saints in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the wording of a sentence in the article indicated that President Eyring would play a "key role" during General Conference.

That could mean any number of things, especially in light of what I posted about a day or two ago, that President Monson would not be speaking at, or even attending, General Conference. Perhaps all that was meant by that interesting statement was that President Eyring would be the one presiding at all General Conference sessions, and that he would be recognized as doing so in every General Conference Session. As I noted almost six months ago, the Church News's summary article of General Conference last April had stated that President Eyring presided at 3 of the 6 General Conference sessions, even though that was not stated by the one conducting the session or subsequently in the Conference Summary provided in the May Ensign devoted to General Conference. If that happens, it would indeed constitute a "key role".

But it could also mean that, in the absence of President Monson, President Eyring, with his advice and consent, will either deliver a message in President Monson's behalf, or that he will be the one to make any announcements about temples and/or any new policies or practices of the Church.

Maybe this isn't something I should be analyzing or speculating about. After all, we will know one way or another what is meant by that statement in just over two weeks. In fact, we could have this question settled 48 hours from now. After all, the General Women's Session will be held at 6:00 PM MDT Saturday, and if, at the beginning of that session, the one conducting mentions that he is presiding, we will know that is probably what was meant. But I do think it could mean that President Eyring will be filling some responsibilities that have traditionally been taken care of by President Monson, which would include announcing any new temples or any new policies or practices of the Church.

I did want to mention another possibility that occurred to me. If my memory serves me correctly, sometime after the Manifesto and Revelation on the Priesthood were accepted, each of those documents were added to the next edition of the Doctrine & Covenants. I have often felt that the time would come when the Church will officially canonize "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and "The Living Christ--The Testimony of the Apostles". It could be that, since President Eyring will likely conduct the Sustaining of Church Officers" during General Conference, since he has led out in that every October since becoming President Monson's First Counselor, that something like that will be part of it.

I have given my thoughts on this. What do you all think about the interesting way that statement was worded? I look forward to hearing what you have to say, and, as always, I welcome anyone who would like to comment to do so. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time, and until my next post (which will hopefully be done tomorrow, and which may be the best opportunity to do that update on the latest Church news), I wish you all the best.


Minor Construction Update for the Durban South Africa Temple

Hello again, everyone! I am back, this time to provide a brief update that has been noted for the Durban South Africa Temple. I am figuring out how to word this for inclusion on my temple construction report, but wanted to share the latest with each of you right away.

While work continues on the baptistry and the temple utility components, the temple grounds are being backfilled, while the exterior of the temple is being waterproofed. In the meantime, the basement floor of the missionary housing facility is nearing completion, and work continues on all electrical and mechanical systems of the temple. Foam insulation continues to be added, piles are being sunk, and palm trees are going in throughout the temple grounds.

It was good to hear the progress that has been made on this temple. This is the first update we have had on this temple in the last month. I also continue to hope for additional temple news every day. Whatever happens on that front going forward, you can count on my sharing that with you as soon as I can after learning of it.

That does it for this update. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time, and until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Changes made to Church magazine editor/adviser

Hello, everyone! It took me quite a bit longer than I had hoped, but I finally was able to find the PDF version of the October 2017 Ensign, and in that magazine, changes were noted to the group of people that serve as editors & advisers to all four Church publications. Here is a complete list of those who were listed as serving when the September magazines were published, the list of those who will oversee magazine publications going forward, and a list of what has changed. Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts. In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord be with and bless each one of you until my next post. Until that time, I wish you all the best.

September 2017:
Editor: Joseph W. Sitati
Assistant Editors: Randall K. Bennett, Carol F. McConkie
Advisers: Brian K. Ashton, Bonnie H. Cordon, Legrand R. Curtis Jr, Sharon Eubank, Christoffel Golden, Douglas D. Holmes, Erich W. Kopschke, Larry R. Lawrence

October 2017
Editor: Hugo E. Martinez
Assistant Editors: Randall K. Bennett, Carol F. McConkie
Advisers: Brian K. Ashton, Bonnie H. Cordon, Legrand R. Curtis Jr., Edward Dube, Sharon Eubank, Donald L. Hallstrom, Douglas D. Holmes, Erich W. Kopischke

Released as Editor: Joseph W. Sitati
Called as Editor: Hugo E. Martinez
Released as advisers: Chistoffel Golden, Larry R. Lawrence

Called as advisers: Edward Dube, Donald L. Hallstrom

NOTE: As previously noted, Elder Golden was released due to his new assignment serving in an area presidency, and it is anticipated that Elder Lawrence will be released and granted emeritus status during the next General Conference. It was also previously noted that Elders Dube and Hallstrom were serving at Church headquarters, though Elder Dube's assignment(s) had been unknown. It is good to at least have this information about one assignment he is filling.