Two Major Temple Developments To Report

Hello, everyone! I found out a couple of days ago that the name  of the street on which the Boston Massachusetts Temple sits has been changed to Hinckley Way, no doubt to honor the legacy of the prophet who built the temple there. As one who grew up witnessing first-hand the temple-building plan he put into place, I can say without fear of contradiction that this is an honor long overdue, and I am glad to see it happen.

Additionally, I failed to mention that the open house for the Meridian Idaho Temple is now underway, Elder Quentin L. Cook, who, as I may have mentioned, has some kind of role on the Church's Temple and Family History Council, was on hand to conduct VIP and media tours in the days prior to the temple opening to the public, and the first day of those public tours was yesterday. Those tours, which will not run on Sundays, will continue until a week before the cultural celebration (Saturday November 11).

Aside from these developments, there is no additional temple-related news to report at this time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each of you all the best and pray the Lord's blessings upon you all.

Miscellaneous Church News

Hello, everyone! With my concentrated efforts in the last few days on monitoring temple-related news, and with everything that has been going on for me personally, there were a few Church news items well worthy of a mention on this blog that I haven't focused on. I will do so now.

First, and most significantly, changes are coming to the visiting teaching program in which all women 18 years of age and older participate. This article describes what those changes are, and why they are being implemented. It seems that the Church is gradually shifting its focus to teaching by the Spirit for everyone, regardless of age, gender, or calling. And that is something with which I, and hopefully all other Church members, can easily get on board.

This article describes the modern-day application for President Kimball's directive phrase: "Every member a missionary." That article meant a lot to me, because I was one who did not wear a missionary badge or even serve my mission full-time. And that idea that every member can be a missionary is much of what drives me now to focus so much on Church-related news and information. In that way, I hope I am fulfilling that directive, which was given years before I was born.

This article, from a man who felt his deceased mother's presence at a temple wedding, rang true to me as well. By the time my future wife and I had been friends for a year, her mother had passed away several months prior. So when we started dating, she wasn't around at all, except in spirit. As our relationship blossomed, we both expressed the hope that we would feel her mother's presence during our wedding ceremony. And we did. We have also felt her with us at various times and in various places. If there is one thing I have learned from that, it is that the veil is truly very thin, for which I am fervently grateful.

LDS Business College marked the inauguration of its 13th president, Bruce C. Kusch this last week as well. This article describes who was going to be in attendance (which likely became who was actually there). That was good to read about.

BYU-Idaho is preparing for its annual Sacred Hymns Festival, and has issued a call for texts of such hymns. You can find the details on that here.

The Church News also published articles about the numerous Area Seventies who were released, and introducing the one new Area Seventy who was sustained during General Conference earlier this month. But as that information can currently be found in the General Conference Ensign.

That does it for this brief update. Any comments are always welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you all in all that you do.

Updated time-frames for future temple-related events.

Hello again, everyone! Because of the changes noted yesterday on the completion time-frames for several temples, I thought I would post briefly to share the changes I have made to the rededication and dedication estimates. As always, any and all comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in all that you do.

2018 Dedications and Rededications
May 20: Jordan River Utah Temple Rededication (official date announced by the Church)
August 12 or 19: Concepcion Chile Temple Dedication (158th operating temple)
September 9 or 16: Kinshasa DR Conge Temple Dedication (159th operating temple)
October 21or 28: Frankfurt Germany Temple Rededication
November 11 or 18: Rome Italy Temple Dedication (160th operating temple)
December 9 or 16: Barranquila Colombia Temple Dedication (161st operating temple)

2019 Dedications and Rededications
Early-to-mid May: Memphis Tennessee Temple Rededication
Mid-to-late May: Durban South Africa Temple Dedication (162nd operating temple)
Early-to-mid June: Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Rededication
Early-to-mid August: Asuncion Paraguay Temple Rededication
Mid-to-late August: Fortaleza Brazil Temple Dedication (163rd operating temple)
Early-to-mid September: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Rededication
Mid-to-late September: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Rededication:
Mid-to-late October: Rio de Janeiro Temple Dedication (164th operating temple)
Mid-to-late November: Lisbon Portugal Temple Dedication (165th operating temple)
Mid-December: Oakland California Temple Rededication
:

Church Announces Upcoming Changes in Missionary Efforts Worldwide/Missions will be streamlined and consolidated

Hello, everyone! I am sure by now you have all heard the news, but I still feel it is worthy of a blog post. Church leaders today announced changes that will affect the efforts and labors of missionaries worldwide. These changes were alluded to by Elder Dallin H. Oaks in his opening address at the Seminar for New Mission Presidents. As some of you may remember my mentioning when I first posted about that address, Elder Oaks is the senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles serving on the Missionary Executive Council.

While these changes were not specifically spelled out at that time, it appears that the Church's plan in this regard consists of three parts: issuing a list of standard questions (along with a cover letter signed by the First Presidency) detailing specific interview questions prospective missionaries will answer in interviews; the tablets many missionaries now use will be replaced with smart phones, and the Church will also, over time (the extent of which has not yet been specified) be consolidating missions. In the meantime, the Church is also expanding the outreach of missionaries by enabling them to use social media to find and communicate with people who are genuinely interested in the Church and to answer any questions they might have.

As most of you are aware, the original result of the missionary age change was an upsurge of missionaries, from around 58,000 to 88,000. According to recent reports, there are around 70,000 missionaries, not as high as it was when the age change was announced, but still considerably higher than it was prior to the age change.

With this announcement, it is clear that the Church is determined to move missionary efforts into the 21st century. These changes will also deal with the concerns our missionaries have expressed as a result of the survey the Church had them do. The intent is to allow greater numbers of missionaries in each mission, which in turn provides an opportunity for modern-day technology to play its proper role in advancing the gospel. And what this will do is allow the missionaries who have access to technology to teach those who are genuinely interested in the Church: the focus can then be more about reaching those with a genuine interest in the Church, rather than trying to find such people through door-to-door tracting.

And all of these changes make sense. We have been in the 21st century for the last 17 years. The Church has long evaluated how to enable missionaries to be effective in their ministry, and these changes will allow that to happen in much greater abundance than ever before,

Sorry for the long post. But this is wonderful news that is well worth the amount of detail given. It will be interesting to see what happens in missionary efforts worldwide as a result. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you all in all that you do.

Church Statement on Missionaries Temporarily Being Transferred from Madagascar

Hello, everyone! In the wake of an outbreak of the plague in Madagascar, as a precautionary measure to preserve the safety and health of missionaries, the Church has released this statement regarding that. Just wanted to pass that along. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray the Lord will bless you all in all that you do.

Massive Temple News Update

Hello, everyone! Much to my surprise, my first check of favorite Church websites today revealed some massive changes in terms of temple developments. I don't want to post a full version of my report, because that would be too much clutter, But these are certainly developments that deserve mentions. So I hope you'll bear with me as I try to briefly share what has changed.

For starters,  with today being the 19th, there are now only 12.46 years for the Church to announce 18 temples and complete the other 25 in various stages, which would give us the 200 temples before April 6, 2030, when the Church will mark its bicentennial.

I was also reminded that the open house for the Meridian Idaho Temple will start this weekend. The Church News reported that Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who may have some role on the Temple and Family Council, has been in Meridian Idaho conducting VIP and media tours for that temple. In the meantime, open house tents are going up in preparation for the Cedar City Utah Temple open house.

Now here come the more significant updates: the temples that may be completed at some point next year have all shifted positions. Where I was sure as recently as yesterday that the Rome Italy Temple would be the first new temple dedicated next year, followed by Concepcion Chile and the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple, and that the Barranquilla Colombia Temple would be the last to be dedicated next year, it now appears that the temples have changed positions in the following way (note that nothing has changed in terms of the status of these temples, just the completion timeframes):

The Concepcion Chile and Kinshasa DR Congo Temples are now anticipated to be the first ones dedicated in 2018, and that is anticipated to happen sometime during mid-to-late 2018, the same time-frame given for the rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. In the meantime, it appears that the estimates for both Rome Italy and Barranquilla Colombia have been pushed back to occur sometime between late 2018 and early 2019. The final changed estimate is for the Durban South Africa Temple, which was anticipated as recently as yesterday to be completed in the early months of 2019. It has now been noted that it might be completed sometime during early-to-mid 2019.

Aside from what has been noted above, there have not been no notable changes to report in terms of temple construction. I will take time as I am able to do so this weekend to put together a revised timeline for future temple-related developments. For now, any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in all that you do.

Minor Temple Updates (Including a status change for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple)

Hello, everyone! As I previously mentioned, a new tradition on this blog will be brief updates relating to temple construction progress. In that regard, there are a couple of great things to report.. Let's get right into those details.

First of all, I have mentioned previously on this blog that I have been tracking the amount of time the Church has between the current date and Saturday April 6, 2030, when the Church will mark the 200th anniversary of its restoration. I have offered my opinion previously that the Church could easily have a minimum of 200 operating temples by that time. All it would take is for the Church to announce 18 additional temples and complete the other 25 in various stages. There are 12.47 years between now and then, which means the Church could easily have those 200 temples if 3 or 4 are dedicated per year within that time.

Additionally, as previously mentioned on this blog, we know that the open house for the Meridian Idaho Temple is set to begin this Saturday, and that the open house for the Cedar City Utah Temple will start a week from this Friday. Additionally, we also know that the groundbreaking for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple is set to take place ten days from now.

I also learned today that Elder David A. Bednar, who has been traveling in the Africa Southeast Area conducting an area review, has visited the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple,  where the steeple is being cladded and where roof shingles are being laid.

Aside from these updates, there has been no notable temple progress to report. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. May the Lord be with and bless you all until my next post. Until that time, I wish you all the best.

PDF of the November 2017 Ensign is finally available

Hello, everyone! I am pleased to report that I found out earlier today that the PDF version of the November 2017 Ensign is finally available on the Church's website. I am still going over it as time allows, and will post within the next couple of days about how the table of contents I put together compares with what that actually looks like. In the meantime, any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord be with you all until my next post. Until that time, I wish you all the best.

Updated List of Possible Candidates for the Current Apostolic Vacancy

Hello, everyone! I promised to do this earlier today, and now it's done. This is my revised list of possible candidates for the current apostolic vacancy. Time will tell how likely any of these men might be to be appointed to the apostleship. As always, any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you all in all that you do.

Apostles appointed during President Monson’s prophetic tenure have, at the time of their calls, ranged in age from Elder Rasband’s 64.7 years to Elder Andersen’s 57.7 years, having a range of 7 years. After Elder Rasband, the next oldest apostle at the time of his call was Elder Christofferson at 63.3 years, then Elder Renlund at 62.8 years, then Elder Stevenson, who was 60.2 years old, then, of course, Elder Andersen. Of the 14 apostles, they have ranged in age from the oldest apostle, Elder Quentin L. Cook, who was 67.1 years old at the time of his call, to President Monson, who, as we know, was 36.1 years old at the time of his call, which gives us a spread of 31 years between the ages of the two at the time of their call.

The average age of the 14 apostles at the time of their calls was 57.98 years. As this data shows, the Church has no end of options in terms of the age of the new apostle. If the Church sticks to the average age at which apostles have been called during President Monson’s presidency, then the new apostle will be no older than 61.7 years. At a quick glance, that would include two members of the Presiding Bishopric (Bishops Causse & Waddell), three members of the Presidency of the Seventy (Craig C. Christensen, Ulisses Soares, and Patrick Kearon), and 39 General Authority Seventies.

The question arises, as it always does, would the Church look to someone internationally born, in the vein of President Uchtdorf, or would they tap someone American born who has international Church service and experience? And would they look to someone with more experience as a General Authority, or someone newer? The most recently called apostle, Elder Renlund, was called in 2009. If we assume that the Church will look for a more-tenured General Authority Seventy within the age range above, who has international experience and is a US citizen, we have the following brethren (Elders Gong and Cook, who are on this list for the reasons explained below, are on there inview of their age, and because their experiences have given them qualifications that would more than compensate for having been called later than 2009.

Elder Gerrit W. Gong: 63.8 years old; called as a GA Seventy in October 2010 and to the Presidency of the Seventy in October 2015 (is currently fifth in seniority in the Quorum, which (which was Elder Uchtdorf’s status at the time of his apostolic call in 2004; well educated; has had a vice presidential role at BYU; born in California; has Asian ancestry (and would thereby have international appeal); served a full-time mission in Taiwan; is married to the daughter or Richard P. Lindsey, who was a GA Seventy; has been a counselor and president of the Church’s Asia area.

Elder Craig C. Christensen: 61.5 years old; called as a GA Seventy in October 2002; is currently the second most senior member of the Presidency of the Seventy (which was Elder Christofferson’s status at the time of his apostolic call in 2008, and before that, the status of Elder Faust at the time of his call to the apostleship in 1978); Elder Christensen was appointed to that presidency in January 2013 and has been the second most senior member of that presidency since August 2017) born in Salt Lake City; served a mission in Santiago Chile; mission president in Mexico City; served for four years as president of the Mexico South Area.

Elder Marcus B. Nash: 60.5 years old; called as a GA Seventy in April 2006; born in Seattle Washington; served a mission in San Salvador El Salvador; helped construct the Seattle Washington Temple; served as a counselor in and then president of the South America Northwest Area.Elder Kevin W. Pearson: 60.4 years old; called as a GA Seventy in April 2008; born in Salt Lake City; served a mission in Helsinki Finland; has served as a counselor in the Europe East and Pacific Areas; served as president of the Pacific Area.

Elder Paul B. Pieper: 60 years old (birthday was on the 7th of this month); called as a GA Seventy in April 2005; born in Pocatello Idaho; served a mission in Monterrey Mexico; moved to Kazakhstan, where he learned to speak Russian; mission president in St. Petersburg Russia; has served in the Europe East Area Presidency; coordinated Church efforts in the Middle East/Africa North Area; currently serves as a counselor in the Mexico Area Presidency.

Elder Carl B. Cook: 60 years old (birthday was on the 15th of this month); called as a GA Seventy in April 2011; born in Ogden Utah; served a mission in Hamburg Germany; mission president in Auckland New Zealand; has served as a counselor and president of the Church’s Africa Southeast Area. He also made this list because he recently filled an assignment from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that is usually filled by an apostle. It is unclear why that was, but I recall that the First Presidency (consisting of Presidents Hinckley and Monson, after the August 10 death of President Faust), sent Elder Eyring on an assignment usually filled by the First Presidency, and he was called to that Presidency shortly thereafter. Given the nature of the assignment Elder Cook filled, the Church could be looking to do the same thing here as happened with Elder Eyring. That said, I have not been able to ascertain if Carl B. is in any way related to Quentin L., who was called as an apostle 10 years ago.

Elder Michael T. Ringwood: 59.5 years old; called as a GA Seventy in April 2009; born in Provo, Utah; served a mission in South Korea; President Nelson’s son-in-law; mission president in Seoul Korea; has served as a counselor and president of the Asia North Area.

Elder Michael John U. Teh: 52.3 years old; called as a GA Seventy in April 2007; born in the Philippines; served a mission in Davao; worked full-time for the Church as a recorder in the Manila Philippines Temple; also worked as a manager in the Church’s Member and Statistical Records Division in the Philippines Area; was a counselor in a mission presidency and an area seventy; served as a counselor in the Philippines Area Presidency both prior to and after his call as a General Authority; served as president of that area from 2011-2013; has served as president of the Taiwan Taichung Mission since last year. After President Hinckley died, I was praying about the apostolic vacancy and felt distinctly that Elder Teh would fill it at that time. Almost 9 years later, there have been four other apostolic vacancies, and despite my feeling that Elder Teh would fill one of them, that has not happened. It could happen this time.

Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse: 54.3 years old; called as a GA Seventy in April 2008, to the Presiding Bishopric in April 2012, and as Presiding Bishop in October 2015; born in Bordeaux, France; stake president for six years (from 2001-2007); area seventy for one year; served in the presidency of the Europe Area. When there were 3 apostolic vacancies to fill in 2015, I thought he might be called, but that didn’t happen.

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Presidency of the Seventy: turned 59 on October 2; called as a GA Seventy in April 2005 and to the Presidency of the Seventy in January 2013 (is currently third in seniority in that Presidency, which was the status of Elder Neal A. Maxwell at the time of his July 1981 call to the apostleship); born in Brazil; served a mission in Rio de Janeiro Brazil; worked for a time as director of temporal affairs for the Church in Brazil; stake president in Brazil; mission president in Portugal; has served as a counselor and president of the Church’s Brazil South Area; counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency. I thought he would also be called to fill one of the apostolic vacancies in 2015, but that didn’t happen.

New Blog Tradition: Minor Temple Construction Update

Hello, everyone! Hope you are well. Following an excellent suggestion from a couple of my loyal readers, I am starting a new tradition on this blog: a short post highlighting changes in temple progress. Before doing so, I would like to apologize to you all. The reason for the new tradition stems from a suggestion that, with the longer reports, it is harder to tell what has changed. I have always had a problem being brief in things I write and post, and it is something I am constantly working on. I apologize for any inconvenience my lengthy posts may have caused.

That said, I wanted to report that VIP and media tours have begun for the Meridian Idaho Temple (full tours for that temple will begin this Saturday). And given that the open house is set to start for the Cedar City Utah Temple in 1.5 weeks, we can assume that media tours for that temple will likely start in about a week.

With those observations, there have been no other changes to report in terms of temple construction. Your comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each of you all the best.