Prayers Would Be Appreciated

Hello, everyone! I hope you will all indulge me for a moment as I do a personal post. As some of you may be aware, I have had life-long health challenges, one of which has been pretty severe and significant daily head and bodily pain. I last saw the doctor who monitors that part of my health on the third Friday of last month, and I am scheduled to meet with her again this next Friday. When I tried last month to get a prior authorization processed through my insurance, I was subjected to three weeks of having to live without that medication. There was an issue getting my doctor to complete the process necessary to get that approval. While all of that was very difficult to deal with, one thing it did accomplish was to help me figure out what I could cut out of my daily medication. After three weeks of trying to figure out how soon I would be able to get that medication, I got word from my insurance earlier today that the prior authorization has been denied. The good news is that, if I can get past the symptoms I've been dealing with from not having access to the medication, I could be considerably better off not having to take it. Now that we have word from my insurance that they will not be covering the medication, I assume that they will suggest alternatives that would cover my pain well enough without having to be on a medication that would create additional health challenges. In the coming week, I will need to talk to my doctor, most likely even before the visit Friday, and figure out what the plan will be going forward. If it would be all right for me to ask for it, prayers in my behalf would be appreciated that my doctor and I will be able to figure out the best plan going forward.

I am very much appreciative of the support I get from those who have read my posts here in the past. I am also humbled by the fact that the latest reports about the readership of this blog show that I have gained readers from various countries all around the world. It touches me that the things I have felt a need to "sound off" about, especially those related to the faith I have loved and to which I have been devoted for my entire life, are of interest to so many. In fact, it is because of the faith I have that I have been able to deal with the life-long health issues I have had. The Lord has blessed me abundantly, and my blogging to share information about the faith that has sustained me through so much is a very small way to thank the Man who has experienced vicariously all that I have gone through, am going through, or will ever have to deal with. I hope that this offering on my part, meager though it may be, is an acceptable portion of the infinite gratitude I feel, not just for His having suffered the severest degree of the tribulations I have experienced in the almost 31 years I have lived, but also for blessing me with such an enthusiasm for learning about and passing along the developments related to His Church and kingdom in these latter-days. I know that one day I will stand accountable before Him for the way I have borne such tribulations and have moved along His work, and I hope that in that day, He will find those offerings acceptable. If it can be so, it will all have been worth it.

Thank you again for indulging me in sharing these thoughts with you all, and for your ongoing interest and support. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless each one of you in all that you do.

Article About Probable Location for the Pocatello Idaho Temple/Further Changes Made to the Announced Temples Section of My Report

Hello again, everyone! Within the last few days, an Idaho news organization ran an article stating that, the Church could still opt to use any one of currently three sites that have been mentioned as potential locations for the Pocatello Idaho Temple, it appears that the location annexed into Pocatello City two days following the long-awaited announcement of that temple may be the best option. Of course, nothing is official until the Brethren make it so, but I thought that was worth mentioning. You can read more about that here. Because it is very likely that will be the location, and also because I needed to do so, I have again revisited the order in which I have listed announced temples on my temple construction progress report. A copy of those changes follows. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless each one of you in all that you do.

NOTE ON ANNOUNCED TEMPLES: While I once felt confident in projecting potential groundbreaking estimates for these announced temples, on October 28, 2017, I determined that it would be best to simplify this section by listing these temples in their announced order, with the exception of those that are farther along. Then on November 10, 2017, I took another look at new information on these temples and reordered them further. I will keep an eye out for any developments and reorder this list again as often as that becomes necessary going forward. Additionally, where I have felt it would be appropriate, I have provided notes about some of the factors that may affect how soon future groundbreakings will occur. Since we already know that 2018-2020 are going to be busy years for temple-related developments, it would not surprise me at all if, in view of Elder Wilson’s statement referenced above, we have at least ten more announced during that same time, nor would it surprise me if many of the temples in this section progress to a groundbreaking (and perhaps even a dedication) during that time as well. I am keeping an eye on all of this and will let you know once I find out more information.

Announced temples:

171. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning and preliminary construction phase; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: As previously noted, the contractor for this temple said that a year of preliminary work would be needed prior to this temple’s groundbreaking. If, as previously indicated, that year began in March 2017, this temple could easily have its groundbreaking in the early-to-middle part of next year.

172. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval; site inspected by Church engineers on June 21, 2017.

NOTE: This temple is this far up on the list because it has had a site identified and inspected. How soon a groundbreaking might happen is unclear. But since a site has been identified and inspected, it may be sooner rather than later.

173. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official name announcement.

NOTE: As with the Brasilia temple, this temple is in this position on this list because a site has been identified. An official name is anticipated to be announced for this temple at some point in the near future. How soon a groundbreaking might happen is anyone’s guess. But with a site identified already, it may be sooner rather than later/

174. Pocatello Idaho Temple: Planning and approval; probability increases for likely temple site; official confirmation is pending.

NOTE: On November 10, I received word of additional evidence that is indicative that the land annexed into Pocatello two days after its April 2017 announcement would indeed be the location for the temple.  I am keeping my eye on all of this and will continue to pass along any and all updates as I make them.

175. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: If, as some members have speculated, an existing Church office building is reconstructed into a multi-purpose building that will serve as not only an office building, but a chapel and the temple as well, and if that is confirmed, we could easily see a groundbreaking for this temple sooner rather than later.

176. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Awaiting government approval and official site announcement.

NOTE: This temple, announced in October 2010, has been subjected to numerous delays. While I hope to see a groundbreaking for it sooner rather than later, there could be more delays in store for this temple. That said, the reports I have received indicate that a site announcement and groundbreaking could occur in short order next year. If that does happen, we could see a groundbreaking sooner rather than later.

177. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

178. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: While the first Ecuadoran Temple had a 14-year waiting period between its announcement and its subsequent groundbreaking, this temple is not anticipated to take anywhere near that long between its 2016 announcement and whenever its groundbreaking occurs. As with everything else, I am keeping my eye out for devel

179. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: Shortly after this temple was announced (in April 2016), Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, who presides over the Church in the Africa Southeast Area, stated that a site announcement and groundbreaking would occur in short order during 2017. Since that time, no progress has been made in that regard. Hopefully that will change soon.

180. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

181. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement; media event held June 14, 2017.

NOTE: While the media event is a good initial step for providing information on this temple, in his remarks at this event, Elder Sitati (our native Kenyan GA Seventy, who also has a role as an Assistant Executive Director of the Temple Department (both of which make it understandable that the Church would ask him to represent them for the event), Elder Sitati indicated that it usually takes the Church 2-3 years after an announcement to locate a suitable site (whether owned by the Church or not) plan and conduct a groundbreaking, and start the construction progress. With that in mind, it may be 2019 or 2020 before the groundbreaking occurs for this temple. I hope we will not have to wait that long to have all of that happen for this temple, but time will tell.

182. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: Though Utah temples (particularly those in Utah County) have been known to have a site announcement, groundbreaking, and construction process much more quickly than temples elsewhere, until a site is announced, it has felt wise to have this temple at this spot on this list. As soon as anything changes in that regard, I will pass such news along.

ADDITIONAL GENERAL NOTE: As I have repeatedly emphasized, Elder Wilson stated in late April 2017 that the Church had a list of 80 potential temple sites that are under active consideration for a subsequent announcement during the 15 years following that statement.

Unless the First Presidency elects to do so between now and then, General Conference in April 2018 would be the next opportunity for such announcements. And though not all of the 80 currently on the list will go on to be announced within that time, and while others may be added to that list in the coming years, with 14 years remaining, if anywhere close to 80 temples are announced, that works out to around 6 new temples per year. I am keeping an eye on all of this, and will be sure to post any additional news once I hear of it.

BREAKING NEWS: President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Will Preside Over Dedicatory Services for the Meridian idaho Temple

Hello again, everyone! I am posting with breaking news that answers the question I posed in a blog post about a week or so ago: Who will be presiding at the Meridian Idaho Temple dedication? According to this article, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, will do so. I fully anticipate that Elder David A. Bednar, who was called to the apostleship at the same time as President Uchtdorf, will be in attendance. Just wanted to pass that information along. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray the Lord will bless you individually in everything you do.

Updated Estimates For Future Temple-related Events Anticipated Between Now and 2020

Hello again, everyone! I am posting in the early hours of November 9 to share updated  estimates for future temple-related events that I put together in view of additional study on my part about climate and temperature of different parts of the world within the general time-frames that are anticipated for such events. I look forward to discussing your thoughts on these changes. Those altered estimates follow. That does it for this post. Any 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 and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Revised time-frame for future temple-related events:

Sunday November 19, 2017: Dedication of the Meridian Idaho Temple (158^th operating temple; already confirmed)

Sunday December 10, 2017: Dedication of the Cedar City Utah Temple (159^th operating temple; already confirmed)

2018:

January: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Renovation Closure (already confirmed; exact date may not be as set in stone as I once believed)

February: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Renovation Closure (already confirmed; exact date may not be as set in stone as I once believed)

Sunday March 4: Washington DC Temple Renovation Closure (already confirmed)

April or May: Full-scale construction anticipated to begin on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple

May: Mesa Arizona Temple Renovation Closure (already confirmed; exact date not yet released)

Sunday May 20: Jordan River Utah Temple Rededication (already confirmed)

Sunday August 5 or 12: Frankfurt Germany Temple Rededication

Sunday August 19 or 26: Kinshasa DR Congo Temple Dedication (160^th operating temple)

Sunday September 16 or 23: Concepcion Chile Temple Dedication (161^st operating temple)

Sunday November 11 or 18: Barranquilla Colombia Temple Dedication (162^nd operating temple)

2019:

Mid-April: Memphis Tennessee Temple Rededication

Mid-to-late April: Rome Italy Temple Dedication (163^rd operating temple)

Early-to-mid May: Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Rededication

Mid-May: Asuncion Paraguay Temple Rededication

Late May-early June: Durban South Africa Temple Dedication (164^th operating temple)

Mid-June: Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple Dedication (165^th operating temple)

Early-to-mid August: Fortaleza Brazil Temple Dedication (166^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late August: Rio de Janeiro Temple Dedication (167^th operating temple)

Mid-September: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Rededication

Mid-October: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Rededication

Mid-to-late October: Lisbon Portugal Temple Dedication (168^th operating temple)

Mid-November: Arequipa Peru Temple Dedication (169^th operating temple)

Mid-December: Oakland California Temple Rededication

NOTE: The Church indicated when announcing the renovation of this temple that it would reopen in 2019. That said, it is an older temple, and as such, may take longer than anticipated. I could see it being rededicated in 2020, if the process is delayed for any reason.

2020:

Mid-to-late April: Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Dedication (170^th operating temple)

Mid-May: Tokyo Japan Temple Rededication

Early-to-mid September: Mesa Arizona Temple Rededication

Mid-November: Washington DC Temple Rededication

NOTE: If, as I expect, almost all of the temples that are currently announced have a groundbreaking in either 2018 or 2019, then it is more likely than not that many of them could be dedicated during 2020. For now, the only events that are anticipated to happen in 2020 are listed here. As the next two years unfold, I will be adding future events to this list.

Revisiting my thoughts yet again about the potential timeline for future temple-related events

Hello again, everyone! I know I have posted quite a bit today, but I wanted to post again now and let you all know that I have recently heard from a wide variety of sources that I may need to rethink things yet again in terms of the potential timeline for temple-related events within the next three years or so. That is an ongoing and evolving process. It appears that there are so many more factors to consider in that regard than just climate and temperature. Back to the drawing board I go about all of that. It will be interesting to see how my ongoing study about such things will change these estimates. Just wanted to pass that along. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

April 2018 General Conference Preliminary Predictions Part 1: Speaking Order and Possible Changes in General Church Leadership

Hello again, everyone! Not long after General Conference ended last month, as I always do, I immediately began preparing my preliminary predictions for General Conference next April. As I have previously mentioned, while I continue to work on and invite feedback about the series of posts I am doing about potential future temple locations, which will be one part of those predictions, and while I am waiting more towards the end of this year to prepare my predictions for what the year-end statistical report might look like, I thought I would post here and now with what I have assembled in terms of the potential speaking order and potential changes in general Church leadership. Those predictions follow below. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

April 2018 General Conference Predictions

Preliminary note on these predictions: On October 27, 2017, the First Presidency announced that the Women’s and Priesthood Sessions of General Conference would both be held annually, with the Priesthood Session every April, and the Women’s Session every October, with both to be held two hours following the Saturday Afternoon Session. As I have previously stated, my predictions in recent years have averaged between 60-80% in their accuracy because I have been able to notice patterns of the past and have used those to predict what may happen for the future. The new policy will result in new patterns, which I hope to have figured out by April 2019. That said, the only thing that might be different during this conference is that President Eyring will be giving one less talk than he has in recent April General Conference sessions. Other than that, I don’t anticipate much deviation from previous conferences.

Speaking Order (Text in brackets indicated what actually happened.)

Session	Conducting	Speaker
Saturday Morning	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf	President Henry B. Eyring
		Bishop Dean M. Davies
		Christina B. Franco
		Elder David A. Bednar
		Elder Massimo De Feo
		Elder Larry Y. Wilson
		Elder Ronald A. Rasband
Saturday Afternoon	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Sustaining of Church Officers)_
	Church Auditing Department Report, 2017	Kevin R. Jergensen
	Statistical Report, 2017	Brook P. Hales
		Elder Dale G. Renlund
		Elder D. Todd Christofferson
		Devin G. Durrant
		Elder Taniela B. Wakolo
		Elder Dallin H. Oaks
		Elder M. Russell Ballard
Saturday Priesthood	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf	Elder Gary E. Stevenson
		Douglas D. Holmes
		Elder Gerrit W. Gong
		President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
		President Henry B. Eyring
Sunday Morning	President Henry B. Eyring	New apostle
		Elder Patrick Kearon
		Neill F. Marriott
		Elder Neil L. Andersen
		Elder Brian K. Taylor
		Elder Paul B. Pieper
		President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Sunday Afternoon	President Dieter F. Uchtdorf	President Russell M. Nelson
		Elder Larry Echo Hawk
		Elder Taylor G. Godoy
		Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
		Elder Walter F. Gonzalez
		Elder Anthony D. Perkins
		Elder Quentin L. Cook

Predictions for Changes in Church Leadership

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: New apostle and Quorum member sustained to fill the vacancy created by the October 1, 2017 death of Elder Robert D. Hales. Note about this apostolic vacancy: The newest apostle could be any worthy man in the Church, whether or not he is known to Church membership (including any currently serving General Authority, Area Seventy, member of the Sunday School or Young Men General Presidencies, or the Church at large). That said, the last time a new apostle did not come from among those currently serving General Authorities occurred with the 2004 sustaining of Elder David A. Bednar, who was then serving as both an area seventy and as president of BYU-Idaho at the time of his call. So it is more likely that someone from the general leadership of the Church will be called. Of those five apostles called during President Monson’s Church presidency, three were called from the Presidency of the Seventy (one of whom was the second most senior member, and the other two who were the Senior President of the Seventy), one was the Presiding Bishop of the Church (who had also served as a General Authority Seventy prior to his call as Presiding Bishop), and one was a General Authority Seventy. Note about the timing of the announcement: While I would not be surprised at all if we do not find out who will be filling the apostolic vacancy until the Sustaining of Church Officers during the Saturday Afternoon Session, at the same time, I could also see President Monson authorizing President Eyring to lead the sustaining of the new apostle during his Saturday Morning address. Result: Elder (name of new apostle goes here) was called and sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Presidency of the Seventy: If the new apostle is any of these men, he will be released and a new member will be sustained. Result:

General Authority Seventies: If the new apostle comes from among these men, he will be released. As is typical for the April General Conference, new General Authorities will be sustained from the Area Seventies or the Church at large (including any current mission or temple president). Result:

Presiding Bishopric: If the new apostle is any of these three men, there will be changes to this group. Result:

Area Seventies: Releases and sustainings, especially if the new apostle comes from among these men. NOTE: The last area seventy called as an apostle was Elder David A. Bednar in 2004. It is possible that the Church could look to one of the current area seventies to fill this vacancy. It is also common to see the bulk of releases and sustainings happen in April, when President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, leads out in the sustaining, rather than in October, when President Eyring does so. Last October was the exception to this, so anything is possible. Result:

Young Women General Presidency: Sisters Bonnie L. Oscarson, Carol F. McConkie, and Neill F. Marriott released; new Young Women General Presidency sustained, whether or not either of the current counselors are retained in the new presidency; new presidency members may also come from among the outgoing members of the general board, or the new president could be one of the counselors in the Primary or Relief Society General Presidency. If that happens, changes in the affected presidency will also need to be sustained. Note: The current presidency has served since 2013, meaning that they have reached the standard 5 years of service that have been typical for general presidencies in recent years. It is therefore more than likely that the current presidency will be released. And the last time any member of an outgoing presidency were retained in the new one was in 2007, so it could very easily happen again. It has also been common for one or more members of the outgoing Young Women General Board to become part of the new presidency. So the Church has options there. Result:

Sunday School General Presidency: Possible changes made, if new apostle comes from this presidency. Result:

Young Men General Presidency: Possible changes made, if new apostle comes from this presidency. Result:

Clarifying the intent of my responses to comments on this blog

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again at this time, as the title of this post says, to clarify the intent of my responses to comments on this blog. I always value feedback from others. When I hear comments and thoughts from other people about things that I have "sounded off" about, I have, more often than not, posted personal replies to each of those comments. I am concerned that some might have felt my doing so is meant to end the chance for discussion of such topics.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I am happy to welcome any and all comments from anyone on any post at any time any of you do want to comment. I know some people who blog regularly that have, to a certain degree, let their comment boards run themselves, only responding if and when questions are directed to them personally. And I respect that as their right. But in my case, my intention in responding to each comment that, in my opinion, deserves a reply, as I have done up to now (and will continue to do, if that's okay with all of you), is to acknowledge the merits (and when needed, correction and clarification) in the comments each of you make, and I hope that by doing so, each one of you to whom I do respond will understand clearly how much I value all comments on this blog.

Rather than ending the conversation, I hope that such replies will provide more of an opportunity for the discussion to continue in an orderly manner, and will be a clear indicator of how much I appreciate all of you who do comment. That has always been my only intent for commenting as extensively as I have here on my own blog. I hope any I may have offended by so doing will forgive me. In the meantime, I also hope that the conversations on here, to whatever extent my personal replies may be involved, will continue to be inspiring for all who follow them. I have been humbled to my very core to realize how many regular readers I have gained, and to see how readership of this blog has expanded to various parts of the world. The fact that my thoughts, as imperfect as I myself am, are of interest to so many means everything in the world to me.

That seems like a good note to end on. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless each one of you in all that you do.

Temple News Updates

Hello again everyone! I wanted to post today and pass along some wonderful news about temples. More details were provided today that set the context for the developments I previously reported about the Rome Italy Temple. In that city that is iconic to the history of Christianity, scaffolding, which has been part of the temple for the last 4 years or so (including when the project changed hands and the existing scaffolding was replaced in 2015), has been removed. Interior work continues there as well.

Now, I wanted to offer a disclaimer here: Despite my general tendency to be optimistic whenever I hear updates like this, at the same time, unless more significant progress is made on this temple within the next 6-8 months, I still have not seen sufficient evidence that this temple will be completed and dedicated prior to the end of next year. But you can be sure that if that changes, I will be passing that along.

Additionally, I learned earlier today that the angel Moroni had been replaced on the temple in Monticello Utah. That was apparently reported yesterday, but I missed passing that along in view of needing to take a personal day to work out a health-related crisis. The problem has passed (and long-time readers of this blog are no doubt aware of how reticent I have been lately to post about personal matters, choosing to focus on Church news, of which there is always an abundance) but it has been a tricky few weeks. I only mention this as an explanation about why I was not able to report on the Monticello development yesterday.

As I observed over the weekend, tours continue until the end of the day Saturday for the new temple in Meridian Idaho. The cultural celebration will follow one week after, and the dedication will be held the next day. Still no word on who might represent the Church at this event, but wanted to note it anyway.

Full-scale construction has not yet begun on the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple. That said, unless it becomes another Winnipeg (which will not see full-scale construction efforts start until spring 2018, 15 months or so after the groundbreaking ceremony was held), completion is still anticipated for Haiti's first temple in early-to-mid 2019. That will likely not change, unless construction cannot begin on this temple within the next six months. With the relatively great year-round weather in Haiti, there are not anticipated to be many weather-related delays to impede the construction of this temple.

One other thing worth noting in terms of temple-related developments: I have not yet heard how (if at all) the design of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple might change while it undergoes the renovation process. I had wondered if it might be given the same exterior look as Memphis and Oklahoma City, but that has not yet been clarified by any of the sources I have available to me. Stay tuned for more on that as I learn of it.

That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

More Information Given for 2018 Church-related Events

Hello again, everyone! In yet another check of the Church's official website, I discovered some more information has been released about some of the early Church-related events that will be held during the first several months of 2018. Read ahead for more on that.

On Sunday January 14, 2018, the first of the Church's three Worldwide Devotionals for Young Adults will be held. The featured speakers will be President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency and his wife, Sister Harriet R. Uchtdorf.

While a speaker will be announced in the future, we know that the 2018 Evening with a General Authority (which will be held for seminary and institute instructors, CES employees, and their spouses) will be held Friday January 26, 2018.

The first Face-to-Face event for youth in 2018 will feature President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and his wife, Sister Wendy W. Nelson, and will be held on Saturday February 3 (the same day when the First Presidency will mark a decade of service together).

Exactly four weeks later, on Saturday March 3, the RootsTech Family Discovery Day will be held for Family History enthusiasts. Selected leaders and general officers of the Church, who will be announced at a later date, will be featured.

As already announced, the open house for the renovated Jordan River Utah Temple will be held from Saturday March 17- Saturday April 28, with the cultural celebration on May 19, and the rededication on Sunday May 20.

The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square will present a sing-along of Handel's Messiah on March 23. In the meantime, April General Conference will be held on Saturday and Sunday March 31 and April 1.

Over a month later, the second Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults will be held on May 6, with the speaker announced at a later date. The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square will be holding their annual Pioneer Day Concert on Saturday July 21, 2018.

Rounding out the year will be the already-announced third Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults on September 9, 2018, General Conference on October 6 and 7 (which will feature the Women's Session on that Saturday for the first time) and the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional held on December 2, 2018.

Already, with what is known, 2018 will be a great year for the Church. I am, of course, keeping my eyes open for any additional information on any of these events, and also for temple-related events during the year as well, and will be passing all of that along as I am able to.

That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in all that you do.

Case Study: How soon could the Church have 200 operating temples?

Hello again, everyone! As I may have mentioned previously, I started the prior post with the intention of exploring how soon the Church might see 200 operating temples. I had before offered my opinion that that could occur by or before the 200th anniversary of the Church, which is what prompted my deviation from that subject in the post previous to this one. So, let's examine what the Church would have to do to make that possible, and how temple progress will be looking over the next 2-3 years.

As many of you are no doubt aware, there are 182 temples in various stages. This means that the Church would just have to announce 18 more, in addition to completing the other 25 currently in various stages. That's a total of 43 temples that would need to be dedicated in between now and April 6, 2030. With that in mind, the Church, as of today, has 12.41 years to complete those 43. That works out to just around 3.5 that would need to be completed in each one of those years. So, what needs to happen to make that possible? Let's look at that.

As you  all know, the Church will have 2 more temples dedicated by the end of this year, bringing the number of those in operation to 159. By the end of 2018, the Church will have either 162 or 163 in operation, meaning 3 or 4 new temples will be added next year. 2019, as already noted, is anticipated to be a big year for temple-related events, without even considering how many announced temples might have a groundbreaking next year. If the data I have gathered proves correct, the number of operating temples by the end of will have risen to either 169 or 170. With that in mind, by the time the Church has 10 years left to dedicate the 200, there will be around 30 temples left to complete. So as long as 3 or 4 are dedicated each year, that could easily be done.

That said, as already noted, if many other temples have a groundbreaking next year and in 2019, the number of those that could subsequently be dedicated in 2020 and beyond, along with those new temples that may be announced within the next two years, could be anyone's guess. That said, it seems obvious to me that, whether or not an official goal is made to do so, the Church will have at least 200 temples in operation by April 6, 2030. In fact, for the span of the 17 years between January 2001 (the end of the temple-building boom that occurred between 1997 and 2000) and the end of this year, the Church will have seen an increase in operating temples from 102 to 159, which is 57 new temples. In those 17 years, that will have averaged out to 3.35 temples per year. And with the 41 that would need to be dedicated between January 1, 2018 and April 6, 2030 (a span of 12.26 years), that further works out to 3.34 per year.

Thanks for bearing with me as I have shared this information with you. Whatever might happen in terms of future temple-related developments, you can be sure to find all the latest news and developments here. That does it for this post. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.