Temple Update/Elders Oaks & Ballard Give Counsel to Young Single Adults

Hello again, everyone! This post will serve as both an update on temple progress and to pass along one Church news item I found significant. Let's dive right in to all of that.

While not much has changed in terms of the current status of construction on temples worldwide, I did find out that the upper walls of the Lisbon Portugal Temple have been poured. With that milestone, the roof and the steeple will be the next projects for that temple. It was good to hear of that progress.

In the meantime, we have not yet heard word on when full-scale construction might begin in Winnipeg or Port-au-Prince, or if and how the exterior look of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple may change during the renovation process. Nothing official has been further announced in terms of the other announced temples either. I am also still in the process of evaluating yet again how soon we might see temple-related events for the next three years, and will be getting back to my post series on potential future temple sites at some point this week. I hope you all know that I am keeping my eye on all of this and will post more information when I have it.

For now, I wanted to turn the focus of this post from temple developments to an interesting Church news story which I have previously referenced on this blog. The Church scheduled a Face-to-Face event for Young Single Adults that originated from Utah on Sunday. The event featured Elders Dallin H. Oaks and M. Russell Ballard, who have been seatmates in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since Elder Ballard's call to the apostleship in October 1985.

As also mentioned previously, Elder Ballard had spoken last week in the devotional at BYU-Provo. The subsequent Face-to-Face Event allowed him and Elder Oaks to continue to give candid answers about the issues and questions that were brought up. For more specific details on what that event involved, click here/

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's blessings will be upon you all in everything you do.

Latest Church News includes updates on the travels and teachings of our current apostles

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post and pass along some news relating to the ongoing ministry of our apostles. My sources for these updates are the Church News and Mormon Newsroom websites. Let's dive right in to those significant accounts.

In an earlier blog post, I had mentioned that the inauguration of Clark G. Gilbert was set to take place on November 16. President Nelson, as mentioned in that blog post, has no direct role on the Church Board of Education, but was asked by the First Presidency to be the senior leader in attendance and administer a charge to President Gilbert in which he gave guidance about where President Gilbert's focus should be in this new assignment. You can read more on the inauguration here.

In an entirely different earlier blog post, I had also shared an article in which Church leaders thanked members for their generous donations (of money, supplies and time) in responding to the natural disasters that have struck various nations and left devastation worldwide. Two days ago, the original article on the Church news was updated with additional statements that have been made by Church leaders in the 2 weeks since that time as more disasters have struck. You can find that update here.

And finally, during last Tuesday's devotional at BYU-Provo, Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke candidly to students about the answers to several questions he has often received when he meets with young adults, both single and married. For more on what those topics were and what he had to say about them, click here.

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 individually and collectively in everything you do.

Meridian Idaho Temple Dedication Held Today

Hello again, everyone! Earlier today, three dedicatory sessions were held for the Meridian Idaho Temple, making it the 158th Church-wide and the fifth in Idaho. A summary of the events associated with that dedication can be found here, here, and here. Representing Church leadership at this dedication were President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Ulisses Soares of the Presidency of the Seventy (who supervises the Idaho Area), Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse, and Elders Kevin R. Duncan (representing the Temple Department) and Edward Dube (who seems to either have a role in the Temple or Family History Departments).

I am sure that was a wonderful event, and I am grateful to have been able to report on it in this blog post/ Additionally, yesterday marked the conclusion of the open house for the Cedar City Utah Temple. Aside from these developments, there is no additional temple news to report.

That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Once things normalize a bit more in terms of my health, I anticipate getting back to the series of posts on potential temple sites, along with passing on any major Church or temple news as I become aware of it. 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 individually and collectively in everything you do.

Personal Update

Hello again, everyone! As some of you may have noticed, I have been taking some personal time that was needed to deal with health and family issues. I wanted to post a brief update on what was done and what it means for the future of myself, my wife, and the updates I do on this blog.

As some of you may recall, I put out a request for prayers when I found out that the prior authorization for one of my regular medications had been denied. Additionally, as I may or may not have mentioned, my health insurance coverage has been extended to include dental benefits.

So while I was trying to get the medication issue resolved (and not having much success in doing so), I had my first visit with my new dentist. I was instantly impressed. In the course of examining me, he mentioned that I had around 10-12 substantial cavities that needed to be dealt with, however I chose to have that done. I initially set an appointment for the next week after that, but moved it up to a couple of days after the first because my mouth had been aching.

When my dentist was working on getting those cavities filled (we had determined that, since he had the time, we would get them all done at once, eliminating the need for an appointment until my next check up), we discovered that one of my wisdom teeth was severely decayed. They gave us the options we could do to try and save the tooth, which were all temporary solutions at best that would not be good long-term options. Then my wife asked the inspired question: what if the tooth were extracted? We found out that would be covered in full. So, we added that to the day's plan, and though I had trouble keeping still a couple of times during the ordeal, we got it taken care of.

The next week was filled with personal things, but also with a very strange abnormality: Some of the physical symptoms I had been dealing with for a good portion of my life were substantially lessened, others went away completely. This was wonderful and strange to get used to.

On Wednesday night this week, I realized that my neck was not tight at all (which had been a lifelong problem) and that I was not in as much pain. At the same time, the problems I had with getting to sleep every night went away, and I was able to get up on my own after roughly 7-9  hours every night.

But this is the biggest change: on Thursday we saw my muscle doctor, they asked about my pain levels, and I realized that my pain was only 3 on a scale of 0-10 (10 being the worst). That was huge for me, as my regular pain has been 6 or 7 at best for the last several years. I also saw a reversal of many of the physical issues that had become problematic since our marriage.

In the interim, Amy and I had decided to get a cat, and while I was dealing with my physical symptoms (including all the great changes), she looked into the options and got the house prepared. Yesterday, we made a second trip to Salt Lake, this time to see my neurologist. When I had received word of the prior authorization for the one medication being denied, I had determined an adjustment to the dosage of the medication I was able to get would be appropriate, and when we saw my neurologist, she stated she had approved that change, and said that she would be very surprised if, once I got used to the new dosage, I did not feel substantially better. She also confirmed that the wisdom tooth issue may have been the one factor we had not considered in my treatment.. We will follow up with her in a month (or two, if I am feeling all right).

From our appointment, we made our way to the Best Friends animal shelter. While we greatly enjoyed mingling with several cats there, the first one that approached us at the shelter is the one we opted to get, especially since she appeared to do well around us. Her name is Blaire, and we are grateful to have her in out home.

Between getting things resolved in terms of my health, and having Blaire around, my anxiety has diminished substantially. I may post a picture of her later if there is enough demand for it. She took a while to get used to being in our home, but has spent most of the day today either sleeping or curled up next to or on the laps of either Amy or me, and she seems to especially enjoy being by my side.

So, with the events of the last 30 hours or so, things are looking up. Thank you all for bearing with me as I have shared all of this. If the improvements continue, then that is sure to be the "new normal" for us. 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.

Progress (and the lack thereof) noted for several temples

Hello again, everyone! While the decision of the planning and zoning commission on the proposal for the plots of land that could house the Pocatello Idaho Temple and residential homes may still be around 7-8 hours away, and while we may not actually hear an official confirmation of the Church's intent to use the site in question, there were one or two other noteworthy temple-related developments which I wanted to pass along.

First of all, as many of you will recall, the Meridian Idaho Temple Dedication events are set to occur this weekend. It is significant to me that, as the dedication of one temple in Idaho draws closer, we could have the site identified for the newest Idaho temple by the end of the same week. That is pretty amazing to consider.

Next, just a little while ago, I learned that the Angel Moroni has now been installed on the steeple of the Barranquilla Colombia Temple. Since the placing of that angel marks a major milestone for all temples, I feel even more certain than I have previously been that the temple will be dedicated in mid-November 2018.

I also wanted to note that, since the groundbreaking was held almost three weeks ago, there has been no reported progress on the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple. That does not necessarily mean there has not been any progress noted, just that I have not heard about it.

As the Asuncion Paraguay Temple nears the month mark following its closure, I have not yet been able to find out anything more about what the renovation process might involve for that temple. I previously voiced my opinion that the new look I shared with you that will be used for the Memphis and Oklahoma City temples could be the new look for all temples built within that era. If it has been determined that that design will not work for the one temple in Paraguay, I will be interested to see why the renovation process has been initiated.

As far as I know, no other temple progress has been reported, so that does it for this post. As always, 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.