Hello again, everyone! While the update on the Kinshasa temple and the death of Elder Morrison warranted their own blog posts here, I am back to cover other Church news stories that are significant, and I think I can cover the remainder of those stories in a single post. If that changes, I will let you know. So let's get right into all of that.
Many of you living in the United States are no doubt aware of the shooting that was reported as taking place at a high school in Florida. The Church News shared that two young women who were members of the Church were among those killed in this attack, and the First Presidency released this statement about the shooting.
Next, the Church News reported that missionaries have returned to Puerto Rico after they and others who have since concluded their service were evacuated following Hurricane Maria. I will be evaluating how (if at all) this development changes my previous assertion that a temple in Puerto Rico would likely be delayed. If any of you have thoughts on that matter, I'd love to hear from you.
Continuing her series of articles highlighting her time as a reported and editor of the Church News, Gerry Avant wrote this article to share her interviews over the years with Presidents Benson, Packer, and Faust and Elders Perry and Haight containing their reminiscences about their calls to the apostleship.
And the Church News also wrote about new mission presidents called to serve in England, Brazil, and the DR Congo, which you can read about here. Finally, we have this report of how, following inspired counsel from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, local Church leaders in Mississippi came together to assist in needed refurbishment for the local offices of the NAACP.
It was great to read of all the good the Church has done as reflected in these articles, and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to share them with you herein. I will be keeping my eyes open for any further updates and Church news and will pass those along to you as I become aware of them.
That does it for this post. Any and all 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.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Additional Church News Updates
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
Emeritus General Authority Elder Alexander B. Morrison Passes Away At Age 87
Hello again, everyone! I mentioned in my last post that there had been a lot of Church news today. One such item is that Elder Alexander B. Morrison, an Emeritus General Authority, has passed away. You can find the Church News report on his life, Church ministry, and funeral arrangements here, and review any of the four addresses he gave during General Conference over the years of his ministry (which are well worth a review) here. From a quick review of those sources, I can tell Elder Morrison is a wonderful man, and that the Church was blessed to have his voice in Church leadership. That does it for this post. Any and all 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.
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
Update Provided on the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple
Hello again, everyone! There have been some exciting Church and temple developments to report today, but in view of my need to take care of a few personal matters, I have not been able to post about them before now. It is time to rectify that.
Earlier today, an update was reported on the status of the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple. I last reported an update on that temple on Saturday January 27 of this year. That update can be found here. New information today indicates that this temple has its' steeple, roof shingles, and exterior paint nearing completion, and that an adjoining guardhouse is being built.
It may be a while yet before we know for sure, but this update gives me hope that we could see this temple dedicated before the end of this year. However, I will not alter my latest estimates again until I can prove that will be the case.
Again, it is good to see how temple progress can be made on a day-to-day basis, and I will continue to monitor, track, and report these developments as they occur. That does it for this post. Any and all 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.
Earlier today, an update was reported on the status of the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple. I last reported an update on that temple on Saturday January 27 of this year. That update can be found here. New information today indicates that this temple has its' steeple, roof shingles, and exterior paint nearing completion, and that an adjoining guardhouse is being built.
It may be a while yet before we know for sure, but this update gives me hope that we could see this temple dedicated before the end of this year. However, I will not alter my latest estimates again until I can prove that will be the case.
Again, it is good to see how temple progress can be made on a day-to-day basis, and I will continue to monitor, track, and report these developments as they occur. That does it for this post. Any and all 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.
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
A Comment About General Conferences That Coincided With Easter Sunday
Hello again, everyone! As some of you may be aware, Easter Sunday (at least here in the US) falls sometime between mid-March and late April every year. At times, however, we have seen General Conference Sundays coincide with Easter Sunday of that year. According to my research, the last time that occurred was in April 2015, and I am pleased to report that the first General Conference held during President Nelson's presidency will be another such example.
This will make the April 2018 General Conference all that more significant. I haven't been able to search back too far, but it would appear (again from my research, which may be flawed or inaccurate) that the April 2018 General Conference will be the first time in a very long time (if it has happened before at any other point in Church history) where this one General Conference will mark the Solemn Assembly for a new Church president and the calling of two new members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles the day before the world observes Easter Sunday.
I find that significant, amazing, and humbling. Unless he opts to speak after the Solemn Assembly, the first opportunity President Nelson will have to address the general Church membership in General Conference will be Easter Sunday, and, unless he feels inspired to do otherwise, the Easter Sunday Session of General Conference will be filled with talks from six special witnesses of Jesus Christ, two of whom will be speaking to the Church for the first time as such. That is amazing to think about.
I apologize if I have bored or troubled any of you unnecessarily with this trivia, but thought it was worth noting. That does it for this post. Any and all 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.
This will make the April 2018 General Conference all that more significant. I haven't been able to search back too far, but it would appear (again from my research, which may be flawed or inaccurate) that the April 2018 General Conference will be the first time in a very long time (if it has happened before at any other point in Church history) where this one General Conference will mark the Solemn Assembly for a new Church president and the calling of two new members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles the day before the world observes Easter Sunday.
I find that significant, amazing, and humbling. Unless he opts to speak after the Solemn Assembly, the first opportunity President Nelson will have to address the general Church membership in General Conference will be Easter Sunday, and, unless he feels inspired to do otherwise, the Easter Sunday Session of General Conference will be filled with talks from six special witnesses of Jesus Christ, two of whom will be speaking to the Church for the first time as such. That is amazing to think about.
I apologize if I have bored or troubled any of you unnecessarily with this trivia, but thought it was worth noting. That does it for this post. Any and all 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.
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
Some Thoughts on Valentine's Day and My Own Special Valentine
Hello again, everyone! I am back as promised on this Valentine's Day to share some thoughts, and especially a tribute to my own special valentine. It has been somewhat of a tradition on this blog that every Valentine's Day, I post a copy of the poem I penned in High School, entitled "Will You Be My Valentine", and add to that a brief tribute to my wife. This year will be somewhat different. Having noted in my last post the beautiful tribute Elder Holland published to his wife on social media, that seems to be a better context for what I would like to say in tribute to my wife, Amy.
As many long-time readers of this blog know, I first met my wife in early 2009 when I was serving as a temple worker. The moment I first heard her voice, I had the distinct impression she would be my wife one day. Perhaps unwisely, I shrugged off that feeling (as we were not able to exchange much personal dialogue at the time, and since I had never previously met her and had no idea who she was), and I promptly forgot about that impression.
By contrast, I later learned that our brief exchange, though no personal dialogue was involved, had left a favorable impression of me on her. And in retrospect, it was just as well that her neither of us sought out the other until later, since her focus at that time needed to be on her mother, for whom she had been the primary caregiver for the previous 15-20 years or so, and who passed away in Janury 2010.
In due course, Amy became a temple worker herself. And when her school schedule prevented her from maintaining her assigned shift (on Tuesday evening), and her only option was to move to the Friday evening shift (on which I had been for about 3 years at the time).
She instantly recognized and remembered me, although my memory of our previous encounter was not restored in full until several years after that. Because I have always been a people person, she was one of the many temple workers I talked with on a regular basis during times that were less busy at the temple.
We continued to chat, forming a strong friendship, and although I didn't know it at the time, we both wondered whether or not we were mutually attracted to each other. In point of fact, she had (again without my realizing it) just been waiting for me to ask her out.
But in view of a wide variety of factors (which in retrospect were far more minor than they seemed to be at the time), I had convinced myself that she wouldn't be interested in going out with me. But I had decided that if the Lord opened a way for that door to be open, I would walk through it.
And so it was that during a time when the temple was closed for cleaning, I got a letter from her indicating her interest in me and her willingness to work around whatever my situation was to enable us to spend time getting to know each other better. Although an unexplained error resulted in my first acceptance of that offer not reaching her, once I learned that response had not gone through. I sent it again.
Having ascertained our mutual interest, we went on 14 dates in the next 3 weeks, agreeing after the first week that the question of marriage would be when and how rather than if, as long as the Lord approved of that course.
On July 4, 2010, we fasted together and thereby determined that we should go ahead and get engaged. In the 5.5 months that followed, we saw much in terms of both blessings from the Lord and challenges in the process of preparing for our marriage. Because we knew the Lord had brought us together, we trusted His promises, and that trust proved justified, as we were able to be married on December 18.
In the 7 (going on 8) years since that time, although trials have continued (and at times have been quite severe), we have been reminded over and over again that, in terms of the many reasons the Lord brought us together, perhaps the most fitting were that we are so much on the same wavelength that we not only complement each other in the best ways, but more than that, each of us has been able to help the other with times when struggles have been particularly challenging.
I could not ask for a better, more wonderful, or more loving eternal companion. Particularly in light of the many additional difficulties with which we continue to grapple (not the least of which are those factors relating to how my health limits my ability at times to do as much as I would like to), my wife has shown me great patience, understanding, sympathy, empathy, and so much more.
She sees me not as I am now, but as I may become And that takes a very special and unique kind of woman. Because of that, and because of all she constantly and consistently does to keep us going, I owe her a greater debt than I can every repay.
And so, on this Valentine's Day, I am infinitely grateful to the Lord for placing her in my path 8 or 9 years ago. She is my best friend, my confidante, someone who can help me look at situations in different ways than I have previously done, and someone who never fails to keep encouraging me to become better than I am, and someone with whom I am always in good company.
We were best friends before we ever started dating, and that has helped us realize just how good we are for each other. I find it no accident that the Lord put us in each other's paths. I am so grateful that I heeded the spiritual prompting to continue my temple service beyond the original length that service was supposed to be. If that had not been the case, we would never have met.
And so I could go on. My point in mentioning all of this is to demonstrate that the Lord is at work in and very much aware of the details of our lives. That was true for me, and I know it is true for all who have lived, are living, or will ever live on this earth.
That does it for this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If any of you have comments or questions about what I have said herein, let me know in the comments below, and I will be happy to address those 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.
As many long-time readers of this blog know, I first met my wife in early 2009 when I was serving as a temple worker. The moment I first heard her voice, I had the distinct impression she would be my wife one day. Perhaps unwisely, I shrugged off that feeling (as we were not able to exchange much personal dialogue at the time, and since I had never previously met her and had no idea who she was), and I promptly forgot about that impression.
By contrast, I later learned that our brief exchange, though no personal dialogue was involved, had left a favorable impression of me on her. And in retrospect, it was just as well that her neither of us sought out the other until later, since her focus at that time needed to be on her mother, for whom she had been the primary caregiver for the previous 15-20 years or so, and who passed away in Janury 2010.
In due course, Amy became a temple worker herself. And when her school schedule prevented her from maintaining her assigned shift (on Tuesday evening), and her only option was to move to the Friday evening shift (on which I had been for about 3 years at the time).
She instantly recognized and remembered me, although my memory of our previous encounter was not restored in full until several years after that. Because I have always been a people person, she was one of the many temple workers I talked with on a regular basis during times that were less busy at the temple.
We continued to chat, forming a strong friendship, and although I didn't know it at the time, we both wondered whether or not we were mutually attracted to each other. In point of fact, she had (again without my realizing it) just been waiting for me to ask her out.
But in view of a wide variety of factors (which in retrospect were far more minor than they seemed to be at the time), I had convinced myself that she wouldn't be interested in going out with me. But I had decided that if the Lord opened a way for that door to be open, I would walk through it.
And so it was that during a time when the temple was closed for cleaning, I got a letter from her indicating her interest in me and her willingness to work around whatever my situation was to enable us to spend time getting to know each other better. Although an unexplained error resulted in my first acceptance of that offer not reaching her, once I learned that response had not gone through. I sent it again.
Having ascertained our mutual interest, we went on 14 dates in the next 3 weeks, agreeing after the first week that the question of marriage would be when and how rather than if, as long as the Lord approved of that course.
On July 4, 2010, we fasted together and thereby determined that we should go ahead and get engaged. In the 5.5 months that followed, we saw much in terms of both blessings from the Lord and challenges in the process of preparing for our marriage. Because we knew the Lord had brought us together, we trusted His promises, and that trust proved justified, as we were able to be married on December 18.
In the 7 (going on 8) years since that time, although trials have continued (and at times have been quite severe), we have been reminded over and over again that, in terms of the many reasons the Lord brought us together, perhaps the most fitting were that we are so much on the same wavelength that we not only complement each other in the best ways, but more than that, each of us has been able to help the other with times when struggles have been particularly challenging.
I could not ask for a better, more wonderful, or more loving eternal companion. Particularly in light of the many additional difficulties with which we continue to grapple (not the least of which are those factors relating to how my health limits my ability at times to do as much as I would like to), my wife has shown me great patience, understanding, sympathy, empathy, and so much more.
She sees me not as I am now, but as I may become And that takes a very special and unique kind of woman. Because of that, and because of all she constantly and consistently does to keep us going, I owe her a greater debt than I can every repay.
And so, on this Valentine's Day, I am infinitely grateful to the Lord for placing her in my path 8 or 9 years ago. She is my best friend, my confidante, someone who can help me look at situations in different ways than I have previously done, and someone who never fails to keep encouraging me to become better than I am, and someone with whom I am always in good company.
We were best friends before we ever started dating, and that has helped us realize just how good we are for each other. I find it no accident that the Lord put us in each other's paths. I am so grateful that I heeded the spiritual prompting to continue my temple service beyond the original length that service was supposed to be. If that had not been the case, we would never have met.
And so I could go on. My point in mentioning all of this is to demonstrate that the Lord is at work in and very much aware of the details of our lives. That was true for me, and I know it is true for all who have lived, are living, or will ever live on this earth.
That does it for this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If any of you have comments or questions about what I have said herein, let me know in the comments below, and I will be happy to address those 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.
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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