A Word About the First Presidency Message in the March 2018 Ensign

Hello again, everyone! With the fact that an Ensign Supplement accompanied in February 2018 Ensign, I had felt that the March 2018 edition of that magazine might contain articles about the reorganization of the First Presidency. With an HTML version of the magazine now available, I can confirm that did not happen. Those articles may be printed with the April edition of the magazine.

In the meantime, it has been somewhat customary for the new Church president to write the first First Presidency message published following his ordination. That was the case for President Monson (whose first First Presidency message was published in the April 2008 Ensign), President Hinckley (whose first First Presidency message was published in the July 1995 Ensign, as the April 1995 Ensign covered President Hunter's funeral, the May 1995 edition was a report of President Hinckley's first General Conference as Church President, and since the June edition had an article about President Hinckley written by Elder Holland in lieu of a First President message), and President Hunter (the July 1994 Ensign was a tribute to President Benson, the August 1994 edition had a feature article on President Hunter written by then-Elder James E. Faust, and the September 1994 Ensign contained President Hunter's first First Presidency message as Church president).

Looking further back into the history of the first First Presidency message following the ordination of a new Church president, the first First Presidency message published following President Benson's ordination as Church president in November 1985 (which appeared in the December 1985 Ensign, directly following the tribute articles (including addresses given during the funeral) written in honor of President Spencer W. Kimball. Since President Hinckley had previously been asked by President Kimball to write the First Presidency message for that edition of the Ensign, President Hinckley was given permission to follow through on that assignment, and the message was published under his former title of Second Counselor in the First Presidency.

My purpose in mentioning all of this is to set the background for what occurred for the March 2018 First Presidency message. Apparently, with the usual rotation kept during President Monson's presidency, it was then-President  Uchtdorf's turn in that rotation to pen a message for that Ensign. With President Nelson's approval, President Uchtdorf's prepared message has been published with the March 2018 Ensign, and can be found here.

For that reason, I imagine that President Nelson's first First Presidency message will be published in the April 2018 Ensign. It will likewise be interesting to see if the traditional report of the new First Presidency is included in April as well, and how soon an Ensign supplement is published to reintroduce President Nelson to the Church membership.

I hope this information is helpful to at least some of you. 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.

Some Additional Observations About Future Temples

Hello again, everyone! As I promised to do so, I have been working on researching, editing, and revising my list of future temple locations. While getting that together, I discovered some things about how the temple announcement boom that occurred beginning with this announcement from President Hinckley about how the number of operating temples would more than double in a few years compares with what is potentially going to happen based on Elder Wilson's statement last April about the 80 potential temple locations that may subsequently have an official announcement within the 15 years following that statement. What I have put together below goes into detail on my findings about that thought.

Two things have occurred within the last year that will affect temple announcements going forward. First, President Monson, who for the final 3 years of his presidency (2015-2017) gave shorter addresses, habitually announced temples during his Sunday Morning remarks. If he had continued to live through this General Conference, any new temples would have been announced, with his consent, by one of his counselors. In view of President Nelson now being the Church President, it seems clear that he will make new temple announcements himself, and for this General Conference, that seems most likely to occur during the Sunday Morning Session, which, if recent tradition holds, will be President Nelson’s first General Conference address as President of the Church to the entire membership.

Second, Elder Larry Y. Wilson stated in late April 2017 (around a month after President Monson announced 5 new temples in General Conference) that the Church was actively considering 80 potential temple locations for a future announcement within the following 15 years. That statement was made almost a year ago, and no new temples have been announced since that time. This means that, whether or not each one of those 80 goes on to be officially announced within that time, there are slightly more than 14 years remaining in which to do so, which means, if Elder Wilson’s statement is anywhere close to being literally taken, 5 or 6 temples would need to be announced per year, which could result in temples being announced in every General Conference, and with a few others here and there in between those times. 

The task therefore for me was to try and determine, of the many locations that I considered, which should be on my list for the near future and which might occur at some point, but perhaps not as immediately. For that purpose, I posted in-depth analysis of such prospects on my blog and requested feedback. Based on what was said in the course of doing that series of posts, I made changes, revisions, and substitutions. Since the conclusion of those conversations, I have done more research and have made a few additional adjustments.

The list as it now stands represents my best researched thoughts, based on personally-gathered data and (where applicable) insight from those who have commented on those prospects. It should also be mentioned that I will be organizing the list a little differently this time around as well. As I considered how best to do so, it seemed advisable to group this list first by general world area (which corresponds to the regions that make up the Third-Eighth Quorums of the Seventy), then by likelihood within that area. I am also providing endnotes to set the context for any pertinent information about either the regions or specific locations, which I hope will be illustrative.

With all of that noted, while it may be impossible to anticipate every potential location that may get a temple, or how imminently that might occur, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is hastening His work in His time, is very much aware of the needs of the members of His Church, and knows exactly when, in what locations, and how imminently temples are needed anywhere, and He reveals such locations at the right time through His prophet. Exactly 20 years ago this conference,

President Gordon B. Hinckley announced to the Church his smaller temple design, and the goal to more than double the number of temples in a few short years. There were 51 operating temples at the time that announcement was made, and in the 20 years since, that number has more than tripled to 159, a total increase of 108 temples, or roughly 5.4 per year.

And of those 108 (if my research and subsequent calculations are correct), around 76 were both announced and completed within those 20 years. With that in mind, it is not a stretch of logic to believe that Elder Wilson’s statement will likely prove correct and justified, and that around 80 (if not exactly that or more than that) could easily be announced in the next 14 years. That is great to think about.

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.

Additional Church News Updates

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.

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.

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.