Completion Estimate Slightly Altered for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple; More Specific Alterations for All Estimates Pending

Hello again, everyone! This is just a quick post to note some updates and changes that have come to my attention regarding temples now under construction. First, I wanted to note that there has not been any progress reported on either new temples or those being renovated. With that in mind, I did want to note that many of the sources I have available for temple-related information have altered the completion time-frame for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple.

As many of you may recall, for a while now, that estimate has shown that this temple was anticipated to be completed in early 2019. Given the lack of consistent progress on this temple and the somewhat more consistent progress that has been reported for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, I would not in any way be surprised if the Fortaleza Temple was dedicated before the one in Kinshasa. I am evaluating these developments and the information I have available to me, and I will post any alterations I feel may be appropriate for the estimates on both temples ASAP.

In the meantime, while we are 11 days in to April, I have not yet heard anything to indicate that construction has formally begun on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. I know that there are still 19 days left in this month, and I hope that within that time, we do hear that full-scale construction is underway, but I wanted to note that for any interested.

I have said this many times before, and it bears repeating: It is amazing to see the way that temples progress so swiftly in some locations while there is more of a wait in others. As I also recently observed, while some have expressed hope that President Nelson could, during his time in Thailand, Zimbabwe, and Kenya, break ground for the temples in those nations, since nothing has been officially announced in that regard, that is likely not part of the plan for this trip.

With that said, I cannot rule out the prospect that each of those temples could have a groundbreaking at some point later this year. Nor would I be surprised if several others were to have a groundbreaking this year as well. As I have also noted many times in the recent past, I heard from many sources that 2018 and 2019 could both be big years in terms of temple groundbreakings taking place. I continue to monitor developments in that regard and will pass those along to you all as I hear 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.

1,200th Blog Post: BREAKING NEWS: May 2018 Ensign Supplement Published for President Nelson

Hello again, everyone! In this, my 1,200th blog post, I am pleased to bring you some breaking news from the Church. As some of you may know, it has been customary for Ensign articles or supplements to be written for new Church leaders by other apostles. When President Monson became Church president in February 2008, the reorganization of the First Presidency was the subject of an article written by Adam C. Olsen, which was featured in the April 2008 Ensign. When the May 2008 Ensign came out, a supplement to it included a tribute & introduction to President Monson, which was written by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

As you are also probably aware, President Nelson requested that his remarks given from the temple on January 16 of this year would be reproduced in full in the April 2018 Ensign. This appeared to replace the traditional introduction to the new First Presidency. With General Conference having passed, I have periodically checked in the last few days for anything new from the Church, and just now, it paid off.

I am pleased to note that I have found a supplement to the Ensign that will be distributed with the May 2018 Church magazines, which has been written in tribute to new Church President Russell M. Nelson. In an unusual but not entirely unexpected move, that supplement article has been written by President Nelson's apostolic seatmate and now First Counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks.

I was pleased to see that, because someone who has sat side-by-side with President Nelson in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for 34 years would obviously  be the one most qualified to put such a tribute together. You can find a copy of that supplement here. Hopefully this information is helpful to most 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.

Church Provides Statement on Medical Marijuana Use

Hello again, everyone! Earlier today, the First Presidency released this statement about a ballot initiative under consideration in Utah, which would legalize the regulation of medical marijuana use. It has been my experience that such statements are not officially released until extensive study and consultation with those involved in such issues (in this case, medical professionals) allows the Brethren to make a formal statement on the Church's position.

It is amazing to see how the word of the Lord has been expressed in this and all other issues of importance, and I am grateful for the First Presidency's statement that demonstrates their concern on this issue. 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 Rome Italy Temple; President Nelson and Elder Holland Embark on World Tour

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to bring you in this post a combined update on the Rome Italy Temple and a report on the world tour upon which President & Sister Nelson and Elder and Sister Holland embarked earlier today.

For the Rome Italy Temple, new information has come in that a visitor's information center has been opened to field questions from anyone visiting the temple grounds between now and the time the open house begins. In addition, progress continues to be made on landscaping and interior work. These are important milestones towards this temple's completion, and it was wonderful to hear of that update.

In the meantime, as most of you might already be aware, the Nelsons and Hollands departed earlier today for their worldwide ministry tour. Mormon Newsroom has shared this report of their departure, and other updates will, of course, be provided during the course of the tour. The interesting thing that stuck out to me about that departure is the fact that Presidents Oaks and Eyring unexpectedly showed up at the airport to wish them well as they set off for the trip.

It is interesting to see how, even on a daily basis, monumental developments happen to further the work of the Church. There will be many more wonderful things reported during the tour, I am sure, and I will try to stay on top of it all.

In the meantime, unless something unexpected happens, since nothing has been officially announced, we may, in my opinion, safely assume that groundbreakings will not be taking place for the Bangkok Thailand, Nairobi Kenya, or Harare Zimbabwe Temples during the tour, although I would not be surprised in any way to find out that groundbreakings will take place for all three later this year.

And it is also a near certainty that President Nelson may use some of his time in Bengaluru, India looking at potential temple sites. As I have previously noted, there is a lot that has gone on just so far this year in both general Church developments and, more particularly, in temple-related developments. I continue to do my level best to stay on top of it all, and will pass along any further developments as I learn 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.

BREAKING NEWS: First Presidency Announces Celebration in Honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Revelation on the Priesthood

Hello again, everyone. I am currently watching the 6:30 PM newscast on KSL, and they just passed along some big news from the Church. The First Presidency has announced a celebration to be held in the Conference Center in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Revelation on the Priesthood. That revelation was announced in a letter dated June 8, 1978, with the signatures of the members of the First Presidency at that time (Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner, and Marion G. Romney), and that revelation was sustained as the word and will of the Lord during the General Conference that followed roughly 4 months later.

The celebration honoring the 40th anniversary of that announcement will be held on June 1 of this year, the details of which will be released at a later time. I, of course, was not born yet when this revelation was accepted as the word and will of the Lord, but I have read firsthand accounts in the biographies of many of the apostles that were involved in the process that led to that revelation.

Some are quick to accuse the Church of being racist, and in a way, I understand people who feel that way. The practice of ordaining all worthy males to the priesthood was established from the Church's foundation, and at some point, under the leadership of prophets who succeeded Joseph Smith, the decision to exclude some individuals from priesthood ordination was made.

There are wide-ranging disputes between scholars over who is to blame for making that change, and also why it took so long for this revelation to come. Some have tried to assign such blame to apostles that didn't feel right about a policy reversal prior to 1978. While I don't know or understand all the reasons things happened the way they did, I firmly believe that it took the right group of apostles who were in the right mindset to receive and act upon the direction from the Lord in the matter that directly resulted in the revelation being received at that time.

As that 40th anniversary celebration approaches, it is interesting to note that none of the apostles involved in the deliberations that led to this revelation are still alive (as President Monson was that last living apostle involved in that process). But we have seen the direct result of that revelation, particularly in the fact that so many internationally-born men are now among the Church's general authorities.

It is therefore altogether fitting and proper that such a monumental anniversary for such a significant and life-changing revelation should be celebrated, and I will be anxious to learn the details of that celebration, which I will be sure to pass along as I receive them. For the moment, I refer you to the Church's official announcement about the celebration, which contains what is currently known about it.

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.

Temple Updates (Including Reported Progress on the Barranquilla Colombia Temple)

Hello again, everyone! I first became aware of an update on the status of the Barranquilla Colombia Temple a day or two ago, but in view of some personal circumstances and more pressing developments that needed my attention, this is my first opportunity to post about it. The update shows that work on the interior is progressing, that the landscaping around the temple grounds is closer to its' completion, and that the exterior of the housing facility on the temple lot has been finished. With its' dedication set to occur exactly 8 months from today, it is great to hear of the progress that has been made on this temple..

The day-to-day milestones that are marked in temple construction are wonderful indeed to observe. While we are still waiting for news that full-scale efforts are underway for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, and while there has not been any other progress reported on any temples under construction, undergoing renovation, or announced, I did want to note that, with the Church being 3 days past April 6, which marked the 188th anniversary of the gospel's restoration, there are now 11.99 years in which the Church would need to announce and complete 11 temples, in addition to completing the 30 in various phases (which includes the 7 announced 8 days ago by President Nelson during General Conference) in order to have 200 operating temples dedicated by the Church's 200th anniversary (which will, as noted, occur on Saturday April 6, 2030).

By extension, that means that the Church will need to dedicate 3.42 temples per year during those 11.99 years between now and then. Since we know that 2 temples will be dedicated by the end of this year (which is slightly below that average), as we look to the years ahead, we already have seen the announcement of the first temple dedication planned for next year, and in addition to that, we have 5 others that will likely be dedicated next year, which is above that average. With two others already anticipated to be dedicated in 2020, if, as anticipated, full-scale construction begins in Winnipeg at some point this month, and if any other temples have a groundbreaking within the next 8-12 months, they may go on to be dedicated during 2020 or within the years following.
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I know that I heard from a lot of people their opinion that President Nelson would not announce temples during his first General Conference. I felt confident enough in the results of my research on the subject to suggest that he could do so, and likely would, and I was very gratified when he announced 7 new locations in which future temples would be built. I don't know if any of you noticed this (I may be one of the few who did), but the number of temples announced by President Monson in 2015 and 2016 (the third-to-last and second-to-last occasions during his presidency when he would do so) were exactly equivalent to the 7 announced by President Nelson during his first General Conference.

I may be incorrect in this assessment, but that fact suggests to me that President Monson's health struggles during the last 3-5 years of his life may have impacted his ability to determine the timing of such announcements and to announce those locations in General Conference. Between the April 2017 General Conference and President Monson's passing on January 2 of this year, he may have been unable to approve the announcements for any other temples.

With all of that in mind, and based on the fact that the announcement of 7 temples in the first General Conference of any Church president before now has almost been unheard of, and with all we have seen President Nelson do regarding temple announcements in the less than 3 months of his presidency so far, and also in view of President Nelson's good health and extreme vigor, I have no doubt we will see multiple temples announced on other occasions. What will be really interesting to see is whether or not President Nelson will announce a few during every General Conference over which he presides, or if he might opt to keep those to a once-a-year thing, as President Monson did for the last 3 years of his presidency.

Whatever might occur in terms of continuing temple developments, you can count on my reporting on such news here as I learn of it. 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.

Elder and Sister Gerrit W. Gong Asked to Speak at Women's Conference

Hello again, everyone! There has been a prime example today of how the apostles are assisting the First Presidency in the work of the Church. As some of you might recall my mentioning, President and Sister Nelson were going to be the keynote speakers at the annual BYU Women's Conference, which will be held next month. Due to a scheduling conflict (whatever the details of it might be), the Nelsons will not be able to do that. So they reached out to Elder and Sister Gerrit W. Gong and asked them to take that assignment.

As some of you might recall, prior to Elder Gong's service as a General Authority, he was an Assistant to the President for Planning and Assessment, so it makes sense that he, as one familiar with the BYU campus, would be asked to substitute at this BYU gathering since the Church president cannot be there himself.

I was grateful to have learned of this development. The Church News additionally provided these details about the featured speakers at this year's Women's Conference, which I hope will be helpful to 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Closure Date for the Hamilton New Zealand Temple Confirmed

Hello again, everyone! As implied by the title of this post, the Church has officially confirmed the exact closure date for the Hamilton New Zealand Temple. As I hope some of you might recall, one of the first major temple announcements of President Nelson's administration was this temple's renovation, and was announced 5 days after his ordination and set to occur in July. A few moments ago, I found official confirmation of the exact closure date.

It has been customary for all such closures to occur between Friday & Monday, so I am pleased to share that this temple's 3-year renovation is set to begin on Monday July 23.

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

Latest Apostolic Statistics: Part Two--Updated Ages & Other Important Information

Hello again, everyone! I am back with the second part of my report on the latest apostolic statistics. Let's get right to all of that. talk specifics regarding apostolic statistics, which will include the long form and decimal versions of the ages of all current apostles, and follow that up with a look at some other information, including about the current and future nonagenarian apostles of the Church, and how the calling and ordinations of Elders Gong and Soares has led to an adjustment of the average ages at which all current apostles were married and ordained.

President Nelson is now 93 years, 6 months, and 30 days old, with a decimal age of 93.58 years. President Oaks is 85 years, 7 months, and 27 days old, with a decimal age of 85.65 years. President Eyring, the youngest of the three, is now 84 years, 10 months, and 8 days old, putting his decimal age at 84.85 years. The three have a combined 264.08 years of life experience, which puts their average age at 88.03 years as of today. Of the three, President Eyring is younger than the average, President Oaks is closest to it (although his decimal age is 2.38 years younger than the average), and President Nelson is, of course, the only one of the three that is older than the average.

We move on now to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Ballard is exactly 89 years and 6 months old today, which of course puts his decimal age at 89.50 years. Elder Holland is now 77 years, 4 months, and 5 days old, or 77.35 decimal years. Elder Uchtdorf’s long-form age is 77 years, 5 months, and 2 days, which is 77.42 decimal years. Elder Bednar is currently 65 years, 9 months, and 24 days old, or 65.81 years.

In the second group of four apostles, we have Elder Cook, who has a long-form age of 77 years and 7 months exactly, with a decimal age of 77.58 years. For Elder Christofferson, he is 73 years, 2 months, and 15 days old, making his decimal age 73.20 years. Elder Andersen is 66 years, 7 months, and 30 days old, as his birthday will be observed four months from tomorrow, and his decimal age is now 66.66 years. Elder Rasband, who, as previously noted, is roughly six months older than Elder Andersen, is 67 years, 2 months, and 2 days old, which, in decimal years, is 67.17.

Rounding out things with the final four Quorum members, I wanted to note that Elder Stevenson, who was our youngest current apostle until last week, when Elders Gong and Soares were called, is now 62 years, 8 months, and 2 days old, which is 62.67 decimal years. Elder Renlund, who had been the least senior but second youngest apostle until General Conference, is 65 years, 4 months, and 26 days old, or 65.40 in decimal years. As for our final two apostles, Elder Gong fits in age between Elders Renlund and Stevenson, with a long-form age of 64 years, 3 months, and 16 days, which is 64.29 years.  And Elder Soares becomes the new youngest apostle, being 59 years, 6 months, and 6 days old, which works out to 59.52 decimal years.

The new total amount of life experience for the now-filled Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stands at 846.57 years, which puts the average age of these 12 men at 70.55, with that average going down roughly 5 years as a result of the apostolic calls of Elders Gong and Soares. 5 of those 12 are older than the average: the remaining 7 are all below it, with Elder Christofferson being the youngest of those 5 oldest, and Elder Rasband being the oldest of the youngest 7.

And for the first time since Elder Andersen was called in April 2009, we have a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that is under 60, although Elder Soares will be celebrating his 60th birthday on October 2 of this year.

This means that all 15 apostles have a combined 1,110.65 years of life experience, and their average life length stands at 74.04 years. That average has also gone down since Elders Gong and Soares were sustained. That average did not change which apostles are closest to it. Elder Holland, who is the 7th oldest apostle overall, is the youngest of the oldest apostles, and Elder Christofferson is the oldest of the 8 youngest apostles. And for the first time in a while, almost half of those 15 (7 to be exact) are under the age of 70.

President Nelson still continues to be the 7th oldest apostle, and he will become the 6th oldest around 1 year and 3 months from now. As previously noted, President Ballard will join the list of nonagenarians on October 8 of this year, which is half a year away. The other 13 apostles will join the list at varying intervals, with Elder Soares, as the new youngest apostle, set to mark his 90th birthday 30 years, 5 months, and 24 days from now. The age difference between our oldest apostle, President Nelson, and Elder Soares is 34 years and 23 days.

With the calls of Elders Soares and Gong, the average age of our current apostles at the time of their first (which for 13 of them is their current) marriage stands at 23.40 years, with Elders Andersen and Christofferson on the oldest and youngest side of that average respectively.

While the recent calls of Elders Gong and Soares, the average age of the 15 apostles at the time of their ordinations now stands at 59.96 years, which has gone up slightly from what it was prior to the announcement of those calls. That also means that Elder Stevenson and President Nelson, who were 60.17 and 59.59 respectively when they were ordained, are now on the respective oldest and youngest sides of that average. In addition to Elder Stevenson, 7 others are on the older side of that average, which means that President Nelson and the remaining 6 apostles were on the younger side of that average.

This concludes my report on the latest averages, so 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.

Latest Apostolic Statistics: Part One--Updated Information for the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, Church President, and First Presidency

Hello again, everyone! It has been 8 weeks since I last posted an update on the latest apostolic statistics. Given the announcement last week that Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares were called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and that so much time has passed since I last posted on this subject, there have been a number of changes to note.

Before we begin discussing that information, I wanted to note, as I always do, that I recognize that not all who regularly read this blog might find this information as interesting as I do. So I will not in any way be bothered or offended if any of you choose to bypass this post, as there is always a lot of information in it. For those of you who are staying with me for this information, let’s dive right in to this subject.

First, I wanted to provide some thoughts about apostolic birthdays. As some of you might recall me mentioning earlier, before the deaths of President Monson and Elder Hales, we had 1 apostle born in January, 1 other the following month, 1 each in May and June, 5 more in August, 2 in September, 1 in October, 2 in November, and 1 in December.

Given the changes in Church leadership, while nothing has changed in terms of the number of apostles born in January, February, May, or June, (which are Elders Christofferson and Rasband, President Eyring, and Elder Bednar respectively) the number of current apostles born in August is down to 3 (Elders Stevenson and Andersen and President Oaks). 

We still have the two in September (Elder Cook and President Nelson) and November (Elders Uchtdorf and Renlund), but the calling of Elders Soares and Gong has meant that 2 apostles (Elder Soares and President Ballard) will celebrate their birthdays in October, while the remaining two (Elders Holland and Gong) will do so in December.

With Elder Christofferson marking his birthday on January 24, Elder Rasband follows with his birthday 13 days later, on February 6. Almost four months later, on the final day of May, President Eyring marks his birthday, and Elder Bednar marks his 15 days later in mid-June. 

Our three apostles born in August celebrate their birthdays on August 6, 9, and 12, respectively. Elder Cook marks his on September 8, with President Nelson having his birthday the next day. Elders Uchtdorf and Renlund are just a week apart in their birthdays, (on November 6 and 13 respectively). Rounding out the year, Elder Holland marks his 20 days after Elder Renlund on December 3, and Elder Gong marks his 2 days before Christmas.

It has been interesting to see how the lengths between these birthdays change as apostles pass away and new ones are appointed. And I am grateful to be able to track information such as this and pass it along to you. Just wanted to note that before I move on.

Having provided that background, let’s begin as we always do, by talking about President Oaks’ tenure as President of the Quorum of the Twelve. We will then turn our attention to President Nelson’s age and tenure status among the previous 16 Church Presidents. We will then conclude with a discussion about the current long- and decimal forms of the ages of our current apostles, and I will also address how other apostolic averages I have previously mentioned have either been raised or lowered based on the addition of the newest apostles.

I also probably should note that I recently had to recreate much of this data due to a crashed hard drive and getting a new computer, and part of recreating these documents involved double-checking data I had previously provided. I now believe that, if there were any errors in previous updates, those should be corrected in this one. If any of you see anything that doesn’t look right in this report, I always appreciate any corrections and clarifications. And, as always, all data presented here is current as of today.

We start with President Oaks’ current tenure length as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which will include exploring how soon he will move up on this list. With the 8 weeks that have passed since my last report, President Oaks has served for just short of 3 full months as Quorum President. The exact length of that service has spanned 2 months and 25 days, and he remains the 27th longest-serving Quorum President among the 28 that have served.

As noted in the previous update, he will be marking 2 additional tenure milestones before the end of this year, and will be marking 5 others in 2019. In terms of those he will observe in 2018, on Sunday September 16, he will become the 26th longest-serving Quorum President, with his tenure being longer than that of President David O. McKay. 

Just over a month later, on October 22, with his tenure length exceeding that of President Gordon B. Hinckley, he will become the 25th longest-serving Quorum President. Looking ahead to next year, he will mark other milestones in April, July (in which he will observe two milestones two days apart), November, and December. I will mention the specifics of those milestones closer to that time.

Moving on now to President Nelson, since he was ordained and set apart as Church president on the same day he set apart President Oaks as Quorum President, his tenure has spanned 2 months and 25 days as well. Nothing has changed since my last report regarding where he stands among the 16 other Church presidents in terms of his tenure length or age.

He will observe the first tenure length milestone of his presidency in roughly six months, on Thursday October 11. He will observe both another tenure-related and his first age-related milestone two days apart in July of 2019, with subsequent milestones more spread out in the years following that.

In order to prevent this post from being too lengthy, I will put the second part of this update in a new post, which will be posted in the next few minutes. 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.