Additional Church News Reported: Part One--Updates on the Ministry of Our Apostles

Hello again, everyone! Between the Church News website and Mormon Newsroom, several additional Church news stories have recently been published. This post will share some links to and thoughts about those articles.

I had intended to cover all of the noteworthy stories in this post, but the coverage of the updates on the ministry of our apostles wound up being so extensive, I will be focusing solely on that subject in this post, and then focus on other stories in a second post which will be published not long after this one. Let's get right into it all.

We start first with a look at updates on the ministry of our apostles. President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, recently returned from a visit to Canada. He served as a mission president there years ago, and his travels as an apostle have involved several stops in Canada. The Church News has shared this report on how his many experiences in Canada have impacted the lives of all Canadian citizens, including many who are not members of the Church.

In the meantime, Elder Ronald A. Rasband recently visited Saints in the Europe Area. His time there included two visits to European islands that have not previously been visited by an apostle of the Church. The Church News shared highlights of his ministry there. This was another homecoming of sorts for Elder Rasband, who had served as a member of the Church's Europe Area presidency

And Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who had served in the Europe East Area presidency some years prior to his call to the apostleship, returned to that area. He specifically spent some time in Russia, returning to the nation in which he had spent time during his professional career. While there, he talked to the members of the Church about the temple that has been announced for Russia.

Among other things, he noted that, while that temple announcement is wonderful, due to the political situation in that nation, it will likely take some time before the Church is successful in obtaining approvals, purchasing land, and designing the temple, which may also mean it may be some time before construction begins, and even more before it is finished and dedicated.

Although his time in Russia coincided with the dates of President Nelson's European tour, Elder Uchtdorf indicated that he had not been able to read about what the prophet said during those stops. With that in mind, it is amazing to me that Elder Uchtdorf's counsel to the Saints in Russia about the temple that will be built there echoed the instruction President Nelson gave in several of the stops he made where temples have been announced. You can read more about Elder Uchtdorf's time in Eastern Europe in this article.

Next, many of you may know that Elder Quentin L. Cook has been asked to speak at a Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults that is set to be held on September 9 of this year (which will be the day after his 78th birthday, and the same day that President Nelson will be 94). While plans for that devotional have remained unchanged, the Church News has reported that the event will be broadcast from Nauvoo, and that a Face-to-Face event for Young Adults will be held during that same weekend, and will feature Elder Cook and two Church historians taking questions.

The Church News also sent out a request for comments from readers about what they have learned from the nearly 4 months of President Nelson's administration. The answers to that question have been published here.

It is awesome to see our apostles traveling so extensively, and to have seen more information published about their ministries. One thing I did want to mention: It often happens that multiple apostles are away from Church headquarters at the same time. When that happens, the most senior apostle who remains in Salt Lake has taken the lead of any meetings held in the absence of those more senior to him.

I haven't double-checked the dates, but there may have been some overlap of the time when Presidents Nelson and Ballard and Elders Holland and Uchtdorf were on the assignments noted. If it happened to be the case that these assignments took these men away from headquarters around the time when a Thursday meeting had been held for the apostles, that would mean Elder Bednar took the lead of the weekly meeting during that time.

It seems that the First Presidency is giving the senior apostles, particularly those who might potentially lead the Church one day, the chance to experience more of a role in the day-to-day operations of the Church. And that is good to see.

I continue to monitor all developments relating to the ministry of the apostles, and am committed to bringing those developments to you all as I receive 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 (which should, as noted above, come in the next few minutes to cover other important news items from the Church), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Church Announces Additional New Temple Presidents

Hello again, everyone! The Church News noted earlier today that several more new temple presidents have been called. I have revised my list accordingly, and the revisions follow below. I should also note a couple of other things as well.

First, I had a feeling I needed to check the list again, and in doing so, I found some duplication (primarily in the fact that I had forgotten to remove a few temples for which new presidents have been announced from the section of the list which highlights those temples that may get a new president.

Second, among those that have been called are several current area seventies. In addition, the older brother of General Authority Seventy Elder Donald L. Hallstrom has been called as president of one of the temples in Hawaii.

With that said, the updated list follows below. Again, so as not to disturb the flow of that list, I will end now as I always do. 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.

New presidents have been called for the following temples:

1.      Manaus Brazil

2.      Boise Idaho

3.      Denver Colorado

4.      The Hague Netherlands

5.      Oquirrh Mountain Utah

6.      Helsinki Finland

7.      The Gila Valley Arizona

8.      Brigham City Utah

9.      Stockholm Sweden

10.  Palmyra New York

11.  Accra Ghana

12.  Papeete Tahiti

13.  Sao Paulo Brazil

14.  San Jose Costa Rica

15.  Albuquerque New Mexico

16.  Provo City Center

17.  Recife Brazil

18.  Cardston Alberta

19.  Payson Utah

20.  Porto Alegre Brazil

21.  Brisbane Australia

22.  Kansas City Missouri

23.  Oaxaca Mexico

24.  Regina Saskatchewan

25.  Cebu City Philippines

26.  Boston Massachusetts

27.  Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico

28.  Billings Montana

29.  Houston Texas

30.  Sydney Australia

31.  Guatemala City Guatemala

32.  Hermosillo Sonora Mexico

33.  Montevideo Uruguay

34.  Indianapolis Indiana

35.  Laie Hawaii Temple (the new president of this temple is the older brother of General Authority Seventy Elder Donald L. Hallstrom)

36.  Las Vegas Nevada

37.  Atlanta Georgia

38.  Buenos Aires Argentina

The first presidents will likely be announced for the following new temples:

1.      Concepcion Chile

2.      Barranquilla Colombia

3.      Rome Italy

4.      Kinshasa DR Congo

5.      Fortaleza Brazil

6.      Port-au-Prince Haiti

New presidents may also be announced for the following temples:

1.      Bountiful Utah

2.      Cordoba Argentina

3.      Draper Utah

4.      Fukuoka Japan

5.      Manti Utah

6.      Monticello Utah

7.      Redlands California

8.      Sacramento California

9.      St. Louis Missouri

10.  Taipei Taiwan

11.  Tegucigalpa Honduras

12.  Tijuana Mexico

13.  Trujillo Peru

14.  Vancouver British Columbia

15.  Veracruz Mexico

16.  Villahermosa Mexico

17.  Washington D. C. Temple (Note: The Church may opt to wait on calling a new president for this temple until 2020 when it is rededicated)

Details Released Regarding the Renovation Plans for the Mesa Arizona Temple

Hello again, everyone! Mormon Newsroom just published this release that provides more details on the renovation plans for the Mesa Arizona Temple. As most of you might be aware, the closure of that temple was announced roughly a year ago, and will be effective on May 20 (the same day on which the rededication of the Jordan River Utah Temple will occur). As some of you may also know, there was supposed to be a meeting held for citizens concerned about those plans. While I have not yet learned whether that meeting has taken place, the fact that these details have been announced via a Mormon Newsroom released indicates to me that all potential obstacles have been dealt with.

I continue to monitor all temple news and developments and will do my best to pass those along to you as I receive 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.

Article Published for New General Authority Seventy Elder Mathias Held

Hello again, everyone! With the need to focus on other topics in blog posts published yesterday (namely the discontinuation of the Church's involvement with the BSA, the new activity program, and the LDS Church Temples website issues), I had to hold off on reporting other developments until now.

But I am pleased to be able to pass along to you all now this article about new General Authority Seventy Elder Mathias Held. My biggest take-away from reading that was amazement about the number of nations in which he and his family have resided. It is easy to see why he was called, as he will have a unique understanding of the issues faced by Church members in several nations.

While not directly related to that article, I did want to mention one other thing as well: The Church has been very good about putting new General Authority Seventies right to work. This has been particularly true in recent years, when at least half of the newly called leaders have been given major assignments not long after they are sustained, whether those assignments are to serve in an area presidency, or to take on other responsibilities at Church headquarters.

As I have also noted previously, since President Nelson became the president of the Church, we have seen a long list of examples demonstrating that he and his presidency want the Church to be more transparent. Among the ways that is occurring have been the facts that major news has been reported on Mormon Newsroom on a more significant scale than we have previously seen, and that more information has been released regarding the ministry of all leaders.

The Church website is also currently in the process of updating the biographies of all general authorities with their latest assignments, which have traditionally been given each year sometime after the April General Conference. So we will likely know more within the next couple of months about what has changed in that regard.

I will do my best to keep you all posted on developments in that regard 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Church Will Terminate Relationship with the BSA by 2020; New Program for Youth and Children to Be Implemented

Hello again, everyone! Breaking news tonight from the LDS Church. In a joint statement from the BSA and the LDS Church, an announcement has been made that the Church will be terminating all involvement with the BSA by the end of 2019. This comes as a follow-up to the previously announced news that the Church would be evaluating the needs of children and youth and make any changes or adaptations that might be needed to general and specific activities for those 8-18 years old.

Mormon Newsroom also published this release highlighting what is currently known about the new program for those of that age range, saying that more details would be forthcoming. Mormon Newsroom has also provided these answers to frequently asked questions about the extent of  those changes and how they will be implemented.

Here yet again we have clear evidence that modern revelation is occurring, and that the Brethren have evaluated how to streamline and unify the guidelines for activity programs for children and youth all over the world, fulfilling a promise made last year that they would be doing so.

I look forward to finding out more about this monumental change, and I will bring you word of any new information 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.