Hello again, everyone! This weekend marks a couple of important dates in Church History. First of all, as many of you may be aware, the open house for the Concepcion Chile Temple is set to begin tomorrow (with tours continuing through October 13, with the exception of the relevant Sundays). This will, of course, mark the beginning of the first open house for a new temple in 2018.
Additionally, on Sunday September 16, President Dallin H. Oaks, who will have served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for 8 months and 2 days, will pass David O. McKay to become the 26th longest-serving Quorum President in Church History.
As I previously noted, President Russell M. Nelson appears to be in very good health still, and all who have watched him out among the Saints report that he has often appeared to be 20-30 years younger than his actual age of 94. With that in mind, it seems entirely possible that we will see a fulfillment of Elder Andersen's expressed hope that President Nelson "will be with us another decade or two."
If that does turn out to be the case, then President Nelson will be around to observe several age and tenure milestones, and the same will likely hold true for President Oaks as well, who also appears to be in good health.
Whatever might happen in that regard, I will be tracking it all, and you can depend on my passing it along to you all as I am able to do 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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.
On this blog, I, James Stokes, share insights and analysis covering the latest news and developments reported about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My specific emphasis and focus is on the ministry of our current apostles, General Conference, and up-to-date temple information. This site is neither officially owned, operated, or endorsed by the Church, and I, as the autthor thereof, am solely responsible for this content.
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Friday, September 14, 2018
An Apostolic Milestone and an Open House
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.
Thursday, September 13, 2018
BREAKING NEWS: Articles About Elders Gong, Soares Will Appear in the October 2018 Ensign
Hello again, everyone! I have periodically been checking for the last few days for any word on early access to the October 2018 Ensign. Just now, it paid off. The HTML version of that Ensign will, as anticipated, include articles honoring Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares as the new apostles of the Church.
I previously referenced that Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Neil L. Andersen had been assigned as the respective mentors to these new Brethren. So it is fitting and proper that Elder Christofferson wrote the one honoring Elder Gong and that Elder Andersen wrote the one honoring Elder Soares.
As I have also previously referenced, Elder Gong married the daughter of Elder Richard P. Lindsay, who also served as a general authority seventy. But what I didn't know until now is that Elder Soares has several connections to former and current general authorities himself. Elder Soares' mission president was Elder Helio Da Rocha Camargo, who was the first Brazilian general authority appointed. But more than that, Elder Soares' wife's sister married Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, who has been a general authority since the mid-1990s.
The articles about the new apostles shared many unique insights into how the Lord prepared these men, including extensive comments from their family members and Church leaders who have worked with them and who talk about how well these men have maintained a balance between family life, professional careers, and service in the Church. They are well worthy of your time and attention.
I am grateful that the Lord has called Elder Gerrit Walter Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares to the Quorum of the Twelve, and that we have a chance to learn more about them through these articles. I wholeheartedly sustain them. The moment their names were announced in General Conference, the Spirit confirmed to my soul that the Lord had directed their calls.
I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those along to you all as I receive 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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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 previously referenced that Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Neil L. Andersen had been assigned as the respective mentors to these new Brethren. So it is fitting and proper that Elder Christofferson wrote the one honoring Elder Gong and that Elder Andersen wrote the one honoring Elder Soares.
As I have also previously referenced, Elder Gong married the daughter of Elder Richard P. Lindsay, who also served as a general authority seventy. But what I didn't know until now is that Elder Soares has several connections to former and current general authorities himself. Elder Soares' mission president was Elder Helio Da Rocha Camargo, who was the first Brazilian general authority appointed. But more than that, Elder Soares' wife's sister married Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, who has been a general authority since the mid-1990s.
The articles about the new apostles shared many unique insights into how the Lord prepared these men, including extensive comments from their family members and Church leaders who have worked with them and who talk about how well these men have maintained a balance between family life, professional careers, and service in the Church. They are well worthy of your time and attention.
I am grateful that the Lord has called Elder Gerrit Walter Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares to the Quorum of the Twelve, and that we have a chance to learn more about them through these articles. I wholeheartedly sustain them. The moment their names were announced in General Conference, the Spirit confirmed to my soul that the Lord had directed their calls.
I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those along to you all as I receive 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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.
Labels:
Apostolic Age & Tenure Milestones,
Apostolic Ministry & Travels,
Breaking News,
Estimated Time-frames for Future Temple Events,
Sustaining the Brethren
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.
BREAKING NEWS: President & Sister Nelson, President Eyring to Visit Langley British Colombia
Hello again, everyone! In a previous post, I referenced the fact that President Nelson has made several stops in Canada recently because these were quick trips his staff could arrange while he continues to prepare for General Conference. In this article from a newspaper in British Colombia, it was mentioned that President Russell M. Nelson, along with his wife, Wendy W. Nelson, and his Second Counselor, President Henry B. Eyring, will be making another such trip this weekend to speak at a member devotional in Langley, British Colombia.
Here's how recent this development is: I happened to hear of it before the news was ever covered by the Church News website. This continues another leg of President Nelson's World Ministry Tour, which is ongoing. I was pleased to hear of this news.
Now, I just wanted to interject a word here about potential future temples: Until the extent of President Nelson's temple-building plans are known (whether those are detailed more fully in either the October General Conference or at other points in the remaining 3.5 months of this year), I am not assuming, as I once did, that every city to which President Nelson pays a visit is in the running for a temple in the near future. I am working on trimming down my personal list for next October to a more reasonable amount, and time will tell how thoroughly, to what extent, and within what kind of timing those plans will be implemented.
As always, I continue to monitor any Church news and all temple developments and will do my best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware 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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel feel to subscribe. 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.
Here's how recent this development is: I happened to hear of it before the news was ever covered by the Church News website. This continues another leg of President Nelson's World Ministry Tour, which is ongoing. I was pleased to hear of this news.
Now, I just wanted to interject a word here about potential future temples: Until the extent of President Nelson's temple-building plans are known (whether those are detailed more fully in either the October General Conference or at other points in the remaining 3.5 months of this year), I am not assuming, as I once did, that every city to which President Nelson pays a visit is in the running for a temple in the near future. I am working on trimming down my personal list for next October to a more reasonable amount, and time will tell how thoroughly, to what extent, and within what kind of timing those plans will be implemented.
As always, I continue to monitor any Church news and all temple developments and will do my best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware 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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel feel to subscribe. 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.
Labels:
Apostolic Age & Tenure Milestones,
Breaking News,
Church President,
General Conference,
Potential Future Temples
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.
Media Interview President Nelson and Elder Renlund/First President Called for the Lisbon Portugal Temple
Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to report two major Church news developments which have come to my attention within the last hour or so. First, while President Nelson and Elder Renlund were in the Caribbean Area, they made themselves available for an interview with different media outlets. The Church News shares this article highlighting the answers the two apostles gave in the interview done by the Church News.
The other major development is that the Church has once again announced the first president for a new temple anticipated to be completed next year. This week, the Church announced the identity of the first president of the Lisbon Portugal Temple, a man born and raised in the country. This brings the total number of temples which have had a new president called this year to 65, and the only temples remaining on my personal list are Fortaleza Brazil (for which a first president will likely be called in the near future) and Washington D. C. (although that temple is currently closed for renovation, the Church announced earlier this year a new president for the Asuncion Paraguay Temple, which is also closed for renovation, and which, as far as I know, has not had that process begin yet).
Given the number of new presidents that have been called over the last 4-6 weeks or so, I wanted to again share my full list of those temples which have had a new president announced. Before doing so, I did want to note one thing: Although it is fantastic that the Church has announced the first presidents of all temples anticipated to be dedicated next year (except for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple), unless something is occurring for each which no one knows about, it is more likely than not that none of those temples will be dedicated any sooner than previously indicated. As a refresher, I include a list of the latest general estimates I have available for the time-frames within which temples anticipated to be completed next year will be dedicated (or rededicated, for those that have been closed for renovation):
Kinshasa DR Congo, Fortaleza Brazil, Frankfurt Germany (rededication): Early-to-mid 2019
Port-au-Prince Haiti, Lisbon Portugal, Oklahoma City (rededication), Memphis Tennessee (rededication): Mid-2019
Durban South Africa, Baton Rouge Louisiana (rededication), Raleigh North Carolina (rededication): Mid-to-late 2019.
Oakland California (rededication): Late 2019-early 2020
I would anticipate that, at least for the Kinshasa and Fortaleza Temples, their dedications may be announced within the next 4-6 months, with the same being true for the likely rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. I continue to monitor all of this and will pass along any updates to previously-offered estimates, whether general or more specific, as that becomes necessary.
In the meantime, my updated list of temples that have or may yet have a new president announced follows below. So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will end here 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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.
The other major development is that the Church has once again announced the first president for a new temple anticipated to be completed next year. This week, the Church announced the identity of the first president of the Lisbon Portugal Temple, a man born and raised in the country. This brings the total number of temples which have had a new president called this year to 65, and the only temples remaining on my personal list are Fortaleza Brazil (for which a first president will likely be called in the near future) and Washington D. C. (although that temple is currently closed for renovation, the Church announced earlier this year a new president for the Asuncion Paraguay Temple, which is also closed for renovation, and which, as far as I know, has not had that process begin yet).
Given the number of new presidents that have been called over the last 4-6 weeks or so, I wanted to again share my full list of those temples which have had a new president announced. Before doing so, I did want to note one thing: Although it is fantastic that the Church has announced the first presidents of all temples anticipated to be dedicated next year (except for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple), unless something is occurring for each which no one knows about, it is more likely than not that none of those temples will be dedicated any sooner than previously indicated. As a refresher, I include a list of the latest general estimates I have available for the time-frames within which temples anticipated to be completed next year will be dedicated (or rededicated, for those that have been closed for renovation):
Kinshasa DR Congo, Fortaleza Brazil, Frankfurt Germany (rededication): Early-to-mid 2019
Port-au-Prince Haiti, Lisbon Portugal, Oklahoma City (rededication), Memphis Tennessee (rededication): Mid-2019
Durban South Africa, Baton Rouge Louisiana (rededication), Raleigh North Carolina (rededication): Mid-to-late 2019.
Oakland California (rededication): Late 2019-early 2020
I would anticipate that, at least for the Kinshasa and Fortaleza Temples, their dedications may be announced within the next 4-6 months, with the same being true for the likely rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. I continue to monitor all of this and will pass along any updates to previously-offered estimates, whether general or more specific, as that becomes necessary.
In the meantime, my updated list of temples that have or may yet have a new president announced follows below. So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will end here 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. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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
39. Redlands
California
40. Draper
Utah
41. Tijuana
Mexico
42. Sacramento
California
43. Monticello
Utah
44. Bountiful
Utah
45. Freiberg
Germany
46. Oakland
California
47. Villahermosa
Mexico
48. Manti
Utah
49. Suva
Fiji
50. Vancouver
British Columbia
51. Tegucigalpa
Honduras
52. Fukuoka
Japan
53. St.
Louis Missouri
54. Trujillo
Peru
55. Asuncion
Paraguay (not anticipated)
56. Cordoba
Argentina
57. Taipei
Taiwan
58. Kinshasa
DR Congo (first president)
59. Concepcion
Chile (first president)
60. Barranquilla
Colombia (first president)
61. Rome
Italy (first president)
62. Durban
South Africa (first president; not anticipated)
63. Port-au-Prince
Haiti (first president)
64. Veracruz
Mexico
65. Lisbon
Portugal (first president)
The first presidents will likely be announced for the
following new temples:
1.
Fortaleza Brazil
New presidents may also be announced for the following
temples:
1.
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)
Labels:
Apostolic Ministry & Travels,
Church President,
Estimated Time-frames for Future Temple Events,
Temples Undergoing Renovation
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, September 12, 2018
Additional Church News Reported
Hello again, everyone! Though the big news for today was the temple updates which I provided in the last post, I wanted to pass along some additional Church news stories which have been reported within the last 12 hours. Let's dive right into those.
First and foremost (in indirect relation to the six-part series of articles the Church News published covering the ministry of our apostles), the Church News shared these quotes from each member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles about the prophetic calling and ministry of Church President Russell M. Nelson.
Second, although the Church maintains political neutrality in terms of candidates running for office, Church leaders continue to monitor issues facing the Saints around the world, and often contribute support, thoughts, and perspective about such issues. Because Utah is facing an issue on the ballot this November that would legalize the use of medical marijuana, the Church has joined a coalition which has among its' members leaders of other faiths, prominent politicians, and doctors.
The coalition, which (in my opinion) correctly observes that legalizing marijuana for medical use is not the problem, but the wording of the ballot initiative as it now stands is (as there is nothing which would prevent people from using it as a loophole to use the substance in a non-legal recreational way), has three Church leaders on it: Elder Craig C. Christensen (who serves as president of the Utah Area (which is, as I previously noted, a singular term, though the state has previously been three separate areas)), Elder Jack N. Gerard (who was sustained as a General Authority Seventy last April and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Church Public Affairs Department), and Sister Lisa L. Harkness (who was sustained First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency last April).
The three leaders recently participated on a radio show to more fully illuminate the reasons the Church has weighed in on this issue, and to explain why the initiative as it now stands would prove problematic to the citizens of Utah. They also reiterated the fact that, if the problems with the current wording of the initiative were resolved, the Church could (and probably would) get on board to support such a measure. You can read more about that here.
And finally, Elder Kevin J. Worthen, an area seventy here in the Utah Area who also serves currently as president of BYU-Provo, offered some thoughts in the first devotional held by the school this semester, in which he explained 3 ways each of us can more fully recognize that we are not spiritually tone-deaf, and may be receiving more revelation than we might realize and recognize at times.
I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such updates. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.
First and foremost (in indirect relation to the six-part series of articles the Church News published covering the ministry of our apostles), the Church News shared these quotes from each member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles about the prophetic calling and ministry of Church President Russell M. Nelson.
Second, although the Church maintains political neutrality in terms of candidates running for office, Church leaders continue to monitor issues facing the Saints around the world, and often contribute support, thoughts, and perspective about such issues. Because Utah is facing an issue on the ballot this November that would legalize the use of medical marijuana, the Church has joined a coalition which has among its' members leaders of other faiths, prominent politicians, and doctors.
The coalition, which (in my opinion) correctly observes that legalizing marijuana for medical use is not the problem, but the wording of the ballot initiative as it now stands is (as there is nothing which would prevent people from using it as a loophole to use the substance in a non-legal recreational way), has three Church leaders on it: Elder Craig C. Christensen (who serves as president of the Utah Area (which is, as I previously noted, a singular term, though the state has previously been three separate areas)), Elder Jack N. Gerard (who was sustained as a General Authority Seventy last April and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Church Public Affairs Department), and Sister Lisa L. Harkness (who was sustained First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency last April).
The three leaders recently participated on a radio show to more fully illuminate the reasons the Church has weighed in on this issue, and to explain why the initiative as it now stands would prove problematic to the citizens of Utah. They also reiterated the fact that, if the problems with the current wording of the initiative were resolved, the Church could (and probably would) get on board to support such a measure. You can read more about that here.
And finally, Elder Kevin J. Worthen, an area seventy here in the Utah Area who also serves currently as president of BYU-Provo, offered some thoughts in the first devotional held by the school this semester, in which he explained 3 ways each of us can more fully recognize that we are not spiritually tone-deaf, and may be receiving more revelation than we might realize and recognize at times.
I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such updates. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.
Labels:
Apostolic Ministry & Travels,
Church Policies and Major Announcements,
Church President,
General Church News
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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