Revised Predictions for the October 2018 General Conference: Part One--Preliminary Thoughts

Hello again, everyone! Although I will be posting with a report on President Nelson's remarks to the Saints in Vancouver British Columbia as soon as that comes in (which may not be until sometime tomorrow), I wanted to post the fully-revised predictions I have put together for the October 2018 General Conference. They include revised thoughts about the speaking order, an updated version of the potential changes in Church leadership, and a revised list of temple prospects that has been expanded and consolidated a few different ways.

These predictions are based on extensive research of patterns, a consideration of what is currently known, and projections about what could potentially occur. Some may consider these predictions to be speculative in nature, but these are far more than wild guesses. In previous General Conferences, I have noted prevailing patterns and applied those to data I have assembled on each aspect of those predictions.

The biggest unknowns for this General Conference are how having the Women's Session in the spot that has traditionally featured the Priesthood Session might affect the typical speaking patterns, the extent to which previous patterns of releasing general authorities and area seventies might hold true this go-round, whether or not any major announcements will alter typical patterns as was true last conference, and if and how the backlog of 19 announced temples which have not had a groundbreaking might impact how soon, in what manner, and to what extent President Nelson's temple--building plans might be revealed.

There are a few definitive certainties: Barring anything unexpected, President Nelson will open and close the conference, his counselors will almost certainly speak at the conclusion of the Saturday Morning Session and to open the Sunday Morning Session, at least one member of the First Presidency will speak during the Women's Session (regardless of who else might do so), all members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles should speak, and the Sustaining of Church Officers will almost certainly occur in its' traditional spot at the beginning of the Saturday Afternoon Session.

Also, although there have been a few exceptions in recent years, the Church has generally released General Authority Seventies in the October General Conference of the year of their 70th birthdays. Additionally, given that Brook P. Hales, Secretary to the First Presidency, was called as a General Authority Seventy in May, his call should be ratified by sustaining vote during the traditional sustaining.

4 current Area Seventies have been serving since July as mission presidents for the Church, while 6 others have been called to serve as temple presidents starting in November, and there are 5 or 6 others who have served for 7 years or more who may also be released. And if a large-scale temple plan is unfurled (which certainly appears to be more likely than not), there are a minimum of 20 locations (but certainly more) that I could see being announced during General Conference.

There is also a possibility that, in a similar manner to the announcement last conference that Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums would be restructured, the Church's 6 area seventies Quorums could also be significantly restructured and the seventies quorums as they now stand could be divided further. I say that because, if I have the distribution of the 5th and 6th Quorums correct on my personal list, then those two Quorums, along with the 3rd and 4th, are each within 20 members or less of a total of 70. And with the Church being more global, it might make more logistical sense for Quorum meetings if the geographical distribution of those Quorums was streamlined.

Right now, those area seventies residing in Europe and Africa comprise the 3rd Quorum of the Seventy. Those area seventies serving in Latin America comprise the 4th and 7th Quorums. The North American area seventies comprise the membership of the 5th and 6th Quorums. And those area seventies currently serving in Asia, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands comprise the 8th Quorum.

As I noted previously, the area seventies serving in Utah (with confirmation having been provided that the state is now a single area rather than 3 separate ones) comprise the bulk of the membership of the 5th Quorum, regardless of whichever other areas fall under that Quorum. There has also been a substantial increase in the number of area seventies serving in Africa and through South America. So I can definitely see why the Church might consider creating another Quorum or two for the area seventies of the Church.

I have opened up a new thread on the Church growth reddit to more fully discuss that prospect, so I would welcome any input on that through either the reddit or the comments on this blog. I had intended to conclude this post with the fully-revised predictions I have put together for the upcoming General Conference, but this post has become a little lengthier than I intended, so I will do so in a follow-up to this post in a few minutes.

Therefore, 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.

Miscellaneous Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now to share some Church news which has crossed my radar in the last few hours or so. Yesterday, the Church News published the latest edition of their series "This Week on Social".

Featured posts included thoughts from 5 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle, including: a video of Elder Quentin L. Cook following last week's Face-to-Face Event for Young Adults (in which he took time to answer additional questions that had been submitted about the new Church History series), Elder D. Todd Christofferson addressing the power of the scriptures, Elder Ronald A. Rasband expressing gratitude for those who participated in the recent "National Weekend of Prayer" as per the Church's request, Elder Gerrit.W. Gong describing how following a spiritual prompting brought peace when something unexpected occurred in his life, Elder Ulisses Soares sharing his personal thoughts about visiting his homeland of Brazil for the first time following his call to the apostleship, and Sister Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, who provided more insight about how Church members can follow the invitation of President Nelson to "stay on the covenant path. As the Church moves further into the age of technology, it is a blessing to have these regularly-posted insights from Church leaders.

The Church News also continued the tradition of featuring articles written by general auxiliary presidencies. In an article from the Young Women General Presidency, insights are shared regarding how the involvement of Laurels and Mia Maids in ministering assignments can help the young women themselves, their senior companions, and those to whom they are assigned to minister.

I was personally gratified when the Church retired home and visiting teaching in favor of ministering and when we learned that 14-18 year-old young women would have the opportunity to serve alongside the Relief Society in such efforts. I recall with fondness the memories I have of being a teacher and priest assigned to visit families in company with elders and high priests and how formative those experiences were for me, and I am glad that the same opportunity is now being extended to young women of the same age. I was likewise touched to learn that each current member of the Young Women General Presidency has a Mia Maid or Laurel as her ministering companion.

This next story was not published by the Church News, but was covered by KSL, and may be of interest to some of you. I have previously referenced the story of Sam Young, the former bishop who recently went on a hunger strike to protest the Church's policies and practices relating to the format and tone of bishop's interviews with the youth. KSL reported today that Brother Young has been excommunicated by his local leaders.

The unfortunate thing about cases such as those of Brother Young and Kate Kelly, who heads up the Ordain Women movement is that they seem to feel justified in their belief that their concerns are not being taken seriously enough, and that the decision of their local leaders to excommunicate them is more a result of the Church not taking their concerns seriously enough than it is a result of their unwillingness to sustain Church leaders and respect the process by which Church policies have been decided.

It boggles my mind more than a little that such individuals seem to think they know more about the way the Church should do things or about what the Lord's will is than those that have been appointed to lead. And the real tragedy is that when they have been notified that the continuation of such attitudes, expressions and actions may result in excommunication, when such disciplinary action is taken, they fail to acknowledge their own culpability in the issues that led to that occurring.

Such instances seem to arise based on a misconception that the local or general leaders of the Church are not as informed on such issues as they need to be. And I don't know why such assumptions are ever made. The Church has clarified more fully in recent days how Church leaders go about determining the positions that become official statements. On issues about which they have limited experience, they solicit the opinions and insights of individuals who are more qualified to weigh in on those decisions. And nothing official is announced until they are fully confident that the positions they are formulating are in harmony with the will of the Lord.

We saw that process just recently. Having obtained the opinions of medical professionals and governmental leaders who are qualified to weigh in on such issues, the Church joined a coalition here in Utah which has taken a position against the current wording of an initiative which will go before Utah voters and would, if passed, legalize medical marijuana.

Although the statement of the coalition and that of Church leadership is clear that the problem is the current wording of the initiative, and that the Church could and likely will get on board with a different measure that would enable legal use of marijuana as medicine but provide safeguards against and penalties for those who use it illegally, the majority who criticize the coalition's position (and the Church's support of it in particular) are decrying the fact that the Church is trying to hurt those who would benefit from using it as a medicine.

But it generally seems to be the case that if individuals or groups have any preconceived perception about the Church, its' leaders, or officially-released policies and practices, such individuals are less likely to see the thoughtful and thorough way the Church and its' leaders craft a position before anything is ever officially released. And that is tragic indeed.

Sorry to get on my soapbox. But issues like what led to Brother Young's recent excommunication and how the Church got on board with the coalition opposing the wording of the initiative as it now stands.have been greatly misunderstood by individuals who assert that their position on the subject is more thoroughly-researched than those the Church and its' leaders on any level have taken, and that is simply not the case.

In other news, President Nelson is now in British Colombia, and he will address a gathering of Saints there later tonight. I will carry a report of that devotional here as soon as information on it is available. I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will do my best to bring word of those to you 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.

President Nelson Visits the Pacific Northwest

Hello again, everyone! Before President Nelson was unexpectedly instructed by the Lord to visit the Caribbean Area of the Church during the first weekend of this month, he had set plans to visit the Pacific Northwest in company with his wife, Sister Wendy Watson Nelson and his Second Counselor, President Henry B. Eyring. He was in Washington State yesterday (Saturday September 15), speaking to what was the largest congregation who had yet heard him. The devotional gathering originated from a baseball field, a venue that held the largest gathering of Church members with the prophet to date.

A summary of his remarks (along with a video) can be found here. A couple of things stood out to me as I read and watched that just now: First, President Eyring correctly observed that although the Church tweaks programs, policies, and practices to better serve members worldwide, the basic doctrines of the Church have remained consistent since the gospel's restoration in 1830, and will remain so through the end of time.

Secondly, President Nelson cited a numerical figure of the number in attendance at that devotional during his remarks, which covered a wide variety of topics. As those in attendance prepared to sing the closing hymn, he stepped up to the pulpit again, mentioned that he believed in repentance, and then, with a twinkle in his eye, corrected the earlier figure he had provided, apologized for the error, and thanked everyone again for their attendance.

The one thing that has impressed me for several years now is how quick the Brethren are to acknowledge such errors and correct them in good spirits. Two such errors happened during separate times when President Eyring and then-President Uchtdorf led the Sustaining of Church Officers during President Monson's administration and inadvertently neglected to present some names on their lists, and we saw it happen again when President Oaks did the same just last conference.

It is moments such as this when the Lord reminds us that, although these men deserve our sustaining vote and undeviating support, they are no different than you or I are, and just as prone to moments of human error. The fact that they take quick action to correct such errors as soon as they can after they notice them is a humbling and gratifying process to see. It takes truly great individuals to admit when mistakes have been made, and I appreciate the candid way that President Nelson approached what others might see as a very minor error, but which he felt a need to clarify and correct.

Later today, the leaders journey to British Columbia, and I will post a report of their time there as soon as it becomes available. 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.

Miscellaneous Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! In the last several hours, additional Church news has been reported. So let's get right into it all. First, the Newsroom on lds.org recently shared this article about how the Saints in the Philippines are being prepared for an incoming storm. I cannot say for certain that this will be the case, but I could see the Church potentially holding off on further action relating to the Urdaneta Philippines Temple until the storms clear the region. It will be interesting to see.

In connection to what I reported days ago about how Latter-day Saints in the Southern parts of the United States are preparing for the incoming tropical storm, this article highlights relief efforts that are already underway as the storm prepares to land. And this article (from the Church News) highlights both the devastation from the storm and what has been and will be done to deal with it as it progresses.

Next, as those following the conversations on the LDS Church Growth Blog might be aware, there was some confusion about how to correctly refer to Church members and the organizations of the Church in light of the newly reemphasized guidelines about the name of the Church. In my opinion, some of those concerns can be answered by the next story.

The main Newsroom on the Church's website had periodically gathered a set of articles from their international counterparts in a segment that has been known as "Mormons Around the World". With another edition published in that series this week, the name of the series has changed to "Latter-day Saints Around the World". which signals that "Latter-day Saints" is now the preferred term which is to be used to refer to the members of the Church. The latest article published in that series can be found here, with a collection of inspiring stories from all over the world.

Next, from the Church News, we have a couple of stories about preparation for the incoming natural disasters: namely, this one (describing general conditions) and this one (in which former UVU President Matthew S. Holland, who is now a mission president in Raleigh, describes more fully what the situation of members currently involve, what they are further preparing for, and what is being done to keep missionaries safe.

In two stories relating to President Nelson, we have this article highlighting testimonies about his prophetic calling from each of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and this article which shares insights from the members of the Quorum of the Twelve who have recently traveled with President Nelson.

There were two other stories which I found significant. A new missionary for the Church put her doubts and fears about her adequacy to serve into a song, which she wrote in the MTC and received permission to record once she arrived in the field. You can read more about that here. At the LDS Institute of Religion in Salt Lake City, Sister Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, shared 17 suggestions to help us deal with times when we feel inadequate, overwhelmed, or discouraged.

All of these articles are well worthy of your attention. I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all 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. 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.

An Apostolic Milestone and an Open House

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.