President M. Russell Ballard Celebrates His 90th Birthday; Lays His Wife to Rest

Hello again, everyone! With the stunning General Conference developments that occurred, I somehow spaced the fact that both President Ballard's 90th birthday would be observed and his wife's funeral would be held. There's a lot to discuss, so let's dive right in.
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First of all, in relation to the funeral services for Barbara B. Ballard, as of the time this post was written, I could not find any coverage of it. I assume that will be provided later today, so I will pass word of that along to you all as I receive it.

In the meantime, as it is President Ballard's 90th birthday, he now joins the ranks of nonagenarian apostles, becoming the 19th man on that list. On Wednesday, November 14, 2018, he will assume the 18th spot currently held by J. Reuben Clark. His next milestone on that list will be observed on Thursday February 21, 2019, at which point he will have lived longer than President Thomas S. Monson. As far as I am aware, he (President Ballard) remains in fairly good health, and is actively directing the business before the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

That said, let's get to some biographical details. Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. was born in Salt Lake City Utah to Melvin Russell Sr. & Geraldine Smith Ballard, on this day in 1928. Both his paternal & maternal grandfathers (Melvin J. Ballard & Hyrum M. Smith) were apostles, and Elder Ballard is thus a direct descendant of the early leaders of the Church (Hyrum M. was the son of Joseph F., who was the son of Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith).

As I previously mentioned, the Church has, by tradition, had at least one apostle currently serving who has ancestral ties to the Smith family. It is further interesting to note that Bruce R. McConkie, who was the last apostle indirectly related to the Smith family (being the son-in-law of Joseph Fielding Smith, who was the son of Joseph F. who was the son of Hyrum, who was the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith), was the apostle whose death resulted in the apostolic vacancy that necessitated Elder Ballard's call.

He served as a missionary in England, as has been noted in previous blog posts. Upon his return, he served in the US Army Reserves, where he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. As a result of obtaining his secondary education from the University of Utah, he met a young lady named Barbara Bowen, whom he married on August 8, 1951 in the Salt Lake Temple. As noted earlier, she died on October 1 of this year, and was laid to rest today.

They became the parents of 7 children, and one of their daughters, Brynn, married Peter Huntsman, whose mother, Karen Haight Huntsman, is the daughter of Elder David B. Haight, one of Elder Ballard's apostolic colleagues. It is interesting to see that additional relationship Elder Ballard has to other LDS apostles.

Brother Ballard worked professionally in auto sales. His Church service included serving as a counselor to his mission president, as a bishop twice, and as president of the Canada Toronto Mission. He completed the final year of that assignment as a General Authority Seventy, having received that call in April 1976.

Less than four years later, on February 20, 1980, he was called to the Presidency of the Seventy. In the August 1985 Ensign, Church leaders reported that they had created an international mission, which would be supervised from Salt Lake City for the purpose of ministering to members in outlying areas in which no formal Church units had been formed, and Elder Ballard was asked to preside over that mission in his capacity as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy. Within the next 5 years and 7 months or so, he had become the third most senior member of that Presidency. In the October 1985 General Conference, as a result of the death of Elder Bruce R. McConkie just over 5 months earlier, M. Russell Ballard was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Ballard is known and respected for the emphasis he has placed on missionary work in his apostolic ministry. Since October 1985, he has moved from the position of the junior apostle to now being the 3rd in apostolic seniority. In his 33 years as an apostle, he has given 67 talks in General Conference: in addition to the 9 he gave in his previous capacities as a General Authority Seventy and in the Presidency of the Seventy, that brings his total number of General Conference talks to 76 (which includes the one he gave during this last General Conference, for which the transcript will be available later this week). All of these addresses are well worthy of review.

As I mentioned above, his wife's funeral was held today, and I will be bringing a report of those services to you as soon as such information becomes available. In the meantime, I am grateful for the life, ministry, and serve of President Melvin Russell Ballard and hope he will, in spite of his wife's funeral, be able to have a good day today.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. 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.

Some Thoughts About Temple Progress (and the Most Likely Location for the Washington County Temple)

Hello again, everyone! Given the announcement around 2.5 hours ago of 12 new temples, I thought I would provide some updated thoughts about temple progress. Among other things, I will be discussing the timing within which some of the 30 announced temples might have a groundbreaking, and also share some thoughts about the most likely location for the temple announced in Washington County.

Let's jump right in. First, the Church could (and likely will soon) confirm the November 8, 2018 groundbreaking for the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple. If we do not soon hear an announcement on the groundbreaking fro the Urdaneta Philippines Temple, that temple could begin full-scale construction without a formal groundbreaking (although the last temple for which that happened was the Paris France Temple, the contractor and his equipment are already on site for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple, where a construction barrier has been erected. So either there is a lot of preliminary work to do before the temple has a formal groundbreaking, or there will be no groundbreaking, and construction will merely commence.

The Pocatello Idaho and Saratoga Springs Utah Temples both seem to be a lock to have groundbreakings occur within the first six months of next year, if not sooner. We may not hear anything about a groundbreaking for the Bangkok Thailand Temple for the next little while, unless and until the one building remaining on site is both vacated and razed.

I additionally am anticipating that, within the next 15 months, as we learn more, the Lima Peru Los Olivos, Nairobi Kenya, Brasilia Brazil, Greater Manila Philippines, Harare Zimbabwe, Layton Utah, and Richmond Virginia temples could each have a groundbreaking as well. If that occurs for each of these temples, that trims the list of those that have not had construction begin yet from 31 down to 19.

And if reports (which indicate that the Church has hired and will continue to hire additional personnel for the temple department), then the Church could very easily go from a current backlog of 31 down to 7 or less within the course of the next couple of years. Within that same time, I would also anticipate that other massive series of additional new temples could be announced as well.

As I observed in my previous post, there are now 201 temples of the Church in various stages of the construction process. If all but one of those were to be operating by that time  (which would enable the Church to reach the milestone of 200 operating temples), since 159 are currently in operation, only 41 others would need to be completed in the 11.5 years between today and the bicentennial anniversary of the Church's reestablishment (which is set to occur on Saturday April 6, 2030).

Of those 41, 11 are currently under construction, and 1 soon will be (if the Church confirms the information about the planned groundbreaking for the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple). So if we subtract that total of 12, only 19 more would need to begin and finish with the construction process during that 11.5 years.That means, as long as 2-3 temples begin construction each year, there is no scenario in which the Church would be unlikely to have 200 operating temples by that date. And I would personally anticipate that there will likely be far more than that around that time, if all continues to go well.

In the meantime, I also wanted to pass along some information I have drawn up about the most likely location for the Washington County Utah Temple, which is 1 of the 12 temples that were announced today. I am figuring that the Church would want to build it in a main city (rather than one of the more urban or rural locales). I first measured the distance from Cedar City to St. George, cut that distance roughly in half, and used the resulting mileage (26.1) to try and find the most likely prospect. Here's the information I compiled:

Potential locations for Washington County Temple (optimal goal is half-way between St. George and Cedar City, which would be a distance of 26.1 miles)

Hurricane (18.4 miles from St. George; 36.9 miles from Cedar City)

La Verkin (20.7 miles from St. George; 38.1 miles from Cedar City)

Toquerville (23.2 miles from St. George; 34.6 miles from Cedar City)

I can see each of these locations as a worthy prospect. The biggest merit of the first (Hurricane), in my mind, is that, if memory serves me correctly, some of my more-distant-but-still-extended family members live there. The Church has also periodically built a temple in places that are hard to pronounce (along the lines of Quetzeltenango Guatemala, a city of which President Monson, in talking of the planned dedication for that temple, quipped "Don't spell it!"

But of the three major cities, Toquerville comes in as nearest to the average mileage distance between the temples in Cedar City and St. George, which may make that city a shoo-in. Perhaps, however, the Church would look to a smaller or less prominent locality as the prospective place for this temple.

Either way, if the announcement of 19 temples during 2018 tells us anything, it is that President Nelson will get right down to business in terms of new temple announcements, and that if the currently-announced temples are, in a similar vein, able to have construction begin and progress swiftly, we are indeed in for a windfall or landslide of temple announcements, perhaps on more than one occasion, in the near future.

Whatever happens in that regard, you can certainly count on my passing such news along as I become aware of it. Stay tuned for those developments, which I continue to monitor on an ongoing basis. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time.

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.

BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson Announces A Record 12 New Temples

Hello again, everyone! As was anticipated, President Russell M. Nelson closed the conference by announcing his plans to rapidly increase and expand the number of temples (which will be done by , and, that in order to do so, pioneer-generation temples would be renovated. 12 new temples were announced for Mendoza Argentina; Salvador Brazil; Yuba City, California; Phnom Pehn, Cambodia; Praia Cape Verde; Yigo Guam; Puebla Mexico; Auckland New Zealand; Lagos Nigeria; Davao Philippines; San Juan Puerto Rico; and Washington County Utah. This brings the total number of temples in any phase to a whopping 201.

Let me just interject a couple of personal observations here: I had Salvador Brazil, Phnom Pehn Cambodia, Praia Cape Verde, Puebla Mexico, Auckland New Zealand, Lagos Nigeria, Davao Philippines, and San Juan Puerto Rico as exact locations for temples on one of my three lists (Cambodia was my top pick for Asia before I replaced it with one for Mongolia, but I am glad the Lord confirmed my justification of the original choice). I had long felt that Lagos was the top pick for the second Nigerian temple, and I am grateful the Lord verified that. Similarly, Salvador Brazil, Praia Cape Verde, Puebla Mexico, Auckland New Zealand, and Davao Philippines have all been on my list for a while.

He also mentioned that many "Pioneer-generation temples", including the one in Salt Lake City, will be closing for significant upgrades, repairs, and renovations, with details to be announced soon. That means that the weekly Thursday meeting of the apostles will need to take place in another temple nearby. And we will hopefully learn more about which particular temples will be renovated soon, and about the specifics relating to But the announcement of the 12 temples was wonderful. It means that, unless something happens to stall any of these temples, each of them could be under construction within the next 4-5 years. And it also means that, unless there are massive delays in clearing the backlog of the now 31 announced temples, the Church will almost definitely have at least 200 temples in operation by April 6, 2030, as there are 201 in various phases as of today.

With all of that in mind, the next several years will surely be full of temple events. To the best of my ability, I will continue to monitor all such news and will pass word of it along to you all as I receive it. In the meantime, we are sure to hear more details about future temple renovations in the near future, including that for the Salt Lake Temple. I was likewise intrigued today by the fact that President Henry B. Eyring only addressed the general Church membership at the beginning of the Sunday Afternoon Session. This marked the first time (insofar as I am aware) in which a counselor in the First Presidency spoke during the Sunday Afternoon Session. Could that also be a new tradition? We will have to see.

I hope that these thoughts, such as they have been, are helpful to you. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. 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.

General Conference Update: President Nelson Reemphasizes Accurate Usage of Church's Name

Hello again, everyone! While no major new announcements have been made since yesterday morning, President Nelson focused his remarks in the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference on providing more information about the statement he released a couple of months ago, in which he reemphasized proper usage of the name of the Church.

The Newsroom section on the Church's official website shared this article which highlighted some of the things he said. The article speaks for itself, so I won't add anything personally. But I did want to note that President Henry B. Eyring has not yet given an address to the Church during the general sessions of this General Conference. He did speak during the Women's Session, and was asked to present changes in Church leadership during the session before that, but has not spoken otherwise. With one session left, I imagine he will speak at some point during the final session.

In the meantime, while it is still unknown whether or not we will learn more about President Nelson's temple-building plans, it appears that at least a few temples may be announced. And at least one will be, as I confirmed through the Church of Jesus Christ Temples Site. Another unknown is if anything else will be announced, which is possible. We earlier heard rumors of something changing in terms of the Church's missionary efforts. But if such a change were in the works, then I imagine at least one member of the Missionary Executive Council would have been held in reserve to detail those changes. And all four apostles serving on that council (Elders Uchtdorf, Christofferson, Andersen, and Soares) have already spoken to us.

Either way, it will be interesting to see what unfolds over the course of the last session. If any breaking news occurs, I will be sure to pass word of it along to you all as I hear of it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. 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.

Updated Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! Having taken some time to analyze newly-reported developments within the last 12 hours in which the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site has again been operational, I am posting a fully updated copy of my temple construction progress report. The degree of the reported developments (including vast changes in the order and time-frames within which the Church may complete new temples and those undergoing renovation), it is necessary for me to publish my fully-updated report.

The updates follow below, and since there has been a dramatic and drastic shift in some of the general completion estimates, I will need to fully rethink my previously-offered and more specific time-frames for these events. And given the fact that all of that may largely depend on what we hear about temples this weekend, I have removed all notes except the most relevant ones.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. 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.

Temple Construction Progress (current as of 10/6/18)

Note about future temple construction: I have previously referenced the statement made by Elder Larry Y. Wilson, who serves as the Temple Department Executive Director, to the effect that 80 temples were on a list of locations that would be considered for an official announcement within the 15 years following that statement. And although we may not know whether or not those 80 locations have been announced by late April 2032, it seems reasonable to believe that the Church could (and likely will) have 200 operating temples by or before Saturday April 6, 2030 (which will mark the Church’s bicentennial anniversary). In order to do so, the Church would just need to complete the 30 temples in various phases, and announce and complete 11 others in the 11.50 years between now and then, which could be done if 3.57 temples are dedicated each year. Although this year will see only 2 temple dedications, there are 5 or 6 anticipated in 2019, and at least 3 that we know of so far the following year. So I am confident the Church will have at least 200 in operation by that time, whether or not an official goal is made to do so.

                        

Current temple status: The Church has 189 temples in various phases. There are 159 in operation, while 1 other has an open house underway; 3 more have a dedication scheduled; and 7 others are in various phases of construction. In terms of temples undergoing renovations, 10 temples are currently closed for renovation (5 or 6 of which are anticipated to be rededicated next year), and 1 other, which closed for renovation in late 2017, is currently stalled in its’ renovation process. The remaining 19 are announced, with at least 1 temple which is anticipated to have a groundbreaking by the end of 2018, while several others are likely to have a groundbreaking in 2019 and the years following that.

Public open house underway:

160. Concepcion Chile Temple: Public open house underway (will go through Saturday October 13, excluding the relevant Sundays); dedication scheduled to occur on Sunday October 28, 2018.

Note: On September 26, 2018, a published article shared on Facebook indicated that President Nelson would preside at the dedication of this temple. Since Elder Jeffrey R. Holland served for two years in what was then the Chile Area of the Church, it would not surprise me if he were to accompany President Nelson to this dedication.

Preparing for public open house:

161.  Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Planting final flowers in flowerbeds; preparing for public open house (which will begin in exactly 4 weeks); dedication scheduled to occur on Sunday December 9, 2018.

Dedication Scheduled:                                                                                         

162. Rome Italy Temple: Exterior doors installed; sod laid; flower beds being planted; dedication scheduled to occur from Sunday March 10-Sunday March 17, 2019.

163. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Laying driveway and walkway pavers; planting trees and shrubs; dedication scheduled to occur on Sunday April 14, 2019.

Under construction, completion estimated during 2019:

164. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Exterior lighting underway; completion estimated sometime during early-to-mid 2019.

165. Durban South Africa Temple: Finishing the temple tower surfaces; tiling the roof, floors, and walls; finish work continues on stairwells; completion estimated sometime during mid-to-late 2019.

166. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Waterproofing exterior walls; pouring street curbing and sidewalk; completion estimated sometime during mid-to-late 2019.

167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Stone cladding exterior walls; installing lamp-posts; planting trees and shrubs; completion estimated sometime during mid-2019.

Temples estimated to be completed sometime during 2020:

168. Arequipa Peru Temple: Stone cladding being added to tower; completion estimated sometime during early 2020.

169. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Stone cladding and waterproofing the exterior walls; completion estimated sometime during early 2020.

170. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Plumbing and foundation work underway for on-site chapel; completion estimated sometime during mid-2020.

Groundbreaking scheduled (official confirmation pending):

171. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Preparing for groundbreaking; groundbreaking scheduled for November 8, 2018.

Note: African members report that they were advised by a letter from Church leaders that this temple would have a groundbreaking on this date, and that Elder Neil L. Andersen would preside over it. That has not yet been confirmed through an official Church announcement, hence the date is listed in italics.

Undergoing Renovation (rededication estimated sometime during 2019):

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; reattaching cladding to temple exterior; staircase to extended parking area poured; completion estimated sometime during mid-2019.

13. Oakland California Temple: Closed for renovation; cleaning and repairing exterior walls; water features being upgraded; rededication estimated sometime during mid-2019.

95. Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple: Closed for renovation; angel Moroni statue reinstalled on September 10, 2018; rededication estimated sometime during mid-to-late 2019.

80. Memphis Tennessee Temple: Closed for renovation; stone cladding continues on exterior walls; rededication estimated sometime during mid-to-late 2019.

68. Raleigh North Carolina Temple: Closed for renovation; stone cladding continues; rededication estimated sometime during late 2019.

94. Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple: Closed for renovation; waterproofing membrane applied to exterior; rededication estimated sometime during late 2019.

Undergoing Renovation (rededication estimated sometime during 2020):

18. Tokyo Japan Temple: Closed for renovation; scaffolding and debris netting put up around exterior; rededication estimated sometime during early-to-mid 2020.

16. Washington D. C. Temple: Closed for renovation; repairs continue on temple spires; rededication may take place sometime during mid-to-late 2020.

8. Mesa Arizona Temple: Closed for renovation; grounds cleared; interior work underway; rededication may take place sometime during mid-to-late 2020.

Undergoing Renovation (rededication estimated sometime during 2021):

11. Hamilton New Zealand Temple: Closed for renovation; dismantling interior; rededication may take place sometime during early-to-mid 2021.

Renovation process stalled; full-scale work pending:

112. Asuncion Paraguay Temple: Closed for renovation; full-scale construction pending.

Announced Temples:

172. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Site preparation phase; construction barrier in place.

173. Pocatello Idaho Temple: Laying asphalt for streets; site confirmed and artist’s rendering released on September 6, 2018; groundbreaking anticipated in early 2019.

174. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Government approval phase.

175. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Artist’s rendering and site announcement released on March 19, 2018; groundbreaking pending.

Note: Although the rendering and site location for this temple was one of the first temple-related announcements of President Nelson’s prophetic administration, unless and until verification is provided that the on-site office building has been razed and that the site is cleared, it does not appear likely that the Church will break ground on this temple this year.

176. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning and preliminary construction phase; awaiting official site announcement.

177. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement; media event held June 14, 2017.

178. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval; site inspected by Church engineers on June 21, 2017.

179. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official name announcement

180. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

181. Layton Utah Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement.

182. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

183. Richmond Virginia Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement.

184. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

185. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site.

186. Salta Argentina Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement.

187. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement.

188. Bengaluru India Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement.

189. Russia: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official location and site announcement.

Final note: If recent statements from Church leaders (regarding how President Nelson’s legacy as a temple-building Church president will outpace and overshadow the previous legacy set by President Hinckley) are any indication, we may soon enter an era where the volume of temple-related developments will be multiplied. As more is known in that regard, I will add any needed elements to this report.

Key:

Bolded numbers and text denote temples whose numbers already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as dedication or groundbreaking dates.

Italicized numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval, and groundbreaking.

Changes since last report are highlighted in red.