An Interesting Tidbit I Picked Up On/Upcoming Apostolic Birthdays

Hello again, everyone! While I am still planning on posting any updates I find regarding the dedication held earlier today for the Concepcion Chile Temple, I wanted to switch gears here for a minute and address a somewhat interesting tidbit I picked up on as I recently began scanning Church leader's biographies for any noted assignment changes.

As some of you might recall my mentioning previously here, the apostles (particularly the members of the Quorum of the Twelve) are given responsibility for the worldwide administration of the Church, and part of that involves having specific apostles assigned to specific areas. Such assignments are made and altered at the discretion of the President of the Church.

For a few years now at least, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has had a role in supervising the Middle East/Africa North Area (which is done from headquarters). And Elder L. Whitney Clayton has been assisting him with this assignment. But a recent recheck of Elder Clayton's biography notes that he now assists Elder David A. Bednar in the supervision of that area.

So what does that tell us? Different people might come to different conclusions in that regard. But it seems to me to be a safe assumption that the transferal of that assignment from Elder Holland to Elder Bednar may be because President M. Russell Ballard, the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, is now 90 years of age, and if and when he passes away (assuming no other changes in the apostleship between now and that time), Elder Holland will, as the next in line, take over that assignment.

It appears that Elder Holland still has a role serving on the Church Board of Education, but perhaps this change indicates the First Presidency may want Elder Holland to be ready if he needs to take on that role in the future, which seems more likely than not. Of course, until anything official is announced, this is mainly just my personal opinion, and may be totally incorrect or not accounting for information that is unknown about this development.

That said, it wouldn't shock me to find out that I am correct in this theory. Currently, all 15 of our apostles appear to be in very good health, and 11 of the 15 are under 80 right now, while 7 of those 11 are under 70. Still, President Nelson has shown a willingness to tweak things now to prepare for the future, so I could see the wisdom in planning ahead for the future leadership of the Quorum if and when that becomes necessary.

In the meantime, as October winds to a close and November begins by the end of this week, I wanted to note that we have two apostles whose birthdays are coming up in November. On Tuesday November 6 (which coincides with Election Day here in the United States), Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf will be celebrating his 78th birthday. Exactly one week later, on Tuesday November 13, Elder Dale G. Renlund will observe his 66th birthday. You can count on my providing posts in honor of these two apostles on those dates.

I also 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 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.

Concepcion Chile Temple Dedicated as 160th Operating Temple by President Russell M. Nelson

Hello again, everyone! Given that it is now just after 1:00 PM Utah time, it is just after 4:00 PM Chilean time. This means that the third and final dedicatory session for the Concepcion Chile Temple is either still underway or nearing its' conclusion. The dedication of this temple is the culmination of President Russell M. Nelson's first South American leg of his ongoing Global Ministry Tour.

Church leaders in attendance at today's dedication included President Nelson and his wife Wendy W. Nelson, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife Lesa (who were the prophet's traveling companions during this trip), Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse and his wife Valerie, and General Authority Seventy Elder Larry Y. Wilson, who serves as the Executive Director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Lynda. Reportedly, other Church leaders were also in attendance, but I have not yet ascertained who those might have been.

Further information about this temple's dedication will be forthcoming throughout the day today, and I will bring that to you all as I receive word of it. For now, I wanted to pass along this article from the Newsroom website. It is touching to read about how kind Church leaders are to the young children they invite to help place mortar around the cornerstone.

Although this leg of the tour has gone on for a 9-day period, President Nelson shows no signs of fatigue or wanting to rest. As many of his traveling companions have observed throughout his ongoing Global Ministry Tour, as he speaks to and interacts with Church members around the world, he looks to be about 20-30 years younger than his actual age (94). And all agree that he has shown an incredible increase in energy and stamina as he has been out and about among the membership of the Church.

We are truly seeing a miraculous fulfillment of the promise contained in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood, as President Nelson has indeed been "sanctified by the Spirit to the renewal of [his] body." I share the hope of his Brethren that he will be around for the next decade or two. Whatever might occur with his ongoing ministry, you can count on my bringing a report of it to you all here as I become aware of such developments. In the meantime, I also continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates, and will pass those along as well in the future.

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.

Clarification Provided On Church Pageants; President Nelson Prepares for the Dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple

Hello again, everyone! I posted web addresses for additional content which clarifies the Church statement released earlier today, but since I needed to post here again anyways to pass on some other news, I will also be sharing those contextual clarifications of the Church statement. Let's get right into all of that. First, to the clarification of the Church's statement. KSL posted this article on how the most well-known Church pageants will be affected by that statement. Meanwhile, the Church News and Events page provided additional context on the changes announced today.

My most interesting takeaway from that last article was the fact that it was stated point-blank that cultural celebrations the night before temple dedications had been discontinued, and that these would be replaced by a devotional for youth with presiding Church leaders that night. I would just like to interject a thought of my own here: Some may see this as President Nelson just undoing another thing President Monson lauded and supported (as the latter had spoken repeatedly about how much he enjoyed those celebrations), but there is more to it than that, aside from the Lord having instructed President Nelson to take this action.

It occurred to me that if the youth of the Church get too busy preparing to participate in the cultural celebration, that might be detrimental to and potentially take away from their ability to fully prepare for, enjoy, be inspired by, and get as much out of the dedication of the temple the following day. So reducing and simplifying things by letting the youth not focus on the pressure of performance and instead enjoy the opportunity to hear addresses from leaders directed to them on the night before the temple dedication definitely seems more appropriate to me.

Now, to the available report on this weekend's dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple. The Newsroom released this article spelling out what will be involved in the celebrations of this weekend. President and Sister Nelson and Elder and Sister Stevenson have addressed the youth at the devotional tonight (since it is now almost 11:00 PM Chilean time), and tomorrow, with dedicatory sessions held at 9 AM, noon, and 3 PM (which will be 6 & 9 AM and noon Utah time).

Joining the Nelsons and Stevensons for the dedicatory sessions will be Elder Larry Y. Wilson, Executive Director of the Temple Department, and Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse, who may be accompanied by their wives. The Newsroom notes that "other leaders" will be in attendance at the dedicatory sessions, but does not specify who else that will be. Within the next several hours, a report of the devotional will likely be made available, and I will pass word of that along to you all as I receive it.

In the meantime, I also continue to monitor any and all other Church news and temple developments and will keep doing my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of it. I am additionally working on assembling my initial predictions for the April 2019 General Conference and hope to have those posted before the end of this month, if all goes well.

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.

Church Releases Official Statement on Local Celebrations; Other Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! Earlier today, the Church released this official statement on local celebrations. The wording of this statement seems to explain why the Church has shifted from cultural celebrations the night before a temple dedication to holding a devotional for the youth that night instead. Local celebrations will still be encouraged, and adjustments will be made in the future to continue, end, or modify larger-scale productions such as pageants. This is an interesting development. In the coming days, we will learn more about the extent of these changes, and I will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it.

In the meantime, there have been a few big Church news stories on which I wanted to focus here as well. I reported several days ago about how Bishop Dean M. Davies, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, dedicated a new Deseret Industries facility in Arizona. Yesterday, Bishop Davies represented the Church in presenting a $1.5 million check to the American Red Cross.

The Church has been a partner with that organization for many years in such endeavors as blood drives, donation collections, and so on. In light of the Church's numerous contributions to that organization, the Church was honored by the American Red Cross as the first-ever organization to be named a "Mission Leader", a title which emphasizes how much the American Red Cross values their partnership with the Church.

Bishop Davies was joined by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and Sister Jean B. Bingham, who serves as Relief Society General President. More complete reports on this development can be found in the Church News and the Newsroom on the Church's official website.

We now shift our attention to yet another edition of "This Week on Social". The latest article in that series is unique, as it only features social media posts from 6 of the 9 members of the female-led auxiliary presidencies of the Church. Their posts covered the topics of abuse, receiving and following revelation, finding peace, and the importance of serving.

I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: Since President Nelson became Church President at the beginning of this year, I have noticed a significant increase in the number of Church news stories sharing highlights of service and counsel provided by the women of the Church on both the general and local level.

The first address President Nelson gave as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was directed to the women of the Church, and he has demonstrated how much the Church and its' leaders value the contributions and opinions of women. This article, focusing solely on social media posts from the women leaders of the Church, continues that tradition. And that is wonderful to see.

Next, roughly 35 years ago, President Gordon B. Hinckley, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the Papeete Tahiti Temple as the fifth for Polynesia, the 25th operating temple of the Church, and one of six temples which were dedicated in 1983. The process of planning, constructing, and dedicating that temple had a miraculous history which is well worthy of review.

And finally, as noted in a previous post, the Church News had solicited feedback from women who had taken President Nelson's counsel about having a 10-day fast from social media. The Church News shared 3 quick takeaways from among the many responses on that subject. All of these articles were wonderful to read, and I can heartily and without hesitation recommend them to you all.

I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will keep doing my level best to pass word of those along to you here as I become aware of them. This weekend marks the dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple, so there will be coverage of that provided here as such information becomes available.

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.

President Nelson & Companions Counsel Missionaries and Members in Uruguay/Temple Musings in Conjunction with the Imminent Conclusion of This Leg of that Tour

Hello again, everyone! After a 3-day hiatus to catch their breath (which was needed after being in three different time zones within the last week), Church President Russell M. Nelson and his traveling companions (his wife, Wendy W. Nelson and Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Lesa) had the opportunity of meeting with missionaries and members in Uruguay, which is the second-to-last location they will be visiting prior to the end of the tour. The Newsroom on the Church's official website reported on their visit to Uruguay.

With them having concluded that part of their tour, they now have a one-day hiatus during which to travel to Concepcion Chile, the final stop on that tour, where the Church leaders will tour the temple for a final inspection prior to the youth devotional on Saturday and the dedication of the temple on Sunday. As I mentioned earlier, it seems that President Nelson is discontinuing the previous tradition of cultural celebrations in favor of allowing Church leaders in attendance at future temple events to address and encourage the youth on the night before future temple dedications or rededications are held.

That said, it appears that, when appropriate, cultural events will still take place in such regions, but not in conjunction with a temple dedication. And if Church leaders visit certain areas in the future, I can see a cultural celebration being held in conjunction with those visits as time and circumstances allow. It will be interesting to see what occurs in that regard.

In the meantime, I wanted to provide advanced notice of something I figured out earlier this week. The dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple this weekend will mean the Church will have 160 temples in operation. But that also means that the Church is another temple closer to having 200 operating temples by the 200th anniversary of the reestablishment of the Church (which will, as noted, occur on Saturday April 6, 2030). So, on Sunday, with 40 temples remaining to be dedicated in the 11.44 years between then and the Church's bicentennial, the average number of temples needing to be dedicated will shrink to an average 3.5 per year.

While only one other temple (the Barranquilla Colombia Temple) set to be dedicated before the end of this year, 2018 falls below any previous averages I have offered. But 2 temples have already been set to have a dedication occur during the first third of 2019, and there are a grand total of 4 others which will almost certainly be dedicated during the remaining two thirds of 2019. So with a total of 6 temples almost certain to be dedicated next year, 2018 and 2019 will even out to an average 4 temple dedications per year.

And within the first 6-8 months of 2020, 3 other temples are on track to have their dedications. So by this time in 2020, the average number of temples needing to be dedicated will have decreased significantly. I also cannot and will not rule out the prospect that several of the temples which will have a groundbreaking or otherwise see their construction processes begin within the next 8-10 months might also have their dedications occur during 2020.

I hope these thoughts will prove helpful to at least some of you who read them. 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.