Stokes Sounds Off

Search This Blog

Leaderboard

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Personal Update

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to share a brief personal update. Not sure whetner I mentioned this or not, but in late February, I determined in consultation with my wife and one of my doctors that I had gotten the maximum benefit I could get out of the main pain medication I have been on for the last decade. We therefore have been instructed to have me transition off of the medication in question, and I am about half-way through that process, which has been a bit of a struggle.

In the interim, we received more information about a minor procedure I need to have at some point, and based on what was learned in that respect, the same-day procedure is anticipated to involve 1-2 weeks of at-home recuperation.  And as a result of the nature of the procedure, we have been advised to have me halt my efforts to further transition off of the pain medication until after the at-home recovery process is complete.

Additionally, both my wife and myself continue to deal with health-related challenges and other difficult circumstances, but hopefully things are progressing in the right direction in many respects. In moments when we have struggled, the Lord has reminded us in choice and significant ways that He has not forgotten us, and has made up the difference for things we feel we lack.

And for me personally, immersing myself in the process of continuing to track the latest Church news and temple developments and report on those things here has been an important and vital part of helping me deal with the associated stress relating to these ongoing difficulties. I appreciate the wide-spread intrest in things I have found to "sound off" about here, and hope that my analysis on such developments has proven and will yet prove helpful to all who read 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 oen of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: Transcripts Available for April 2019 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! For a majority of the last two decades or so, transcripts of General Conference talks have generally been made availble the Thursday following each General Conference weekend. In recent years, that has been able to occur a day or two earlier. I wanted to briefly post to report that the transcripts of the talks given during the April 2019 General Conference are now available.

One common element in the first 3 General Conferences over which President Nelson has presided (which have been anything but common, normal, or status-quo) is his invitation during each of his concluding remarks is the invitation to regularly study the talks for the next six months. So I hope all of us (including and especially myself) will take the time to do so. We have been told that the talks given in General Conference constitute scripture and the literal word and will of the Lord for us every six months, and we'd be well advised to treat them as such.

I appreciate the speed at which such transcripts can be made available in our day. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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.

Monday, April 8, 2019

First Presidency Announces Several Additional New Temple Presidents

Hello again, everyone! Four days ago, the Church News shared an article announcing the calls of 8 new presidents and matrons for temples in various areas of the world. Of those eight, three are former area seventies, one is currently a counselor in the presidency of the same temple for which he will assume oversight in November, and one other has previously served in the presidency of the temple for which he will assume oversight,

One of the temples for which a new president was announced this go-round was not on my list and came as a complete surprise to me, since it appears that the current president of that temple (Tegucigalpa Honduras) has only served in that capacity for a year. As mentioned previously, in recent years, the general length of service for a new temple president has been around 3 years.

It used to be (particularly in the earlier days of Church history) that temple presidents served for an indefinite period at the discretion of the First Presidency, and there have also been cases in the past where current or former general authorities (including apostles and prophets) have served in temple presidencies. Getting back to this year, so far, 17 new temple presidents have been called, and that has occurred a few days earlier than in 2017, when 16 new temple presidents became the first group to be announced that year.

The announcement thus far of 17 temple presidents leaves me with 4 new temples on my list which may be completed within the next year (including and especially the Arequipa Peru Temple, which is now anticipated to be dedicated prior to the dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple, for which its' first president was announced las year). Almost all of thoe 4 are more likely than not to have their first presidents called in order to enable them to attend the necessary training before their service as such begins.

There are also a remaining 48 currenlty-operating temples (including some currently undergoing renovation) for which a new president may yet be called, unless there are any other surprise announcements for which I am unable to account, due to not being privy to any special information regarding newly-called temple presidents. Assuming all of these temples see a new president called, the total number of new temple presidents beginning service this year will be around 69.

As an additional note, those 69 temples constitute roughly 40% of the total number of temples that will be operating next year (which will be 171 in total once the Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire Temple is dedicated). With all of that noted, I wanted to share an updated copy of my compiled list of temples that have gotten or may yet get a new president in 2019. That updated list follows below. In order to not disrupt the flow of that information, I will end here and now as I always do:

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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.      Copenhagen Denmark
2.      Manila Philippines (not anticipated; current president has only served for two years)
3.      Tampico Mexico
4.      Philadelphia Pennsylvania
5.      Spokane Washington
6.      Manhattan New York
7.      Columbia River Washington
8.      St. Paul Minnesota
9.      Jordan River Utah
10.  Medford Oregon
11.  Rexburg Idaho
12.  Provo Utah
13.  London England
14.  Tegucigalpa Honduras (not anticipated; current president has only served for one year)
15.  Johannesburg South Africa
16.  Fort Collins Colorado
17.  Panama City Panama

The first presidents will likely be announced for the following new temples:
1.      Arequipa Peru
2.      Rio de Janeiro Brazil
3.      Winnipeg Manitoba
4.      Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire

List of currently-operating temples which may be getting a new president in 2019:
1.      Aba Nigeria
2.      Anchorage Alaska
3.      Birmingham Alabama
4.      Campinas Brazil
5.      Chicago Illinois
6.      Ciudad Juarez Mexico
7.      Cochabamba Bolivia
8.      Columbus Ohio
9.      Curitiba Brazil
10.  Dallas Texas
11.  Detroit Michigan
12.  Fresno California
13.  Gilbert Arizona
14.  Guadalajara Mexico
15.  Halifax Nova Scotia
16.  Hamilton New Zealand (Note: It is possible that the Church could hold off on calling a new president for this temple until its’ rededication is held in 2021)
17.  Hartford Connecticut
18.  Hong Kong China (Note: It is possible that the Church could hold off on calling a new president for this temple until its’ rededication in 2021 or 2022)
19.  Idaho Falls Idaho (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)
20.  Kyiv Ukraine
21.  Lima Peru
22.  Melbourne Australia
23.  Memphis Tennessee (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)
24.  Mexico City Mexico
25.  Monterrey Mexico
26.  Montreal Quebec
27.  Merida Mexico
28.  Nashville Tennessee
29.  Nauvoo Illinois
30.  Nuku’alofa Tonga
31.  Oklahoma City Oklahoma (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)
32.  Orlando Florida
33.  Perth Australia
34.  Portland Oregon
35.  Raleigh North Carolina (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)
36.  Reno Nevada
37.  Santiago Chile
38.  Santo Domingo Dominican Republic
39.  Sapporo Japan
40.  Seattle Washington
41.  Seoul Korea
42.  St. George Utah (Note: Since this temple is scheduled to close for renovation later this year, the Church could hold off on calling a new president until the renovation is complete)
43.  Star Valley Wyoming
44.  Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico
45.  Twin Falls Idaho
46.  Veracruz Mexico
47.  Washington D.C. (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)
48.  Winter Quarters Nebraska


Miscellaneous Updated Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! While I continue to work on updates to several of my files which needed to be made due to what transpired over General Conference weekend (much of which I will subsequently be sharing here), I wanted to post some updated data about our apostles which I thought some of you might find interesting.  Firstly, I wanted to note that tomorrow, President Dallin H. Oaks will be marking his first 2019 tenure milestone as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The length of his tenure as such will then be equal to that of Franklin D. Richards, which will, in view of President Oaks being alive while Franklin D. Richards is no longer living or serving as such, mean President Oaks will then be the 24th longest-serving Quorum President in Church history. Given his relatively good health, he will likely continue to serve as Qorum President for the foreseeable future, barring anything unexpected occurring.

His next two tenure milestones will be observed two days apart in July (on July 7 and 9). President Oaks will observe two other tenure milestones this year, one each in November and December, which I will detail more specifically closer to the time.  Quite coincidentally, the two aforementioned milestones President Oaks will observe in July will be the third and fourth apostolic milestones observed during that month.

This is because President Nelson will have observed two milestones as Church President which are likewise just two days apart. President Nelson's first (and only) 2019 tenure milestone will be observed on July 3, followed by the observance of his first (and only) 2019 age-related milestone relating to his place among his 16 predecessors as President of the Church on July 5, which will also coincide with his first and only nonagenarian milestone  which will be observed this year. Those will also be detailed more fully closer to the time.

And in the meantime, it is also worth noting that President Ballard will observe 3 other nonagenarian milestones this year as well, with one each coming up in May, June, and July, which I will also be detailing closer to the time. Additionally, the next apostolic birthday will be observed in May as well, with President Eyring set to observe is 86th birthday on the last day of that month.

With that noted, I wanted to share two documents I have updated recently in conjunction with General Conference. The first one shows the lenghts of talks given during this last General Conference from longest to shortest by each of our apostles. Interestingly enough, while there has sometimes been a 24-hour delay between the time General Conference concludes and whenever videos of all addresses are made available, this go-round, that was done relatively more quickly. So here is that list:

April 2019 General Conference—Lengths of Talks Given by First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

19:05—President Henry B. Eyring (SAM)
17:50—President Russell M. Nelson (SUM)
17:29—Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
16:27—Elder David A. Bednar
15:58—Elders Jeffrey R. Holland & Ronald A. Rasband
15:27—President Dallin H. Oaks (SUA)
15:23—Elder Quentin L. Cook
15:21—Elder Gary E. Stevenson
15:19—Elder Gerrit W. Gong
15:16—Elder D. Todd Christofferson
15:15—Elder Neil L. Andersen
15:11—Elder Ulisses Soares
15:10—Elder Dale G. Renlund
14:57—President Russell M. Nelson (SPH)
14:28—President M. Russell Ballard
12:57—President Henry B. Eyring (SPH)
11:44—President Dallin H. Oaks (SPH)
10:44—President Dallin H. Oaks (SAA; Sustaining of Church Officers)
6:40—President Russell M. Nelson (SUA)


I also wanted to provide an update on the total number of talks each of our apostles have given in General Conference, and a new total of all addresses given by apostles. This information includes, where applicable, how many addresses were given by each apostle before his call to the apostleship.

While updating this information following the most recent conference, I realized some of the data as shared previously waa in error,. By that I mean that I discovered through research that, for some of these men, one or two talks they have given were not included in their entries from the speaker index on the General Conference main page. As a result, I have corrected those items. Here is that list:


Number of General Conference talks given by our current apostles
President Henry B. Eyring—98=93+5 given prior to his apostolic call
President Russell M. Nelson—82
President M. Russell Ballard—78=70+8 given prior to his apostolic call
President Dallin H. Oaks—77=76+1 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf—70=68+2 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland—53=50+3 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder David A. Bednar—30
Elder D. Todd Christofferson—29=23+6 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Quentin L. Cook—26=24+2 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Neil L. Andersen—26=21+5 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Ronald A. Rasband—14=8+6 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Gary E. Stevenson—11=8+3 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Dale G. Renlund—10=8+2 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Ulisses Soares—8=3+5 given prior to his apostolic call
Elder Gerrit W. Gong—5=3+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Total: 618=568+50 given prior to their apostolic calls


I continue to work on updating various other files, information, and data following General Conference, and I will bring you that updated information as I complete such processes. I will also continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will bring you word of those changes as well ASAP after I learn about them.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson Announces 8 New Temples

Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news was just shared by President Russell M. Nelson during his concluding remarks. He mentioned that the details of plans to renovete the Salt Lake Temple and revitalixe Temple Square in various areas will be announced on Friday April 19, with plans for the renovations of the Logan and Manti Utah Temples to be announced as they are developed. I believe it is also fair to mention that since the "pioneer-generation" is a different period of time for every nation in which the Church has been established, temples that fit that definition in such lands will likely also be renovated in the coming years.

Additionally, before announcing 8 new temples, President Nelson emphasized correct protocol for such announcements as outlined in a couple of recent Church News articles. He mentioned that the excitement about each new temple should not detract from the reverential spirit that should prevail as the conference concluded. The 8 new temples were announced for the following locations: Pago Pago American Samoa, Okinawa City Okinawa, Neiafu Tonga, Tooele Valley Utah, Moses Lake Washington, San Pedro Sula Honduras, Antofagasta Chile, and Budapest Hungary.

Of those 8 temples, I had the exact location correct for 6, while the other two caught me by surprise. President Nelson may not have felt the timing was right to outline the extent and timing of his plans, but this brings the total number of temples in any phase to 209. There are now 35 temples with either a site announcement or groundbreaking pending.

Within the next 2 months, that will be trimmed down to 30, and I have a strong feeling more will be done during the remainder of this year to clear the current backlog of announced temples. And some of the locations for which temples were announced today could be candidates for smaller temples that would be easily approved and able to begin and complete construction within a 2-year period.

It is also worth noting that only 1 of those 8 locations this go-round was on the list of the top ten nations with the strongest Church presence that do not have a temple in any phase. American Samoa was ranked fourth on that list. I should also mention that another article released about temples by the Church News recently has me thinking that we may be seeing other new temples announced between now and the October General Conference. Time will tell,, but it is possible.

Having posted about this, I need to get back to updating my temple constrcution progress report, but I will be back later today with my thoughts on this General Conference weekend. In the meantime, that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added contet, 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.