April 2019 General Conference Predictions Results: Part Two—Changes in General Church Leadership and Statistical Report Results

Hello again, everyone! I am back with the second part of my April 2019 General Conference predictions results. In this part, I will share the results of my predictions for changes in Church leadership, and for the relevant numbers on the 2018 Statistical Report. Those follow below. In order to not disturb 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 yout 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.

Predictions for Changes in Church Leadership

Presidency of the Seventy: Any changes effective August 1 sustained in advance.[i] Result: No changes announced.

General Authority Seventies: New General Authorities sustained from among the Area Seventies or the Church at large (including any current mission or temple president)[ii]; Elder Steven E. Snow released as Church Historian and Recorder, with a new Church Historian and Recorder called from among the current or newly-called General Authority Seventies[iii]. Result: Elders Rubén V. Alliaud, Jorge M. Alvarado, Hans T. Boom, L. Todd Budge, Ricardo P. Gimenez, Peter M. Johnson, John A. McCune, James R. Rasband, Benjamin M. Z. Tai and Alan R. Walker were sustained as new General Authority Seventies, with no change announced (yet) to the Church Historian and Recorder.

Area Seventies: Some area seventies released, others called[iv]. The following area seventies may be released for the following reasons: Called as mission presidents: Aley K. Auna, Walter Chatora, J. Kevin Ence, Jose L. Isaguierre,  Bryan R. Larsen, W. Jean-Pierre Lono, Khumbulani Mdletshe, Hoi Seng Leonard Woo Called as temple presidents: Victorino A. Babida, Milan F. Kunz, Longest-tenured: Kevin J Worthen (sustained in April 2010; is currently serving as BYU-Provo President; if he is released, he may be sustained as General Authority Seventy); Frederick O. Akinbo (sustained in April 2013) Result: 55 new area seventies called; 7 others released namely: Elders Budge, Johnson. McCune, Rasband and Tai, (in view of their calls as General Authority Seventies); Elder Mark L. Pace (in view of his call as Sunday School General President); and Victorino A. Babida (in view of his call as the incoming president of the Manila Philippines Temple)

Sunday School General Presidency: Tad R. Callister, Devin G. Durrant, and Brian K. Ashton released, new Sunday School General Presidency called[v]. Result: These Brethren were released. The new Sunday School General Presidency members are: Mark L. Pace, Milton Camargo, and Jan E. Newman.

Additional note: Reid L. Neilson, who has been serving as Church historian and recorder and is not a General Authority, will likely be released from that assignment, since he has been called as a mission president as well. As far as I know, he was never sustained in that position, so his release may or may not be presented.

2018 Statistical Report (corrected figures in parentheses)[vi]

Stakes	3,383
Missions	407
Districts	550 (547)
Wards & Branches	30,710 (30,536)
Total Church Membership	16,385,309 (16,313,735)
Increase in Children of Record	104,150 (102.102)
Converts Baptized	228,987 (234,332)
Full-Time Missionaries	64,543 (65,137)
Church Service Missionaries	30,339 (37.963)
Temples Dedicated during 2018 (Concepcion Chile, Barranquilla Colombia)	2
Temples Rededicated during 2018 (Houston Texas, Jordan River Utah)	2
Temples in Operation by the end of 2018	161

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[i]In April 2018, 5 changes to the Presidency of the Seventy were sustained, 2 of which were effective immediately (as a result of Elders Gong and Soares being called to the Quorum of the Twelve), with 3 other changes sustained in advance of going into effect on August 1. With 5 of the 7 current members of the Presidency of the Seventy having only served in this Presidency for a year or less (and 1 other member who has only been serving since August of 2017), the only change for which I can see a more immediate need in the near future is the possible release of Elder L. Whitney Clayton, who will be 70 in February of next year and thus is likely to be granted emeritus status during the October 2020 General Conference, but the Church could potentially hold off on making that change until August 2020.

[ii]It is traditional for new General Authority Seventies to be sustained each April, so I would anticipate that occurring for this General Conference, and that those sustained will be selected from among the current area seventies, any current members of the Sunday School or Young Men General Presidencies, anyone currently serving in a mission or temple presidency, or from the Church at large.

[iii]Elder Steven E. Snow, who has served as Church Historian and Recorder since 2012, will be 70 in November 2019, so the Church will likely release him from that assignment and sustain a current or new General Authority in to succeed him in that capacity.

[iv]Although there have been exceptions in recent years, April General Conference has generally seen a large number of area seventies called, and a few released, especially if any of the new General Authorities are currently serving as area seventies. I am anticipating that will remain true for this General Conference as well.

[v]Brothers Callister and Durrant have served together in the Sunday School General Presidency since April 2014, and Brother Ashton joined them in that presidency in June 2015. Within the last decade or two, in almost all cases, auxiliary presidency has been released once most of its’ members have served together for 5 years or so. Therefore, I anticipate that Brothers Callister, Durrant, and Ashton will be released. The new members of this presidency could be comprised of any current General Authorities (as Brother Callister was serving as a General Authority Seventy (and in the Presidency thereof) prior to his call), either or both of the current Sunday School counselors, members of its’ General Board, members of the Young Men General Presidency or General Board, any current area seventy, mission presidency or temple presidency member, or members of the Church at large.

[vi]As per the tradition established in the April 2018 General Conference, the Statistical Report will not be read over the pulpit during the Saturday Afternoon Session, but will instead be published on the Church website directly after that session.

April 2019 General Conference Predictions Results: Part One—Speaking Order Results

Hello again, everyone! Although it has been more than a month since General Conference, I wanted to share the results of my April 2019 General Conference predictions. I am going to do so in 3 parts. This first part will share how my projection for the speaking order compared with the actual thing. The second part will cover the results of my projections for the changes in general Church leadership and the statistical report numbers, and the final part will share the results of my temple predictions and the overall percentage. With that overview out of the way, Part One follows below.  

In order to not disturb 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 newly0-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.

April 2019 General Conference Predictions[i] (Text in brackets denote differences)

Sess.	Conducting	Speaker
SAM	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Russell M. Nelson [Did not speak]
		Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf [Elder Ulisses Soares]
		Bishop W. Christopher Waddell [Becky Craven]
		Elder Terence M. Vinson [Elder Brook P. Hales]
		Lisa L. Harkness [Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf]
		Elder Gerrit W. Gong [Bishop W. Christopher Waddell]
		President Henry B. Eyring
SAA	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dallin H. Oaks (Sustaining of Church Officers)[ii]
	Church Auditing Department Report[iii]	Kevin R. Jergensen
		President M. Russell Ballard
		Elder Scott D. Whiting [Elder Mathias Held]
		Elder Neil L. Andersen
		Elder Quentin L. Cook [Elder Takashi Wada]
		Elder Mathias Held [Elder David P. Homer]
		Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
SPH	President Dallin H. Oaks	Elder Gary E. Stevenson
	[Elder Carl B. Cook]	Stephen W. Owen
	[Elder Kim B. Clark]	Elder David P. Homer
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
		President Russell M. Nelson[iv]
SUM	President Russell M. Nelson [President Dallin H. Oaks]	Elder D. Todd Christofferson [Elder Dale G. Renlund]
		Sharon [L.] Eubank
	[Elder Quentin L. Cook]	Elder Carlos A. Godoy
	[Elder D. Todd Christofferson]	Elder Ulisses Soares
	[Tad R. Callister]	Elder Marcus B. Nash
	[No one]	Elder Dale G. Renlund
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUA	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dallin H. Oaks[v]
	[Elder Juan Pablo Villar]	Tad R. Callister
	[Elder Gerrit W. Gong]	Elder Anthony D. Perkins
		Elder David A. Bednar
		Elder Kyle S. McKay
	[No one]	Elder David S. Baxter
		Elder Ronald A. Rasband
		President Russell M. Nelson

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[i]General Conferences within the last two decades or so have almost always conformed to general patterns. There have, however, been a handful of exceptions in recent years, and both the April and October General Conferences held last year were examples of that. With that in mind, I have used more of a traditional pattern, but made some alterations to the speaking order offered here which seem practical based on what is not currently known. And I will continue to allow myself a very small margin of error for the next 2-3 General Conferences until I can get a better feel for how the typical patterns have changed.

[ii]Because President Eyring led the Sustaining of Church Officers last October, and because President Oaks did such a great job with the long list of new Area Seventies in April of 2018, I feel confident that President Oaks will continue to lead that process each April, and that President Eyring will do so each October.

[iii]This report has traditionally been read during each April General Conference for the preceding year. The purpose of the report is to certify the financial stability of the Church, based on practices prescribed by revelation. The report is usually presented by the managing director of the Church Auditing Department (with Kevin R. Jergensen serving in that position as of last year). But according to an article published in “The Daily Herald”, in late May 2018, this report may no longer be read over the pulpit either. If it is not, then the Church could adjust the amount of time allotted for the other speakers, or call on one other leader to speak during this session.

[iv]If there are any changes to priesthood quorums, curriculum, or practices, those will likely be detailed at some point by President Nelson during this session, whether he does so in his customary time-slot at the conclusion of this session, or by a separate brief address to present the changes earlier in that session, followed at the session’s end by his usual address.

[v]While this session has typically seen the last 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve speak, last April, the final 5 members of that Quorum spoke during this session. As mentioned in note 8 above, President Eyring opened this session last October, and the remaining 2 members of the Quorum also spoke. Since 7 of the 12 apostles have spoken during this session within the last year, it is my theory that President Oaks may open this session, with the final two members of the Quorum also giving their addresses here. In subsequent conferences, the traditional patterns may resume as has been usual for General Conferences.

Church Leaders Break Ground for 3 New Temples

Hello again, everyone! Church leaders in 3 different parts of the world broke ground today on temples announced by President Russell M. Nelson for Saints living in the remote areas of Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, and San Juan Puerto Rico. While I had hoped to provide coverage of those by way of a breaking news post ealrlier today, it was not until just now that I found sufficient coverage of these events. So let's get right into that coverage. First of all, the main Newsroom shared general coverage on each groundbreaking ceremony.

The thing that stuck out to me particularly about this first article is that it notes this is "one of the first times" ground has been broken for 3 temples on the same day. I looked back at the August 2018 article published by the Church about days on which more than one temple had a groundbreaking, and this is only the third time that has happened in Church history. But I have a sneaking suspicion this will not be the last time that occurs. In fact, there very well could be a day coming when 4 or more temples having a groundbreaking on the same day could become the "new normal".

With that said, let me share the links to the individual articles about the groundbreakings for each of these 3 temples. Although coverage of the Yigo Guam Temple groundbreaking is not yet available, within the next few days, that will be published on the Japanese edition of the Newsroom. The Cabo Verde edition of the Newsroom shared more about the Praia Temple groundbreaking, and more about the groundbreaking ceremony for the San Juan Temple comes from the Puerto Rican edition of the Newsroom.

Although time will tell how accurate this might prove to be, I have heard that the odds of full-scale construction beginning for these temples within the next week or less are very good, and that the construction time-frame for each could turn out to be closer to 18-21 months than it would be to 24. If that turns out to be the case, one or two of them could potentially be dedicated prior to the end of next year. Time will tell how likely that turns out to be. It is also worth noting that it has been over 3 months now since the groundbreaking for the Bangkok Thailand Temple was held, and full-scale construction has not yet begun for that temple as of yet.

Additionally, tomorrow will mark the private one-session rededication for the Memphis Tennesee Temple, over which Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has been asked to preside. Tomorrow night, Elder Carl B. Cook of the Presidency of the Seventy will speak in the second of the three Worldwide Devotionals for Young Adults which have been planned for 20ni19. The final devotional for this year will be held on Sunday September 8, and given that the Church has still not announced who the speaker will be for that yet, it is appearing more and more likely that that devotional will feature Church President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Wendy.

Aside from that,  on Saturday May 11, as we know, Elder Enrique R. Falabella will be presiding over the groundbreaking for the Quito Ecuador Temple. And that same day, open house tours will begin for the Oakland California Temple. The following Saturday, open house tours will wrap up for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple. I am still holding out hope that we could see the open house and dedication schedule fir the Arequipa Peru Temple announced in the near future, and it is appearing more likely that that temple's dedication will be scheduled to occur in December, with both the rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple and the dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple likely to be deferred until after Christmas 2019 and New Year's Day 2020.

To the best of my ability, I will have all of these developments covered here as I receive word of them. I also continue to monitor all Church news and work on the many projects I have lined up to publish on this blog in the near future. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open Houses, Rededications Announced for Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples

Hello again, everone! In a stunning announcement which I certainly didn't expect this soon, the First Presidency detailed the open house and rededication information for the Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples. Open house tours will be offered for the Raleigh NC Temple from Saturday September 21-Saturday September 28, except for Sunday September 22. The temple will be privately rededicated in 1 session by President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on Sunday October 13, and will reopen for ordinance work on Tuesday October 22, 2019.

In the meantime, the open house for the Baton Rouge LA Temple will take place from Saturday October 26-Saturday November 2, with the exception of Sunday October 27. The single-session rededication for this temple will take place on Sunday November 17, with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presiding thereat.  I'd just like to make a few general comments on this news:

First, this information replaces the estimates I offered earlier this morning. Second, the one-week open house and private rededications in one session may become the new normal for the smaller Hinckley-era temples. Third, it is apparent that, at least for the moment, the First Presidency may call on any of the seven most senior apostles to rededicate temples, while the dedications for new temples could be done by any of the apostles, and particularly those who have personal connections to those temples.

I say that because what I have seen on my end demonstrates that the authority to dedicate or rededicate temples is inherent in the keys of the apostleship, since those ordained as such have the power, under the direction of the Church President, to bind and seal on earth and in heaven. I was also pleasantly surprised by this news, since I thought for sure the next temple event to be announced would be the dedication of the Arequipa Peru Temple. I could still see the Church scheduling that soon, and that could still be set to occur in October or November/

What that means for the remainder of the year may be difficult to determine. Clearly any temple groundbreaking could be announced and held for any day of the week except Sunday, and I hope there will be many of those in the second half of this year. But temple dedications or rededications are much harder to pin down in terms of their timing. I would anticipate at least that the dedication for the Arequipa Peru Temple may be announced soon, and it is possible that the dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple and rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple may round out the end of this year.

I do continue to monitor all temple-related developments and will be sure to pass along word of those as I learn of such things. 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.

Further Adjustments Made to Blog Layout and Comment Form

Hello again, everyone! As some of you may have realized, I have continued to perform minor tweaks to the layout of this blog as I feel a need to do to make the look, feel, appearance, and accesibility of all blog elements the best they can be. I appreciate the patience exhibited by all of you as the process of making such adjustments and tweaks is ongoing. In addition to that, I wanted to note some changes made to the comment form.

Bearing in mind the purposes for which this blog has been established, and balancing the needs I see to maintain a good blog where conversations can take on a deeper quality, I have adjusted the wording to the comment form ro now read as follows:

"In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.

"At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.

"I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.

"And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.

"Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters."

I realize that is rather lengthy for a comment form. Any suggestions any of you have that would better capture my intent but be more brief would be particularly welcome and appreciated. In the meantime, it has saddened me to see my requests to those using the "Anonymous" and "Unknown" monikers has been largely ignored by a majority of those who use such identifications.

The point made by one such individual who commented under one of those generic monikers is well-taken: I should not be treating all comments from those generic names as if they were from the same individual. But I also don't know whether or not I am dealing with the same person unless I have some way to tell. So in order to preserve the etiquette which I hope will prevail among those who are regular readers here, for the foreseeable future, I am mandating the use of any name (whether a pseudonym, nickname, or an actual name) for everyone who comments here.

The mark of someone who is good at leading discussions, which is how I see my role as the author of the blog on which you all comment, is that he acknowledges contributions by the name of those making them. And I cannot do that if I don't know with whom I am dealing. So anyone commenting specifically under the "Anonymous" or "Unknown" monikers needs to let me know who they are. If I can get to know you all better in that way, I am more likely on my end to take offered feedback more seriously.

And I'd rather not have to delete any earnest or sincere comments simply because I don't know who might have made them. So it has sadly become necessary for me to make that mandatory. Barring anything unexpected, that will remain the status quo on this blog for the foreseeable future. So I'd encourage us all to help each other, whereby you all can help me keep this blog more in line with the intents and purposes for which I have established and continue to maintain it. My thanks in advance for your understanding and cooperation in these matters.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreicated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established gudelines. 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.