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Thursday, August 8, 2019

Further Blog Tweaks

Hello again, everyone! I have spoken before of some of the difficulties I have encountered optimizing the layout and setup of this blog to achieve the best financial returns from it. Over the last several weeks and months, as time and circumstances have allowed, since I am not an expert on matters of advertising for optimal yield, I have continued to do what research I can on the subject, which has resulted in my making periodic tweaks to the setup of this blog, particularly implementing suggestions I have found online about how to increase such revenue.


I found some information relating to those ongoing efforts earlier today which has led me to tweak the way I use the space I have available for content and for advertising yet again. So I am giving those suggestions a shot in the look and feel of this blog. At the same time, however, I do not want the amount of ad space I am utilizing here to detract from the contnent. My main problem at this time is that I have no training in effect advertising strategies, so experiments and tests that are largely trial-and-error based are the best way I know how to figure out if new strategies are worknig, or if they in any way are failing or detracting from content.

Over the next week or two, as time and circumstances allow me to do so, I will try to analyze how the most recent changes I have attempted here are helping or hurting both my revenue and the look and feel of my blog. Within that time, I am asking that any of you who find anything in the look and feel to detract from otherwise good experiences visiting this blog would please share your honest feedback on the subject.

And admittedly lately, in my experimentation and numerous tests, I have found more errors occurring than success in that respect. I am hoping the latest tweaks I have made will be more successful, but time will tell. I appreciate your patience, consideration, and earnest feedback as this process continues. Hopefully, one of these days,. I will be able to find the most effective methods and keep them in place going forward.

Again, I appreciate your indulgence and patience as I continue this process. In the meantime, I continue to monitor all major Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of it. Within the next 8-12 hours or so, I will have another new post published, this one in tribute to Elder Neil L. Andersen, who will be observing his 68th birthday tomorrow.

That does it for now. 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.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

CORRECTION: Clarification on Angel Moroni Removal in Hong Kong

Hello again, everyone! As a result of the release of details on the renovation for the Hong Kong China Temple yesterday, I know there was some discussion in the comments of my last post, on the reasoning behind the removal. My expressed belief at that time was that the removal would be temporary. But as a result of that discussion, I determined to do some more digging on my end. And that additional research has led to some clarification on what is actually happening there and why. So let's talk about that.

First, some background: As previous temples have been dedicated or rededicated, a common question from media representatives is why, if the Church claims that Jesus Christ is the center of our faith, would the statue of the angel Moroni appear on top of such temples. And within the last year, we have seen President Nelson implementing measures to correct the Church's course and to ensure that the role of the Savior is being properly emphasized. With that background in mind, we have also seen recent examples in temple construction where the angel Moroni statue has not been included in the design of those temples. Such examples include the Paris France, Kinshasa DR Congo, Port-au--Prince Haiti, Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Lima Peru Los Oivos Temples.


The factors I have laid out here provide some context, I hope, into why the Church is moving away from having the angel Moroni statue on some temples. And in addition to the other reasons I outlined in the comments section of my last post, I hope my explanation here has provided further illumination, clarification, and correction on this matter. The angel Moroni statues serve a definitive purpose for the temples on which they still exist, and the fact that such a statue will be used on both the Quito Ecuador and Belem Brazil Temples once they are built indicates that in some cases, the Church will still use the statue. But in other cases, in order to send the right message about the proper central focus of our faith, the angel Moroni statue will have filled its' intended purpose for the period of time it was used, and thus may not continue to be used.

In conclusion, and by way of clarification and correction to what I noted yesterday, it is absolutely true that the angel Moroni removal will be permanent for the Hong Kong China Temple, and there may be more to the reasoning about that decision than what I have outlined here. In the meanwhile, I am sure that in some cases, the angel Moroni will continue to be used. And what this comes down to is that the prophets and apostles in our time have determined that the angel Moroni statue on this temple has served its' purpose, and that its' removal is in harmony with the Lord's will for it. I hope with that, we can all be content. I'd also like to apologize for unintentional misleading any of you based on what I said in the comment threads of yesterday's post. It was not my intention to perpetuate inaccurate or false information, and I am committed to being more careful in the future about ascertaining the facts before I offer an opinion or analysis on such things. In the meantime, I continue to monitor all other Church news and temple developments, and will pass word of such things along to you all ASAP through either new posts or via the comments on existing posts.

That does it for now. 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.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Tribute to Elder Gary E. Stevenson on His 64th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! As we are now just over an hour into August 6, I wanted to go ahead and post a tribute to Elder Gary E. Stevenson, who is marking his 64th birthday today. Let's dive right into that. Gary Evan Stevenson was born in Ogden, Utah in 1955 to Evan and Jean Stevenson. He grew up in the Cache Valley. He served full-time in the Japan Fukuoka Mission, after which he continued his secondary education at Utah State University's Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. During the course of his studies there, he met Lesa Jean Higley, whom he later married in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, and with whom he would raise four sons. He spent his professional career working as the COO of ICON Health & Fitness, and served on both the Marriott School of Management Advisory Council and also the USU Foundation Board.

In the Church, he has served as a bishop and a stake president's counselor. He went on to serve between 2004 and 2007 as the president of the Japan Nagoya Mission. Less than a year after his return, he was among the first general authority seventies called during President Thomas S. Monson's prophetic administration in April 2008. In August of that same year, he was called to serve as First Counselor in the Asia North Area Presidency. The following year, he became the president of that same area, and he served in that assignment until April 2012, at which point, he was released as a General Authority Seventy and sustained as the Church's 14th Presiding Bishop.

In October 2015, with three vacancies in the apostleship due to the deaths of President Boyd K. Packer and Elders L. Tom Perry and Richard G. Scott, Elder Stevenson was unexpectedly summoned to meet with the First Presidency. He related that he felt sure that he was being notified that one of his counselors (Bishops Gerald Causse or Dean M. Davies) were being called to the apostleship. He was stunned when the apostolic call was instead extended to him. He was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 3, 2015, and was ordained an apostle on October 8, then released as Presiding Bishop one day later. Elders Ronald A. Rasband and Dale G. Renlund, whom he sits between, were called to fill the other two apostolic vacancies, and shared the same sustaining and ordination dates. Although he was the youngest of the three at that time, in a somewhat unusual move, he was called, sustained, and ordained as the senior apostle to Elder Renlund, who is just shy of 3 years older than Elder Stevenson is. Typically, when more than one apostle is ordained at the same time, the oldest one is ordained first. But the last time 3 apostles were called simulatenously was in 1906, at which point, the order in which the 3 (George F. Richards, Orson F. Whitney, and David O. McKay) were called differed from their chronological age order (Orson F. Whitney, George F. Richards, and David O. McKay).

At the age of 60, Elder Stevenson was the youngest man called to the apostleship since Elder David A. Bednar (who was 52 at the time of his October 2004 apostolic call). He would retain his status as the youngest currently-serving apostle until the April 2018 call of Elder Ulisses Soares, who was 59 at the time of his call.

With the apostolic calls of Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares in April 2018, Elder Stevenson is now the 9th in seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the 12th in seniority among all current apostles. In terms of his age, he is the second-youngest among both the Quorum of the Twelve and the apostles overall. In his 11 years of service as a general authority, he has given 11 addresses in General Conference (1 as a General Authority Seventy, 2 as Presiding Bishop, and 8 since his call to the apostleship). All of these addresses, covering a wide variety of topics, are well worthy of your time, attention and review.

I gratefully sustain Elder Stevenson as a prophet, seer, and revelator, and appreciate this opportunity to post this tribute to him for his birthday. I similarly greatly admire and sustain each and every one of the other apostles in their God-given roles and responsibilities, and I am grateful to them for giving their time and talents to build up the kingdom of God, and to go wherever they are sent, bearing witness of the Savior at all times and in all circumstances. I share my witness that these men are called of God, and that we will be blessed as we give heed to their words. That does it for now. 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.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Current Apostolic Statistics: Part Two—Updated Ages, Averages & Apostolic Nonagenarians

Hello again, everyone! I am back again now with the second part of this apostolic statistical update, in which we will move on to talk specifics regarding the long-form and decimal ages of our current apostles, which will also include updated information on the average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the 15 apostles as a group, and current and future nonagenarians. So let’s get right into all of that. Again, all data is current as of today (Sunday August 4). There have been no apostolic birthdays since my last update (which was published here on Sunday June 16).

And given the planned timing for my next update (which I will be publishing here on Sunday September 22), a total of five apostles will be observing their birthdays before that update is published. Elder Gary E. Stevenson will celebrate his 64th on Tuesday August 6, followed on Friday August 9 by Elder Neil L. Andersen’s 68th, and President Dallin H. Oaks will mark his 87th birthday on Monday August 12. The remaining two apostles will have back-to-back birthdays in September, with Elder Quentin L. Cook observing his 79th on Sunday September 8, and the 95th birthday of our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson following on Monday September 9. During my planned September 22 update for this information, I will outline the details of the next 3 apostolic birthdays (which will be observed in October and November).

Having noted that, we now move on to some exact figures about the ages and average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and all 15 apostles as a group. In the Church’s leading Quorum, President Nelson is, as noted towards the end of my previous post, 94 years, 10 months, and 26 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 94.90 years. First Counselor President Oaks (whose birthday will be observed 8 days from now) is 86 years, 11 months, and 23 days old, or 86.98 years. President Eyring, as the junior member of the First Presidency, is now 86 years, 2 months, and 4 days old, which is 86.18 in decimal years.

The First Presidency thus now has a combined 268.06 years of life experience, which results in an average age for each man of 89.35 years. President Nelson remains 5.55 years older than that average, with President Oaks closest to it (he is now 2.37 years younger than that average), which means that President Eyring, at 0.8 years younger than President Oaks, is now 3.17 years below it. Unless there is something of which we are not aware in relation to the health of any of these Brethren, they will continue to set new records for the oldest-serving First Presidency in Church history for the foreseeable future.

Next, let’s turn our attention to the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Ballard’s long-form age now sits at 90 years, 9 months, and 27 days, or 90.82 years. Elder Holland now has a long-form age of 78 years, 8 months, and 1 day, with a resulting 78.67 decimal years. Elder Uchtdorf (who is just 4 weeks older than his senior current apostolic seatmate) is now 78 years, 8 months, and 29 days old, which works out to 78.74 years. Elder Bednar has now reached the full age of 67 years, 1 months, and 20 days, which works out to 67.14 decimal years.

Leading off the second third of that Quorum is Elder Cook, who is also the oldest but least senior of the 3 apostles born in 1940. His long-form age is 78 years, 10 months, and 27 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 78.90 years. Elder Christofferson has now reached the age of 74 years, 6 months and 11 days, making his decimal age 74.53 years. Elder Andersen, whose birthday will be observed 5 days from now, is 67 years, 11 months, and 26 days old, and his decimal age is 67.99 years. And, as of today, Elder Rasband is 68 years, 5 months, and 29 days old, or 68.49 decimal years.

As for the final third of the Quorum, Elder Stevenson, who is 4.5 years to the day younger than Elder Rasband and has a birthday now just 2 days away, has a long-form age of 63 years, 11 months, and 29 days, with a decimal age of 63.99 years. Elder Renlund is now 66 years, 8 months, and 22 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 66.72 years. Elder Gong’s long-form age is 65 years, 7 moths, and 12 days old, which works out to 65.61 decimal years. As for Elder Soares, he is now 60 years, 10 months, and 2 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 60.84 years.

Based on those numbers, the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles now have a combined 862.44 years of life experience, which results in an average of 71.87 years per member. Elders Christofferson and Rasband remain respectively above and below that average. Elder Christofferson is now 2.66 years older, while Elder Rasband remains 3.38 years below it. With the information I presented earlier about the First Presidency, the 15 apostles as a group now have a combined 1,130.5 years of life experience, which is an average of 75.37 years. As noted previously, Elder Holland remains 3.3 years older than that average, while Elder Christofferson is 0.84 years younger than that average. Those averages remain the same, but I may have been off by 0.04 decimal points when I last spoke of Elder Christofferson being below that average, for which, if true, I sincerely apologize. 

We now move on to the apostolic nonagenarians. As I mentioned in a previous post, President Nelson has moved up into the 6th spot on that list, passing Ezra Taft Benson in early July, and he will not move up thereon again until late August of next year.  In the meantime, on the final day of July, President Ballard’s lifespan matched that of President Boyd K. Packer, making President Ballard the 14th oldest apostle in Church history. President Ballard will move up two more spots on that list before President Nelson moves up to his next spot. In the meantime, among the other apostles, President Oaks will join the nonagenarian list in 3 years and 8 days, while Elder Soares will do so in 29 years, 1 month, and 28 days, with the other apostles doing so at other various intervals, which will be detailed more fully as they approach.

I hope that many of you found this information to be interesting, informative, and accurate. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in compliance 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.

Current Apostolic Statistics: Part One—Updated Data for President Oaks, President Nelson, and Longest-Serving Apostolic Groups

Hello again, everyone! While I continue to welcome comments on any previous posts (particularly any feedback you have on the revised list of locations in which I have felt a temple could be announced), it is time once again to bring you all updated information on the latest apostolic statistics. This data will again be published in two posts. Again, all data is current as of today (Sunday August 4, 2019). As always, it is my sincere hope that most of you will find this information interesting and enlightening. With that said, I am fully aware that some of you may not be interested in this update. Consequently, I will not in any way be offended or bothered if any of you skip over this post and the next one.


This first post, as has been the case for previous updates, will address President Dallin H. Oaks’ tenure as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, then shift to explore where Church President Russell M. Nelson currently stands in terms of his age and tenure length among his prophetic predecessors. That will be followed by some observations about the tenure lengths of our current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and all currently-living ordained apostles as a group. The more specific data about upcoming apostolic birthdays, the long-form and decimal ages of our 15 current apostles, and details about current and future apostolic nonagenarians will then follow in a second post, which will be published a few minutes after this one is.

My last such update was posted on Sunday June 16, and my next update will be coming on Sunday September 22. There is a lot to get to, so let’s jump right in. President Oaks has now served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for a period of 1 year, 6 months, and 21 days. As I previously mentioned. President Oaks has moved up two spots on the list of the longest-serving Quorum Presidents, where he is now the 22nd longest-serving Quorum President. His next three milestones as such, as I mentioned in my last such update, will be observed consecutively, with one each in November and December 2019, and one more in January 2020. So it won’t be until my planned November 10 update that I will detail more particulars regarding those milestones.

Turning now to President Nelson, who was ordained and set apart as Church President on the same day he set apart President Oaks as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, his prophetic tenure has spanned 1 year, 6 months, and 21 days as well. He is also now 94 years, 10 months, and 26 days old. In my aforementioned post covering July apostolic milestones, I mentioned that President Nelson was set to observe his only prophetic age and tenure milestones two days apart. President Nelson is thus now the 15th longest-serving Church President, and also the 4th oldest-living Church President. He will not be moving up on either list until next summer.

In the meantime, as also noted previously, I have been keeping lists of the longest-continuously serving First Presidencies, Quorums of the Twelve Apostles, and apostolic groups as a whole. Those lists include 13 of each of those groups that have served together for the longest continuous periods of time. The current First Presidency will only be joining the list of other First Presidencies on Saturday April 20, 2024, so I will be outlining their future milestones on that list closer to the time.  As for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the current members will mark 3 years together on March 31, 2021, at which point they will join the list of the longest-serving Quorums of the Twelve Apostles in Church history. I will likewise be providing updates on those future milestones closer to that time. 

Interestingly enough, less than two months prior to that, the 15 apostles will make the list of the longest-serving such group (the exact date is February 8, 2021). With that said, I want to conclude this portion of the update. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in compliance 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.