BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Puebla Mexico Temple Groundbreaking to Be Held in November

Hello again, everyone! I have breaking temple news to report today. According to information shared in another thread of this blog from my Church member contact in Mexico, the groundbreaking for the Puebla Mexico Temple is set to be held in November. This information was confirmed to the Saints in Puebla by their local leaders earlier today. The report did not specific a date, although I imgaine one has been set. I want to be very clear here, however: there has been no offical announcement from the Church at this point to confirm the information, though that should be coming within the next couple of weeks or less.

This means that the Puebla Mexico Temple will be one of the next (if not the very next) to have a groundbreaking following the recently-announced October groundbreaking for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple. And the Peubla Temple will thus become the fourth temple announced in October 2018 to have a groundbreaking. Construction will reportedly take around 3 years to construct, and the temple is anticipated to be fairly large, though not as big as the Mexico City Mexico Temple. This information replaces any previous information I have offered on that temple here.

Again, to clarify, there has been no official confirmation from Church headquarters or on the Mexico Newsroom of the Church as of yet, and this information is subject to such official confirmation. But I wanted to share what is known here thus far, and I am sure that confirmation of the specifics will be provided at some point before General Conference. Stay tuned for more information on that. In the meantime, to reiterate, the Nairobi Kenya Temple has had a construction contract awarded, so I anticipate a groundbreaking being held for that temple either before General Conference or not long after it.

The same may prove true for the Brasilia Brazil Temple, if the Church at any point confirms that the concept designs for the temple which have reportedly been floating around social media are offical.. I am similarly hoping for more information on the Greater Manila Philippines, Harare Zimbabwe, and Bengauluru India Temples, at very minimum, although I wouldn't rule out any other temples, due to the unexpected nature of recently-announced groundbreakings. I continue to monitor all temple updates and official Church news to the best of my ability, and will pass word of such developments along to you all as I receive it.

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.

Tribute to Elder Quentin L. Cook on His 79th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! As mentioned towards the end of my last post, I am back in the early morning hours of September 8 to share some thoughts about Elder Quentin L. Cook in honor of his 79th birthday today. Let's dive right into that subject. Quentin LaMar Cook was born to J. Vernon and Bernice Cook on this day in 1940 in Logan, Utah. He was a middle child, having an older brother and a younger sister. He grew up in a very gospel-centered home, although his father eventually lost interest in Church activity. roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">At age 15, he had a discussion with his brother Joe that changed his life. Joe was unsure whether to continue with his medical school studies, or to delay that in order to serve a mission, with their father favoring the first option. During that conversation, they determined that either the gospel was true or it wasn't, and that if it was, serving a mission would be the best use of Joe's time. Joe’s decision to go resulted in young Quentin eventually accepting his own call to serve in the British Mission. One of his two mission presidents was, Elder Marion D. Hanks, who simultaneously served as a general authority. At one point during his mission, his companion was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Though the two didn't know it at the time, both would go on to serve as General Authorities and as colleagues in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Cook returned from his mission with a strong testimony of the Savior and a resolve to associate with people who love the Savior, both within and outside of the Church. He married his high school sweetheart Mary Gaddie in the Logan Utah Temple on November 30, 1962. Their posterity includes three children and numerous grandchildren. He graduated from Utah State University with a degree in political science and from Stanford University with a juris doctorate degree. As a managing partner in San Francisco Bay area law firm, he specialized in business law. He later became president and chief executive officer of California Healthcare System, and vice chairman of Sutter Health Systems.

His church service has included being a bishop, stake president’s counselor, stake president, regional representative, and area authority. While he was in the stake presidency, he was instilled with a love of people from all nations when he had responsibility for Spanish, Tongan, Samoan, Tagalog, Mandarin, and Cantonese congregations. He was named a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy on April 6, 1996, and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 4, 1998. He served as a member of area presidencies in the Philippines, the Pacific, and North America, and he also served executive director of the Church Missionary Department during the time the Church developed and encouraged the use of the new missionary guidebook "Preach My Gospel".

He was subsequently called to the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1, 2007. Nine days after that, the death of President James E. Faust, who had been serving as Second Counselor to Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, would wind up having an unexpected impact on his life. As the October General Conference rolled around, then-Elder Henry B. Eyring was called as President Hinckley's new Second Counselor, which created a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles/ On October 6, 2007, Elder Cook was sustained to fill that vacancy, and he was ordained an apostle five days later.  Elder Cook has spoken 26 times in General Conference: twice as a General Authority Seventy and  2 dozen additional times in the almost-12 years since his call to the apostleship.

I am grateful for his service as a special witness of Christ, and I wholeheartedly sustain him and the other apostles. 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.

Top Picks from List of Locations Which May Have a Temple Announced During the October 2019 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! Several days ago, I referenced the fact that I was working on thinning out my list of potential locations which could have a temple announced during the upcoming October General Conference to focus on the most likely picks from that list. Something told me to hold off on doing so, and in the interim, my attention was drawn to the video interview with President Nelson and Elder Cook where President Nelson indicated more temples were coming for remote areas of the world.  And based on my belief that 14-16 new temples will be announced, I offered additional thoughts regarding the general parameters I believed would come into play in the temples that will specifically be announced this go-round.

Working off of those parameters, I have thinned down my list as hoped to what I see as the top contenders for the top geographical areas in which I see a temple being announced. So I am posting again now to share that list of refined locations. I would like to reiterate a couple of things before sharing those refined picks. First of all, the following list will not be supplanting the more thorough list of locations I mentioned earlier. Within the last few General Conferences, even if I have had any of the right locations on my list, some of those locations for which temples were announced were not my top prioritized candidates for the corresponding goegraphical areas in which they were announced. So the more extensive list from July will remain my complete list of potential picks for October.

Additionally, since publishing that July list of locations, Mongolia has been transferred from the Asia Area to the Asia North Area of the Church. So that particular change impacted my assessment on the Asia and Asia North Areas in terms of the most likely candidates to get a temple in October. That said, the list follows below. In order to not disturb the flow thereof, I will end here as I always do: 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.

Africa Southeast: Antananarivo Madagascar

Africa West: Freetown Sierra Leone and/or Kumasi Ghana or Monrovia Liberia

Asia: Jakarta Indonesia or Singapore

Asia North: Ulaanbaatar Mongolia

Brazil: Belo Horizonte or Florianopolis Brazil

Caribbean: Kingston Jamaica

Central America: Coban Guatemala

Europe: Edinburgh Scotland or Berlin Germany

Europe East: Vilnius Lithuania

Middle East/Africa North:

North America: Bentonville Arkansas or Missoula Montana

Pacific: Port Moresby Papua New Guinea

Philippines: Tacloban or Bacolod Philippines

South America Northwest: Santa Cruz Bolivia or Iquitos Peru

South America South: Bahia Blanca Argentina

Utah: Herriman or Heber City Utah

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Announced for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! Around an hour ago, the Church's official Newsroom announced that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple will take place on Saturday October 19, and that Elder Craig C. Christensen, the President of the Church's Utah Area, will preside over that ceremony. Based on the artistic rendering for that temple and its' anticipated size, I am estimating that construction may take between 3-4 years to complete. That said, I am hopeful that the Church is setting things in motion so that at least 1 other temple can have a groundbreaking before General Conference occurs one month from today. Time will tell.

In the meantime, you can depend on my reporting on this groundbreaking as such reports are made available, including specifics on the time for it. 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.

Changes Made to the Sequence and Estimates for Temples In a "Groundbreaking Anticipated" Status

Hello again, everyone! On this Labor Day in the United States, I have new information to share on temples for which a groundbreaking is anticipated within the next year or less. I will present that data in the format of my restructured "Groundbreaking anticipated" section of my temple construction progress report. The information, along with the appropriate adjustments too the relevant estimates, largely speaks for itself, but if any of you have any questions for me on my reasoning for these changes, feel free to let me know. Here are those updates:

Groundbreaking anticipated:

181. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; construction contract awarded; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

182. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; property fence installed around temple site; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

Note: On September 1, 2019, I was advised that concept plans for this temple were floating around social media. If those plans are verified, a groundbreaking could occur within this period of time.

183. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

Note: Based on what is and is not known presently about this temple, it seems probable that a groundbreaking for it could be fit in during this window, if all goes well.

184. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; President Nelson visited potential site on April 17, 2018; groundbreaking anticipated in late 2019.

Note: Aside from the information noted above, in mid-November of last year, Elder Andersen visited with Zimbabwe’s Vice President, and indicated to him that the Church was hoping to begin construction on the Harare temple in late 2019. Therefore, barring anything unexpected, it seems more likely than not that a groundbreaking could occur at around this time.

185. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

186. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Preliminary plans submitted to local government on May 7, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

187. Puebla Mexico Temple: Planning and approval phase; site acquired (according to a Church member living in Mexico); awaiting official confirmation; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

188. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

189. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed on May 21, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

190. Layton Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location officially confirmed on July 15, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

191. Richmond Virginia Temple: Artist’s rendering and accompanying photographs released on August 28, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

192. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed;

groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

As always, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to pass along any and all such updates as I become aware of them. 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.

Some Thoughts on President Nelson's Remarkable Statement About the October 2019 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! While we wait for coverage to be provided on the Port-au-Prince Haiti Youth Devotional, I wanted to post my take on the remarkable statement President Nelson made in relation to the October 2019 General Conference. First of all, let's review the statement in question. In an article covering the devotional at which he, his wife, Elder Cook, his wife, and Brazil Area President Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis and his wife, addressed all missionaries serving throughout Brazil (with the broadcast originating from Brasilia and being carried to missionaries serving throughout the nation), the Newsroom quoted President Nelson as saying the following to news media:

“There are exciting things ahead. This work is moving forward at an accelerated pace. I can just hardly wait to bounce out of bed each morning and see what the day will bring. We invite all people to come unto Christ, to become more like Him, to experience the joyous blessings of the Holy Temple and to have eternal life,”  He then went on to say that more temples and other announcements were coming for the October General Conference.

A few takeaways from that statement. In the first two General Conferences in which President Nelson became Church President, he announced quite a few changes. In April 2018, the restructuring of priesthood quorums (with High Priest groups being discontinued at the ward level and the membership thereof being merged into the Elders' Quorum,. and the Stake High Priests' Quorum now comprised of current Stake Presidency members, the current members of the Stake High Council, and current Ward Bishopric members) and the retirement of home and visiting teaching programs in favor of ministering were announced.

In October last year, the Church saw the introduction of the Come Follow Me expanded curriculum (which would implemented a home-centered, Church-supported study program) resulted in the transition from the 3-hour Church block to a consolidated 2-hour Church block, with Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society being held alternately. And throughout 2018, President Nelson announced a whopping 19 new temples, 7 in April and 12 more in October, which was an unprecedented number of temples to be announced within the first year of a new Church President's prophetic administration.

With all that had been heard about President Nelson's ambitious temple-building plans, many people (myself included) went into the April 2019 General Conference convinced that more changes were coming, including President Nelson detailing the extent and timing of his temple-expansion plans in full, and announcing a mass number of new temples to accomplish his intended goal (which, as verified by most of his apostolic colleagues, is apparently a ten-fold increase in the number of temples).

Although 8 more temples were announced, no other major announcements were made, and instead, the transformative announcements were made between the October 2018 and April 2019 General Conferences, and last General Conference instead represented constancy in the midst of great change. the opportunity for the Church to take the proverbial deep breath and focus instead on the important gospel topics which were covered therein.

So that brings us to the upcoming October 2019 General Conference, and President Nelson's remarkable statement about it. What stood out to me most about what he said was that, in addition to more new temples, other announcements would be made. In other words, the term is not singular, but plural. That said, let me go officially on record as stating that, in my personal opinion, I do not see a massive number of new temples being announced, nor do I anticipate that President Nelson will detail the extent and timing of his plans to expand the number of temples tenfold.

To be perfectly transparent, I would be elated if he does explain his plans and announce dozens of new temples in the process. But I know that there were some who were disappointed when only 8 new temples were announced last April, and I certainly wouldn't want to build up hype for a mass number of announcements in that respect, only to have some be disappointed if and when a considerably lesser number of temples are announced. That is why I have advanced the mertis of 14-16 new temples as being a more reasonable estimate.

Depending on what is actually announced, there will need to be some focus on those announcements, rather than just solely having a focus on his temple expansion plans. So what might be ahead for the future, if not a massive change affecting the temple construction program of the Church? Let's look at that next. To begin with, Matthew Martinich, widely respected as an expert on matters relating to the growth of the Church, noted on his blog earlier this afternoon that he was anticipating some type of change in the missionary program to be announced as well, based on the recent release of a new missionary handbook.

He had previously provided extensive analysis regarding the kind of reforms he was specifically anticipating, based on the reports he had received of wide-spread issues with various aspects of that program and those efforts as they currently exist, stand, and are established. I would certainly anticipate that such an announcement will be made, because Matt usually knows what he is talking about when it comes to issues such as that. At the same time, given the pluralization of the term announcements, I am not entirely convinced at this time that only new temples and changes to the missionary program are on the immediate horizon. So what else could be coming down the pike? I have some theories on that. There could potentially be updates on the process and anticipated timing for the publication of the revised and unified editions of the hymnbook and children's songbook.

But given the announcement earlier this year that the Africa Southeast Area would be divided beginning next August, I think it is possible there could be further area changes announced in General Conference. But above and beyond that, it would not shock me at all to see some type of restructuring of the Area Seventies Quorums as presently constituted. Without knowing exactly how the releases of any current Area Seventies may impact the numbers in each of those Quorums, here's what I know in that respect: When the number of North American areas were consolidated effective August 1 of this year, one change was that the Idaho Area was merged into the North America Central Area.

And as a result of that change, all Area Seventies serving in Idaho were subsequently reassigned from the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy to the Sixth Quorum thereof. With that in mind, effective August 1, the area-by-area composition of the Third-Eighth Quorums was as follows: The Third Quorum of the Seventy is comprised of all area seventies serving in the 3 current Africa Areas (Africa Southeast, Africa West, and Middle East/Africa North) and the two Europe Areas (Europe and Europe East). Next August, once the Africa Southeast Area division goes into effect, the Africa Central and Africa South Areas will replace it.\

The current Fourth Quorum is comprised of those serving in the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and South America Northwest Areas. With the North American Areas being consolidated from 10 down to 6, the Firth Quorum is now comprised of those serving in the North America West and Utah Areas, while the Sixth is comprised of those serving in the North America Central, North America Northeast, North America Southeast, and North America Southwest Areas. Those serving in the Brazil and South America South Areas are part of the current Seventh Quorum, while those serving in the Asia, Asia North, Pacific, and Philippines Areas comprise the current Eighth Quorum of the Seventy.

And I also have an area-by-area and Quorum-by-Quorum running total tracked as well. Also effective August 1 of this year, those numbers broke down as follows:

Quorum	Totals within each Area	Quorum Total	Running Total
Third	15+15+16+5+1	52	52
Fourth	6+15+22+21	64	116
Fifth	16+30	46	162
Sixth	17+13+7+18	55	217
Seventh	23+21	44	261
Eighth	9+12+12+13	48	309

According to doctrinal provisions practiced by the Church, once any Seventies Quorum reaches more than 70 members, it should be split. Therefore, without taking into account the releases of any current area seventies, the Fourth Quorum as presently constituted is within 6 members of being at the maximum. And the Third and Sixth Quorums are currently within 18 and 15 members, respectively, of 70.

So I could see the Church either adding a Quorum or adjusting the current parameters of each Quorum to be more geographically convenient, especially since there will be another area added to the current Third Quorum once the Africa Central Area becomes fully operational. Above and beyond these things, I am not sure what exactly to expect going into the October 2019 General Conference.  But with a focus on reducing and simplifying programs and procedures for the Church and the workload of members while enacting measures to more fully unify the entire Church membership on a global scale, anything may be possible.

So my best recommendation as I close out this analysis is that we buckle up, pray in advance that we will be prepared for what is to come in General Conference and that our individual needs may be met and questions answered by what will be said and whatever may be announced. If we are thus prepared for General Conference, we will likewise be able to have the instantaneous assurance from the Spirit that whatever is said or announced is in harmony with the will of the Lord for His Church at this time. And I hope we will be content therewith.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Elder Neil L. Andersen Will Dedicate the Lisbon Portugal Temple

Hello again, everyone! As some of you may know, the last two temples dedicated by the Church were dedicated by apostles with personal ties to them. Elder Dale G. Renlund dedicated the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple in April, and Elder Ulisses Soares dedicated the Fortaleza Brazil Temple 1.5 months later. I had anticipated that personal apostolic connections to an area would determine who dedicated or rededicated other temples this year, and for that reason, I anticipated that either President Eyring, Elder Andersen, or Elder Renlund, any of our three apostles fluent in French, would preside over this weekend's dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple. Since President Eyring and Elder Renlund have each overseen a dedication or rededication, I assumed that Elder Andersen would preside at the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple dedication.

With Elder David A. Bednar set to preside at the youth devotional tiomorrow night, unless a more senior apostle is present at the dedication on Saturday, Elder Bednar will indeed dedicate that temple. And I have learned today why Elder Andersen was not sent to dedicate the Haiti Temple. According to this news release (shared to report the visit of the President of Portugal to the Lisbon Temple), Elder Andersen has been asked to preside over the dedication of that temple. It makes sense, since he is a multilingugal apostle, whom I believe is fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese in addition to his native English and French.

So that would seem to settle both questions: Elder Bednar will indeed be presiding over this weekend's dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple, and two weeks later, Elder Andersen will be presiding over the dedication of the Lisbon Portugal Temple. Then next month, President Ballard will preside at the one-session priviate rededication for the Raleigh North Carolina Temple the week after General Conference. And if President Nelson is rotating temple dedication duties among as many different apostles this year as may be possible, it seems reasonable to maintain a belief that Elder Uchtdorf, our native German apostle, will preside over the three-session public rededication for he Frankfurt Germany Temple one week later.

And if I am correct that the rededications of temples will continue to be done by more senior apostles, then I see two possible options for the rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple on November 3: either President Oaks or Elder Christofferson. I don't yet know what, if anything, that may tell us about who might be most likely to preside over the dedication of the Arequipa Peru Temple, but that may be a question for another time. In the meantime, it appears that the information about the potential time-frame for the groundbreaking of the Richmond Virginia Temple (which, per information from the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site, is likely to occur in mid-to-late 2020) may not be in error, in which case, it could be another year before that temple has a groundbreaking. Time will tell.

I have some additional Church news (and may have temple updates) to report as well, but will save that for the comments section of this post a little later today. In the meantime, 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. 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Artist's Rendering Released for the Richmond Virginia Temple

Hello again, everyone! I have some breaking temple news to share right now. But first, I wanted to apologize to anyone who has made comments on any posts at any point today. I will be sure to address those ASAP, but I spent 6 hours this afternoon stuck in the Salt Lake Valley for a medical appointment, and things have just barely settled down enough for me to now check my blog for the first time today. That said, let's get to the breaking news report. As shared by the News page of the Church of Jesus Christ Temples website and confirmed on the Church's official Newsroom website, the artist's rendering has been released for the Richmond Virginia Temple, along with some interior and exterior renderings of various features for the temple property.

Although a groundbreaking will be announced at a later time, I am reasonably certain that the Richmond temple will be the very next one to have a groundbreaking, barring any unexpected surprises. And based on a quick analysis of the artist's rendering and specifications for the Richmond Temple which were described in the Newsroom release, I imagine a 2-3 year period of construction will be needed for this temple. So if a groundbreaking occurs anytime between early September and mid-October (perhaps just after the October 2019 General Conference), the Richmond Virginia Temple would potentially be completed during early-to-mid 2022.

So that means I will indeed have to rethink my previously-offered thoughts about temples which are announced or for which a groundbreaking is anticipated. If I am correct in my theory that Richmond will be the next one to have a groundbreaking, that will bump the Brasilia Brazil Temple down at least one spot on my "Groundbreaking anticipated" list. I have also, as previously noted, received some new information on other temples which I am in the process of analyzing to determine other changes I may need to make. Stay tuned for more on that.

In the meantime, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I receive it. 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.

Changes Made to Church Magazine Advisers 2019

Hello again, everyone! Over the last several months, the Church has made several subtle changes to the Church magazine advisers. This post will provide a look at how those changes have come about, and what things look like in that respect as of now, along with some additional analysis. So let's get into all of that. Here are the changes that have been made over the last several months, concluding with the assignments effective as of the publication of the September 2019 Ensign.

May 2019:

Editor: Randy D. Funk

Advisers: Brian K. Ashton, Randall K. Bennett, Becky Craven, Sharon Eubank, Cristina B. Franco, Donald L. Hallstrom, Larry S. Kacher, Erich W. Kopischke, Lynn G. Robbins

Advisers for whom a release is likely: Brian K. Ashton (released from the Sunday School General Presidency), Donald L. Hallstrom (will likely be granted emeritus status in October), Erich W. Kopischke (will serve in the Europe Area Presidency beginning in August).\

June 2019:

No change.

July 2019:

Editor: Randy D. Funk

Advisers: Randall K. Bennett, Becky Craven, Sharon Eubank, Cristina B. Franco, Donald L. Hallstrom, Larry S. Kacher, Erich W. Kopischke, Lynn G. Robbins

Released as adviser: Brian K. Ashton

No new advisers called.

August 2019:

No change

September 2019:

Editor: Randy D. Funk

Advisers: Becky Craven, Sharon Eubank, Cristina B. Franco, Walter F. Gonzalez, Larry S. Kacher, Adrian Ochoa, Michael T. Ringwood, Vern P. Stanfill

Released as advisers: Randall K. Bennett, Donald L. Hallstrom, Erich W. Kopischke, Lynn G. Robbins

Called as advisers: Walter F. Gonzalez, Adrian Ochoa, Michael T. Ringwood, Vern P. Stanfill

A few observations about these changes: Apparently, a decision has been made to not have any members of the Young Men or Sunday School General Presidencies assigned to serve as advisers to the Church magazines.  As I anticipated, Elders Hallstrom and Kopischke were released, in view of the reasons I noted under the entry for May. But I was surprised by the releases of Elders Bennett and Robbins from their roles as advisers,. As far as I can tell, neither of them are anywhere close to the time where they would be released and granted emeritus status. 

I do know that Elder Robbins was released from his previous area assignment, as of the first of this month, and that Elder Bennett has retained his area assignment. I also know that, according to information released by the Church, Elder Robbins is serving on the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, and on the Scriptures Committee. Additionally, if the 9 General Authority Seventies who have turned or will soon turn 70 are granted emeritus status in October, then that will leave Elder Robbins as the longest-tenured actively-serving General Authority Seventy (in other words, the most senior who has not been granted emeritus status). I don't know if that has any bearing on this, but I thought it was worth noting. 

Four new advisers for the Church magazines have also been called. Elder Gonzales' assignment to serve as an adviser to the Church magazines makes him the second member of the current Utah Area Presidency to be involved in the publication process for the Church magazines. He started serving as Second Counselor in that Area Presidency earlier this month, following his release as President of the Caribbean Area. The other current Utah Area Presidency member overseeing the Church magazines is Elder Randy D. Funk, the current First Counselor in the Area Presidency, who has been serving as the editor of the Church magazines since October of last year, when the previous editor, Elder Hugo E. Martinez, was given an assignment to serve in the Africa West Area Presidency. 

Meanwhile, Elder Adrian Ochoa takes on the assignment as an adviser to the Church magazines while continuing to serve in the North America Southwest Area Presidency, although he has changed assignments in that Presidency from being the Second Counselor to now serving as the First Counselor thereof. As for Elder Michael T. Ringwood (who, as some of you may be aware, is onee of President Nelson's 9 sons-in-law), he has been serving at Church headquarters since August of 2015. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Self-Reliance Services/PEF Committee, Assistant Executive Director of the Missionary Department, and a member of the Welfare and Self-Reliance Executive Committee.

And Elder Vern P.  Stanfill, who has been serving as Second Counselor in the North America Southeast Area, became the First Counselor in that same Area Presidency earlier this month, in addition to serving in several committee assignments at Church headquarters. Having noted this, at some point, I need to look into what new information might be available on the assignments for all current General Authorities, and perhaps cover that in a new blog post, likely within the next few weeks. But regardless of the reasoning behind the latest changes in the advisers to the Church magazines, I have no doubt that these changes are inspired. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of such developments. 

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.   

BREAKING NEWS: Details Released About Africa Central Area

Hello again, everyone! Around 1.5 hours ago, the Church Growth Blog  shared a report on the details released earlier today specifically about the Africa Central Area. Apparently, this morning, Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, who is on assignment in Johannesburg South Africa, held a meeting for Church employees and volunteers.

According to those details, the headquarters for the Africa Central Area will be based out of Nairobi Kenya, and the following nations will be within the boundaries for the area: Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Seychelles, and Sao Tome and Principe.

So, as a result of this announcement, any nations currently assigned to the Africa Southeast Area which are not listed as part of the Africa Central Area will thus belong to the renamed Africa South Area, which will include: Angola, Ascension, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, Saint Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tristan da Cunha, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In the meantime, many people seem to be surprised that the headquarters for the Africa Central Area will be based out of Kenya instead of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But I myself feel that this is another example of how the Lord's ways and thoughts are higher than the ways and thoughts of man. For that reason, I trust that our prophets, seers, and revelators, and those appointed to assist them in issues such as this, know more about the reasoning behind such decisions than the rest of us do. As a result, I trust the process of deliberation and decision that resulted in this outcome.

I also remain convinced that the most reasonable way to administer the new area would be to have at least one member of the current Africa Southeast Area Presidency become the first president of the new Africa Central Area, since any of those 3 men would be familiar with the nations in the two soon-to-be split areas. That said, as always, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will pass those along through new posts or comments on exisiting 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.