BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Elder Christofferson to Rededicate the Asuncion Paraguay Temple; Site Acquired for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple

Hello again, everyone! Two items of breaking temple news have been shared in two separate reports today. First, and most importantly, this article states point-blank that Elder D. Todd Christofferson will be representing the First Presidency in presiding over the one-session private rededicaton for the Asuncion Paraguay Temple, which is set to occur on November 3. The rededication will occur at 10:00 AM Asuncion time, which is 7:00 AM here in Utah. As some of you may recall, I had conjectured that President Oaks could rededicate that temple, and that Elder Christofferson might thus dedicate the Arequipa Peru Temple in December.
But in so conjecturing, I had forgotten somehow that President Oaks presided at the mid-June rededication of the Oakland California Temple. So it makes sense Elder Christofferson will rededicate that temple. WIth that said, I would like to thank long-time reader and regular comment contributor ScottS for bringing this information to my attention. And I am grateful that my theory has been verified (that Elder Christofferson would be the most junior current apostle to be tasked with presiding over a temple rededication). November will certainly be a busy month for Elder Christofferson, who will, as was also recently announced, accompany President Nelson on his Southeast Asia leg of his ongoing Global Ministry Tour.

As ScottS observed in his comment in the threads of my previous post, that leaves Elders Rasband, Stevenson, and Gong as the only apostles left who have not yet presided at a temple event this year. It is my feeling that the Church might send one of the apostles who speak Spanish to dedicate the Arequipa Peru Temple, but unless one of the remaining three speak fluent Spanish (about which I am honestly not sure), I don't know who might be asked to preside at the dedication of that temple. But i will say this: Since both Elders Stevenson and Gong have strong connections to Japan, it is my feeling that either or both of them could very well accompany the more senior apostle who may be sent to rededicate the Tokyo Japan Temple when that occurs in mid-2020.

If this were the only temple news I had to share, it would be significant enough. but the Church News also published this article, which described how several of the female general officers of the Church visited Central America just before General Conference. Amidst the many quotes from the visiting leaders in that article, Geeneral Relief Society President Sister Jean B. Bingham made the following statement: "The members in Honduras and Guatemala treasure their temples. We drove by the beautiful lot identified for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple . . . visited the grounds of the magnificent illuminated Quetzaltenango temple one evening, and heard the sisters bear testimony of the uplifting, peace-giving influence of being within the temple."

Sister Bingham's statement appears to indicate that the site for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple has been acquired. While I didn't see anything publicly verifying the site location by way of either a photo or a futher description, it is interesting that the Church has already acquired such a site, and that it appears that, wherever it might be, that will almost certainly be the actual location for the temple. We will have to wait for the official Church confirmaton about that, but I did find the information interesting, and hope all of you will as well. In the meantime, I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments, and will be sure to pass word of such things along to you all 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.

Presiding Bishopric Releases Updated Saftey Guidelines

Hello again, everyone! Earlier today, the Newsroom reported that updated safety guidelines for the entire Church had been released by the Presiding Bishopric. Although a few of the general guidelines are identical for the entire global Church, there are other recommendations that are specific to Church leaders and units in North America and others specific to all international areas in which the Church is established. That is likely because the mergency protocols are different in the United States and Canada than they are anywhere else. And that may well be a product of the increasingly-unique nature of the ever-diverse membership of the Church.


I have a couple other thoughts about this. First of all, it appears to be a prduct of the times in which we live that updated safety protocols, recommendations, and instructions are needed. Secondly, and mucch more importantly, this is yet another in the series of examples we have seen  of the Church moving with, adapting to, and accounting for the times in which we live which  occurred quite frequently in the months that have elapsed since mid-January 2018 when President Nelson became the Lord's prophet.

My wife and I were discussing that very subject earlier this afternoon. The reason for why everything has accelerated for the Church in the 21 months since President Nelson became Church president is due  in large measure to a couple of things. First, President Nelson's prestigious career as a thoracic heart surgeon helped hone his attention to minute details, to zero in on problems that exist, and to precisely apply remedial measures to amelioriate those issues. As a consequence, President Nelson does, has, can and will continue to get to the heart (pun intended) of matters which are rightly of concern to Church leaders in our day and time.
Above and beyond that, however, Sister Wendy Nelson, who has played a vital role in accompanying her husband in his ongoing global ministry to Church members and friends of other faiths, in observing and being able to testify regarding how President Nelson continues to receive revelation. And, as she also has observed frequently, including in during a media interview in Chile, "I have seen him changing in the last ten months. It is as though he's been unleashed. He's free to finally do what he came to earth to do. … And also, he's free to follow through with things he's been concerned about but could never do. Now that he's president of [the Church], he can do those things.”

I have read some coverage of Sister Nelson's statement that implied her words were proof that her husband was just changing things at the drop of a hat simply because he can. But for those of us that accept the president of the Church as the Lord's prophet for our day and time, there is so much more to it than that. The doctrines of our faith teach that the current President of the Church is the only one authorized to speak for the Lord to the Church and the world. With that being the case, before January 2018, if President Nelson had felt strongly about something that needed to be done in or for the Church, he could not in good conscience even suggest some of those things without feeling like he was stepping out of bounds or attempting to go beyond the authority of his own personal stewardship at the time.

In other words, if he felt strongly about certain things that may not have been mentioned in deliberations of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, there might have been times where he felt like he would be overstepping if he mentioned those issues, since it was the stewardship of someone else at the time to receive revelation for the entire Church. But upon his ordination as Church President, it would absolutely be within his new stewardship to be concerned about those things, to take them to the Lord, to ascertain His will regarding them, and to present it to his Brethren of the FIrst Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

I can understand that in a way. While I am sure that many of those types of impressions may have been of a nature that he didn't necessarily need to be worried about being out of line by mentioning them for consideration, I can also see why he would have preferred to be cautious in that respect. And now, if the Lord inspires him to act on or present certain tihngs for discussion or deliberation, his calling as the one person now authorized to speak for the Lord enables him to act on those things without reservation or hesitation.

I apologize for my lengthy commentary in this regard. My hope and desire in noting these things was to underscore what a blessing it is to have a prophet who recognizes that, as matters facing a world that is drawing ever closer to its' end get more complex, there will be so much more that the Church needs to do to help and assist the global population in general and the membership of the worldwide Church in particular, and that there is much that needs to be more flexible and far less rigid in terms of Church programs, policies, and procedures. And there has also been an added emphasis on unifying Church curriculum, music, and so much more. What a blessing it is to live in a time where so many wonderful developments are occurring in the Lord's Church, even as the conditions of the world in general become more dangerous, troublesome, and wicked.

Having noted all of this, I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to bring you, my readers, word of all such developments 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.

UPDATED: Number of General Conference Talks Given By Our Current Apostles

Hello again, everyone! As per my semiannual tradition, I have updated the relevant total numbers of talks given by each of our currently-living apostles, and consequently, the total number of talks given by the 15 current apostles as a group. This post will share that information, which is as follows:

Number of General Conference talks given by our current apostles 

President Henry B. Eyring—101=96+5 given prior to his apostolic call

President Russell M. Nelson—89

President Dallin H. Oaks—79=78+1 given prior to his apostolic call 

President M. Russell Ballard—78=71+7 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf—71=69+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland—54=51+3 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder David A. Bednar—31

Elder D. Todd Christofferson—30=24+6 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Quentin L. Cook—27=25+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Neil L. Andersen—27=22+5 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Ronald A. Rasband—15=9+6 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Gary E. Stevenson—12=9+3 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Dale G. Renlund—11=9+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Ulisses Soares—9=4+5 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Gerrit W. Gong—6=4+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Total: 640=591+49 given prior to their apostolic calls

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: Release of the Transcripts for Addresses Given During the October 2019 General Conference Includes a Significant Change

Hello again, everyone! In yet another couple of unexpected developments, the Church has made available the transcripts for the addresses given during the October 2019 General Conference, and a slight change has been implemented to one of the only consistently common items which occurs in every General Conference. I am referring to the common consent practice whereby the leaders of the Church have been presented for sustaining vote. For the last 150 years at least, the process of presenting names for sustaining vote has been entitled "The Sustaining of Church Officers", with other titles tacked onto that common name when applicable.

But as Church President Russell M. Nelson initially announced (and as Elder Cook subsequently expounded upon), those serving in what had been colloquially termed "auxiliaries" will, as part of the other changes, now be called "officers" at both the general and local level. As a result of that, that part of General Conference which had, up through April of this year, been called "The Sustaining of Church Officers" will now be known by the more fitting title of "Sustaining of General Authorities, Area Seventies, and General Officers of the Church".

As I began composing this blog post detailing this change, there had been a problem with accessing the transcript of that process. But it appears to be fixed now. That said, I think we would all be well advised to take time to review those transcripts frequently during the next 4-6 weeks until we have our physical copies of the November 2019 Ensign, and even more so after we receive those copies thereof. I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all here 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.

President M. Russell Ballard Observes His 91st Birthday

Hello again, everyone! After the report of two breaking Church news developments earlier today, I wanted to post now a tribute to President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is observing his 91st birthday today. Among the total of 19 nonagenarian, President M. Russell Ballard currently ranks 14th, and he will next move up on that list in March of next year. That said, let's get to some biographical details.

Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. was born in Salt Lake City Utah to Melvin Russell Sr. & Geraldine Smith Ballard, on this day in 1928. Both his paternal & maternal grandfathers (Melvin J. Ballard & Hyrum M. Smith) were apostles, and Elder Ballard is thus a direct descendant of the early leaders of the Church (Hyrum M. was the son of Joseph F., who was the son of Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith).

As I previously mentioned, the Church has, by tradition, had at least one apostle currently serving who has ancestral ties to the Smith family. It is further interesting to note that Bruce R. McConkie, who was the last apostle indirectly related to the Smith family (being the son-in-law of Joseph Fielding Smith, who was the son of Joseph F. who was the son of Hyrum, who was the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith), was the apostle whose death resulted in the apostolic vacancy that necessitated Elder Ballard's call.

He served as a missionary in England, as has been noted in previous blog posts. Upon his return, he served in the US Army Reserves, where he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. As a result of obtaining his secondary education from the University of Utah, he met a young lady named Barbara Bowen, whom he married on August 8, 1951 in the Salt Lake Temple. As I reported last year, she died on October 1, 2018, and was laid to rest one year ago today.

They became the parents of 7 children, and one of their daughters, Brynn, married Peter Huntsman, whose mother, Karen Haight Huntsman, is the daughter of Elder David B. Haight, one of Elder Ballard's apostolic colleagues. It is interesting to see that additional relationship Elder Ballard has to other LDS apostles. Brother Ballard worked professionally in auto sales. His Church service included serving as a counselor to his mission president, as a bishop twice, and as president of the Canada Toronto Mission. He completed the final year of that assignment as a General Authority Seventy, having received that call in April 1976.

Less than four years later, on February 20, 1980, he was called to the Presidency of the Seventy. Both before and as a result of that assignment, he swrved in a wide variety of capacities. Particularly, the Church had established an International Mission in the late 1970s, and in 1985 then-Elder M. Russsell Ballard ws called to serve as president of that mission, overseeing the isolated congregations within it from Church headquarters. During his roughly 5 years and 7 months or so in the Presidency of the Seventy, he had moved up in that Presidency from being the junior member thereof to the third most senior member.

In the October 1985 General Conference, as a result of the death of Elder Bruce R. McConkie a couple of weeks after giving his powerful final testimony, M. Russell Ballard was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Now-President Ballard is known and respected for the emphasis he has placed on missionary work in his apostolic ministry. Since October 1985, he has moved from the position of the junior apostle to now being the third in apostolic seniority. In his 43 years as a general authority (which has seen his apostolic ministry span exactly 34 years this month), he has given 78 addresses in General Conference (all but 7 of which he gave prior to his apostolic call), which includes the one he gave during this last General Conference, for which the transcript will be available later this week). All of these addresses are well worthy of review.

And, as we know, the death of President Thomas S. Monson on January 2 of last year resulted in the First Presidency being reorganized on January 14, with President Russell M. Nelson choosing his apostolic seatmate and the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Dallin H. Oaks, as his First Counselor. Consequently, President M. Russell Ballard was set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve. He thus is tasked, with the approval of the First Presidency, with giving the other 11 members of that Quorum their various assignments around the world and at Church headquarters.  I am grateful for the life and apostolic ministry of President M. Russell Ballard, and on this, his 91st birthday, testify of the divine inspiration that attended both his apostolic call and the way and timing by which he has moved up in ranks of apostolic seniority and among all apostolic nonagenarians.

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.