1800th Blog Post: Updated Sections of Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to now bring you my 1800th post on this blog. When I began blogging in early July 2014, my initial reason for doing so was to allow family members and friends to keep up on the major events in the lives of my wife and myself. Very shortly thereafter, I realized this blog could become something more: a perfect outlet for me to share my lifelong interest in Church history, and some insights into topics of particular interest to me. When I changed the direction of this blog to that focus, I found that my analysis filled a very important niche.

And looking back now on the beginnings of this blog, I can hardly believe what it has become, or the interest that my thoughts, observations, and analysis about developments covered on this blog has wound up generating. So, as I author this 1800th blog post now, I felt I would be remiss if I did not take an opportunity to thank all of you who read and those who comment on the things I continue to report here. I hope you all know how much your readership and dialogue about those subjects has meant to me. It is at once humbling and very gratifying to know that my thoughts and observations, such as they are, generate such wide-spread interest.

Reaching this milestone is also a reminder of how much I owe to the accelerated pace of the Church under President Nelson's remarkable and inspired leadership. If it were not for the increased number of developments which have occurred within the last 21 months, there is no way I would be marking this milestone at this time. And so, I also renew my commitment to continuing, to the best of my ability, to stay on top of all such developments. I have no doubt there will be much more ahead to report, and if things continued at an accelerated pace, then the number of reports needed to cover things will likewise increase greatly in the coming months and years.

Now, on to the intended subject for this blog post: Quite a bit earlier than I had supposed, I have completed the revision process for the "Groundbreaking anticipated" and "Announced temples" sections of my temple construction progress report. I have completely restructured those by weighing what I know about each temple against what is unknown. That meant rearranging quite a bit of the content. The changes speak for themselves, but if any of you have questions on either section, feel free to ask. The two sections (with the relevant changes) follow below.

In order to not disturb the flow of that information, 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.

Groundbreaking anticipated:
183. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; construction contract awarded; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019.

184. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; property fence installed around temple site; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019.
Note: On September 1, 2019, I was advised that the concept plans for this temple were floating around social media. If those plans are verified, a groundbreaking could occur within this period of time.
185. 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.
186. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.
187. Feather River California Temple: Planning and approval phase; official rendering released and site location announced on September 26, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.
188. Layton Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; official exterior rendering released on October 8, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.
189. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020. 
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.
190. Tooele Valley Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location officially confirmed on September 25, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.
191. San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple: Planning and approval phase; site acquired (location not yet officially confirmed); groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.
192 Managua Nicaragua Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020. 
193. Richmond Virginia Temple: Artist’s rendering and accompanying photographs released on August 28, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.
194. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed on May 21, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2020.

Note on announced temples: During 2019, I had reasons to repeatedly reevaluate the information I had available, and made further adjustments to this section following the completion of the revision process for the “Groundbreaking anticipated” section. I have felt that more information is needed on each of these temples before I offer any kind of estimate for their groundbreaking ceremonies. But as such information is made available, I will be sure to make further alterations to this section as needed.

Announced Temples (for which more information is needed before I provide a groundbreaking estimate):
195. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.
196. Moses Lake Washington Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.
197. Bentonville Arkansas Temple: Announced Saturday October 5, 2019; planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.
198. Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple:: Announced Saturday October 5, 2019; planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.
199. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified.
200. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified.
201. Salvador Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified.
202. Antofagasta Chile Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified.
203. Washington County Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site) announcement.
204. Lagos Nigeria Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
205. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
206. Davao Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
207. Pago Pago American Samoa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
208. Okinawa City Okinawa (Japan) Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
209. Neiafu Tonga Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
210. Budapest Hungary Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
211. Freetown Sierra Leone Temple: Announced Saturday October 5, 2019; planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
212. Orem Utah Temple: Announced Saturday October 5, 2019; planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
213. Bacolod Philippines Temple: Announced Saturday October 5, 2019; planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
214. McAllen Texas Temple: Announced Saturday October 5, 2019; planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
215. Coban Guatemala Temple: Announced Saturday October 5, 2019; planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
216. Taylorsville Utah Temple: Announced Saturday October 5, 2019; planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
217. Russia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site) announcement.

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.

BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson to Minister in Southeast Asia; Rendering Released for the Layton Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! At the top of this breaking news post, I'd be remiss if I did not first take just a brief moment to thank you all for your continued interest, ongoing support, and regular comments. Some of you may have commented earlier today to report the breaking news I will now share, and I will be addressing any comments ASAP this afternoon. In the meantime, let me now share the two breaking news developments reported by the Church today.


First of all, President Nelson is not letting the proverbial grass grow under his feet following the recent historic General Conference weekend. He has made plans for a third 2019 ministry tour as an ongoing effort to enable as many Church members as possible to have the opportunity to see a prophet, and to better acquaint himself with the issues worldwide members are facing. He, accompanied by his wife, Wendy W. Nelson, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Katherine, will travel to Southeast Asia, making four stops in a seven-day period.

The Church leaders will depart from Salt Lake on Friday November 15, returning to Salt Lake on Friday November 22, 6 days before Thanksgiving here in the United States. The first stops will last two days, and see the leaders in Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam. They will stop in Phnom Pehn Cambodia the following day, and I would be shocked if they do not spend part of the time looking at prospective locations for the Phnom Pehn Cambodia Temple, although a potential site has already been identified. The following day, the leaders will travel to Singapore, ending the tour with the last stop in Jakarta Indonesia the following day. So perhaps part of the time may be spent scoping out any of these cities for readiness for a temple of their own.

President Nelson becomes the first Church president to visit these regions of Southeast Asia since President Gordon B. Hinckley visited Vietnam and Cambodia in 1996, and Singapore and Indonesia in 2000. The Newsroom release also notes that the leaders will speak at member meetings to Latter-day Saints and friends of otther faiths, and that they will also pay courtesy calls to government and religious leaders. So stay tuned here for more coverage on that tour as it occurs.

If that were the only breaking news, it would be reason enough to rejoice, but the Church also released earlier today an official exterior rendering for the Layton Utah Temple, as they continue to work with the Layton city government on final approvals for that temple. No groundbreaking date has been announced as of yet, but until further notice, I stand by the estimate I have previously offered. If I am correct in assuming that all temples for which news was reported within the last month or so will have a groundbreaking by this time next year, in addition to the other temples for which I am anxiously awaiting news, then within the next year, we could easily see a minimum of 12 temples have a groundbreaking within that time.

But I anticipate that we may see more temple groundbreakings than that. Although he has not be too specific about the extent or timing of his plans, it is obvious that President Nelson loves temples and wants to bring them to the people so they can experience the blessings thereof. Therefore, in the coming days, weeks, and months, I anticipate many more temple-related announcements, some of which may currently be on nobody's radar, including and especially my own. I will watch for word of all such developments and will bring word of it all to you here as I become aware of it.

Another couple of notes not related to the breaking news developmnts I have reported here. The Newsroom also reported today that the president of the Pacific Islands nation of Kiribati visited Church headquarters today, meeting with the First Presidency and other Church leaders. Additionally, with today being Tuesday October 8, Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is celebrating his 91st birthday today. I will be posting a birthday tribute to him on this blog later this afternoon or evening, just as soon as I catch my breath from the whirlwind influx of Church news that was seen today. Again, I have to echo Elder Holland's statement from the April 2018 General Conference. "What a prophet [we have in President Nelson]!"

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.

Possible Table of Contents for the November 2019 Ensign

Hello again, everyone! As many of you may be aware, the Church News has a time-honored tradition of publishing summaries of each General Conference talk ASAP after they are given. Those summaries include tentative titles for each address which, if later corrected when the actual transcripts are made available a few days following each General Conference, are not too far off from the actual titles of those addresses. As a result of the publication of those summaries online, and due to the fact that the video version of each talk is now available online, I have taken the liberty, based on the length of each such address and the aforementioned tentative titles for each talk, to put together an early draft of what the table of contents for the November 2019 Ensign may wind up looking like.

How I crafted these estimates was approximately estimating that every four minutes of any given address would be the equivalent of roughly one page of content inj the Ensign. Based on the resulting estimates, I have been able to configure what I hope wind up being slightly more accurate page estimates than I have offered in the possible table of content for previous General Conference editions of the Ensign.

It is also worth mentioning that for most of these addresses, the estimates resulted in an average 3 pages for each talk. And I anticipate that, due to the fact that this latest General Conference saw quite a few more developments before and during that weekend, I am fully anticipating that the General Conference Ensign this go-round will feature 144 pages of content. With that introduction out of the way, the mock-up of the potential table of contents follows below.

In order to not disturb the flow of that information, 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.

Possible Table of Contents for the November 2019 Ensign (Text in parentheses denotes a correction.)

Session	Page	Title	Speaker
	2	Conference Summary for the 189th Semiannual General Conference
	4	Highlights from the 189th Semiannual General Conference
SAM	6	The Message, the Meaning, and the Multitude	Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
	10	True Disciples of the Savior	Elder Terence M. Vinson
	13	Be Faithful, Not Faithless	Stephen W. Owen
	16	The Joy of the Saints	Elder D. Todd Christofferson
	20	Spiritual Capacity	Michelle D. Craig
	23	Unwavering Commitment to Jesus Christ	Elder Dale G. Renlund
	26	Trust in the Lord	President Dallin H. Oaks
SAA	30	The Sustaining of Church Officers	President Henry B. Eyring
	32	Watchful Unto Prayer Continually	Elder David A. Bednar
	36	Found Through the Power of the Book of Mormon	Elder Ruben V. Alliaud
	38	Witnesses, Aaronic Priesthood, and Young Women Classes	President Russell M. Nelson
	39	Adjustments to Strengthen Children and Youth	Elder Quentin L. Cook
	43	Come Follow Me---the Lord’s Counter-Strategy and Proactive Plan	Mark L. Pace
	45	Consistent and Resilient Trust	Elder L. Todd Budge
	48	After the Trial of Our Faith	Elder Jorge M. Alvarado
	50	Standing by Our Promises and Covenants	Elder Ronald A. Rasband
GW	54	Thru Cloud and Sunshine, Lord, Abide with Me!	Silvia H. Allred
	57	Honoring His Name	Lisa L. Harkness
	59	Beloved Daughters	Bonnie H. Cordon
	62	Covenant Women in Partnership with God	President Henry B. Eyring
	65	Two Great Commandments	President Dallin H. Oaks
	68	Spiritual Treasures	President Russell M. Nelson
SUM	77	Covenant Belonging	Elder Gerrit W. Gong
	81	Finding Joy in Sharing the Gospel	Cristina B. Franco
	84	Your Great Adventure	Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
	88	The Savior’s Truth	Elder Walter F. Gonzalez
	91	Deceive Me Not	Elder Gary E. Stevenson
	95	The Second Great Commandment	President Russell M. Nelson
SUA	100	Holiness and the Plan of Happiness	President Henry B. Eyring
	104	Loving and Growing	Elder Hans T. Boom
	106	Giving Our Spirit Control Over Our Bodies	President M. Russell Ballard
	110	Power to Overcome the Adversary	Elder Peter M. Johnson
	113	Take Up Our Cross	Elder Ulisses Soares
	117	Fruit	Elder Neil L. Andersen
	121	Closing Remarks	President Russell M. Nelson
	72	List of General Authorities and General Officers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
	125	Conference Story Index
	127	News of the Church
	135	Come Follow Me--For Priesthood and Relief Society
	144	Last page of Conference Ensign