Some Thoughts on the Developments of the Day (Including and Especially the Children and Youth Face-to-Face Event)

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to take an opportunity now to share my thoughts and analysis on Church news and events that were reported today. Before I do so, I wanted to note something in relation to the reports on this blog. As I have made mention in prior comments here recently, within the last 6 weeks, I have been dealing with horrific migraines, which at times have been the most intense and severe that I have experienced within the last decade or so. As a consequence of dealing with that, I have been more exhausted, stressed out, and in pain, and far less mentally clear than I usually am, which has made me less capable of keeping up the previous status quo of normal reports on this blog. That is why I have confined my reports on all non-breaking news developments and updates to the comments sections of recent blog post, and is also why the published posts have been more sporadic within that time. On the rare occasions where I have had sufficient capacities to do so within that time, I have prepared advanced copies of normally-scheduled content, such as apostolic birthday tributes and the most-recent apostolic milestone update. And by so doing, when I have a bad day, or a string of bad days, which has happened more frequently of late, I can focus on providing less-crucical updates through the comments as time and circumstances allow. In the meantime, having continued to work with a capable group of doctors and specialists, I have been prescribed treatment for the migraines and for other issues I am dealing with, and hopefully, I am on the mend from all of it.

But while efforts to resolve these issues are ongoing, I request your patience with me as I continue to go through this process. Within the next few weeks, hopefully I will be mended enough to resume normal reports on a regular basis. But until that time, of necessity, I must request your continued understanding and patience. Thanks in advance for your cooperation and understanding regarding this matter. With that said, let's get to the purpose of this newest post. Regarding my thoughts about the events of the day, first of all, as I reported in this comment earlier today, two members of the First Presidency and a total of 7 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (including those accompanying the two First Presidency members) were scattered throughout the United States and other parts of the world.

In reference to that earlier comment, with Elder Bednar in Africa, it is unclear whether he was in the Africa Southeast or Africa West Areas, or whether there was some overlap. But part of me wondered if he was perhaps sent to assess how soon Nairobi Kenya and Harare Zimbabwe might be ready to have their temple groundbreakings And if that was the case, I could see one or both of those two having that occur next month, before the end of this year. Next, of course, Elder Cook rededicated the Baton Rougue Lousiana Temple this morning.

Meanwhile, President Nelson made his first visit to Vietnam, accompanied by Sister Nelson and Elder and Sister Christofferson. Having stopped in Hanoi, the leaders now move to Ho Chi Minh City, also in Vietnam, where it is currently just past 1:00 PM on Monday afternoon. If the devotional in that city is held between 5:00-7:00 PM local time, then we could see reports on those within the next 4-8 hours or thereabouts. It will likely be around 12-14 hours before I am able to pass a report on that stop along to you all.

And also today, we had the largest global Face-to-Face event held, during which Elder Gong, accompanied by Brother Owen and Sisters Cordon and Jones, fielded a variety of FAQs about the ne Children and Youth Initiative, which will go into effect on January 1, 2020. During the October 2019 General Conference, Elder Cook and Sister Cordon, having been assigned to do so by President Nelson, outlined changes to Aaronic Priesthod Quorums and young women groups, while Brother Owen had announced a minor adjustment to the "Come Follow Me" curriculum for Youth. As part of Sister Cordon's remarks, she had introduced a new Young Women theme, which will be recited twice a month as young women meet.

Tonight, as part of the Face-to-Face event, Brother Owen, again with the approval of President Nelson and upon invitation from Elder Gong, introduced a  new Young Men theme, which will also be recited twice a month as Aaronic Priesthood Quorums meet together. Further, as explained by Elder Gong, Brother Owen, and Sisters Jones and Cordon, there are solid reasons why the new initiative is formulated the way it has been: individuals, families, Primary-aged groups (which can meet as separate male and female groups or co-ed groups divided by age as determined by local leaders), Aaronic Priesthood Quorums, Young Women groups, and the combined youth groups (as scheduled) can determine, with the approval of the Lord and their local leaders, how best to formulate activities that will enable them to grow phsysically, spiritually, intellectually, and socially.

This will be a concentrated effort that continues to be home-centered and Church-supported, and focuses on how the individual children and youth and their families and relevant Church gropus can be guided by the Spirit in best determining how to achieve that kind of growth. And the process will be another extension of the Church's efforts to unify programs and practices on a Church-wide basis. Children age 4 years will continue to receive a CTR ring as they enter Primary. At 8 years of age, they will receive a new ring that will turn their focus towards the temple. Young men will receive rings and the young women a necklace to encourage them to remember the goals of their programs. As a young man prepares to turn 18 and receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, the bishopric will now provide him with a vial in which he can hold and carry the consecrated oil he will use in giving priesthood blessings.

And the specifics provided this evening were laid out and expanded on in a logical way that highlighted the reasoning this new approach was being implemented, and how it can support Church curriculum and help individuals to grow the way the Lord wants them to, while also serving to unify families, age-groups, congregations, and the Church as a whole. Based on what was described in that meeting, I echo the sentiment offered by President Ballard in the meeting introducing this initiative in late September: Although I am grateful for the programs and guidelines that were in place when I was 8-18, I am very envious of the opportunity children and youth on a Church-wide basis will have to embrace this new program, and the challenges and blessings that will come from participating therein.

The program itself is a continued effort to emphasize the importance of personal, group, congregational, and Church-wide revelation, which is something President Nelson has urged from the very start of his prophetic administration, and is further evidence and an additional witness of the inspiration that attends the decisions made by apostles that will affect the global Church in a time where the circumstances of the world are becoming increasingly more complex and dangerous. As President Nelson observed during that address, "In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost."

And if any of you reading this have not had experiences with receiving personal revelation, the guidance of the Lord as found here and here are a helpful start, as would be a careful review of the aforementioned first address to general Church membership by President Nelson as Church President. The Lord is anxious to speak to us and distill His knowledge, inspiration, and direction upon us. In fact, as I watched that broadcast (which I did a few hours after it originally aired), I felt the Spirit whispering some very personal things to me about what I needed to do in my own life as a result of what was said there.

As the leaders also noted, all of us have days when we may fall short of what we want to do and what we want to become. The key in all such cases is to allow ourselves to not get discouraged about any personal failures we may encounter in our day-to-day lives, and to try our best to get back on track the next day in every way that we can. It will be our persistent efforts to try, be, and do each day that will, in the end, count for or against us. My hope is that we may continue to do that. The Lord will hep us in those endeavors, For my part, I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates and will endeavor to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of them, either through  comments on existing posts or (in terms of major developments) through brand new posts here.

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.

Elder Dale G. Renlund Celebrates His 67th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back with a post in tribute of Elder Dale G. Renlund, who, as noted, is marking his 67th birthday today. Let's get right into all of that. Elder Dale Gunnar Renlund was born to Mats Ake and Marianna Andersson, in Salt Lake City, Utah, on this day in 1952. His parents had emigrated from Finland (Mats) and Sweden (Marianna) respectively in order to be married in the temple. In view of that, Elder Renlund grew up primarily speaking Swedish. The fact that he did not speak English as a primary language gives him a certain degree of international appeal. In his teenage years, Elder Renlund lived with his family in Sweden while his father was a building missionary. Several years later, Elder Renlud returned to Sweden, this time as a full-time missionary. Following his missionary service, Elder Renlund continued his scholastic endeavors at the University of Utah, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and his M. D. Approximately 3 or 4 years after he concluded his missionary service, he met and married his eternal companion, Ruth Lybbert, who was the daughter of another General Authority Seventy, Merlin R. Lybbert. Elder Renlund went on to do a three-year cardiology residency and a three-year fellowship in cardiology, both at Johns Hopkins University, and served as a bishop while he did so.

During that very same period of time, his wife was earning her law degree, and Ruth also gave birth to their only child, a daughter, Ashley. At some point in 1986, Elder Renlund became a professor at the University of Utah. From 1991 to the time of his call as a General Authority Seventy in 2009, he served as the medical director of the Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospitals Cardiac Transplant Program. In 2000, he was also appointed the director of the Heart Failure Prevention and Treatment Program at Intermountain Health Center headquartered in Salt Lake, while his wife was working as a law partner in the firm of Dewsnup, King and Olsen.

In the Church, in addition to serving as a bishop, Elder Renlund also served locally as ward Sunday School president, high councilman, and as a stake president. From 2000 to 2009, Elder Renlund served as an area seventy. He became a general authority seventy in April 2009, at the same conference in which Elder Neil L. Andersen was sustained as an apostle. The August after his call, Elder Renlund began serving in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency, which was headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. He concluded that service by as the area president from 2011 to 2014.

Just over a year after concluding that service (during which time he served in other general capacities at Church headquarters), he was the third man to be called to fill the three vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve in the wake of the passing of President Boyd K. Packer and Elders L. Tom Perry and Richard G. Scot (with his call occurring the same day as that of Elders Ronald A. Rasband and Gary E. Stevenson). Some have claimed (rightfully so, in my opinion) that since Elder Scott was the last of the three to pass away, Elder Renlund, as the last of the three new apostles called, was the one filling the apostolic vacancy occurring from the death of Elder Scott. Others may disagree on that, as is their right, but I think that is a fair statement.

Elder Renlund's apostolic call was significant for a few reasons. The calls of Elders Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund made them the 98th, 99th, and 100th members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles called in this dispensation. There have been more men ordained as apostles, but only 102 of those men have officially served in the Quorum of the Twelve. There is another significant aspect of Elder Renlund's call.

As most of you are probably aware, at times in the past where 2 or more apostles have been called, tradition is that they will be called, sustained, and ordained according to their age, from oldest to youngest. That tradition, as has been the case a couple of times before, was slightly adjusted, as Elder Stevenson, almost three years younger than Elder Renlund, was called, sustained, and ordained as the senior apostle to Elder Renlund. That kind of thing is not in any way unprecedented, but it is a significant anomaly to note.

As some of you are also aware, the Church has previously come under fire for a lack of cultural diversity in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. While all apostles from Elder David A. Bednar to Elder Renlund were born within the United States, almost to a man, each has had varying degrees of international experience. In January of this year, we saw President Nelson mention that there would be "more flavors in the mix", and his first apostolic appointees were the first Asian American (Elder Gong) and Latin American (Elder Soares).

But as was observed in this article, Elder Renlund's diverse background certainly qualifies him as having strong international ties and experiences. Elder Renlund had 2 opportunities to speak in General Conference prior to his apostolic call (1 of which occurred six months prior to his first address as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), and gave his 9th talk as an apostle just over a month ago. You can review any of those 11 addresses at your convenience.

I am grateful to have been able to offer this birthday tribute in his honor, and am also grateful for his service. I gladly sustain him and the other 14 apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators. I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will keep doing 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Arequipa Peru Temple Open House to Begin on Friday; Church President Russell M. Nelson To Dedicate Temple In December

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to bring you all some breaking temple news right now. The open house tours for the Arequipa Peru Temple will begin on Friday, and, per information from the Church News and the official Newsroom, that temple will be dedicated on Sunday December 15, with Church President Russell M. Nelson presiding thereat. That dedication will occur just under a month after he returns from the Southeast Asia leg of his ongoing Global Ministry Tour. And it makes sense that he will dedicate that temple himself, as he is a prophet fluent in Spanish. The only question now is who might accompany him on that particular assignment, which we may find out more about in the coming days. With this announcement made, a few other reminders here: Within the next 12-15 hours, I will be publishing a birthday tribute to Elder Dale G. Renlund, who will be observing his 67th tomorrow. With the Arequipa Peru Temple open house commencing on Friday, VIP/Media tours will likely occur within the next day or two. And, as noted earlier in this post, Friday will also mark the start of President Nelson's one-week tour of Southeast Asia, during which time I anticipate we may receive more information about the Phnom Pehn Cambodia Temple.

Looking ahead to the rest of this month, Sunday will see both the rededication of the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the day when, at 4:00 PM MST, Elder Gerrit W. Gong, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will join the Primary, Young Men, and Young Women General Presidencies to share more information about the new Children and Youth program for which initial details were shared in the September 29 Fifth-Sunday broadcast.

And the last day of this month (Saturday November 30) will mark both the last day of the Arequipa Peru Temple open house and the day on which the Puebla Mexico Temple will have its' groundbreaking. At this point, I have no idea what (if any) other major Church news and temple developments might be reported before the end of this year, but I am hoping for at least a few more announcementns, including that at least one more temple (but perhaps even two or three) might also have their groundbreakings before the end of this year.

Whatever might happen in that respect, I am as committed as I ever was to bringing word of such developments to you all as I become aware of 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.

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

Hello again, everyone! I am back with the second part of this apostolic statistical update, in which we will move on to note specific information about the long-form and decimal ages of our current apostles, which will also include updated information on the average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the 15 apostles as a group, and current and future nonagenarians. So let’s get right into all of that. Again, all data is current as of today (Sunday November 10). There have been three apostolic birthdays since my last such update: Elder Ulisses Soares, as I previously mentioned, observed his 61st birthday on Wednesday October 2. Just six days later (on Tuesday October 8) President M. Russell Ballard marked his 91st birthday. 4 days prior to this update (on Wednesday November 6), Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf celebrated his 79th birthday.. And three days from now, Elder Dale G. Renlund will be marking his 67th birthday, for which I will post another tribute. With my next planned update scheduled to occur on Sunday December 29, in addition to Elder Renlund’s aforementioned 67th birthday, the final two apostles will have had their 2019 birthdays by that date. On December 3, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland will be observing his 79th birthday. Just 20 days later (2 days before Christmas), on December 23, Elder Gerrit W. Gong will observe his 66th birthday. Having noted that, we now move on to some exact figures about the ages and average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and all 15 apostles as a group. In the Church’s leading Quorum, President Nelson is, as noted towards the end of my previous post, 95 years, 2 months, and 1 day old, with a resulting decimal age of 95.17 years. Hi apostolic seatmate and right-hand man, President Oaks, is now 87 years, 2 months, and 29 days old, or 87.25 years. President Eyring, as the junior member of the First Presidency, is now 86 years, 5 months, and 10 days old, which is 86.45 in decimal years. The First Presidency thus now has a combined 268.87 years of life experience, which results in an average age for each man of 89.62 years.

President Nelson remains 5.55 years older than the aforementioned average, with President Oaks closest to it: he remains 2.37 years younger, and President Eyring, at 0.8 years younger than President Oaks, remains 3.17 years below that average. Unless there is something of which we are not aware in relation to the health of any of these Brethren, they will almost certainly continue to set new records for the oldest-serving First Presidency in Church history for the foreseeable future, and are bound to join (and even move up quite a bit on) the list of the longest-serving First Presidencies, as I mentioned towards the end of my previous post.

Next, let’s turn our attention to the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Ballard’s long-form age now sits at 91 years, 1 month, and 2 days, or 91.09 years. Elder Holland now has a long-form age of 78 years, 11 months, and 7 days, with a resulting 78.94 decimal years. Elder Uchtdorf (who is 27 days older than his senior current apostolic seatmate) is now 79 years, 0 months, and 4 days old, which works out to 79.01 years. Elder Bednar has now reached the full age of 67 years, 4 months, and 26 days, which works out to 67.41 decimal years.

Leading off the second third of that Quorum is Elder Cook, who is also the oldest but least senior of the 3 apostles born in 1940. His long-form age is 79 years, 2 months, and 2 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 79.17 years. Elder Christofferson has now reached the age of 74 years, 9 months and 17 days, making his decimal age 74.79 years. Elder Andersen is now 68 years, 3 months, and 1 day old, and his decimal age is 68.25 years. And, as of today, Elder Rasband is 68 years, 9 months, and 4 days old, or 68.76 decimal years.

As for the final third of the Quorum, Elder Stevenson, who is exactly 4.5 younger (to the very day) than Elder Rasband, has a long-form age of 64 years, 3 months, and 4 days, with a decimal age of 64.26 years. Elder Renlund, the last apostle called during the prophetic administration of President Thomas S. Monson, is now 66 years, 11 months, and 28 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 66.99 years. As for our newest apostles, Elder Gong’s long-form age is 65 years, 10 months, and 18 days old, which works out to 65.88 decimal years. As for Elder Soares, he is now 61 years, 1 month, and 8 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 61.11 years.

Based on those numbers, the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles now have a combined 865.66 years of life experience, which results in an average of 72.14 years per member. Elders Christofferson and Rasband remain respectively above and below that average. Elder Christofferson continues to be 2.65 years older, while Elder Rasband is now 3.38 years younger. With the information I presented earlier about the First Presidency, the 15 apostles as a group now have a combined 1,134.53 years of life experience, which is an average of 75.64 years. As noted previously, for the apostles above and below that average, Elder Holland remains 3.3 years older, while Elder Christofferson is now 0.85 years younger than that average.

We now move on to the apostolic nonagenarians. As I mentioned in a previous post, President Nelson remains the 6th spot on that list, a spot he took from Ezra Taft Benson in early July, and he will not move up thereon again until late August of next year. In the meantime, President Ballard remains the 14th oldest apostle in Church history. President Ballard will move up two more spots on that list before President Nelson moves up to his next spot, and the next time he will do so is in late March of next year. In the meantime, among the other apostles, President Oaks will join the nonagenarian list in 2 years, 9 months, and 2 days, while Elder Soares will do so in 28 years, 10 months, and 22 days, with the other apostles doing so at various intervals, which will be detailed more fully as they approach.

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

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

Hello again, everyone! While I continue to welcome comments on any previous posts, it is time once again to bring you all updated information on the latest apostolic statistics. This data will again be published in two posts. As has been customary, all data is current as of today (Sunday November 10, 2019). My last such update was published here on Sunday September 22, and with my continuing efforts to provide these updates roughly every 7 weeks, my next such update, the final one I will publish in 2019, will be posted to this blog on Sunday December 29. While I continue to hope that most of you will find this information interesting and enlightening, because some of you may not be interested in this update, I in turn will not be offended or bothered if any of you skip over this post and the next one. This first post, as has been the case for previous updates, will address President Dallin H. Oaks’ tenure as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, then shift to explore where Church President Russell M. Nelson currently stands in terms of his age and tenure length among his prophetic predecessors. That will be followed by some observations about the tenure lengths of the three groups of apostles (First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, and overall).. The more specific data about upcoming apostolic birthdays, the long-form and decimal ages of our 15 current apostles, and details about current and future apostolic nonagenarians will then follow in a second post, which will be published a few minutes after this one is.

There is a lot to get to, so let’s jump right in. President Oaks has now served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for a period of 1 year, 9 months, and 27 days. As I previously mentioned. President Oaks remains the 22nd longest-serving Quorum President, and he has not moved up on that list since my last update. His next three milestones as such, as I mentioned in my last such update, will be observed consecutively, with one each later this month, and in December 2019, and January 2020. Five days from now, he will become the 21st longest-serving Quorum President, at which time the length of his tenure as such will match the second (and longest) tenure of Brigham Young Jr. I previously explained why Brigham Young Jr. had two separate tenures as Quorum President.

Then, looking ahead to President Oaks’ next milestone as Quorum President, just 29 days after reaching the milestone I detailed above, on Sunday December 14, the length of his tenure will match that of George Albert Smith, which will then make President Oaks the 20th longest-serving Quorum President. And just over 7 weeks later, on January 19, 2020, President Oaks will become the 19th longest-serving Quorum President when the length of his tenure as such will match that of Heber J. Grant. And his next Quorum Presidential milestone will only be observed more than 3 months after that. Therefore, I will detail the next ones closer to the time.

Turning now to President Nelson, who was ordained and set apart as Church President on the same day he set apart President Oaks as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, his prophetic tenure has spanned 1 year, 9 months, and 27 days as well. His next prophetic tenure milestone will not be observed until mid-June of next year. Regarding his age, he is now 95 years, 2 months, and 21 days old. His next prophetic age milestone will not be observed until mid-August 2020.

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

Interestingly enough, less than two months prior to that, the 15 apostles will make the list of the longest-serving such group (the exact date is February 8, 2021). With that said, I want to conclude this portion of the update. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in compliance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.