Initial Predictions for the April 2020 General Conference: Part One—Overview and Projected Speaking Order

Hello again, everyone! It took me quite a while to do so, but I finally have the initial version of my predictions for the April 2020 General Conference finished. I will be presenting those in 3 parts. This first part will contain the speaking order and the associated relevant notes (of which there are slightly more than usual in view of the remarkable statement by President Nelson in relation to this General Conference. The second part will contain my predictions for the changes I anticipate in general Church leadership and the estimated numbers for the statistical report (which may be subject to change based on additional and updated information that may be available towards the end of this year), and the third and final part will highlight the list of locations for which I anticipate a temple might be announced. That said, the speaking order predictions and the relevant notes 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.

April 2020 General Conference Predictions [Text in brackets indicates what actually happened.)1

Sess.	Conducting	Speaker
SAM2	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Russell M. Nelson
		Bishop Gerald Causse3
		Silvia H. Allred
		Elder Ricardo P. Gimenez
		Elder David S. Baxter
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
SAA	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dallin H. Oaks (Sustaining of General Authorities, Area Seventies, and General Officers of the Church)
	Church Auditing Department Report, 2019	Kevin R. Jergensen
		Elder Dale G. Renlund
		Elder John A. McCune
		Elder Gerrit W. Gong
		Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
		Elder Anthony D. Perkins
		Elder Gary E. Stevenson
SPH	President Russell M. Nelson	President M. Russell Ballard4
		Elder Neil L. Andersen
		Elder Quentin L. Cook
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUM	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Russell M. Nelson (Introductory Remarks and New Temples)5
		Elder David A. Bednar
		Bishop Dean M. Davies
		Lisa L. Harkness
		Elder Ulisses Soares
		Elder Scott D. Whiting
		Elder Ronald A. Rasband
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUA	President Henry B. Eyring	Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
		Bishop W. Christopher Waddell
		Jan E. Newman6
		Elder Carlos A. Godoy7
		Elder Alan R. Walker
		Elder James R. Rasband
		Elder Benjamin M. Z. Tai
		Elder D. Todd Christofferson
		President Russell M. Nelson

References

1With very few exceptions, General Conferences during the last two decades have conformed to similar general patterns. Because President Nelson has surprised us with 4 atypical General Conferences thus far, and because he said that this General Conference will be different from any previous ones the Church has had, I used a combination of past traditions and patterns with variations for a Nelsonian General Conference, and made further alterations based on the prophet’s statement. Since it is difficult to know what exactly to expect, I will be allowing myself another margin of error, which will, in this particular case, be slightly higher than it was for the 4 previous General Conferences. I will detail my reasoning in some respects in subsequent notes. 

2In prior General Conferences, we have seen the entire First Presidency speak together in one of the four General Sessions (aside from the Priesthood Session) only a handful of times. That was true in the following cases: April and October 1995 and October 2000 (Sunday Morning Session); April 1997 (short video presentation in the Sunday Morning Session), April 2007 (Saturday Afternoon Session for the rededication of the Salt Lake Tabernacle) and April 2018 (Easter Sunday Morning). In April of next year, General Conference weekend will again coincide with Easter Sunday, making it likely that the entire First Presidency will again speak in the Sunday Morning Session. Since this conference is anticipated to be unique, I am predicting that the entire First Presidency may speak during this session, and that, consequently, no members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will do so.  

3Given that the Presiding Bishopric is the Global Presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood, and given that the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods will be among the events that are commemorated during this General Conference, I have felt impressed to predict that each member of the current Presiding Bishopric will speak during this General Conference, and that each will do so in a different session. 

4Major steps in the Restoration included the reinstatement of priesthood offices that existed in Christ’s original Church. One of those priesthood offices was that of the apostleship. And since this Priesthood Session will likely pay tribute to both, and will be unique, I could not think of a more effective way that could happen than to have 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaking in this session, along with the entire First Presidency. Never before has the Church had 3 members of that Quorum speak in this session: it has just been 1 (or in rare cases, 2). So having 3 do so in this bicentennial conference makes a lot of sense to me. 

5Given what has been said repeatedly by President Nelson, his wife, and his apostolic Brethren, new temple announcements will be an essential and significant part of every General Conference for the time being. In October 2018 and April 2019, I had been hopeful President Nelson would both be detailing the extent and timing pertaining to his plans to increase the number of temples ten-fold and also announce a mass number of temples. But that has not happened yet. And further research on my part has indicated that such a mass announcement, if it ever occurs, will not be as imminent as some (myself included) have previously believed. That said, I fully believe that the timing could be right during this bicentennial conference for President Nelson to detail the preliminary elements of those plans with some indication of the extent and timing thereof, and making the announcements regarding any new temples. And if he does so, then I could see him making a general announcement at the beginning of this session, then having Elder David A. Bednar, who chairs the Temple and Family History Executive Council, explain those in greater detail on that, and, following the other speakers in the session, President Nelson could then give another address as has been customary.

6Brother Newman is the new Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency. Given that the new Sunday School General President spoke last October, normal logic would suggest that the First Counselor may do so this go-round. But in the case of Brother Newman, he is a direct descendent of Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph, so it would make more sense during a General Conference commemorating important events of the restoration that someone with ties to that family might be given priority over someone else who is not so familially connected, even if such action defies normal traditions. 

7Although I had felt that two or more members of the Presidency of the Seventy could possibly speak during this General Conference (since only one has done so in each General Conference for the last several years), given the many others I wound up trying to fit into the speaking order for this General Conference, I couldn’t make that work. If there is only one, it will likely be Elder Godoy, who, of all the current members of that Presidency, has had the longest period of time pass without speaking in General Conference (having last spoken during the October 2014 General Conference), and in the event there are two, I anticipate Elder Jose Teixeira (who last spoke during the April 2015 General Conference) will be the other.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Rendering Released and Site Location Revealed for the Phnom Pehn Cambodia Temple

Hello again, everyone! As anticipated, with President Nelson now in Cambodia, he revealed the site location for the Phnom Pehn Cambodia Temple. But he also released a rendering thereof to the Cambodian Saints at the same time. This post will share that information. The temple will be constructed on Russian Confederation Street, between the Cambodia Institute of Technology and the Institute of Foreign Languages near the Royal University of Phnom Penh. It looks to be a medium-sized or larger temple, and although the square footage thereof was not shared, I would not be shocked if the square footage was comparable or similar to the Richmond Virginia and Layton Utah Temples. Again, since that square footage was not specified at this time, I imagine that information will be released once plans are developed. And I will need to double-check, but I think that the number of temples that could now potentially have a groundbreaking within the next year or so has risen to 15 or 16. More on that as I learn about 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.

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.

UPDATED: Revised Groundbreaking Anticipated and Announced Temples Sections of My Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! 8 days ago, when the site announcement was made for the Moses Lake Washington Temple, I had made a few revisions to the "Groundbreaking Anticipated" and "Announced Temples" sections of my temple construction progress report. I had been tempted to share htose updates that day or the day after, but something told me to wait to do so. Then, two days ago, a comment published to another post on this blog, which came from my Church member contact in Central America, shared information indicating that sites had been procured for all three announced Central American temples (Managua Nicaragua, San Pedro Sula Honduras, and Coban Guatemala), all of which could potentially have a groundbreaking during the first half of next year. So I had to again make adjustments to those two sections of that report. And then today, of course, we learned that the Washington County Utah Temple will be built in St. George Utah, becoming the second temple in that city. So that necessitated further changes. And although I fully anticipate that President Nelson's Southeast Asia Ministry Tour will almost certainly yield further informaiton about the Phnom Pehn Cambodia Temple, and that other temple announcements which may come down the pike before the end of the year, now seems as good a time as any to publish those updated and revised sections of my temple construction progres report.

Those updates 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. 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-early 2020.

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.

184. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; construction contract awarded; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020..

Note: Although a construction contract for this temple was awarded 1-3 months ago, since only 2.5 months remain in 2019, and since no additional information (including an official site announcement and rendering) has been released yet, it has seemed wise to update my estimate to this point. 

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

Note: On May 19, 2019, Bishop Dean M. Davies, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, visited members of the Bengaluru India stake and told them that the Church hoped to release the information about the site location and design for this temple before the end of 2019. Given that there are just 2.5 months remaining in 2019, and that nothing related to this temple has been announced, I felt it wise to readjust my estimate for this temple to around this time.

186. Richmond Virginia Temple: Planning and approval phase; official renderings released on August 28, 2019; groundbreaking anticipated in spring 2020.

Note: Two days after the renderings for this temple were released, an article printed in one of the Henrico County newspapers indicated that Church officials were planning to break ground for this temple during spring 2020. Accordingly, I have updated this estimate to this point.

187.  Tooele Valley Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location officially confirmed on September 25, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

Note: Because this temple is reportedly being fast-tracked, if the plans for it also receive rapid approval, a groundbreaking could easily follow within this time, if not sooner than that.

188. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Planning and approval phase; site acquired (location not yet officially confirmed); groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

189. San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple: Planning and approval phase; site acquired (location not yet officially confirmed); groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

190. Coban Guatemala Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

191. Feather River California Temple: Planning and approval phase; official rendering released and site location announced on September 26, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

Note: Since temples in the United States typically see an earlier start to their construction than their international counterparts (although not as quickly as their counterparts in Utah), it has 8 wise to move this temple and update the associated general estimate for its’ groundbreaking to this point. Depending on what happens over the next few months, I could see a need to readjust this temple’s position among the others and its’ estimate, which I will be sure to do. 

192. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; property fence installed around temple site; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

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 as official, a groundbreaking could easily occur within this period of time, if not sooner.

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

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

195. Moses Lake Washington Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location and preliminary information confirmed on October 29, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020.

196. Washington County Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site) announcement; site location and preliminary information confirmed on November 6, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020-early 2021.

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 dedication 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):

197. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.

198. Bentonville Arkansas Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.

199. Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.

200. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified.

201. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified.

202. Salvador Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified.

203. Antofagasta Chile Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified.

204. Pago Pago American Samoa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Note: Although nothing has been officially confirmed, two potential sites (adjacent to the Pago Pago Samoa Central and  Pago Pago Samoa Malaeimi Stake Centers could be considered as candidate sites for this temple.

205. Okinawa City Okinawa (Japan) Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Note: On July 31, 2019, the Japanese edition of the Newsroom’s official website noted that a new stake center had been completed for the Okinawa stake. In early August, I subsequently heard a theory that the temple in this city could be built on the site of the former stake center. While it will be up to the Church to confirm or deny that prospect, the suggestion thereof has led me to move this temple up to this point.

206. Lagos Nigeria Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

207. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

208. Davao Philippines 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: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

212. Orem Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

213. Bacolod Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

214. McAllen Texas Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

216. Taylorsville Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

217. Russia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site) announcement.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: First Presidency Announces Site Location of Waxhintgton County Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! In a completely unexpected development, the First Presidency today announced the location and preliminary design information for the Washington County Utah Temple. While many people (myself included) had speculated that the temple would be built in Washington City (where the Church owns quite a bit of undeveloped land), will instead be built on a beautiful spot of land on a 14-acre site located northeast of 3000 East 1580 South in St. George, Utah. Preliminary plans note that the temple is anticipated to be a three-story edifice with an area of approximately 88,000 square feet. Thus, St. George becomes the fourth city in the world that will be home to two temples, joining Provo Utah, Lima Peru, and Manila Philippines. The statement also notes that the Church and project leaders will, in the coming months, be working through the approval process for this temple, that plans will be more fully detailed as they are developed and approved and that that process will culminate in the announcement of a groundbreaking ceremony once all approvals are granted. As previously noted, construction on the Washington County Utah Temple is not anticipated to be completed prior to the time when the St. George Utah Temple reopens in 2022 or 2023 following its' renovation process, and with ithe larger size of this newest temple, that is not surprising.

One other thing I also wanted to note: I will be interested to see whether or not a more official name is provided for this temple at some point along the way. The second Provo Utah Temple is known as the Provo City Center Temple. The second temple in Lima Peru has Los Olivos attached to its' name to distinguish it from its' counterpart in the same city. And a more official name announcement is hoped for on the second temple that willl, in coming years, be built in Muntinlupa City in the Philippines.

And this of course also increases the number of temples that may have a groundbreaking within the next year or so to now 15 or 16. As previously noted, temples in the United States, and particularly those in Utah, tend to have a much swifter start to construction than their counterparts in other places. It is wonderful to have heard of this news, and I was grateful to be able to pass it along to oyu all here. I continue to also monitor all major Church news and temple updates, and will, to the best of my ability, pass word of those 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.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf Observes His 79th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! As it is now past midnight Utah time, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf is marking his 79th birthday today. As Elder Uchtdorf has long been one of my favorite apostles, I am pleased to offer this tribute in honor of this milestone. Dieter Friedrich Uchtdorf was born to Karl Albert and Hildegard Else Opelt Uchtdorf on this day in 1940 in the city of Ostrava, which, at that time, was known as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, but is now identified as the Czech Republic. With his family twice becoming refugees, he grew up in Germany, where his family joined the Church in 1947. In order to and went on to study engineering, business administration, and international management, after which he joined the German Air Force in 1959, where he trained to be a fighter pilot. In 1965, he joined Lufthansa German Airlines as a pilot, working as an airline captain from 1970-1996. He held many responsible executive positions with German Airlines. He reported feeling discouraged about having to learn English, but has also described how he was able to do so.

He married Harriet Reich on December 14, 1962 (whom he had met when the missionaries brought her and her family to Church while he was a young man),and they both have different recollections of the details whereby they actually got together). They raised two children and now have several grandchildren, along with a few great-grandchildren. He served as a stake president before his call as a General Authority. During that time, he gave an instrumental interview to the press in which he tackled tough topics related to his faith as the Frankfurt Germany Temple prepared to open.

He was subsequently sustained as a General Authority on April 2, 1994, and was initially assigned to the Second Quorum of the Seventy. Roughly two years later, on April 6, 1996, he was sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy. He became a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on August 15, 2002 and was sustained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 2, 2004 and ordained an apostle on October 7, 2004 (becoming the 11th apostle born outside the United States).

On February 3, 2008, he was set apart as the Second Counselor in the First Presidency to President Thomas S. Monson. Although 12 men born outside the United States have served as apostles, he became only the sixth apostle born outside the United States that served in the First Presidency. At the time of his call to the First Presidency, he was the 13th in apostolic seniority. During the period of almost a decade in which he served alongside President Monson and First Counselor President Henry B. Eyring, the deaths of six apostles senior to him meant he had become the 7th in apostolic seniority.

And with the death of President Monson occurring just three months after the death of Elder Robert D. Hales, the First Presidency was dissolved. The new Church President, Russell M. Nelson, chose as his counselors his seatmate Elder Dallin H. Oaks and President Eyring. As a result, Elder Uchtdorf returned to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. When he departed that Quorum to serve in the First Presidency, he had been the tenth most senior member of that Quorum, and he returned to it as the third in seniority, with only Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland ahead of him.

In recognition of his administrative capacities and capabilities, his assignments as a recently-reassigned Quorum member were those that had previously been held by the three who had been the most senior members of the Quorum prior to that time (Presidents Nelson, Oaks, and Ballard). Elder Uchtdorf has spoken frequently about ways in which Church members should consider themselves called to action. I enjoy hearing what he has to say in his General Conference addresses every six months.

Throughout his 25 years as a general authority, and his now-15 years as a special witness of the Savior, (including almost a decade of service in the First Presidency, he has now given 71 addresses in General Conference, only 2 of which were given prior to his apostolic call.  Elder Uchtdorf is a man of great personal warmth and charm, and we are blessed indeed to have him among the Special Witnesses of Christ at this time. He has always struck a very warm and welcoming tone in his public discourses, and his current assignments are a clear testament to the great faith the Brethren have in him. In addition to being the third-most-senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he is also the third-oldest, behind only President Ballard and Elder Quentin L. Cook. He is also the seventh-most-senior apostle overall, and the sixth-oldest of the 15 apostles overall.

Although he may never personally read this tribute, it was an honor to provide it for him on this, his 79th birthday. I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of those 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 all that you do.