BREAKING NEWS: 18 Temples Will Have a Groundbreaking This Year; President Nelson Introduces a New Proclamation in Honor of the Restoration's Bicentennial Anniversary

Hello again, everyone! In late February of this year, congregational mission leadership had been invited to participate in the Temple and Family History Leadership Training, The training focused on the correlation between missionary efforts and temple worship. Fast forward to the Sunday Morning Session which has just wrapped up. With a temple/missionary theme, I felt even more certain that this Sunday Morning Session would bring the announcement of new temples. But the Lord had something else in mind. Elder David A. Bednar, who, as noted previously, chairs the Temple and Family History Executive Council, did announce that the Church is planning on breaking ground for 18 new temples this year. That means that, in addition to the 4 already scheduled (in Richmond Virgninia, Alabang Philippines, Layton Utah, and Auckland New Zealand), 14 other temples will also see groundbreakings this year. While it may be too early to tell which temples might have that happen, I have a fair idea. The Church is also likely to break ground for the following temples: Orem, Taylorsville, and Tooele Valley Utah, Brasilia Brazil, Feather River California, San Pedro Sula Honduras, Coban Guatemala, Managua Nicaragua, Nairobi Kenya, Harare Zimbabwe, Moses Lake Washington, Washington County Utah, McAllen Texas, and either Phnom Pehn Cambodia or Bengaluru India. So we have many more temple-related announcements to which we can look forward, including the likely announcement of a at least a few new temples at the conclusion of this General Conference by President Nelson.

After a session during which missionary work and temple worship was a dual focus, the Solemn Assembly portion of General Conference was prefaced by President Nelson through the release of a new official proclamation in honor of this bicentennial milestone of the Restoration. The prophet noted that that Proclamation would be made available online directly after the session in which it was introduced. While the proclamation is currently available in 14 languages and will soon be available through the Gospel Libery app is many other languages, I wanted to share a link to the English text thereof, as it was read by President Nelson.

It is a wonderfully inspirational document, and I hope we will all take time to review it repeatedly over the next little while. In the meantime, barring anything very unexpected, I am anticipating that any number of new temples will be announced by President Nelson during his remarks that will conclude this bicentennial General Conference, and I will bring word of and analysis about that announcement ASAP after it it made. In the meantime, that does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson Announces New Symbol For the Church; New Initiative

Hello again, everyone! During this Saturday Evening Session, President Nelson announced a new symbol for the Church and extended an invitation for all Church members to participate in another worldwide fast on Good Friday, April 10.  The Newsroom also provided some additional historical context  on times when the youth of the Church have participated in General Conference. I am grateful to have been able to bring word of these developments to you. It has indeed been a most unprecedented conference, and there will be more to come tomorrow for sure. 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: Solemn Assembly to Be Held During Sunday Morning Session

Hello again, everyone! Less than a few minutes into this April 2020 General Conference, Church President Russell M. Nelson made the first of many major announcements for this conference. He announced that a Solemn Assembly of the Church would be held during the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference tomorrow. While other elements of that Solemn Assembly are unknown as of yet, what we do know is that, at the conclusion of the session, President Nelson will lead the Church in the traditional Hosanna Shout, which has traditionally been offered at temple dedications, at the dedication of the Conference Center in 2000, and at the rededication of the Tabernacle on Temple Square. That in turn will be followed by the Tabernacle Choir (whose members are indeed providing prerecorded or archived music for each session), joined by the congregation, will sing "The Spirit of God." I'd just note here that I dos not know if the traditional Sustaining of Church Officers will be part of that session, or might occur in any of the other 3 general sessions. But we'll soon find out.

I am grateful for this opportunity to have shared this development with you. I continue to monitor the events of this General Conference weekend and will bring you all the latest reports as that information becomes available. 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.

Temple Construction Progress Review During the First Quarter of 2020

Hello again, everyone! As this last day of March comes to its' close, while I continue to welcome comments on my General Conference predictions for the next few days, as this first quarter of 2020 draws to its' conclusion, I am pleased to take this opportunity to look back on the progress which has been made on temples worldwide during this quarter. As per my usual tradition, I will be providing links to which any who clinck on them will have access to the full reports. What I'd like to present at this time is the report that I provided as 2020 began and the one that shows how that progress looks at this first quarter's end. 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 as I become aware of them. In the meantime, in addition to finalizing my predictions for this General Conference and covering any of the major developments and updates that are reported, I am also planning on posting my next apostolic milestone update at some point on Sunday April. 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.

My Pre-Conference Testimony

Hello again,, everyone! This post is being published with two purposes in mind. First of all, since not a lot of new comments have come in on the latest edition of my April 2020 General Conference predictions, I have gone back in the history of this blog to when comments had been made on the most recent version of this list, and based on that, I have made some additional last-minue adjustments to the locations for which I have felt a temple might be announced. The open commenting period on those predictions in general, and on the list of potential temple candidates in particular, remains open between now and 10:00 PM on the night of Thursday April 2, so as to give me the following 36 hours to make any further adjustments that may be necessary prior to General Conference weekend. The other reason I wanted to post again here and now is to share my testimony in advance of the upcoming General Conference. I have always had a high degree of excitement relating to General Conference, and that excitement has only been heightened in recent years as I have had the opportunity on this blog to share my thoughts about things that might happen during each General Conference weekend. But the excitement in the air for General Conference this go-round is primarily significant because it will be the first General Conference held solely by technology and in the midst of a global pandemic that is having such wide-spread impact on the day-to-day operations of the Church, and on the ability of our current leaders to minister in a usual way.

For many of us, the current massive degree of coverage on the COVID-19 crisis, including the developments detailed by the Church as found in the Church News and through the official Newsroom may be cause for concern, worry, stress, and anxiety, especially in cases where (as has periodically been the case) the media outlets outside the Church sensationalize or promote fearmongering and mass hysteria. But with the Church reports striking a far more positive tone, and with President Nelson's two-fold encouragement through a recent video and Ensign article, the current cirucmstances, while still stressful, weighty, and devastating, can be given a proper context.

In his "Standard of Truth" statement, the Prophet Joseph Smith noted that 'no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing." The reverse is also absolutely true, that no unhallowed hand can or will help to move the work forward. The current situation., continuing as it is in this week before General Conference, is cause for concern. But as we do our best to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, and to strive to stay positive and importune the Lord for His blessings to be bestowed upon us, we will be witnesses to and recipients of the miracles that we need at this time.

And with the upcoming General Conference proceeding as scheduled, originating from a small auditorium on Temple Square, and featuring prerecorded music and only those who are speaking or praying in each session being in attendance, it will be a slightly different experience, above and beyond what President Nelson noted in his admonition to us last October to prepare for it. We can take comfort in knowing at this time that the Lord's promise to "hasten [His] work in its' time" remains in force, and that we have the promise of angels round abou us to bear us up on both sides of the veil. As we continue to press forward in faith, the Lord will not only bless and sanctify us in our daily lives, but His blessings will be poured out in abundance upon us and upon all those who will particpate in the upcoming General Conference.

With that in mind, I'd encourage all of us, to the extent that we can, to take time within the next few days to consider what our biggest concerns, worries, and questions might be, to take those to the Lord in prayer, to petition Him that we will find answers in the upcoming General Conference, and to listen, record, and follow the promptings we will receive about what we heard (which may not be the same as what was actually said or taught). If we follow that process and engage ourselves in it more fully, the Lord will bless us to get more out of this General Conference than we would otherwise have been able to do so. Moreover, He will also confirm to us in our minds and in our hearts by this method that anything that is announced or taught is in harmony with His will for His Church at this time. We are blessed during this period of time to have the upcoming opportunity to listen to the teachings of those the Lord has called, appointed, ordained, and set apart to lead His people in the ways in which He would have them go, and to tell us what we need to hear (which may not necessarily be equivalent to what we want to hear). The Lord wants to speak to us through the events, announcements, teachings, and testimonies that will be offered next weekend. Will we hear His voice? Will we accept and follow His counsel? Will we take this opportunity to do and to become better? It is my hope and prayer that we will do so, and my testimony that He is mindful of our needs and troubles, and will speak peace to us thereby, and I share that witness with you all here in the sacred and holy name of Him whose Church this is, even the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.