BREAKING NEWS: Transcripts of All April 2020 General Conference Talks Are Now Available; Updated Documents Related to the April 2020 General Conference and the Latest Temple Updates

Hello again, everyone! I have late breaking news to share here again tonight. Although the April 2020 General Conference concluded around 63 hours ago, the Church must have worked lightning fast, and the transcripts for all talks given during the five General Sessions last weekend are now officially availableAside from the quick turnaround effort on the part of the Church to make those available online so quickly in this case, one other thing surprised me.  I have previously commented on the fact that the Church sometimes experiences a delay in making the video archives of some General Conference talks available following the General Conference session in which they were given. There were similar lags in that respect this go-round. It wasn't until almost an hour after the Sunday Morning Session this weekend that the video archives of all addresses given on Saturday were made available. 
  
  

Similarly, it was a couple of hours after the General Conference concluded that the video archives for the Sunday Morning Session were made available. It wasn't until sometime yesterday that all but the final address given by President Nelson were made available. And as things now stand, with the transcripts available for all of the General Conference talks, the video of President Nelson's closing remarks in the last session of conference still appears to be missing from the Church's official General Conference site. But I was able to pull a rough estimate on the length of that address from the video archive of that final session via Youtube.So this post is primarily being published to share that news, but also to share the document on which I tracked the length of each apostolic address. I also have updates on the  total number of talks given by each of our apostles, both prior to and since their calls to the apostleship, have spoken during General Conference. And I also wanted to present as well the updated sections of my temple construction progress report (which I have completely restructured as a result of what is known and unknown. Additionally, I have finished my work for now on the possible table of contents layout for the May 2020 Ensign, which will be subject to change as more information comes to light. And, since I anticipate that the changes in area leadership for 2020 will be announced by the Church anytime between this upcoming Thursday (April 9) and the final Friday of this month (April 24), I have additionally assembled a list of the most likely changes that may be made in conjunction with that announcement.

Finally, I wanted to provide an updated link to my April 2020 General Conference predictions, which indicate what I got right and wrong through the usage of brackets, parentheses, and the relevant notes. I will have a total score and accuracy percentage for those predictions later this week. I know that this post packs a lot of new content, and I thank you for your interest in everything I am providing 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exterior Renderings Released for Three Temples In the Western United States

Hello again, everyone! An hour or two ago, my phone lit up with a massive amount of notifications, and some of those and other priorities demanded my immediate attention, But I wanted to share my analysis on some breaking temple news to which long-time reader Eric S. referred in the comments of the previous post. That comment was made at around the same time I received notice from the Church News app that this news has been reported. The Church today released three renderings for temples here in the western United States, namely: Moses Lake Washington, Tooele Valley Utah, and Washingtton County Utah Temples. In the coming months, project leaders will file public documents with city councils/planning and zoning commissions for the approrpriate approvals. The site locations for Moses Lake Washington, Tooele Valley Utah, and Washington County Utah temples were previously confirmed, so this is the next logical step. The addresses thereof and the sizes as detailed in those prior announcements have not changed very much. In fact, Moses Lake and Tooele Valley's detaied aniticipated sizes have not changed at all, period. The former will still be a single-story temple of approximately 20,000 feet. Although the newest release doesn't mention the adjoining meetinghouses for Moses Lake or Tooele Valley, barring anything unexpected, it appears the general plans for both of those will not change too much from the original announcements. As for the Washington County Utah Temple, we do not as yet have a more official name for it. (If that eventually happens, it will make sense, because according to what Elder Steven E. Snow said to Saints in Washington County within the last couple of years, a third temple to serve the Saints there will almost certainly be needed in the not-too-distant future, so the more general name for the second templehat county is not likely to stick.)  That said, the release in which the site for what will be the second  temple of the Church in the city of St. George was announced noted that the size of that temple was anticipated to be roughly 88,000 feet. Today's release adjusts that number slightly to 90,000 square feet, so either number, or anywhere in between the two, may be the temple's actual size.

A few other thoughts struck me about these newest announcements. First of all, President Nelson did not let the moss grrow under his feet too much following this weekend's General Conference. And with Elder Bednar's statement made on Sunday that a total of 18 new temples would have a groundbreaking during this year, these 3 can safely be added to the queue. Above and beyond that, since the temple in Tooele Valley Utah is going to be built at an accelerated pace, that temple probably will move to the top of the "Groundbreaking Anticipated" section of my temple construction progress report. With Moses Lake Washington's planned size, that may not be far behind other US temples I currently have listed in that section. And with Washington County's larger size likely resulting in approval taking slightly longer, that temple may be slightly lower in that section. I will be reworking that and get it published here by way of a new post or comment on this post hopefully later today or ASAP tomorrow at latest.

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.

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Statistics

Hello again, everyone! With the last session of General Conference having wrapped up less than an hour ago, I wanted to take the chance now to provide the latest apostolic statistics. I have come to the conclusion that the best way to do so is to provide shareable links to those updates, so that anyone with those links can read them in their current forms. And that will also eliminate the need to publish two posts for this update. The updated data comprises two parts, the first and the second. The information largely speaks for itself. I will, of course, pass along any additional Church news or temple developments, as I become aware of such things. 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: President Nelson Announces 8 New Temples As the April 2020 General Conference Concludes

Hello again, everyone! The final session of the April 2020 General Conference has just concluded, and in its' closing moments, our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, announced that 8 new temples will be built in the following locations: Bahia Blanca, Argentina; Tallahassee Florida; Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Benin City, Nigeria; Syracuse, Utah; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The Newsroom release is likely going to be updated over the next little while, but in the interim, further context has been provided by President Nelson, as relayed by the Church News. While acknowledging that it may seem strange to talk about announcing new temples while all operating temples are currently closed, the languge in the final 3 paragraphs of the Salt Lake Temple dedicatory prayer provides insight and perspective about the time in which we are currently living. With that background in mind, I have a few other thoughts to share on the monumental significance of this latest slate of announced temples. It was specifically also mentioned by President Nelson that the Saints in the Dubai area had specifically requested a temple. Based on information I had previously received, the Saints in Bahia Blanca Argentina have also been lobbying the Church for a temple of their own. A few other comments on these announced temples. I had anticipated that the next Florida temple would go to Jacksonville, but recognize that one is needed in Tallahassee, so I'm not surprised by that announcement. It is also tremendous to consider that, less than a full year following the dedication of the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple, a second one is being announced for that nation. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, which currently falls in the boundaries of the Africa Southeast Area, will become part of the new Africa Central Area in August of 2020. I am grateful that the Lord verified my choices of Bahia Blanca, Lubumbashi, Pittsburgh, Benin City, and Dubai. Another Utah temple is not a surprise. I was absolutely blown away, however, by the announcement of a temple for the People's Republic of China.

The nature of the Church''s current relationship with and arrangements for members of the Church in China remains unchanged, as confirmed by President Nelson, but it is nice that the Chinese government is willing to work with the Church in this particular case, and I have no doubts whatsoever that having a temple in Shanghai will greatly assist the Church and its' members in that relationship with the Chinese government, especially during this period of time when the Hong Kong China temple remains closed for its' renovation. It sounds to me as though the Church plans to move quickly on the Shanghai China Temple, and it will be interesting to see what specifically happens there. But the nature of what President Nelson said when he announced these 8 newest temples does lead me to wonder whether any of those that were announced today are going to move quickly enough through the approval process to be among the 16 that will have a groundbreaking this year, as mentioned by Elder Bednar. It will be interesting to see what happens with all of these temples, in addition to all others currently announced or under construction.

Understandably, due to the nature of the required updates, it may take the Church a little while into this evening to expand the official Newsroom release on these temples, and also, the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site appears to be down for the moment while the data, information, and pages for this and other temples are updated. Two other observations, if I may offer them: First, in April and October of last year, and in April of this year, 8 temples were announced each time. This suggests to me that 8 temples may continued to be announced per General Conference for the foreesable future. And secondly, with 8 temples added to the current queue, there are 43 announced temples. When we subtract the 4 for which a groundbreaking has already been scheduled, and the 12 others which will have a groundbreaking by the end of this year, depending on the timing for those 12, the queue of announced temples may continue to hover around 30, which is more or less what we have been told about President Nelson's plans. For my part, I continue to monitor all such developments, and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such things.

I should also note here that I will be publishing another post within the next hour to share the latest apostolic statistics, as the standard 7 weeks have passed since my last update. So stay tuned for that. 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: 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Columbus Ohio Temple Will Close for Renovation

Hello again, everyone! In the midst of the wide-spread COVID-19 crisis that has temporarily closed all temples, the temple construction program of the Church continues to make strides. One such development was nanounced today by the First Presidency. Regardless of when it reopens following the COVID-19 crisis,  a renovation process will begin on the Columbus Ohio Temple on Saturday August 15, 2020, and is anticipated to reopen in late 2022. The temple, which was originally dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley in early September 1999, will likely be given a similar exterior overhaul that was done to the Memphis Tennessee, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, Raleigh North Carolina, and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples, and thus have its' square footage increased from its' current 10,700 square feet to 10,890 square feet. But that will be subject to confirmation or denial by the First Presidency.

Either way, this announcement means that temple will be removed from my list of those that could be renovated, since the renovation announcement is now official. And based on this announcement, I am assuming that the Columbus Ohio may be the first of a few other temples for which a full--scale renovation closure may be announced. I will keep my eyes opnn for all such updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware of such news.

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.