BREAKING NEWS: First Presidency Announces Phased Return to Church Services

Hello again, everyone! At some point yesterrday, I had commented on the Church Growth Blog that I didn't see the Church returning to any degree of normalcy in some areas before the third or fourth quarter of this year. But in a clear signal that the Lord's thoughts and ways are higher than mine (not that I needed one, but I got it nonetheless), the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles today announced a cautiously-coordinated and phased return to some regular Church functions. Note the wording I used above: cautiously coordinated and phased. Here's the way that approach will work. In consultation with their ecclesiastical contacts in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Presidency of the Seventy (whose assignments still do not appear to be known in their entirety), area presidencies can authorize the Church in their areas to ressume Church services Under Phase 1, shortened meetings with appropriate precautions to protect health and safety of Church members, shortened meetings (primarily Sacrament Meeting) may be held with tappropriate social distancing between each family. Other meetings, if needed, may be held by technology. And bishops may, depending on needs, continue to authrize home worship, including the administration of the Sacrament, in homes where one or more members are among the vunerable population. Any other meetings (interviews, Quorum or group meetings (Young Women and Relief Society) will continue remotely for the time being. The phase 2 approach would involve a return to a more normal degree of weekly worship, as long as local regulations are adhered to and Church seervices to a more normal degree can be resumed safely. The letter notes that in some areas where normalcy is returning may jump directly to phase 2, if that is approved through the proper channels.

Again, this will not be an instant change from home worship back to normalcy. This will be a carefully-coordinated effort that will cautiously progress as approvals are granted per area through the Area Presidency in consultation with their contacts in the Presidency of the Seventy and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. And the determinations will look different in each area, based on whatever regulations or restrictions are in place. I am not able to determine by this announcement how, if at all, the October 2020 General Conference may or may not be impacted from a normal scenario, but I will be researching that question in the days ahead. If the conference resumes as has been normal, theere may be a need to adjust my predictions for that. But I will be watching for information in that respect and will adjust those accordingly. In the meantime, I'm grateful that Church leaders are taking a smart approach in relation to this particular matter. I continue to monitor all such developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof.

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 UPDATES: 18 Additional Temples to Open Under Phase 1; Angel Moroni to Be Removed from the Salt Lake Temple As Renovations Continue

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency continues the careful and methodical phased reopening of temples. In addition to the 18 that opened under phase 1 2 weeks ago, and 18 more that have opened/will open for live sealings by appointment only today, 18 more templeswill reopen under phase 1 one week from today. On the latest list are the 1 temple in Alaska, the 2 in Colorado, the Orlando temple in Florida (the Fort Lauderdale temple may reopen in a week or two), and the single temples in Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklklahoma, the Dallas and Houston Texas Temples, Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple, 4 more in Canada (Candston and Edmonton Alberta, Regina Saskatchewan, and Vancouver Britisth Columbia), and the Helsiniki Finland Temple. In the meantime, renovation efforts continue at the Salt Lake Temple, where crews are removing the angel Moroni statute and its' capstone. The Church News provided additional coverage on that development as well. And from Church News reporter Scott Taylor comes some thoughts about "preconceived missions", and how missionaries are, can, and should be responding to the unusual circumstances of their reassignments as a result of COVID-19.

In previous reports, the Church News has shared examples of the proper approach to that process based on accounts shared by missionaries whose service has been disrupted. It appears that the Church in some cases has  also reassigned mission presidents to their homelands as well in the wake of COVID-19. But it is awesome that the Church continues to take a measured approach in dealing with unusual cirucmstances due to the ongoing pandemic. The way in which the latest developments have transpired is a clear indicator that the Lord is very much aware of His work, and is blessing those involved in helping to move it forward in the midst of these highly unusual circumstances. For my part, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such things.

This upcoming Sunday, I have scheduled the next apostolic age and tenure milestone update. The following Saturday will mark the groundbreaking for the Layton Utah Temple, unless COVID-19 conditions change that. That will kick off the first of 3 weeks straight during which the Church will break ground on temples each Saturday. And the final day of May, I'll be bringing you all a post in tribute to President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Preidency, who will mark his 87th birthday on that day. All of those developments and more will be covered on this blog in one form or another in the days ahead. I also continue to work on updating my estimates for known temple events in the near future.

And of course, the open commernting period remains in effect for my predictions for the October 2020 General Conference. So stay tuned for all such reports. 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.

Initial Predictions for the October 2020 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! I finally have the first draft of my predictions for next October's General Conference put together. An oope commenting period is now in effect until either I need to update them and post the revisions later on, or until the week before the October 2020 General Conference (with the deadline for the latter being 10:00 PM MDT on Thursday October 1, which will give me 36 hours to finalize those before General Conference formally begins). I look forward to your feedback. 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.

UPDATES: First Presidency Announces 17 Additional Temples Which Will Open Under Phase 1; Reemphasizes Guidelines for Art in Meetinghouse Entryways

Hello again, eveeryone! 4 days ago, the First Presidency first annnounced the strategy the Church will take towards reopening temples., which included 17 temples that would reopen under phase 1 today (enabling previously-endowed  couples to have their marriages solemnized in the temple). After further evaluating world conditions and governmental restrictions, the First Presidency today announced 17 more teeples which will open under phase 1 one week from today (Monday May 18). The neewest 17 include templess scattered through the United States in the following 9 states:Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming. Also included on the latest list are temples in Denmark, Korea, and Taiwan. It is wonderful to see Church leaders moving forward in faith and expanding the phased reopening of temples. If that was the only development I had to  report today, it would be reason enough to rejoice. But above and beyond that development, the First Presidency is also looking ahead to the time when regular worship will resume in meetinghouses worldwide.  As assessments are underway on that front, the First Presidency has provided a directive pertaining to art in meetinghouse foyers. Acknwledging the efforts of Church members everywhere to use the correct name of the Church, leaders have felt to reemphasize the centrality of the Savior in Sunday worship services in chapels around the world by directive that artwork featuring the Savior, either on his own, or ministering to others, should be prominently displayed in the entryways of each chapel. Local physical facilities directors are being instructed to prayerfully work with congregational leaders both at the stake/disstrict and ward/branch level to ensure that the artwork that is selected for each such meetinghouse meets the desired parameters as spelled out in today's news release. A First Presidency letter provides more specific recommendations on that.I  am grateful to have learned of these developments and to have been able to pass them along to you all here. I will continue to do so with all future developments, whether in new posts or on comments for existing posts.

Just by way of reminder, I do have my next apstolic statistical update set to be published here on Sunday May 24. I will also carry coverage of the upcoming temple groundbreakings for the Layton Utah, Alabang Philippines, and Auckland New Zealand Temples as that is made available. And of course, I also have plans to bring you apostolic birthday tribute posts for President Henry B. Eyring (on May 31) and Elder David A. Bednar (on June 15). So stay tuned for those reports, among others. 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: Groundbreaking for Alabang Philippines Temple Postponed

Hello again, everyone! As many of you might be aware, I have been looking for (and having difficulty finding) confirmation that the Alabang Philippines Temple groundbreaking occurred today as scheduled. In my latest perusal of the available information, I happened to look on the Church Temples site. On the page for the Alabang Philippines Temple, an update at the top of that parge drew my attention. The status was as follows: "Preparing for groundbreaking ceremony; site cleared; groundbreaking scheduled for 6 June 2020." Although that update has not officially been confirmed through the Philippines Newsroom or the main Newsroom, the Church temples site has been known to have official information that has been or will soon be verified through the proper official channels. Therefore, I am pleased to pass along to you all the news that the groundbreaking for that temple will take place one week after that of the Layton Utah temple, and one week before the previously-scheduled groundbreaking for the Auckland New Zealand Temple. That update supercedes any previous information I have provided on this matter here.

Insofar as I am aware, the last time there were 3 consecutive temple groundbreakings on 3 consecutive weekends was during the Hinckley-era buiilding boom of the late 1990s-early 2000s. So it looks as though the end of May through the beginning of June will be chock-full of temple events to cover on this blog. I continue to monitor all such updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all 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 NEWS: Open House and Dedication Dates Annnounced for Winnipeg Manitoba Temple/Other Major Developments Reported in Response to COVID-19

Hello again, everyone! Much to my surprise, one of two big announcements from the Church today was regarding the opening dates for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. The Open house will be held from Thursday October 22-Saturday October 31, with the exception of Sundayh October 25. Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside over the 3 dedicatory sessions,on on Sunday November 8, which will be held at 9:00 AM, noon, and 3:00 PM Winnipeg time, which is equivalent to 8:00 Am, 11:00 AM, and 2:00 PM here in Utah. A youth devotional for those in Aaronic Priesthood Quorums and Young Women classes, along with their leaders and parents, will be held the night before. This announcement suggests to me that the Church anticipates tthat COVID-19 conditions will have cleared sufficiently to allow the open house and dedication of this temple as scheduled. That in turn means that perhaps the Church will not have to change the planned arrangements for the open house and rededication of the Washington D.C. Temple. But one thing this announcement does not change is that the revised open house and dedication dates for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple are still pending. Hopefully the Church can soon announce those revisions, but for now, the arrangements for that temple are yet-to-be-determined. The other major announcement from the Church today was that the First Presidency has determined to cancel all treks and pageants that would have otherwise been held this year. That is a result of the Brethren's ongoing concern about COVID-19. But the Church has also donated cash and commodities  and Church spokesman Daniel Woodruff has provided a statement on how the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are handling missionary reassignments in the wake of COVID-19.General details on some of these developments can also be found for missionary work, Church pageants, and youth camps, conferences, and treks. And late yesterday, the Newsroom shared an article about how Latter-day Saints in Wales are partnering with local organizations to provide relief due to COVID-19 conditions in that nation.

It is plain to see that, even in the midst of COVID-19 conditions, the work continues to make outstanding progress on a wide variety of fronts. I continue to monitor all such developments and will pass word o all Church news updates and temple construction milestones and will be sure to pass word of htose along to you all ASAP after I learn of them. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Interior Renderings Released for Tooele Valley Utah Temple; Groundbreaking Arrangements Set for Feather River California Temple

Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news on two fronts has been reported this morning. Firstly, the First Presidency released the interior renderings for the Tooele Valley Utah Temple. Project leaders have obtained sufficient city approval for the release of those renderings, and the groundbreaking arrangements for that temple at a later date. The renderings appear to draw direct inspiration from the architecture of buildings in the area, and many of the design elemnts are comparable to the beautiful natural scenes from many outdoor areas in Tooele. Aside from these notes, I will let the images speak for themselves, but if any of you have any other insights to share on these designs, I'd love to hear from you. If that were the only breaking temple news, it would be wonderful enough, but the First Presidency additionally announced this morning that the groundbreaking has been set for the Feather River California Temple. Oddly enough, that temple groundbreaking will be held in mid-July, on Saturday July 18, to be precise, marking the first time since the late 1990s-early 2000s under the Hinckley-era temple building boom that the Church has set a groundbreaking ceremony to take place in July, which is typically a recess month for all General Authorities of the Church. Elder Scott D. Whiting, a General Authority Seventy who currently serves as an Assistant Executive Director in the Temple Department and as First Counselor in the North America West Area, has been asked to preside over that groundbreaking ceremony. In a period of time where the latest temple groundbreakings have been conducted by apostles, members of the Presidency of the Seventy, or primarily the presidents of the areas in which the temples are being built, it is nice to see the status quo being shaken up in that respect a little.

Elder Whiting becomes the first representative from the Temple Department to preside at a groundbreaking since Elder Larry Y. Wilson, who at the time was the Executive Director of that Department, presided over the groundbreaking for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple after the original arrangemenst for that temple's groundbreaking (which would have seen Elder Ulisses Soares, then of the Presidency of the Seventy, preside thereat) had to be altered. Attendance at the Feather River California Temple site for the groundbreaking will be by invitation only, but additional details will be provided to those within the anticipated temple district closer to the date of that groundbreaking. With the news of the Feather River California Temple groundbreaking, there will be a 5-week period between the previously-scheduled groundbreaking for the Auckland New Zealand Temple (which is set to occur on Saturday June 13) and the groundbreaking for the Feather River California Temple. Based on the unexpected timing whereby this groundbreaking was set, and also based on the unexpected scheduling arrangements for it, I have no doubt many other surprise announcements relating to temples that will soon have a groundbreaking will be coming down the pike.

The Feather River California Temple thus joins the Alabang Philippines, Layton Utah, and Auckland New Zealand Temples as being scheduled for a groundbreaking, and the Tooele Valley Utah Temple also remains at the top of my list of temples for which a groundbreaking is anticipated to be announced soon. And that also opens up the possibliy that the Moses Lake Washington, McAllen Texas, and Bentonville Arkansas Temples (all of which will be on the smaller side) could have groundbreakings scheduled later this year, with those announcements scheduling those groundbreakings around the groundbreakings for some of the larger US temples. And I cannot in good conscience rule out the prospect that other surprise groundbreakings may be scheduled at unexpected times with an announcement made earlier than anticipated.

I continue to monitor all such developments and will do my level best to bring word of the latest Church news and temple updates to you all here as I become aware of such developments. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Prayers Would Be Appreciated (Yet Again)

Hello again, everyone! Earlier this afternoon, my wife Amy got an update on her dad, who is around the same age as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. While we may not have all the details at present, what we do know about her dad's present health isutaion troubles us deeply. As a result of Amy having chatted with one of her brothers (who lives next door to her dad), they have made the determination that she needs to go stay with her dad. She will be heading out to do so later this evening. Because we have a cat here at home, and due to my not feeling well, I will be staying here at our house during the time she is gone. Your prayers woul again be very much appreciated on behalf of her dad (Gene Nuttall), and on behalf of my wife and myself during this time, especially since, with all temples still closed due to COVID-19, we will not be able to put our names and her dad's name on the prayer roll at the present time. Although there may be logistical changes to my availability to report Church news and temple developments during the period of time when my wife will be staying with her dad,  I will still do my level best to bring you all word of any Church news, temple updates, or anything else, as I become aware of such things. 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: PDF Version of May 2020 Ensign Now Available

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to report a breaking news development. The PDF version of the May 2020 Ensign is now available. Aside from my running a comparison between how my mock-up of the possible table of contents for this Ensign compared to the actual thing, I gleaned a couple more interesting insights from that layout. First of all, the Church managed to pack all the content from the conference into a 128-page magazine, rather than using the 144 pges which have been somewhat standard for the May Ensign most years, and occasionally has been the case for the November edition. That suggests to me that a 128-page edition may be the new standard going forward. As a result of it being a 128 page edition, the chart showing the current General Authorities and General Officers of the Church was on pages 64-65, not 72-73 as I had conjectured. And oddly enough, rather than having two full-page images on either side of that chart, this edition saw the text of General Conference messages take up pages 63 and 66. There were some talks by the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, GA Seventies, Presiding Bishopric, and General Officers of the Church which also took up a different amount of space (some more, and some less) than I had predicted. But one of my biggest takeaways from this General Conference edition is something in the photographs that I had not anticipated. We had been aware, of course, that the Church had requested images from members of them watching General Conference in their homes, of which many were featured. But I wasn't exactly sure how the First Presidency had handled the positioning of those who spoke or prayed in each session. We did see in the sessions that the First Presidency members were observing a 6-foot distance between each other, and that the apostles were seated the same way by seniority per session. But apparently, aside from the apostolic participants, the decision was made to have all other speakers and the two leaders giving the prayers in each session sit in the audience seats of the auditorium, then come up to the podium from there when it was their turn to speak or pray. That ensured that any who were participating in any manner were always at least 6 feet apart. It makes sense that was done, but I hadn't considered it as a possibility. With that said, I did want to note that I am still working on some of the other projects to which I have previously referred, and which I hope to post ASAP.

I have even put together a preliminary edition of my predictions for the October 2020 General Conference. I may hold off on publishing that here for the time being so I can continue to make any necessary adjustments. As of right now, it is my hope that the October 2020 General Conference may be more of a normal one, being able to convene in the Conference Center without limitations on attendees or the number of participants taking part in each session, but I am holding off on putting anything solid in that respect up on this blog until more is known about any adjusted meeting regulations. The Utah Governor, Gary Herbert, spoke during a press conference earlier this afternoon, nd stated he hoped to be able to initiate a soft reopening of some of this state one week from today. If that happens, and is a successful step in opening Utah fully, that might lift restrictions on social distancing, and would enable the October 2020 General Conference to proceed with the standard number of participants (with most General Authorities and General Officers able to attend most sessions) and being able to be held in the Conference Center for a capacity congregation (21,000 individuals). Stay tuned for those predictions once I figure that out, and for all other projects as I am able to complete them.

I also continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all here as I become aware of them. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Location and Preliminary Details Confirmed for the Bentonville Arkansas Temple

Hello again, everyone! Right after publishing my most recent comment in the threads of the previous post, something prompted me to refresh my browser on the Newsroom website. When I did, I came across a brand new breaking news development. The First Presidency has confirmed the location and preliminary details for the Bentonville Arkansas Temple. It will be built on an 8.8 acre site at 1101 McCollum Road. In addition to retaining the on-site meetinghouse, the site will feature a single-story temple of roughly 25,000 square feet. Project leaders in the coming months will work with city leaders through the approvals process. And it would not shock me at all if a groundbreaking for this temple could take place before the end of this year, which seems more likely than not. The temple, originally announced in October 2019, becomes the fourth of the eight announced during that General Conference, to have preliminary details officially confirmed.

As anticipated, President Nelson is not letting the proverbial moss grow under his feet, and is taking serious action on the backlog queue of announced temples. I continue to monitor all such developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all 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.