BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exterior Rendering Released and Groundbreaking Announced for the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple; Claiification Provided on Tooele Valley Utah Temple Referendum

Hello again, everyone! I had recently noted that the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple was anticipated to be the next temple outside the United States to have a groundbreaking. Today, the First Presidency confirmed that theory with the release of the exterior rendering for that temple, and the news of the groundbreaking arrangements for it. That temple (another that will not feature the angel Moroni statue atop it) will have its' groundbreaking on Saturday September 5, the same day on which the groundbreaking for the Orem Utah Temple will occur Since Honduras is on Central Standard Time, there is no difference between what time it is here in Utah and what time it is in Honduras. Depending on the specific times at which the groundbreakings for the Orem Utah and San Pedro Sula Honduras Temples occur, one might occur ahead of the other, or they might occur at roughly the same time. No size has been specified for this temple, but based on the rendering thereof, I wouldn't be surprised if construction takes 2-3 years.

One other important note as well: Until the groundbreaking last month for the Feather River California Temple, the Church had had a somewhat long-standing precedent of a general authority presiding at temple groundbreakings. With the Feather River California Temple ground being broken by Area Seventy Elder Paul H. Watkins last month, that opened the prospect that other area seventies could be called upon for future groundbreakings. As of today, it appears that plans for the August 15 groundbreaking for the Salta Argentina Temple will still be done by the President of the South America South Area, Elder Benjamin De Hoyso, and that the Orem Utah Temple groundbreaking is still on track to be done by Utah Area President Elder Craig C. Christensen, but either could be subject to change. No matter what happens with these two temples, it has been announced by the First Presidency that Elder José Bernardo Hernandez Orellano, an area seventy called in April 2015 who is currently living and serving in San Pedro Sula Honduras, will preside at the groundbreaking for the temple in his city. This announcement opens the prospect that other temples could have a groundbreaking unexpectedly set.

In other temple news, a  new report on the signature-gathering efforts for the referendum on the Tooele Valley Utah Temple notes that, if the referendum is successful, due to city and state regulations, the earliest the question of the temple and the surrounding development could appear on a ballot in the Tooele Valley area is June of next year, so there would be a substantial and significant delay to that temple's construction time-frame if the referendum is successful. Hopefully it won't be in this case, because the Church hoped to build that temple relatively quickly to help with temple activity issues in the area during the period of time between now and 2024 (at which time the Salt Lake Temple is anticipated to be rededicated). If there is a delay for a year in the commencement of that process, that hope on the part of the Church might not be realized in this case.

Stay tuned for more updates on all such developments as I learn of them. In the meantime, due to the new developments for both of these temples, it looks as though I will definitely need to rework most of my files as a result of these developments, so also stay tuned for those updates as I am able to make 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 NEWS: Church Updates 15 Chapters of General Church Handbook

Hello again, everyone! On this last day of July, both the Newsroom and Church News have noted updates to 15 more chapters of the Church's General Handbook for all members, which included major updates to 5 of those 15 chapters. With these latest adjustments and updates, 16 of the 38 total chapters in the Handbook have received major overhauls in their content.

As some of you might recall, earlier this year, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve authorized the publication of the new single-volume handbook, which is being made available to all through the Gospel Library section of the Church website.Since that revised single-volume general handbook was first made available, the process of updating it has been somewhat ongoing to varying degrees as changes have been rendered necessary.  This post will provide a brief overview of those changes. In the section about stake leadership, clarification has been provided on how stake leaders should work with civic and community leaders on issues impacting their congregations, and how area seventies may invite stake leaders to assist on the coordinating councils that the Church has established within each of its geographical areas.

Next, for both the Elders' Quorum and Relief Society sections, content has been organized to emphasize the role of those organizations' presidencies in congregational efforts relating to salvation and exaltation. As previously noted, more responsibilities once held by the bishop are being delegated to the presidencies of these two organizations to enable bishops to spend more time with the youth. Among other changes, this means that the two presidencies in each congregation will take responsibility for missionary efforts and temple and family history work in their congregations. Additionally, Elders' Quorum and Relief Society presidents may now call coordinators for service and activities.

As a result, the calling of compassionate service leader in each Relief Society has been renamed "service coordinator", with that adjustment intended to further unify coordination between the Elders' Quorum and Relief Society in each congregation. Also, what was formerly known as "additional Relief Society meetings" will now become "Relief Society activities", and direction has been given for the stake presidents to take responsibility for calling and coordinating with the stake Relief Society president, rather than delegating those responsibilities to either of his counselors.  For the Primary, minor changes have been noted, with new sections for singing time and nursery. An expanded purpose for Primary, and clarification on Primary day camps have also been provided.

Meanwhile, other major changes have been noted for the Sunday School in each congregation, where the calling of counselors and a secretary in the Sunday School presidency will now be optional and based on the needs and size of each congregation. The Church has discontinued the practice of calling Sunday School class presidents, and teacher council meetings, which have solely focused on teacher improvement methods for organizational teachers in each congregation, have been expanded to include guidance for parents teaching their children in their homes.

And authorization has been given for the organization of a class specifically for new Church members and those returning to Church activity, those learning about the Church, and others as determined by the bishop, with the curriculum for that class being Come Follow Me. Additionally, adaptations that may not apply to some congregations has been placed into a separate section in the Sunday School chapter. The Church has also announced that meetinghouse libraries will be renamed "resource centers" with the calling previously styled "ward librarian" now known as "ward resource center specialists."

For the chapter on Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, a minor update in a new section discusses class options. Meanwhile, the chapter on Teaching the Gospel has consolidated the information about responsibilities of leaders under a new heading, which has been simply entitled, "Leaders' Responsibilities". and a new section focuses on "Home-Centered Gospel Learning and Teaching". Information focusing on the "Teaching the Gospel" course has been replaced by a section covering teacher council meetings. And Primary leaders have been given more flexibility on arranging for their teachers to attend teacher council meetings.

In the section covering "Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings", the Brethren have offered guidance that, when necessary, counselors in a stake, mission, or branch presidency, or bishopric may give approval for some ordinances and blessings in the Church, when they are authorized by the stake, mission, or branch president or bishop to do so in their stead. Minor updates have also been made to the chapters on Preparing and Recommending Missionaries and Temple Recommends, respectively. And for meetings in the Church, a section has been added to explain the coordinating council meetings, including how the councils themselves are formed, who attends the meetings, and the purpose of such meetings. And the Church has updated the chart of callings that is included in a Handbook.

Updated guidelines have also been provided in the sections covering Repentance and Church Membership Councils and Physical Facilities. And the section on Church Polcies and Guidelines has been updated to clarify instruction on unwed parents in the Church, a preface to policies on moral issues, birth control, donating or selling sperm or eggs, fertility treatments, the occult, sex education, suicide, surrogate motherhood, and the usage of medical marijuana. I am grateful to have been able to learn about and share these updates with you all here. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will keep passing those along as I learn about 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 UPDATE: KSL Provides Status Update on Tooele Valley Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! During the recently-concluded hor-long newscast at 6, KSL provided more contextual information about the  Tooele Valley Utah Temple and the issues that could impact the timing of construction for it. Although I presently have no source from KSl for the information they provided today, I will be sure to add that to this blog post when I have it. At the end of the first full week in April, the Church had released the artist's rendering for three temples, including the Tooele Valley Utah Temple. Less than a month later (on May 5 of this year), renderings of the  residential community  which was being planned by the Church's real estate investment arm were released.

According to the information KSL shared in their on-air story today, the temple had been planned to complement and contribute to the look and feel of that residential development, in such a way that there would be a visual coordination between the two. In the interim, residents have, as previously noted, been working on gathering signatures that would put the residential development on the ballot. What those who are excited about the temple and have no objections to that part of the plan fail to realize is that, if the initiative successfully gets on the ballot, any unity of opposition to the development would in turn impact the design and probable timing for construction of the temple itself.

So where does that initiative stand currently? A fair number of signatures have been gathered already, and the petition is apparently generating support. But the clock is ticking for the signature gathering process, which must be completed and have the signatures appropriately verified by Saturday August 15 to ensure that the initiative is successfully placed on the ballot for community input in the November elections. f the requisite number of signatures are not gathered and verified by that date, then the matter will not be placed on the ballot, and the Church could then have a groundbreaking for the temple as anticipated either in late August or early September, with the development going forward as planned, and the temple keeping its' exterior design.

Conversely, if sufficient signatures are gathered and certified by that August 15 deadline, then the initiative would likely be put to a vote in November. In the interim, the Church would then have two options. 
The first would be to wait on the outcome of the vote before adjusting the design of the residential development (which might perhaps also involve a redesign of the temple's exterior becoming necessary). The second option may be to initiate the process of making those changes to the plans so that, regardless of the outcome of that election, the Church would be ready to act ASAP on beginning construction for both the temple and the community. The key to the timing and details of the temple's construction appears to be dependent on the outcome of the initiative. As I noted earlier, some residents have made it clear that they want the temple, and are pleased with the interior and exterior renderings for it, but that they worry that a high-density residential community being built in conjunction with the temple would cause Erda to lose much of its' small-town way of life.

I guess I can understand that part of the argument. However, what I don't get is wwhy, when community input has been sought in every stage of this project's approval, there seems to be wide-spread objection to the overall plan for that part of Erda where there did not seem to be any of that before. Again, I will either update this post or provide a follow-up comment in the threads thereof once I have the KSL report on this story that was provided on-air today. In the meantime, I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, including the latest on this Tooele Valley Utah Temple process, and will be sure to bring word of those 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.

POSSIBLE BREAKING NEWS: Potential Arrangements Detailed for the October 2020 General Conference?

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, roughly 6.5 weeks ago, the First Presidency had  officially announced that the October 2020 General Conference will be virtual only, and would "follow the same pattern" as the April 2020 General Conference. In sharing that report on this blog, I had  conjectured that that meant that the Saturday Evening Session for October would perhaps also be a general session for all members and friends of the Churrch, with the conference utilizing prerecorded music, and perhaps with only all ordained apostles attending the entire conference, with the individual sessions being otherwise attended only by those who are speaking or praying in each session.

That was a theory I could not directly corroborate at the time. Later on, the event listing for that conference had shown that it would follow a similar pattern to April, but the page in question had listed the April dates in reference to the October 2020 General Conference. So I wasn't sure and wanted to wait for anything more official. Today, when I happened to again be checking  that particular entry, the dates in question were updated to be correct for October, and included the detail that the Saturday evening session would be "for all members and friends of the Church".

I want to be very clear here that unless and until this information is confirmed, denied, corrected, or clarified through an official announcement on the Newsroom website from the Brethren, anything that has not been officially announced should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. That being said, a couple of principles may be worth mentioning here. In  Doctrine and Covenants 68:4-5, the Lord provides Hris definition of what constitutes scripture. In an earlier revelation, the Lord also  explained the link between His voice and the voice of His servants.
With those scriptures in mind, I'd also like to cite a statement made by prolific apostle Elder Bruce R. Mcconkie, who noted the following in his scholarly work entitled Doctrines of the Restoration: "The proper course for all of us is to stay in the mainstream of the Church. This is the Lord’s Church, and it is led by the spirit of inspiration, and the practice of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scripture."

So, what I'm trying to convey here is that, if prophets speak for the Lord, as a result of which anything they say when moved upon by the Holy Ghost is scripture, and if the practice of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scripture, then it follows that, in most cases, updates to announcements or entries on the official Church website, when done with the approval of the Brethren, constitutes confirmation of the same, perhaps even of information not yet officially confirmed.
As a result, subject to any First Presidency correction or clarification, my assumption is that only the First Presidency (and some or all of the apostles) will attend each session, that only those other leaders who are speaking or praying will attend, that those leaders serving outside North America will be excused from attending, that the leadership sessions will again be postponed, that the music will again be pre-recorded, that the Saturday evening session will be for all members and friends of the Church, and that the conference itself will originate from the small auditorium in the Church Office building.

It will be interesting to see what happens in that respect.. And I will cover all new developments 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: 3 Temples to Begin Phase 1 Reopening; 12 to Move to Phase 2; Changes Announced for Endowment Ceremony

Hello again, everyone! Two landmark announcements have been made about temples today, providing ample breaking developments. Let's get right into all of that. First of all, the phased reopening of temples continues unabated. Effective next week, the Columbia River Washington, Guayaquil Ecuador, and Preston England Temples will open under Phase 1, which allows husband-and-wife living sealings to occur in those temple. 

But the First Presidency is expanding the phased reopening of temples today, with the first 12 temples announced for phase 2 reopening, which continues the closure of temple cafeterias, clothing rental, and patron housing, but allows those temples to be open for all living ordinances, which means that for those 12 temples, those going out on missions will be able to receive their own endowment before their departure.

The 12 set to open in that phase 2 status as of next week are as follows: Billings Montana, Bismarck North Dakota, Columbus Ohio, Copenhagen Denmark, Frankfurt and Freiberg Germany, Helsinki Finland, Seuol Korea, Stockholm Sweden, Taipei Taiwan, The Hague Netherlands, and Winter Quarters Nebraska. It is good to see the Church continuing the cautious and carefully-coordinated phased reopening of temples.

If that was the only big temple news, it would be reason enough to rejoice, but the First Presidency also issued an official message by way of informing the Church and its' friends of other faiths that more changes had been approved for the endowment ceremony in temples. This follows changes announced to temple worship in early January 2019. The nature of the changes alluded to today is not known.

But the First Presidency concluded today's statement with the following comments: "Given the sacredness of the temple ceremonies, we ask our members and friends not to engage in speculation or public discussions about these changes. Rather, we invite Church members to continue to look forward to the day when they may return and fully participate in sacred temple work prayerfully and gratefully."

As one who sustains the Brethren as prophets, seers, and revelators, I accept that final paragraph of counsel as setting the parameters of the breadth and depth of any discussion that may follow here on this blog about the changes to which the statement alluded. Therefore, those specific guidelines will govern the discussion (or lack thereof) of the changes in question. 

With the first temples reopening under phase 2 next week, hopefully the phased reopening of temples will continue undeterred, and I predict based on that that some temples may be open under phase 4 by the Monday before the October 2020 General Conference, but that prediction is subject to confirmation, denial, or correction through official channels.

In the meantime, I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring word and analysis to you all on that as I become are 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.

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Statistics

Hello again, everyone! Recently on this blog, it has become traditional for me to publish updated apostolic statistics relating to both the age and tenures of our current apostles roughly every 7 weeks. Since I last did so on Sunday May 24, it is now time to do so again today. Those updates, as has also been customary, the information will be featured in two parts: the first and the second. The information speaks for itself. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to pass word of those developments along to you all as I become aware of any 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Official Name Released for the Washington County Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! A surprising development that constitutes breaking temple news has been reported today by the Church Temples site, and has been corroborated by the Church's official list of announced temples. What has been known as the Washington County Utah Temple will now officially be known as the Red Cliffs Utah Temple, honoring the red rock cliffs found in abundance in that region. As one who has viewed those several times myself, this is a very fitting and proper name for this temple.

I am grateful that my theory that the Washington County name would not stick has proven correct. And I am grateful for the First Presidency's sensitivity to local culture in honoring southern Utah in general and the St. George region thereof in particular with a second temple that has an inspired new name. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple 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: Churchwide Youth Music Festival to be Held Virtually for the First Time Ever

Hello again, everyone! For the first time in a while, the Church has shared a breaking news development not related to temple events. Through the Church News, the first ever Worldwide Youth Music Festival will be held virtually. The festival is set to be held on Wednesday July 29. An invitation to participate virtually is being extended to youth worldwide, including friends of other faiths. The festival will follow the theme "Hear the Voice of the Lord", in conjunction with President Nelson's invitation to "Hear Him!" Featuring musical performances and testimonies from youth around the world, the event will also include brief remarks from a few Church leaders.

The event, being prerecorded, will be 40 minutes in length, and air at 6:00 PM MDT, through Youtube's "Strive to Be" page, Facebook's Church of Jesus Christ page, and through the Church's official Broadcasts page.The article inviting youth to participate in this event shares quotes from the Young Women General President, Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, and the newly-called Young Men General President, Brother Steven J. Lund. I am grateful to have been able to find out about this development, and to have been able to pass it along here to you all.

I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates, and will continue to pass along anything in that respect 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.

Review of Temple Construction Progress During the Second Quarter of 2020

Hello again, everyone! As the final minutes of June 2020 move towards their inexorable conclusion here in Utah, I am pleased to provide a look back at temple construction progress which has occurred during this second quarter of this year (spanning from April 1 until today). Within that time, 8 new temples have been announced. Open house and rededication arrangements have been scheduled and then postponed for the Washington D.C. Temple. And several more temples have had site locations confirmed, exterior renderings released, or groundbreakings scheduled.

Based on the developments that have occurred this quarter alone, the Church may also be queueing up as many as 8 temples for a groundbreaking within the next quarter (through the end of September), aside from the 3 already scheduled to occur in July, August, and September. It will be interesting to see all of that unfold, and to the best of my ability, I will continue to document those events as they happen. With those preliminary comments in mind, I'd like to remind you all where the Church stood in terms of temple developments as 2020 began, and where things stood by the end of the first quarter of 2020, just 3 days prior to the April 2020 General Conference.

Having posted those two links, we now look at where things stand as of tonight, which marks both the end of the second quarter of this year, and also the end of the first half of 2020. With the sheer number of breaking news developments relating to temples that have been shared by the Church during the first half of this year, it will be interesting to see what announcements come down the pike in the days, weeks, and months ahead. I will be particularly excited to see what happens in terms of temple developments during the upcoming third quarter of this year, and more importantly, between now and the October 2020 General Conference.

As I mentioned previously, I have no idea whether the Church might schedule any other temple groundbreakings to occur between now and the first weekend of September, when ground will be broken for the Orem Utah Temple. Assuming that the Feather River California, Salta Argentina, and Orem Utah Temples are the only ones that have a groundbreaking between now and September 5, then the Church will still have 11 to break ground for between that day and the end of the year.  

There are only 13 Saturdays between September 12 and the end of the year, if we exclude General Conference Saturday and the final two Saturdays of the year for Christmas and New Year's, and there might be a reason to exclude the 1 or 2 other Saturdays in November before and after Thanksgiving Day. So unless the Church holds more than one groundbreaking on any week between mid-July and the end of the year, there will have to be at least one groundbreaking per week.

As I also mentioned, it seems likely that, within the next couple of weeks, the groundbreaking arrangements could be announced at minimum for the Tooele Valley, Washington County Utah, and Taylorsville Utah Temples, and I can see groundbreaking announcements in the near future for Moses Lake Washington, Bentonville Arkansas, and McAllen Texas. I'm also hopeful that there could be private groundbreakings for several international temples as well, especially in places where COVID-19 has not had such a profound impact, and where construction can safely begin.

If all goes well, it wouldn't shock me to see the total number of announced temples go down to 30 or so from its' current 39, between now and the weekend of the October 2020 General Conference. But time will tell whether or not that is possible. I'm also hopeful for much more temple news coming down the pike. With all of that being said, that concludes my thoughts about temple construction progress which has occurred during this second quarter of 2020.  I would also mention here, just briefly, that my next apostolic milestone update is set to be published here on Sunday July 12, so stay tuned for that. 

In the interim, I am pleased to note at this time that, one week ago today (on Monday June 23), President Nelson observed his latest prophetic tenure milestone. As of that date, the length of time for which President Nelson had served as Church President became equivalent to the tenure length of Joseph Fielding Smith. President Nelson thus became the 14th longest-serving Church President.  He won't abserve his next tenure milestone until mid-February of next year.  In between now and then, his next prophetic age milestone will be observed in August, and I will be providing more details on that in the aforementioned apostolic update coming up on July 12. 

President Nelson's First Counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks, who also serves as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, recently observed a tenure-length milestone. Just two days ago (on Sunday June 28), the tenure length of President Oaks as Quorum President matched that of Harold B. Lee. As a result, President Oaks is now the 17th longest-serving Quorum President in Church history. He will observe his next two milestones as such on two consecutive days next month, and I will be sure to provide further details on those in the aforementioned July 12 update.

I am in the midst of necessary updates to my October 2020 General Conference predictions as well. And I also continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will pass word of all such developments to you all here 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.

Some Thoughts About Church Growth (or the Lack Thereof) in Certain Areas

Hello again, everyone! Although I anticipate that breaking news will be provided at some point tomorrow morning on the reopening of more temples under phase 1 (which allows husband and wife live sealings with limited in-person attendance), and although it seems more likely than not that the Church could share a couple other breaking developments relating to temples, I had something else I wanted to mention on this blog at this time. 

Before I get into that topic today, I also wanted to note that I'm specifically anticipating the announcement of at least 2 temple groundbreakings, and maybe also the new announcement of 1 or more temple sites and/or the release of one or more additional temple renderings. and that additional developments may be reported on one or two other fronts as well, what I wanted to focus a new post on today couldn't wait at all.  

Over the last few months since the April 2020 General Conference was held, as a result of the Church subsequently releasing quite a bit more in the way of nation-by-nation statistics that were updated as of year-end 2019, Matthew Martinich, who maintains the Church Growth blog, has been in the process of overhauling the content he provides in his "Reaching the Nations" profiles through cumorah.com. 
Through his blog, he has shared links to many of those updated profiles. And with that focus (and the ensuing comments in the associated threads thereof) in mind, I wanted to post some thoughts from me here about Church growth (or the lack thereof) in certain areas. Some of the most recent posts shared by Matt with the updated profiles focus on nations within Europe, Asia, and South America. In many of those recent threads, problems related to Church growth across those continents were detailed.

Those issues have principally been noted in the Europe, Europe East, Asia, Asia North, and South America South Area (with the possible exception of the nation of Argentina). In the early 2000s, the Church sent out 3 apostles (including then-Elder Oaks to the Philippines and Elder Holland to Chile from 2002-2004, and Elder Perry to Central Europe from 2004-2005). The apostles sent to those areas specifically focused on Church growth issues in those regions and provided a more personal touch towards fixing and/or reversing those issues.

Between 2002 and now, the Church has called 10 new apostles (Elders Uchtdorf, Bednar, Cook, Christofferson, Andersen, Rasband, Stevenson, Renlund, Gong, and Soares). Of those 10, five have connections to Europe (with Elder Uchtdorf being a native German, and Elders Bednar, Cook and Andersen having served in European missions, while Elder Soares has been a mission president in Portugal), two have connections to Asia (with Elders Stevenson and Gong both having served missions in Asian ntions, and both having served in Asia Area presidencies, while Elder Stevenson has also served as president of a mission in Asia), and 3 or 4 have served missions, in area presidencies, or as mission presidents in South American nations (namely Elders Christofferson, Andersen, Soares, and perhaps also Elder Rasband).

So I have a couple of theories here. First, many of the latest comments on the Church Growth blog have suggested something that I believe will absolutely be true, that COVID-19 conditions may ultimately lead the Church to see greater success in nations currently experiencing struggles with growth-related issues. I definitely hope that will be the case, and could see it happening. At the same time, however, a part of me wonders whether President Nelson, whose right-hand man President Oaks had the experience of previously presiding over an international area of the Church, may choose at some point in the near future to send one or more apostles out to any of these struggling areas and to take oversight thereof for a period of one to two years.

It may not happen, especially since the apostles have been utilized more frequently of late in performing duties typically done by the president of the Church or his counselors. But on the other hand, having such apostles in such areas would enable them to personally oversee some of those assignments while serving for a time as presidents of those areas.. And the apostles have been commanded in scripture to "send" the word and their representatives abroad rather than filling long-term assignments abroad themselves. There's a lot to consider about this scenario that may or may not occur again in the near future, just as it had been utilized in the early 2000s.

I will be interested to see if the current conditions impacting the growth of the Church on the Asian, European, and South American continents resolve themselves following the elimination of COVID-19 as a factor, and whether or not the Church needs to take action on any of these issues at that time. I also continue to monitor all Church news and temple 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.