Birthday Tribute to Elder Gerrit W. Gong, Who Marks His 67th Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back two days before Christmas to post a birthday tribute to Elder Gerrit W. Gong, who is celebrating his 67th today. As I mentioned earlier this month his is the last apostolic birthday to occur this year. The first apostle to observe his birthday in 2021 will be Elder D. Todd Christofferson, marking his 76th on January 24. Incidentally, for the first time ever on this blog, the next update I will provide on the latest apostolic data will be featured on the same day as my tribute to Elder Christofferson.

Having dropped that teaser, we turn our attention again to today's tribute to Elder Gong. Gerrit Walter Gong was born in Redwood City, California, on this day in 1953, to Walter and Jean Char Gong. While he was given his father's name for his middle name, his first name was given in honor of and out of respect to Gerrit de Jong, whose family his mother had lived with while studying at BYU-Provo. Both of Elder Gong's parents trace their ancestry back to China, although his father's family emigrated from China to the US during the late 19th century, and his mother's family are ethnic Chinese who lived in Hawaii.

After graduating from high school in Palo Alto, California, young Gerrit served as a missionary for the Church in Taiwan. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree at BYU, then continued his education at Oxford University, where, as a Rhodes Scholar, he earned a master's degree and a doctoral degree in philosophy. He first met Susan Lindsay, the woman he would later marry, while giving presentations at the MTC focused on the culture of Taiwan, to groups of missionaries assigned to serve in that nation (Sister Lindsay, at that time, was preparing to serve her mission in Taiwan).

At some point following her return from missionary service, while he was on summer break from Oxford, the two began dating. After Gerrit returned to Oxford, he and Susan (who was a BYU student) continued their courtship long-distance The couple was married in the Salt Lake Temple on January 2, 1980, and raised 4 sons. They spent most of their married lives in Virginia and Maryland. Brother Gong became a special assistant to the US Secretary of State in 1985. He went on to be a professor at Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University.

He continued his career as a special assistant in the US State Department and as a special assistant to the US embassy in China. In 1989, he served as China Chair and Asia Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He was also invited to participate in multiple education summits, in addition to serving on the United States Department of Education's National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. Towards the end of his professional career, he served as an Assistant to the President of BYU for Planning and Assessment.

As impressive as his career may have been, the far more significant things he accomplished was in the course of Church service over several decades, during which he was a bishop, stake president, and area seventy. During his time in the latter assignment, he accompanied the presiding authority to my parent's Stake Conference. As he spoke, I was impressed by his warmth, knowledge of the scriptures, and ability to teach from them. While I may not remember any specifics of what he said, the power of the Spirit which I felt when he was speaking was unmistakable.

After that conference, I had the opportunity to greet and chat with him informally. What I had seen at the pulpit while he spoke was even more apparent in his personal interactions with me and other members of my parent's stake. This is a man who feels and teaches by the Spirit. During the April 2010 General Conference, Elder Gong was among those called as a General Authority Seventy. He filled various assignments at Church headquarters for the first year or so after his call. From August 2011-August 2013, he served in the Asia Area Presidency as a counselor. In 2013, he was called as president of that same area.

As a result of Elder Ronald A. Rasband's call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the October 2015 General Conference, Elder Gong was called to the Presidency of the Seventy on October 6, 2015. He transitioned out of his role as Asia Area President and into that new assignment effective January 4, 2016. During his two years of active service in the Presidency of the Seventy, he had responsibility for overseeing the work of the Church in the North America Northeast Area. He also served on the Church Board of Education and Boards of Trustees, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Boards.Following the October 2017 and January 2018 deaths of Elder Robert D. Hales and Church President Thomas S. Monson, new Church President Russell M. Nelson called both Elder Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares to serve as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, marking history as the first Asian American and Latin American apostles of the Church.. They were sustained as such on March 31, 2018, and both were ordained to the apostleship the following Thursday (April 5, 2018).

Consistent with the general practice of the Church, and for the first time since the October 2015 appointments of Elders Ronald A. Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, and Dale G. Renlund, with the two apostles called, sustained, and ordained on the same day, Elder Gong, who is older, became the senior apostle to Elder Soares. In June 2018, Elders Gong and Soares met with representatives of the media for the first time as new apostles, at which time Elder Gong reported that he had been asked to chair the Scriptures Committee. He also serves as a member of the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, the Leadership and Training Committee, and the Outreach Committee, and had apostolic oversight for the Asia and Asia North Areas.

Elder Gong has given a total of 8 addresses in General Conference thus far, which includes 1 as a General Authority, 1 other given while he served in the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 6 since beginning his service in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Due to his potential exposure to COVID-19 (for which he tested positive a few days later), he had pre-recorded his remarks in the days leading up to the most recent General Conference. Having successfully completed his quarantine, he was able to preside at the groundbreaking for the Taylorsville Utah Temple later that month.

And because he had originally been assigned to preside at the dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, even though that event has been postponed, hopefully 2021 will see Elder Gong able to preside at that event or another temple dedication. I am grateful to have been able to honor Elder Gong on this, his 67th birthday. Because of my previously-referenced personal interaction with him, I can testify that the Lord has prepared him for his present assignment, and I whole-heartedly sustain him and the other 14 apostles.

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: Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple To Reopen Under Phase 3 Next Week; Site Location Announced for the Lindon Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! Two breaking temple developments have been announced by the Church wintin the last hour. First of all, a couple of weeks ago, the Church announced that some temples would soon reopen under phase 3 of the four-phase plan. Phase 3 allows the scheduling of limited proxy work, where local COVID-19 conditions and restrictions allow, and as scheduled. The first four temples set to reopen in that phase were based in the Pacific Islands and the Asia North Area of the Church. The Taipei Taiwan Temple became the first of those to reopen under phase 3, which became effective today.

Today, the Church announced that the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple will be the second of the original four announced to reopen under phase 3, and that change will go into effect next week. That is the one and only change in the phased reopening of temples that will go into effect next week. As of today, 11 temples remain in a "paused" status in their reopening due to local COVID-19 conditions and restrictions. 23 others remain in phase 1 of the reopening process, whiich allows for limited living husband-to-wife sealings were both individuals have previously been endowed. 

The reamining 121 temples that are reeopened remain in phase 2, which allows for all living ordinances, with priority given first to previously-endowed couples to be sealed in the temple, then to those preparing to be married who have not yet received those ordinances, then to missionaries already out in the field who were not able to receive those ordinances before their departure, then to all missionaries preparing to go out into the mission field, then to anyone else who may need to receive their own ordiancnes for any other reason.

I am grateful that the phased reopening of temples continues relatively unabated, and if that were the only news to report today, I'd be happy enough. But the Newsroom also reported today on the announcement of the location and preliminary details for the Lindon Utah Temple. Utah County's newest temple had been announced in General Conference two months ago, and the confirmation of the first official initial details today makes sense in light of the fact that the Church has announced temple locations for many United States cities of late within 2-3 months of the original announcement for that temple.

So let's get to the details. The Lindon Utah Temple is planned to be a 3-story edifice of roughly 81,000 square feet and will be built on property near 800 East and Center Street in Lindon. In the coming days, project managers will beging working with city leaders through the approvals process for that temple. One the necessary approvals and permits are issued, the Church will then set a groundbreaking time-frame for the temple. An exterior rendering for that temple will also be released once the necessary approvals are given for that.

Today's announcement marks the first time in roughly two months since the Church last announced any offficial details for previously-announced temples. This is also the first time the Church has identified a temple site without releasing a temple rendering at the same time since the announcement of the temple for Syracuse Utah, for which the preliminary information was announced on August 28. We see from this announcement that the Church continues to work on the current queue of announced temples. It will be interesting to see if any other announcements related to temple construction are made before the end of this year.

I will keep tabs on all those developments, in addition to all Church news updates, and will provide information about all of that here 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

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Ground Broken for the Mendoza Argentina Temple

NOTE: This post was originally published to this blog on December 16, 2020, at 6:28 PM MST, but the third-to-last and second-to-last paragraphs were added  above that last paragraph of this post on December 17, with the updated post published just before 4:00 PM the following day.

Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news has just been brought to my attention in these early evening hours of December 16. As confirmed by the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Mendoza Argentina Temple is set to occur tomorrow, Thursday December 17, at an undisclosed time. That temple's groundbreaking had been set to occur in November, but due to COVID-19 conditions in the Argentine province of Mendoza, that had to be delayed 2.5 weeks into mid-December.I am grateful to have been able to learn of and pass along this update. 

I had been reasonably certain that the Church would try to hold al the remaining temple groundbreakings for this year by no later than one week before Christmas Day (which would be Friday December 18), and it's nice to have that confirmed. With the groundbreaking queue cleared that much in advance of Christmas Day, I'm also certain that, at some point after Christmas and leading up to the new year, the standard announcements might be made of any changes to missions around the world and also relative to any groundbreaking ceremonies that might occur in January-March. 

You can count on my coverage of these developments as they occur. In the meantime, once sources are available confirming that the groundbreaking for this temple has actually occurred, they will be added to this post in some way, which will eliminate the need to cover that in a new post, or in the comment threads of this once that has occurred. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

Hello again, everyone! At some point this afternoon (December 17), an official report from the Newsroom was provided to confirm that the groundbreaking for this temple has indeed taken place. The Church has thus broken ground for 21 temples this year alone, which is an increase of 10 from the number for which ground was broken last year. 

The queue of temples for which a groundbreaking was set to occur this year has been completely cleared. so hopefully the Church will soon be able to announce other groundbreakings.And again, I am not entirely sure how soon construction might begin on any of the now-10 temples for which that process is currently pending, I am hopeful that at least a couple of these temples might have that occur. I will be most interested to see what happens with respect to temple construction to close out the year. 

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: Further Adjustments Announced to More Fully Align Seminary and Institute with the "Come Follow Me" Curriculum

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, in March of last year, Church leaders announced that  the seminary curriculum schedule would be adjusted to align with "Come Follow Me" starting this year. Fast forward to today. The Church just announced a short while ago that additional adjustments are on the way for seminary students in 2021. Previously, the seminary study involved a 9-month schedule aligned with corresponding reading assignments for other Church Sunday School classes and home study schedulee, with students essentially being placed on the honor system to continue their personal study of the applicable book of scripture when school was not in session during the summer months.

In order to ensure greater accountability in personal study with the seminary curriculum, Church leaders today unveiled new requirements that are consistent with standards that existed when I was in seminary 16-19 years ago (Has it really been that long? Apparently so.) During the period of time when school is not in session, seminary students will be responsible for reading through the curriculum and essentially learning the lessons personally when they are not being taught in class (that had only been optional wihen last year's announcement was made.)

Additionally, a new reading requirement will go into effect, In order to obtain seminary credit for any given academic semester, students will need to read in the relevant book of scripture 75% of the days in each semester. With a school year in the United States lasting roughly 180 days, each semester is roughly 90 days, which means that, in order to obtain seminary credit for any 90-day semester, students in the United States will be required to read from the relevant book of scripture 67-68 of those days.

Despite the relatively minor adjustments made to the seminary curriculum and requirements, this is another example of the Church taking action to place more responsibility for spirtual growth and progression on the shoulders of seminary students in this particular case, which is similar to individual and familial responsibility that has been put into place in conjunction with the "Come Follow Me" curriculum. Any additional details on this development can be found in the official notice that was released in conunction with this announcment. I am grateful to have been able to learn of and pass along this news.

I continue to monitor all other Church news and temple developments, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they occur. 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.

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BREAKING NEWS: Taipei Taiwan Temple To Shift to Phase 3 of Reopening; Parents Can Now Manage an LDS Account for Their Children

Note: This post was originally published at 10:28 AM, with subsequent updates added at around 4:00 PM.

Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom and the Church News have noted that the Taipei Taiwan Temple will be the first to shift to phase 3 of reopening one week from today (Monday December 21). Phase .3 allows for limited proxy work and all living ordinances to be performed. The Asia North and Pacific Areas of the Church have seen specific success in controlling the conditions of the pandemic.

On that same date, the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple will shift from phase 1 to phase 2. Phase 2 allows all living ordinances to be performed, with priority given to temple sealings for those previously endowed, then to living ordinances for those preparing for a temple sealing who have not received those ordinances, then to all misionaries currently out in the field who were not able to receive those ordinances prior to commencing that service, then to those who are preparing to depart for the mission field, and finally, to any others who may need to receive their own ordinances for any other reason.

Additional information on this can be found in the Church News' new temple tracker, with further information available through the Newsroom's official update. Consistent with the practices observed by the Church since the pandemic led to the closure of all temples, the general leaders of the Church are making decisions regarind the phased reopening of each temple based on information received from congregational leaders, and area, mission, and temple presidencies, in addition to monitoring any local or regional pandemic restrictions that has impacted and may yet continue to impact the phased reopening of all temples.

With numerous former physicians, surgeons, and other medical professionals in the leadership ranks of the Church, and bearing in mind how many governmental leaders are being cavalier in terms of their lack of support for recommendations provided by competent medical professionals, it is heartening to see the way the Church has been able to keep their adustments consistent with what is safest for all members of the Church wherever they may live.

The Newsroom also covered an additional breaking development, announcing that parents now have the option to manage an official Church account for their children. Technically, each member of the Church with a valid membership record is capable of setting up and managing their own accounts. But any Church member under 18 needs parental permission to set up their individual accounts, so this step of allowing parents to manage their children's accounts through their own accounts eliminates problems that previously existed in that respect.

Additionally, over time, Church leaders have noted that many children and youth who had managed their own accounts from the time they were set up have experienced problems remembering their login information over time. Adding parentral controls for Church accounts for those under 18 eliminates that particular problem as well. In conunction with this change, the Church has added a more flexible way to recover an account, which had not been enabled before now. The Account Recovery feature will particularly help in view of the fact that only one Church account can be established per member (since member accounts are tied to a specific and unique membership record number).

I am grateful to have been able to learn about and pass along this report of these developments. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as I become aware of 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: Groundbreaking Held for the Harare Zimbabwe Temple; Groundbreaking Likely to Occur for Mendoza Argentina Temple

Hello again, everyone! I have breaking temple news to report. Per information provided just over an hour ago by Nigel, my Church member contact living in Africa, ground has been broken for the Harare Zimbabwe Temple. Official Church confirmation of the particulars through a news release is still pending, but will likely be available through the Zimbabwe edition of the Church's official Newsroom within the next several hours or so. 

Update (added at 2:00 PM Utah time): An official confirmation of this temple's groundbreaking was provided by the Newsroom a short while ago. In addition to Zimbabwean native Elder Edward Dube, who presided at this temple's groundbreaking, Elder Ciro Schmiel, who serves as Second Counselor in the Africa South Area presidency, was also present, along with the president of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Official resources, including photos and videos, will be released at a later time.

Given the fact that it is past 4:00 AM here in Utah, this post will be updated later this afternoon or evening once I can find the report, analyze the information from it, and pass my observations along here. Based on what I can ascertain from the temple's rendering and planned size, I am setting an initial completion estimate of early-to-mid 2023 for that temple, assuming there is no inordiante delay in getting it under construction.

In the interim, as many of you may also be aware, although the Church had originally planned to break ground for the Mendoza Argentina Temple last month, insofar as I have been able to ascertain, that has not yet occurred. According to a few more official Church sources I have found in the interim, it appears that that temple groundbreaking is still anticipated to take place before the end of this year, which leaves the Church around a week or so to take care of that without detracting focus from the Christmas and New Year's celebrations worldwide.

So I will keep my eyes open for any word on that tegmple. I'm hoping we will have official resources noting that both groundbreakings have taken place before the end of the day today (Saturday December 12) here in Utah. I will be sure to bring you all word on the confirmation of these events as they are provided. 

Update (added at 2:00 PM Utah time): There has still been no word on the Mendoza Argentina Temple groundbreaking having taken place. Given the fact that it is now roughly 6:00 PM on Saturday evening in Mendoza, it appears that the groundbreaking for that temple might not have occurred today after all. I am still reasonably certain, however, that that will have occurred at some point within the next week, unless we hear anything otherwise.

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: First FourTemples Will Begin Phase 3 of Reopening In the Near Future

Hello again, everyone! A few weeks ago, material released by the Church News and the Newsroom on temple reopenings noted it might be a whionle before any temples are reopen under phase 3 of th Church's 4-phase plan. Phase 3 allows all proxy ordinances and limited work for the dead. Fast forward to this morrning. In prerecorded messages from each of the 3 apostles of the Church who serve on the Temple and Family History Executive Council (Elders David A. Bednar, Gary E. Stevenson, and Dale G. Renlund, the latter of whom would have recorded his message well before his recent positive COVID-19 diagnosis), announced that 3 temples in the Pacific (Apia Samoa, Brisbane Australia, and Nuku'alofa Tonga) and 1 in the Asia North Area (Taipei Taiwan) will be the first to reopen under phase 3 next week.

Correction (posted at 1:45 PM): Although it appeared that the release had noted that phase 3 reopenings will begin one week from today (Monday December 14), on closer reading, it appears that the reopenings are only being prepared to occur on Monday December 21 at earliest, if all goes well. I apologize for the unintentional misinformation in that respect.  Having noted that, we now return you to your previously-composeed content on this subect.

In each of the brief video segnments, the three apostles comp what was involved in making this decision, the prevailing protocols that will be in place for each temple thus reopening, and other details that will impact which temples enter phase 3 and under which time-frames that might occur. The Brethren continue to take COVID-19 protocols worldwide very seriously, and the latest developments are yet another manifestation of that caution on their part. In order to aid in the process of planning for thiese reopenings, the Brethren also announced a new online tool that will specficially be for patrons who want to schedule proxy work at a temple in a phase 3 reopening.

The First Presidnecy also released a letter, complete with FAQs, in conjunction with today's announcement. Aside from the temples moving into phase 3, other reopenings (phases 1 and 2 have been announced as well. Effective next week, the Panama City Panama Temple will open under phase 1, which allows for living husband-to-wife sealings where both have previously been endowed. This announcement means 26 of the Church's 168 temples are now simply in phase 1. Meanwhile, phase 2 reopenings, which allow living husband-to-wife sealings and all other living ordinances, have been announced for 4 other temples, including 3 in Mexico (Meridia, Tampico, and Villahermosa) and 1 in the Pacific (Melbourne Australia).

For phase 2, ordinances are prioritized in the following manner: first, living husband-to-wife sealings where both have previously been endowed; next, endowments for those preparing for temple sealings who have not been previously endowed; next. to missionaries currently out in the field who departed prior to being able to receive their own ordinances; then to all missionaries preparing to depart for a field of labor; and finally, to anyone else who has not received their own endowments for any other reason. With the latest reopenings in phase 2 that will take effect next week, 122 of the Church's temples will be in phase 2 by next week.

So, to recap, as of next week, 4 temples will be in phase 3, with 122 more in phase 2, and 26 more will be in phase 1, all to be effective next week. The Church News has also provided covreage on the phase 3 reopenings this morning, and has provided a new status tracker, complete with a different demographic focus, on their part. I am grateful to have learned of this news, and to have been able to pass it along to you all here at this time. Hopefully the process of reopening under phase 3 will go smoothly, particularly for areas of the Church in which COVID-19 conditions are sufficiently lessening to allow that to occur.

On my end, I also continue to monitor all Church news and any other temple updates, and will bring you word of those here as i become aware of those 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 Data

Hello again, everyone! As most of you are almost certainly aware, I have provided updates on the latest apostolic data (specifically relating to lifespan or tenure length milestones) roughly every seven weeks. Having last done so on Sunday October 18, I wanted to post that information again today. But I have overhauled that process. Let me explain what that means. There is a lot of data and information to update prior to publishing those updates on this blog. What I have been doing for a majority of the last two years has been updating three or more files, then compiling the relevant information and data into two other separate files, publishing only the latter two files on this blog.

But as I thought about the acceleration of the work of the Church, which will correspond to an increase in the amount of information reported here, I have come to the determination to streamline the process.  What I have done is consolidated the content in the three documents from which I compiled the data into two separate ones, and rather than publishing a report on the compiled data, I am posting the links to the two documents with the data in question. 

The new documents show tables with all the written information I previously shared. In being able to share updated versions of those new documents now every seven weeks, that wil simplify the process of preparing and publishing the data here. I'm a little surprised I didn't think of doing that sooner. Hopefully having the data in table form will make it easier to explore than the written-out reports on this data have been. 

As far as the new updates are concerned,the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents, information on the tenure length records for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and information on the longest-serving First Presidencies, Quorums of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles, which will be relevant for our current apostolic groups beginning next year.

And the second part shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the apostolic groups overall, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 2 of the current 15 apostles being on that list, and the timing noted for when each of the other 13 apostles will join that list).

I am grateful for the inspiration I received today to streamline the process of getting this updated information to you all here. Hopefully this shared data will be of interest to you all, and again, I offer an open invitation to anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. I will, of course, continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of 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. 

BREAKING NEWS: Elder and Sister Renlund Diagnosed with COVID-19

Hello again, everyone! A short while ago, the Newsroom provided another COVID-19 update. Elder Dale G. Renlund and his wife, Ruth L. Renlund, have tested positive for the virus. According to the statement from Church spokesman Eric Hawkins, that diagnosis came despite the fact that Elder and Sister Renlund have been taking all of the necessary precautions.  Elder Renlund reportedly has mild symptoms, and Sister Renlund is presently asymptomatic. 

The release also notes that other Church leaders are being tested as a precautionary measure. The second paragraph of that statement notes that the Church and its' leaders are following all recommended guidelines related to COVID-19, including social distancing, wearing a mask, frequent handwashing, and all other recommendations of healthcare profressionals. Although it is not incidcated in the news release, I imagine that Elder and Sister Rnelund are also actively involved in contact tracing. 

So that now makes two apostles (who happen to be seatmates in the Quorum of the Twelve) who have tested positive for the virus. We now have three apostles this year alone (from what we know) who have had significant health challenges. I hope that is another clear indicator that the Brethren are not exempt from issues that afflict and affect so many. 

I also hope that this news is enough to convince any who may have any remaining questions or qualms about following COVID-19 protocols that this is something that needs to be taken seriously. During a time when there has been a spike in cases, hospitalizations, and even deaths here in Utah, it has troubled me deeply to hear so much about people that are cavalier, casual, or downright obstinante about following COVID-19 guidelines.

The leading Brethren of the Church have set the example right off the bat in following the guidances of local health professionals and governmental leaders, and so many still seem to think there is no danger in disregarding those receommendations, or that the offering of such recommendations is a medical or governmental overreach.  

There are even some leaders of governments in certain parts of the world that flat out aren't taking any of this seriously, and the results have been the devastation of their nations and extensive losss of life and widespread devastation in the wake of the effects of the virus. Let me be as frank as I can be: I am deeply disturbed to see the fulfillment of biblical prophecy happening. 

So many seem to be saying "All is well in Zion" when that is clearly not the case. And we know from scripture what the result of that attitude will be. Elsewhere in the scriptures, the Lord outlines the clear duty that we as His children have in terms of taking care of ourselves, looking after one another, and being good and responsible citizens who take wise advice from any of our leaders seriously. 

In a day where it seems that even the very elect are being deceived, I think it's high time we look at ourselves in the mirror, reevaluate our motives and actions, make any course corrections that are necessary, and do what we can to show how much we love our neighbors. The Lord always showed respect to the laws of the land, and it behooves us to follow His example and injunction: "Go and do thou likewise."

Since I am in the vulnerable demographic for COVID-19 due to longstanding respiratory issues, my wife and I have been tested, and my wife actually recently got a second test., all of which came back negative. Even so, we have made a concientious effort to stay at home where possible, and to always wear a mask if we are ever out in public and outside of our car. We feel we cannot afford not to take those precautions.

But as the community-at-large, I feel all citizens of the world need to recognize what we owe to each other as COVID-19 conntinues to be an issue. Part of loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves involves recognizing that we need to stand with and take care of each other. And so, if any of the readers of my blog have not been taking the necessary precautions in accordance with recommendations from health experts, government leaders, and leaders of the Church, the time to start doing so is now.

That being said, I'll get off my soapbox now. I hope and pray that all who read my blog may remain healthy and well during this COVID-19 pandemic. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring word of those to you all 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Held for Okinawa Japan Temple

 Hello again, everyone! Yesterday, I reported on the December 2 groundbreaking for the Bengaluru India Temple, which had taken place on Tuesdayy December 2. On this Saturday morning, I am pleased to report that the groundbreaking for the Okinawa Japan Temple took place a short while ago. As had been previously announced, the Asia North Area President, Elder Taksashi Wada, presided thereat. The news release covering today's event reiterated the details on the temple: "The Okinawa Japan Temple will be located on a half-acre site at 7-11, Matsumoto, Okinawa Shi, in Okinawa-ken, Japan. Plans call for a two-story, 10,000-square-foot temple. A temple-patron waiting area will also be added to an adjacent existing meetinghouse that was completed in 2013."  

Given the relatively smaller size of this planned project, I'm going to assume that, if all goes well, the temple could be completed in mid-2023 at earliest or mid-to-late 2023 at latest. Of course, that will depend on how soon full-scale construction is able to begin, and a number of factors relative to any temple project. Between COVID-19 on the one hand, all kinds of natural disasters on the other, and any factors specific to Japan being added in, it will be interesting to see how all of that works out. Having noted that, we are barely 5 days into December, and reports have aloready been provided on two of the four remaining groundbreakings for 2020 already having taken place. 

This leaves just the Harare Ziimbabwe and Mendoza Argentina Temples in the queue, and with any luck, the next week will see both of those groundbreakings occur, unless either or both are postponed into early 2021. And with respect to those two groundbreakings, I have diligently checked the Argentina and Zimbabwe Newsroom pages, and have frequented the South America South Area page for any news on the specifics of either, and have not yet heard anything solid beyond what has been previously announced for the Mendoza Argentina and Harare Zimbabwe temples. 

As previously discussed on this blog, in some mentions of temple groundbreakings that were to take place this year, the Mendoza Argentina Temple was conspicuously absent, leading me to believe that it was possible that the groundbreaking might be delayed on that temple. Given that November specifically came and went without any word on that, and that there has been no subsequent information provided to suggest otherwise, I'm now going to assume that the Mendoza groundbreaking has merely been delayed, perhaps by local COVID-19 restrictions or some other reason. 

But as soon as I have anything solid to report on either temple, you can count on my bringing word of that to you all here. I also continue to monitor any other temple updates and all Church news and will be sure to pass along those updates here as well. 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.