UPDATE: How My Projected Table of Contents for the May 2021 Liahona Compared with the Actual Version; Possible Changes in the Magazine Advisers' Specific Assignments

Hello again, everyone! My wife and I received our copy of the May 2021 Liahona magazine last week, at which time I took the opportunity to compare how my mockup of the table of contents for the magazine compared with the actual physical copy, since the PDF version thereof remains unavailable due to a likely glitch in the Church's computer servers used to post that information. I had hoped that the PDF version would be up by now, but so far, that has not occurred.

So I decided just now to go ahead and share the report. First, I wanted to comment on a couple of interesting elements to the magazine. With the May 2021 Liahona being the first full General Conference edition, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. So as I was thumbing through it, I noticed something interesting. Where information about the editor and advisers of the magazine are listed, there were only a few nams specified this time, with Elder Randy D. Funk listed as the editor of the magazine, and 4 other leaders (Sharon Eubank, Walter F. Gonzalez, Jan E. Newman, and Michael T. Ringwood).

That was intriguing to me because the January-April and June editions had a longer list of advisers noted. In addition to the 4 names I mentioned above, Elders Marcos A. Aidukaitis, Jeremy R. Jaggi, Adrian Ochoa, Sisters Michelle D. Craig and Becky Craven (the respective First and Second Counselors in the Young Women General Presidency), Sister Cristina B. Franco (the since-released Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency), and Brother Bradley R. (Brad) Wilcox, Second Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency.

As I was pondering the difference in the lists of advisers in the May vs. June editions of the Liahona, I remembered that each conference edition of each magazine goes to print later than regular editions, due to the increased amount of content that needs to be accounted for. With that in mind, it wouldn't surprise me if the June magazine went to print faster than the May edition, which might explain why the list of advisers mentioned in the May Liahona is different from June.

If that theory proves correct, then in the coming months, we may have more information, but for now, I am wondering if those who have been or will be listed as advisers going forward will be specifically assigned to individual magazines. If I am correct on this theory, then my assumption is that the editor and Elders Ringwood and Gonzalez (who respectively serve as the Executive Director and Assistant Executive Director of the Priesthood and Family Department) will be the only ones listed as serving in a role for all three magazines going forward. 

I further assume that Brother Newman, as the representative from the Sunday School General Presidency, will also be listed as an adviser specifically to the Liahona (but possibly to one or both of the other two magazines), with Sisters Craig and Craven and Brother Wilcox being specifically assigned as advisers to the For the Strength of Youth magazine, and the member of the Primary General Presidency specifically listed as an adviser to The Friend. 

Until further evidence suggests otherwise, the Church may have opted to assign specific advisers to specific magazines, rather than having all of the advisers be assigned to all of the magazines. Aside from that, this edition brought a few other surprises. Given the increased amount of photographs or other images used, more of the talks in General Conference are taking up slightly more spac than usual.

Let me explain what I mean on that further. For talks given by any of our apostles, those have ranged anywhere from 3-4 pages in general. A few more of the apostolic talks shared in the Liahona span 5 pages, including the photographs or images. Meanwhile, with most talks by non-apostolic speakers typically taking 2-3 pages, more of those took 3-4 pages this time around. The conference edition was also a standard 144 pages in length.

Additionally, something else I wasn't anticipating was that the News of the Church section in the back part of the magazine was subdivided into 3 new sections: New Callings (providing brief half-page biographies for newly-called leaders, including the two new incoming members of the Presidency of the Seventy), the News of the Church section covering other developments, and a two-page conclusion sharing some suggestions for those teaching from the General Conference talks.

Aside from these notes, the table of contents document to which I linked above is pretty self-explanatory. Hopefully whatever is causing the problems with the Church website server might soon be resolved, which will hopefully allow the PDF versions of the magazines to be published as usual. I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: 8 Temples in North America and Europe to Offer Proxy Work; 5 Latin American Temples to Unpause Operations

Hello again, everyone! As I noted yesterday, temple reopening announcements will now be made on Tuesday, although they will continue to go into effect on Monday as specified in their announcements, unless otherwise noted. The Newsroom and the Church News have announced changes affecting a total of 13 temples this week in Latin America, North America and Europe, with those changes confimed by the status tracker

First, the Helsinki Finland Temple will offer all proxy ordinances, effective Monday May 24. Meanwhile, the temples in Idaho Falls and Rexburg Idaho, Anchorage Alaska, Chicago Illinois, Montreal Quebec, and Regina Saskatchewan will move to phase 2-B, offering all living ordinances in addition to proxy baptisms. Meanwhile, the temples in Columbus Ohio and Washington D.C. are being given phase 2-B status as well, which will allow patrons in those districts to schedule proxy baptisms at the nearest open temples.

And 5 more temples in Latin America (Concepcion and Santiago Chile, Porto Alegre Brazil, Quetzeltenango Guatemala, and Trujillo Peru) were confirmed to have resumed all phase 2 operations following their recent respective pauses. 

As previously announced last week, the Kansas City Missouri and London and Preston England As of May 17, the Church's temple reopenings will stand as follows: 8 closed for major renovations; 1 (Kyiv Ukraine) which has still not opened in any phase since all temples were closed last year; 4 temples "paused" in their reopenings (1 in phase 1,  1 in phase 2, and 2 in phase 3); 4 in phase 1; 49 in phase 2; 75 in phase 2-B; and 27 in phase 3. Further information on these updates can be found in the links I shared at the beginning of this post.

I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will bring you all word of those 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exact Groundbreaking Dates Unofficially Confirmed for 3 Temples in the United States

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, a comment on this blog on Saturday that was posted by Eric S. noted the report that the groundbreaking for the Deseret Peak Utah Temple was scheduled to occur this Saturday (May 15). Today, the construction status page for the Church Temples site unofficially confirmed that information. But more than that, the page in question also noted exact dates for next month's groundbreakings for the Talahassee Florida Temple (Saturdy June 5) and the Syracuse Utah Temple (Saturday June 12).

Although the Church won't be officially confirming the dates of each of these groundbreakings until the exact days on which they each occur, generally, if the Church Temples site notes a date in advance of that confirmation, that information has traditionally proven correct. So I have no doubts that each of these temples will have their groundbreakings on those exact dates. I continue to also believe that the probability that other temples could have groundbreakings in June, July, or August remains relatively high.

Particularly, any of the remaining 6 or 7 temples for which sites have been confirmed or renderings have been released could have groundbreakings set, which also applies to any temples that could have sites confirmed, renderings released and even groundbreakings set in one go. Again, in my opinion, we have barely scratched the surface of the major temple announcements which will come down the pike throughout the rest of the year. I will do my best to track all of that aand bring you word on the latest developments as I am able to put that analysis together.

I likewise continue to follow all major Church news updates and will be sure to pass along my take on those as they are reported also. 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 Clark G. Gilbert To Serve as New Commissioner of Church Education

 Hello again, everyone! As some of you might be aware, when the Church announced changes in the Presidency of the Seventy that would be effective August 1, the first new member of that Presidency who was announced was Elder Paul V. Johnson, who currently serves as Commissioner of Church Education. Although it has been customary for a member of the Presidency of the Seventy to serve on the Church Board of Education (with Elder Robert/ C. Gay currently filling that assignment, and Elder Johnson likely to succeed him in doing so in August), generally, a call to the Presidency of the Seventy makes necessary a release from assignments like the Comissioner of Church Education.

So I had privately theorized that Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a new General Authority Seventy currently serving as president of BYU--Pathway Worldwide, might succeed Elder Johnson as the Comissioner of Church Education. A new biographical article on Elder Gilbert through the Church News confirms that theory: Elder Clark G. Gilbert will begin serving as the new Comissioner of Church Education, effective August 1. I imagine this in turn will necessitate a change in the presidency of BYU-Pathway Worldwide, but the Commissioner of Church Education usually plays a role in recommending a change in the presidency of any Church schools, so no doubt Elder Gilbert is qualified to know who his best successor may be.

I am grateful to have learned of this news and to be able to pass it along to you all. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: August Groundbreaking Set for the Sallvador Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! A short while ago, the First Presidency announced that a groundbreaking ceremony will be held at some point in August for the Salvador Brazil Temple. Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella, President of the Brazil Area, will preside at the event. An artist's rendering hax been released for the temple, but no square footages and been provided. This temple was another oringally announced in October 2018 by President Nelson.

There are a total of 7 dedicated temples in Brazil, with the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple completed and awaiting ran announcement of revised opening dates.Additionally, the Salvador Brazil temple will join the temples in Belem and Brasilia as being under construction. The Church has also announced temples in Belo Horiznote and East Sao Paulo.

The scheduling for this temple's groundbreaking did catch me by surprise a little. The Church hass previously announcecd that the Deseret Peak Utah Temple will break ground sometime this month, with the Syracuse Utah and Tallahassee Florida Temples following in June. Last year, one temple groundbreaking was held in July. Setting thee groundbreaking for the Salvador Brazil Temple for August suggests that the Church may try to keep July open for aany others that could have a groundbreaking.

I will note that I allso anticiapte announcements relatively soon for the Pago Pago American Samoa and Neiafu Tonga Temples, and that I'm similarly watching for an update on the Lindon Utah and Bahia Blanca Argentina Temples, among others. There is a chance, however remote, that no groundbreakings will be held between those for the Syracuse and Tallahassee temples and the Salvador temple, but I see that scenario as vnlikely, based on information I currently hava available. Either way, I am grateful to have heard of this announcement today, and fo the chance to pass word thereof on it to you all here.

I continue to monitor all other Church News updates and temple 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: 4 Temples in Brazil Unpausing; 30 More Worldwide To Offer Proxy Ordinances

Hello again, everyone! As reported by the Church News and the Newsroom, and confirmed in the weekly temple status tracker, 4 temples in Brazil will unpause next week, at which time 30 others around the world will offer proxy ordinances. Let's break down the details: First, with local COVID-19 conditions sufficiently cleared for the time being, the Campinas, Fortaleza, Recife, and Sao Paulo Brazil temples will unpause and will resume phase 2 operations. Meanwhile, also due to local conditions, the Toronto Ontario Temple will take a step back, from phase 2-B operations to phase 2.

As previously announced last week, the Kansas City Missouri and London and Preston England Temples remain on track to shift to phase 3, offering all living ordinances and limited proxy work (including baptisms for the dead).  Meanwhile, the following 30 temples will move to phase 2-B next week (listed below by area, then alphabetically):

Caribbean: Port-au-Prince Haiti

Central America: Panama City Panama; Tegucigalpa Honduras

México: Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tampico, and Veracruz

North America Central: Nauvoo Illinois

North America Northeast: Indianapolis Indiana

North America Southeast: Atlanta Georgia, Birmingham Alabama, Columbia South Carolina, Louisville Kentucky, Raleigh North Carolina

North America Southwest: All 4 Texas Temples (Dallas, Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio); Oklahoma City Oklahoma

North America West: All 7 temples in California (Fresno, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Oakland, Redlands, Sacramento, San Diego)

Philippines: Cebu City

As of May 10, the Church's temple reopenings will stand as follows: 8 closed for major renovations; 1 (Kyiv Ukraine) which has still not opened in any phase since all temples were closed last year; 7 temples "paused" in their reopenings (1 in phase 1, 4 in phase 2, and 2 in phase 3); 4 in phase 1; 46 in phase 2; 75 in phase 2-B; and 27 in phase 3. Further information on these updates can be found in the links I shared at the beginning of this post.

I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will bring you all word of those 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.

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 tbeir lifespan or tenure length milestones) roughly every seven weeks. Having last done so on March 14 (through utilizing two consolidated documents), it is time to publish the third such update for this year. As with that last update, 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.

The first document also shows information on three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (which will not be updated with the First Presidency as presently constituted until 2024), in addition to the longest2-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). 

Since my last update, it is worth noting thas of at the current Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as constituted beginning on March 31, 2018 (when Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares were sustained), have officially moved up on the list of longest continuously-serving Quorums of the Twelve Apostles from the 14th to the now-13th spot on that list. They will move up twice more on that list by the end of July of this year. I will be detailing the specifcs of those moves in my next update (which is set to be published here on Sunday June 20).

In a similar manner, the current members of the First Presidency, together with the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, with that group of 15 apostles as it has been constituted as of the last day in March of 2018, have not only served long enough to make the list of longest, continuously-serving apostolic groups, but they have already moved up from the 14th to the 12th position on that list, and are set to move up twice more by the end of July, and more than that, the current group of 15 apostles will actually move up on the exact same dates that just the current Quorum of the Twelve will move up. Again, more information on that is coming with my next update (on Sunday June 20).

Meanwhile, the second part  of today's update 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).

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, conFitinue 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 TEMPLE NEWS: President Nelson Announces a New Temple for Ephraim Utah; Renovation on the Manti Utah Temple Will Begin in October

Hello again, everyone! In a stunning and unusually-timed announcement, President Russell M. Nelson announced this morning that the multi-year renovation on the Manti Utah Temple will begin on or around October 1 of this year, that greater care would be taken with the multi-year project to preserve the pioneer's efforts and craftsmanship, and that renovation plans for the temple would be evaluated and adjusted on an ongoing basis as the Lord inspires the Brethren further in that process

But today's video from President Nelson also included something I had not expected. It has been somewhat traditional under the leadership of Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson for the bulk of new temples to be announced in General Conference, with a few announced outside of those gatherings. A few examples of that are the Payson Utah Temple, announced in January 2010, and the confirmation of the intention to build the Paris France Temple was acknowledged in the summer of 2011, with plans officially confirmed for that temple in General Conference several months later.

The trend of temples announced by President Nelson seemed to focus for the most part on announcing temples every six months in General Conference, with a focus between each conference on clearing the existing queue. But this morning, President Nelson announced that, in consideration of the multi-year closure planned for the Manti Utah Temple, the Brethren have felt impressed to build a new temple in Ephraim to serve those currently in the Manti Utah Temple district during its' closure, especially given the student body population of Latter-day Saint young adults attending nearby Snow College. So it appears the new temple announced for Ephraim will, in similarity to the Deseret Peak Utah Temple, be built on a similar accelerated schedule.

This is developing news I did not see coming, but I welcome it. I continue to monitor all such updates 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.

Initial Predictions for the October 2021 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! Having just shared some preliminary notes on my initial predictions for the October 2021 General Conference, all that remains is to share my actual predictions themselves. So for this post, I wanted to share my predictions for the speaker layout, the most likely changes in general Church leadership, and my preliminary list of locations in which a temple could be announced. The commenting period for these predictions opens immediately, and will go through Thursday September 30 @ 10:00 PM MDT, at which point I will need to make any last-minute adjustments thereunto that may be needed. I look forward to your feedback.

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I am also keeping my eyes open for all Church news and temple developments, and will be sure to bring you all word of those 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.

Preliminary Notes on My Initial Predictions for the October 2021 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! This month has been an unusual one, to be sure. The announcement of 20 new temples, with a site location and redering for 1 of those already confirmed and the announcement of changes in area leadership which will go into effect on August 1 have gieven us a lot to chew on. I was able to post the results of my April 2021 General Conference predictions a lot sooner than I traditionally have. On the flip side of that equation, we saw some delays occur that impacted the availability of the PDF version of the April magazines online. Some of the factors that led to that delay may also perhaps cause a delay in the release of the PDF version of the May editions of the magazines as well. And the Church has not yet uploaded the biographies of newly-called General Authority Seventies or the new Primary General Presidency, nor has the list of area seventies been updated. 

Above and beyond that, as Matthew Martinich reported on Saturday on the Church Growth Blog, the 2020 statistical report for the Church has not yet led to corresponding updates to the general or country-by-country or area-by-area statstical information for the Church. So it seems possible that some issue is occurring with the Church's network and internet servers on a wide scale that may be causing these delays.

So in the interim, in addition to keeping track of the latest Church news updates or reported temple developments, I have also taken time to put together the initial version of my predictions for the October 2021 General Conference. While my original intention was to just share the links to each part of those predictions with just a few observations interspersed, as I looked into what I wanted to share further, I knew I needed to devote a separate post discussing the context I wanted to go over, then follow that up with another post showing my actual predictions. So let's get right to that.

With a couple of exceptions, including the most recent General Conference, each April and October conference has conformed to some very specific standard patterns which I have used as a template for each General Conference that was not an exception. The one thing my predictions have not accounted for is what might be done with the extra time that is no longer needed for the Sustaining of General Authorities, Area Seventies, and General Officers, since any new area seventies will be presented in the General Conference Leadership Meetings.

The Church has also confirmed that the General Women's Session will be held as usual on Saturday evening. So when formulating my predictions for the speaker lineup, I had a few things to consider. Earlier this month, during the April General Conference, leaders serving outside the United States prerecorded those, which then aired live during General Conference weekend. That opens up the prospect that something similar could happen this go-round. 

Most of the General Authority Seventies I've put in the speaking order predictions are currently or will be serving outside the United States in area presidencies during this General Conference weekend, so I anticipate their remarks being prerecorded and delivered remotely. Aside from general authority seventies and the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, other considerations were taken into account for the Presidency of the Seventy, Presiding Bishopric, and General Officers of the Church. 

First, with reference to the Presidency of the Seventy, a little historical context might be helpful. During most of the combined periods when Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson served as the prophet (from 1995-2017), it was customary, more often than not, for the Church to call upon 2 currently-serving members of the Presidency of the Seventy to speak in each General Conference. During the October 2017 General Conference, the Church did not have any current members of the Presidency of the Seventy speak, instead asking Elders Richard J. Maynes and Donald L. Hallstrom, who had been released from that Presidency in August of that year, to do so instead.

Then, beginning with the April 2018 General Conference, only 1 member of the Presidency of the Seventy has been called upon to speak in each of the 6 General Conferences held between 2018 and 2020. The most recent General Conference was a slight exception to that, since we heard in the Sunday Morning Session from Elder Jose A. Teixeira (a member of the Presidency of the Seventy since August 2018) and also from Elder S. Mark Palmer (who was sustained during last General Conference to begin serving in the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1 of this year).

Other organizaions (primarily the Presiding Bishopric and each of the 5 General Presidencies of the Church) have had General Conferences since 2018 where, on a rotational basis that is hard to gauge, have not spoken in General Conference. With that in mind, my speaking order predictions project that no members of that Presidency will address us this time around. If I am incorrect on that, it's my feeling that Elder Brent H. Nielson could be called upon to speak, which might occur sometime during the Saturday Afternoon Session. But I could be wrong on both counts.

That being said, a word about the Presiding Bishopric. Beginning in October 2015, that group saw a higher-than-usual turnover. That began in October 2015, when the Presiding Bishop, Gary E. Stevenson, was one of 3 called to fill one of the 3 vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. His former First Counselor, Gerad Causse, succeeded him as Presiding Bishop, with the former Second Counselor, Bishop Dean M. Davies, becoming the First Counselor. The new Second Counselor called was then-Elder W. Christopher Waddell.

Then we came around to last October, when we learned that current First Counselor Dean M. Davies had been dealing with health issues, and was reassigned as a General Authority Seventy. The former Second Counselor, Bishop Waddell, was called as the new First Counselor, and relatively-new GA Seventy Elder L. Todd Budge was called as the new Second Counselor. Each of these changes led to anomalies in the typical rotation of speaking assignments for the Presiding Bishopric.

In October 2019, none of the members of the Presiding Bishopric spoke, and that also proved to be the case in the most recent General Conference. Of the three current members of the Presiding Bishopric, only Bishop Budge has not spoken in General Conference since his call to the Presiding Bishopric. So I figure he will do so this time around, and it seems likely that he will do so during the Sunday Afternoon Session.

That brings me to some thoughts about the General Officers of the Church. Any solid patterns in the typical rotation of general officers speaking in the general sessions of conference have been hard to pin down since President Nelson became the prophet. 5 General Officers spoke in April 2018, with only 3 doing so in each of the two General Conferences following that. In October 2019, April and October 2020, and April 2021, 4 General Officers of the Church spoke to us. While there is a possibility that 4 more could speak to us in October 2021, based on my study, I'm predicting only 3.

The possible number of General Officers speaking in the other 4 sessions are harder to predict in October because there is also the Women's Session that may factor into that. Based on my records there, this time around, I have opted to include 3 General Officers of the Church, which, along with the rest of the layout, leaves plenty of room for new General Authority Seventies to speak, but also leaves plenty of space in the layout for other General Authority Seventies who have not spoken for a while.

Having provided some notes specific to the speaking order, we move on to the list of potential changes in Church leadership. It seems likely that the 7 General Authorities who have turned 70 or will do so later this year are almost certain to be released. Similarly, each of the area seventies who are among the new mission presidents will likely be released, as will the new presidents of the Oaxaca Mexico and Denver Colorado Temples. In keeping with the usual tradition for October, I'm anticipating that there will be more releases of current area seventies than there are new area seventies sustained.

And that brings me to my last note about my initial predictions for this General Conference, potential new temples. I don't anticipate a hiatus on the announcement of new temples anytime soon, but anticipate instead that most new temples coming down the pike will be a smaller design that are more easily approved and have construction begin sooner as a result. If that happens, I don't see it as impossible to surmise that another double-digit number of new temples could be announced. I haven't yet added any new locations to the list, so I'm hoping comments on that list might yield a few more candidate cities I can add.

That concludes my preliminary notes on the predictions I have formulated for the October 2021 General Conference. The predictions themselves will be shared as three separate documents very shortly here. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.