Elder David A. Bednar Marks His 69th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! Given that today is June 15, I wanted to take an opportunity to pay tribute to Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who today is marking his 69th birthday today. So let's get into some details about his life experiences. David Allan Bednar was born in Oakland California on this day in 1952 to Anthony George and Lavina Whitney Bednar. His mother came from a long line of Latter-day Saint ancestors, but his father was not a member of the Church. Despite not having a formal Church membership, Anthony Bednar fully supported the rest of his family participating actively in the Church, and he would often step in and participate in meetings and Church activities, including various service projects, whereby he was in essence functioning in the same supportive way as other Church members did, but as one who was not a Church member. Young David would often ask Anthony when he would be baptized, to which his father replied that he would do so when he felt it was right.

Elder Bednar served a mission in southern Germany, during which time, then-Elder Boyd K. Packer visited his mission, and was advised that, in order to get through the necessary border security, he would need money. The future President Packer would later recount in General Conference that a young missionary provided him with the money he needed, and later revealed that Elder Bednar had been that missionary. Elder Bednar attended BYU-Provo, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's in organizational communication. He went on to earn a doctoral degree in organizational behavior from the prestigious Purdue University. He met Susan Kae Robinson at an activity for young adults. He recounts that they were playing flag football, and that he threw a pass, which she caught. Susan would later note that, incidentally, that was the only time she could remember catching a pass. That experience left a positive impression on both of them, and the two started dating not long afterward. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on March 20, 1975, and would go on to raise 3 sons together.

One major highlight of Elder Bednar's life came long after his marriage. Anthony called his son one day and asked, "Would you be free on (and he named a date in the near future)? I would like you to come and baptize me." He was able to baptize and confirm his father, and also ordained him to the priesthood.

He spent his vocational career as an educator at several secondary schools. For a four-year period (1980-1984), he was an assistant professor of management at what was then the College of Business Administration at the University of Arkansas. He spent the next two years as an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, after which he returned to Arkansas, where he served first as the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, then the Director of the Management Decision-Making Lab. During this time, he was recognized as being an outstanding educator through the receipt of many prestigious awards and honors.

He also had a few ecclesiastical responsibilities within the Church at around the same time. He spent several months as a bishop, then went on to serve first as the president of what was then the Fort Smith Arkansas Stake, then as the first president of the newly-established Rogers Arkansas Stake. During the final months of his service as a stake president, he was called to serve as a regional representative. In 1997, he was among the first men called to serve in the new position of area seventy. That same year, he was also called by the Church Board of Education to serve as president of Ricks College. His tenure there spanned from 1997-2004, during which time he led the transition of that college to BYU-Idaho. In October 2004, as a result of the apostolic vacancies which resulted from the July deaths of Elders Neal A. Maxwell and David B. Haight (which occurred 10 days apart), Church President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that the vacancies would be filled by Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf and David A. Bednar.

Interestingly enough, Elders Uchtdorf and Bednar joined only two other current apostles (now-Presidents Nelson and Oaks) who were called to the apostleship without having previously served as a general authority. At the time of his call to the apostleship, Elder Bednar, who was 52 at that time, was the youngest apostle to have been called since then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks (who had been called to the apostleship in 1984 Although he immediately commenced his service in the apostleship, he also continued to serve as president of BYU-Idaho for several weeks prior to the appointment of an interim president. Elder Bednar's tenure as an educator has molded how he speaks and ministers as an apostle. One of his common traditions as he speaks in General Conference is to invite the Holy Ghost to bless him and the rest of us as we listen to his remarks.

Since his October 2004 call to he has given 34 General Conference addresses, which are always well crafted and insightful, and are well worthy of review by all of us. He is currently the fourth-most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (which, including the current members of the First Presidency, makes him the seventh in apostolic seniority), and is still among the younger apostles, being the fifth-youngest both among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and all 15 ordained apostles as well. While I have never had the honor of personally meeting him, from the moment his apostolic call was first announced and onward since then, I have had a testimony that his apostolic call has been inspired and directed by the Lord, which I reiterate to you all today.

Given his relatively younger age in comparison to both the six apostles senior to him, and four of the eight apostles who are junior to him, I fully believe that, at some point in the future, Elder Bednar may serve as Church President. That, of course, will be up to the Lord’s will and the health and longevity of Presidents Nelson, Oaks, Eyring, and Ballard, and that of Elders Holland and Uchtdorf. And I want to make it very clear that such a prospect is merely my own personal opinion, and not anything I can attribute to anyone else. That being said, some of you will no doubt notice that one of the labels attachked to this post is "Temple Construction Update". That may warrant additional context from me.

Generally, when a new president of the Church is ordained, he has the prophetic prerogative to make assignment changes for his fellow apostles. Prior to the passing of President Thomas S. Monson, Elder Quentin L. Cook was serving as the Chairman of the Temple and Family History Executive Council. Within a couple of months after President Nelson's ordination and setting apart as Church President, Elder Cook was reassigned as the Chairman of the Priesthood and family Exeuctive Council, with Elder Bednar succeeding his immediate apostolic junior and seatmate as the Chairman of the Church's Temple Department. While Elder Bednar has served in that capacity, President Nelson has announced an unprecedented 70 nw temples, so there has been a lot for that council to consider throughout the last several years, and which will likely continue to be true for the forseeable future.

I am grateful to have been able to provide this tribute to Elder Bednar as he marks he 69th birthday today. I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will be sure to bring you word of thos as I receve them. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Locations Announced and Preliminary Details Confirmed for Three Temples in the Western United Statles

Hello again, everyone! More breaking temple news has been reported by the Church this morning. The site locations and preliminary details have been confirmed for 3 temples in the Western United States. Each of the three were announced by President Nelson in last April's General Conference, and two of them will be a similar size to the Helena Montana Temple, so I'd anticipate on those two that the site announcements will be followed fairly shortly by released renderings and groundbreakings set to occur in coming months. Let's get to the details.

The Casper Wyoming and Elkn Nevada Temples are each planned to be 10,000 square foot edfices, which will be the sole buildings on the sites in question. The Casper temple will rise at a 9.5 acre site at the intersection of southwest Wyoming Boulevard and Eagle Drive. Meanwhile, the temple in Elko will be buillt adjacent to the southeast corner of Ruby View golf course.

Meanwhile, the tthird temple to have preliminary details unveiled is the Smithfield Utah Temple, which is planned to be a 3-story temple of roughly 81,000 square feet. It is planned to be built on a 13.3 acre site at the interxection of 800 West and 100 North. It appears that the Smithfield Temple will be around the same size as the Lindon Utah Temple, so the exterior rendering for Smithfield, when that is released, may look similar or identical to (or at least have some similar elementsx to) that temple.

Based on the timing of this announcement, it would not shock me in any way if all 3 temples were underway by the end of the year. And again, if swift approval can be obtained for the Casper Wyoming and Elko Nevada Temples, then theey might be likely to also use the modular design and be ready for dedication within 12-15 months of when those projects begin.

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

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Date Set for Helena Montana Temple

Hello again, everyone! In early May, when the Church announced an August groundbreaking for the Salvation Brazil Temple, I had theorized that other temple groundbreakings could be scheduled to occur. At the time, I was thinking about the Pago Pago, Neiafu, and Port Moresby Temples in the Pacific. However, I was open to the idea that others could be scheduledl as well.

I am pleased, therefore, to report this mroning that, two months after being announced in the last General Conference, and around 6 weeks after having its' site confirmed and rendering released, a groundbreaking date has been released for the Helena Montana Temple. By contrast to other temples which have had or will have a groundbreaking in the midst of COVID-19, an exact date has been announced for this event. It will take place before the end of this month, on  Saturday June 26.

Elder Vern P. Stanfill, a native of Montana, who is currently serving as First Counselor in the North America Southeast Area and will become the area president in August, will preside at this groundbreaking for the temple  Since he was born and raised in an area less than 35 miles from where the temple will be built, he has various personal connections to the area, which is why he will oversee this groundbreaking outside of his area assignment.

As noted previously, the Helena Montana Temple is anticipated to use modular parts that can be put together on-site and hasten construction on the temple. The construction process is anticipated to take 12-15 months, so a dedication for this temple could easily occur in mid-to-late 2022. As I previously noted, I anticipate that this temple will be a pilot test for how quickly temples of a similar size, design, and used materials can be built.

It will be interesting to see what happens there. 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: Reopening Status Changes Announced for 21 Additional Temples; Church Facilities to Reopen on Temple Square

Hello again, everyone! Within the last few minutes, the Church News and the Newsroom have provided this week's updates on temple reopenings, as further corroborated by the Church News status tracker. I will get to those details shortly, but also wanted to note that there has also been an announcement made this morning that facilities on Temple Square are likewise preparing to reopen to the public. There's a lkot to break down here, so let's get right into all of that.

First, the temple reopenings. The changes announced this week will impact a total of 21 temples in the United States and Mexico. So for starters, 11 templs (7 in the United States and 4 others in Mexico) have transitioned to phase 3, allowing ordinances for the living in the previously-established priority order, in addition to allowing those in the affected temple districts to schedule proxy work.

The phase 3 reopenings are now in effect for the following temples (with United States locations listed first, followed by Mexico's): Baton Rouge Louisiana; Lubbock Texas; Ogden Utah; Oklahoma City Oklahoma; Reno Nevada; St. Louis Missouri and Winter Quarters Nebraska in the United States, and the Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tampico, and Veracruz Temples in Mexico.

Additionally, less than two weeks from now, the following temples will move to phase 2-B: In the United States: Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Florida; St. Paul Minnesota; Manhattan New York; and Detroit Michigan. In Mexico: Ciudad Juarez, Colonia Juarez Chihuahua, and Villahermosa Mexico. In Europe: Freiberg Germany. And in South America: Lima Peru.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple has paused in its' reopening as the result of  COVID-19 conditions and resulting restrictions. With today's announcement, 14 of the 60 total temples for which a phase 3 reopening was previously announced have officially moved to that phase, leaving the remaining 46 that are anticipated to reopen at some point.

With these announced changes, as of Monday June 14, the Church's temple reopening process will stand as follows: 8 temples are currently closed for renovation ( of those 8 has been given a phase 1 designation, while 5 others have been granted a designation of phase 2-B. That allows those living in the affected districts to schedule the authorized living or proxy work at the temple closest to the one to which they are currently assigned. 

1 temple (Kyiv Ukraine) remains closed. 6 previously-reopened temples remain paused (3 had reached phase 3, 2 were in phase 2-B, and 1 had reached phase 1). As far as officially reopened temples, as of next Monday, there will be 2 remaining in phase 1; 30 in phase 2; 80 in phase 2-B; and the remaining 41 in phase 3. The information released today also notes that by the end of July, at least 139 of the Church's total 168 operating temples will be designated for proxy work.

That wraps up coverage of the temple reopenings. We now turn to the other breaking development, the reopening of several facilities on Temple Square to the public. The way that will work is by allowing limited in-person tours by small groups, with options for virtual tours online remaining available as well. The Conference Center will be the first to reopen, and that is set to occur on Monday. The fact that that facility is reopening for tours will not change the parameters announced yesterday for the October General Conference.

On July 8, the Assembly Hall and Tabernacle will reopen, as will the Family History and Church History Libraries.  Then on August 2, the Beehive House and Church History Museum will reopen.  Further specific details are available through the Newsroom and Church News releases, including information about the recommended health and safety protocols in play.

I am grateful to have been able to learn of these breaking news updates and to have passed them along to you all here. I continue to monitor all such developments (Church news and temple updates) and will be sure to pass those along as well when I come acorss them. I have also revised my predictions for the upcoming General Conference and hope to have those posted within the next 24 hours or less.

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: First Presidency Announces Discontinuation of Saturday Evening Sessions of General Conference

Hello again, everyone!i Within the last couple of minutes, break ing news has been reported relating to General Conference. In an ongoing effort to reduce and simplify the work of the Church, and as a result of General Conference being more readily available worldwide, effective imeediately, Satuday Evening Sessions on General Conference will be discntinued. The change means no Women's Session each October, and no Priesthood session every April.

Additionally, the First Presidency has also noted that the October 2021 General Conference will again be closed to the public, following the same parameters as rhe previous 3 held during the pandemic. The four sessions will again originate from the Conference Center auditoruim, Although nothing in that respect has been noted as of yet, I imagne that prerecorded music is a given and that only the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and those speaking at or praying during each session.Since I am still in the process of updating my October General Conference predictions, it very well could be that this announcemnt will send me right back to thd drawing board again. 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: Additional Phased Temple Reopenings Announced

Note: This post was originally published as scheduled at 10:15 AM, with subsequent updates added between 11:45 AM and 12:45 PM.

Hello again, everyone! The Church News previously announced that the weekly announcements about temple reopenings were moving from Monday to Tuesday. That was followed by the major announcement last week that just over three quarters of temples worldwide will move into phases of proxy work by the end of July.

As a result of those announcements, this week, further details and updates have been shared. Let's get right into discussing all of that. First, for informational purposes, these updates are being pulled from official announcements from the Newsroom, with the details further confirmed by the Church News. The Church News also has a weekly status tracker, which shows the updated status of temples by area. So anyone with any questions on the changes laid out in this post is invited to go to any or all of these sources for additional context.That being said, let's take some time to break down the latest announced changes. 

Effective Monday June 7 (6 days from now), the temples in Atlanta Georgia, Brigham City Utah, and Nashville Tennessee will be the first of those mentioned in last week's announcement to transition to phase 3, offering all living ordinances in the previously-established priority order, along with limited proxy work as scheduled. For each of these temples, as June 7 draws closer, members in those districts will be able to schedule whichever appointments are needed through the Church's online temple page.  

The question might be asked: If a number of temples were announced to transition to phase 3 by the end of July, why is the Church only starting with 3 of them? The answer to that question was provided in advance of the changes announced last week. During his concluding remarks during General Conference, he said: "You may be wondering when you will be able to return to the temple. Answer: Your temple will be open when local government regulations allow it. When the incidence of COVID-19 in your area is within safe limits, your temple will be reopened. Do all you can to bring COVID numbers down in your area so that your temple opportunities can increase."

So, based on President Nelson's statement, the Church continues to encourage all of its' members wherever they live to follow governmnt regulations relative to the pandemic. As COVID-19 conditions improve, more temples will be able to safely transition more towards normal operations. But in addition to the phase 3 reopenings for the 3 temples in the United States, the Church also announced today that two other temples, Vancouver British Columbia and Mexico City Mexico, are now in phase 2, which allows the perofrmance of all living ordinances in the previously-noted priority order.

Both of the temples now transitioning to phase 2 following a roller-coaster for both. The Mexico City Mexico Temple was first reopened in phase 1 in late August of last year, and has seen multiple issues where phase upgrades were attempted, only to have that temple paused in its' reopening before attempting to resume any previous operational phase. The Vancouver British Columbia Temple had originally shifted to phase 2 in mid-to-late August of last year, moving back to  phase 1 in November, so that temple is now able to resume phase 2.

And perhaps the shifts described in the efforts to reopen the two temples provides further insight into the need for caution and prudence in the process of reopening temples more than anything else could. Although some areas may have low transmission rates for the virus for the time being, if too much complacency occurs too prematurely, then any shifts announced by the Church may have to be undone or reversed. In my opinion, one major benefit of having a former physician as the President of the Church at this time is that he understands the effects that any health issues can have on individuals, communities, and congregations.

I have previously shared my belief that President Nelson has been held in reserve and that his life has been spared up to now because the Lord knew that he would be best suited to help the Church deal with the present pandemic. I love and sustain President Nelson, his counselors, and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and am grateful for their measured and moderate approach to resuming normal operations in the Church.

Meanwhile, as previously announced, the following 13 temples in the following general regions will reopen under phase 2-B, also effective Monday June 7:

United States: Denver and Fort Collins Colorado; Boston Massachusetts, Hartford Connecticut; Philadelphia Pennsylvania; 

Latin America (including Mexico and Central and Soouth America): Hermosillo Sonora and Tijuana Mexico; Manaus Brazil; Caracas Venezuela; Quetzaltenango Guatemala; Trujillo Peru

Europe: Lisbon Portugal & Rome Italy

In view of these announced changes, effective June 7, 8 temples will remain closed for renovations, with 1 of those given phase 1 status and 5 others given 2-B status (which will allow individuals or small groups to schedule ordinances through the page for their assigned temple at the nearest open temples); the Kyiv Ukraine Temple still being the sole temple of the Church that has not open in any phase whatsoever since all temples were closed last year; 5 temples remaining paused (3 of which had reached phase 3, with 1 each in phase 2 and 2-B); only 2 remaining in phase 1; 30 in phase 2; 92 in phase 2-B; and the final 30 temples in phase 3.

The Church will continue to monitor COVID-19 conditions worldwide and will continue to announce temple reopenings as those arrangements can safely be made. I am grateful to have been able to hear about these updates and will be sure to pass any additional Church news or major temple developments 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.

President Henry B. Eyring Observes His 88th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! On this last day in May, I am grateful for the opportunity I have to pay tribute to President Henry Bennion Eyring, who was born on this day in 1933, to well-known physicist Henry Eyring and Mildred Bennion. His father's sister, Camilla Eyring, married Spencer W. Kimball, while his father's first cousin was Marion G. Romney. Young "Hal", as he was known, was generally a very good student. He recounted an experiencHe asked his son what he thought about when he had nothing else to consider, and told him that he should pursue that subject.

This led young Hal to an eventual career as an educator and academic administrator. His family would later relocate from New Jersey to Salt Lake City, Utah. Although he did not serve a full-time mission, he was an active member of the U. S. Air Force, and was stationed in New Mexico, where he served as a liaison between military officers and scientists, where he was responsible for analyzing data from tests done on nuclear weapons. Prior to his military service, he had earned a degree in physics from the University of Utah. He also studied at Harvard, where he eventually earned both a masters' and doctoral degrees in Business Administration.

While he was highly sought after by business owners who admired his analytical work, he chose to continue to pursue his education. In the meantime, it was not until 1960 (when Hal was 26 or 27 and serving in a district presidency) that he met Kathleen Johnson at a YSA meeting in New Hampshire. She was born in Palo Alto California, and had studied at Stanford before coming to Harvard. She also spent some time studying at the Universities of Vienna and Paris.

Because Hal was serving as a counselor in the district presidency, his district president (Wilbur Cox) adjusted his assignments to accommodate his desire to date Kathleen. Much of their dating relationship was built through long-distance communication or travel, with Kathleen making several cross-country trips prior to their engagement in the early months of 1961.

They continued their courtship for the next year or so, and were married in the Logan Utah Temple on July 27, 1962, by which time Hal was 29 years old. Their marriage was solemnized by his uncle, then-Elder Spencer W. Kimball of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Their family would eventually include six children (four sons and two daughters).

Two of their sons are Henry J. Eyring (who current serves as president of BYU-Idaho and as an area seventy) and Matthew J. Eyring (who is a Chief Strategy Innovation Officer with Vivint, a company specializing in home automation, who served previously as an area seventy as well.). Hal eventually became a professor at Stanford University. He continued his career as an associate professor at the Stanford School of Business for 9 years (between 1972 and 1981), and went on to be a Sloan Visiting Faculty Fellow at MIT, during which time he also took courses in human behavior. Sometime between late 1970 and early 1971, his wife asked him if he shouldn't be studying with Neal A. Maxwell, who was serving at that time as Commissioner of Church Education. After considering her question and following a lot of reflection, Hal accepted an offer to become president of Ricks College. Although other job offers came his way during his 6 year tenure at the college, he continued to serve until his release in 1977. His previous Church callings included being a bishop, serving as a member of the Sunday School General Board, and as a regional representative.

In 1980, Hal was called to serve as the Commissioner of Church Education, succeeding Jeffrey R. Holland. He would continue to serve in that capacity until 1986. When the Church reorganized the Presiding Bishopric in April 1985, Robert D. Hales was called as the new Presiding Bishop, and he recommended that Hal serve as his First Counselor. After serving in that capacity for 7.5 years, he was called in October 1992 to serve as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

When he began his new assignment, he was called for a second time to seerve as the Commissioner of Church Education, an assignment in which he would continue until 2004. Before that time, following the passing of Church president Howard W. Hunter and the subsequent reorganization of the First Presidency in March 1995, new Church president Gordon B. Hinckley called Elder Eyring to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

12.5 years later, following the death of President James E. Faust, who had served as Second Counselor to President Hinckley, Elder Eyring was invited to join Presidents Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson in the First Presidency. The way that came about is an interesting story. Elder Eyring had taken the phone call from President Hinckley and had heard his invitation to join the First Presidency, but because he had occasionally taken calls on the Church's phone system that were meant for some of his apostolic colleagues, he asked President Hinckley if he was sure he was talking to the right person. "This is Hal Eyring." he said. President Hinckley quickly responded, "I know who this is." Thus it was that the first apostle appointed during President Hinckley's administration was called to serve in the First Presidency for an almost four-month period prior to President Hinckley's passing.

When the First Presidency was reorganized, new Church president Thomas S. Monson called President Eyring to continue serving in the First Presidency, this time as his First Counselor. While in that capacity, President Eyring has dedicated 8 temples (San Salvador El Salvador, Gilbert Arizona, Payson Utah, Indianapolis Indiana, Philadelphia Pennsylvania (for which he had also presided at the groundbreaking), Hartford Connecticut, Paris France, and Cedar City Utah). The dedication of the Gilbert Arizona Temple was an interesting anomaly. Although President Monson presided at all three sessions, he requested that President Eyring read the prayer during the first session, so that was one recent example of how the dedication duties were shared by two apostles.

President Eyring also rededicated seven temples (Ogden Utah, Buenos Aires Argentina Mexico City Mexico, Montreal Quebec, Suva Fiji, Idaho Falls Idaho, and Jordan River Utah Temple). The Ogden Utah Temple rededication is another interesting case. President Eyring conducted all three sessions and presided at the final two sessions, in which he also offered the dedicatory prayer, with President Monson having presided at and offering the dedicatory prayer in the first session. As we also know, around two years ago (on May 23, 2017), the Church announced that President Monson would be stepping back from an active role in the day-to-day administration of the Church.

Following the release of that statement, Presidents Eyring and Dieter F. Uchtdorf assumed oversight of all decisions except for those requiring the prophet's direct approval. Following President Monson's passing last year on January 2, the First Presidency was reorganized on January 14, at which time President Eyring was called to continue his service in the First Presidency, and is serving as Second Counselor a second time, working with Church President Russell M. Nelson and his First Counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks. For the last several years, President Eyring's wife has been in ill health, and he has done a wonderful job of balancing his responsibilities in the First Presidency with his role being his wife's caregiver. Because President Eyring has a familial connection to both Presidents Spencer W. Kimball and Marion G. Romney, who were involved in the 1981 dedication of the Jordan River Utah Temple, President Nelson asked President Eyring to preside over its' recent rededication on May 20, 2018. As noted in an earlier post, President Eyring drew heavily on the original dedicatory prayer in composing the dedicatory prayer for that temple. He went on just one after that (a year ago from today) to preside over the one-session private rededication for the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple, since he also has ancestral connections to that temple. Although he is now 87 years old, by all accounts, he continues to be in good health.

His lifelong devotion to education and his decades of committed Church service is an inspiration to all. I had the opportunity to attend a stake conference around 14 years ago, over which then-Elder Eyring presided. His message to us at that time focused on unity. It is a message he has since shared repeatedly in several General Conference addresses, a focus that has since been adopted by the current First Presidency, with multiple efforts underway to unify the Church on a global scale and to streamline and standardize policies and procedures. That message of unity was particularly poignant during the October 2017 General Conference, when he, as First Counselor to the ailing President Monson, served as the de facto presiding authority, since his talks highlighted the important concept that the Lord is at the helm of His work, and that, regardless of the health of His chosen prophet, He continues to move the work forward. To date, President Eyring has given a total of 108 addresses in General Conference.

Of those, 5 were given during his 7 years in the Presiding Bishopric (including his first which, for unknown reasons, is not in the main repository page where his other talks can be found), with 25 others given during his 12.5 years in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the remaining 78 since he was first called to the First Presidency in October 2007. During his apostolic tenure thus far, he has served as a counselor to 3 Church Presidents. Aside from his being the junior and youngest member of the current First Presidency, he is the fifth-most senior apostle and the fourth oldest overall. Among his fellow apostles, President Eyring has been one who has clearly shown when the feeling behind the message he is giving during each General Conference has had a direct impact on him. We are blessed to see how deeply he wants to convey such ideas, thoughts, and feelings to each of us.

I am grateful for the life, ministry, and service of this amazing man, whom I sustain with all my heart, and for the opportunity I have had in this small way to pay tribute to him on this day as he celebrate his 87th birthday. That does if 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 Quentin L. Cook Dedicates Temple District of Nauvoo in First Apostolic Assignment Outside of Utah

Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom and the Church News have shared a similar report on the first major apostolic travel assignment to be filled since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who chairs the Priesthood and Fmaily Concil of the Church, visited Nauvoo to look over several prominent Church history sites in the city, and to dedicate those sites collectively to form what will be known as the Temple District of Nauvoo. That name is being applied to those historic locations because they are all fairly close the the Nauvoo Illinois Temple of the Church. 

Note the subtle difference in title there. The Nauvoo Illinois Temple District encompasses the specific stakes assigned to that temple. But the Temple District of Nauvoo refers not to those stakes that the temple serves, but the historic sites just west of the temple. Elder Cook was accompanied by his wife, Mary G. Cook, Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr., who serves as the Church Historian and Recorder, and his wife, Jane C. Curtis. Also in attendance at the dedication was Lachlan Mackay, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Aposstles in the Community of Christ, who was accompanied by his wife, Christin Mackay, the latter of whom has an assigned role in the Community of Christ as the Joseph Smith Historic Site Director.

Elder Cook provided grateful acknowledgement of the efforts of Mackay and his wife in fulfilling their roles to maintain those sites, and noted that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ have a good partnership in place to ensure the preservation of those sites for years to come. The articles note the specific sites that were included in the dedicatory prayer offered by Elder Cook. And the Newsroom particularly provides more context into why each site is significant in Church history.

This is a wonderful development. And that's not just because of the dedication of the Temple District of Nauvoo, but also because it is the first time since the onset of COVID-19 that any apostle has traveled outside of Utah. I am hoping that means that the Church is able to cautiously transition back into having the apostles expand their ministry efforts through more regular travel.

Having said that, as President Ballard and other apostles have acknowledged, the COVID-19 pandemic has led the Church towards hopefully using a combination of in-person apostolic visits where practical in combination with virtual efforts where that option makes more sense. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months in that respect. I continue to monitor all Chruch news and temple updates and will be sure to bring word of those 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: Official Rendering Released for the Lindon Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, in December of last year, the site location and preliminary details were released for the Lindon Utah Temple, with the note that a rendering would be released and a groundbreaking set when that was feasible, with project manageers working through the approvals with city leaders. In the interim, the Church has had a few examples in the recent past where initial site announcements were updated with renderings. I believe that happened most recently with other Utah or US temples, but I have not been able to confirm that.

Anyways, in the latest news update on that temple from the Church Temples site, it has been noted that a rendering has been added to the initial news release on the Newsroom. The rendering shows two steeples, no angel Moroni statue, and similar elements of design to the Layton Utah Temple, in addition to similarities to perhaps a few other temples. I will leave it to others (particularly longtime reader and commenter Jim Anderson, if he is willing to do so) to provide further insight on the temple's rendering. The timing of the release of this rendering comes as the Church is moving closer to being able to set a formal groundbreaking for that temple. 

It seems likely that the grundbreaking for that temple could be set for July, August, or perhaps even September, and that the groundbreaking for the Lindon Utah Temple might be one of the next announced, if not the very next. Parenthetically, it is worth noting that I'm watching the following temples for potential groundbreaking announcements in the near future (listed in current order of likelihood, though that is subject to confirmation from the First Presidency through official announcements): Lindon Utah, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Helena Montana, Pago Pago American Samoa, and Neiafu Tonga. 

It would also not surprise me if, in the next several months, announcements came down the pike for temple groundbreakings in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, Port Vila Vanuatu, Tarawa Kiribati, and Phnom Pehn Cambodia Temples. In addition, as previously mentioned, it would not surprise me if further action and official announcements were made regarding locations, renderings, or groundbreakings for any of the 9 other US temples which were announced most recently, or for 4-6 other temple cities outside the United States.

I won't list those particulars here for the time being, but will be happy to give the details to any of you who request them in the comments. I am grateful to have been able to hear about and pass along this news to you all here. I continue to monitor all Church news reports and temple developments, and will be sure to mention those as well as time and circumstances allow. 

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: 76% of Churchwide Temples Will Open for Proxy Work by July; Reopenings Announced for the Next Week

Hello again, everyone! I do have some major breaking temple news regarding reopenings to get to, but before I do, I wanted to note something else: During the last couple of weeks especially, with elements of the temple reopenings sticking to a standard form, it was easier for me to copy each post from the previous reopening announcement, and leave room for new developments to be added before the post was scheduled to publish as pre-set.

Because I could not have possibly anticipated the news I needed to share with you all this morning, and due to the fact that I had another rough night last night, I didn't wake up to the announcement from today as I usually would for Church news alerts. Since I wasn't able to update the copied post before it was scheduled for publication around 1.5 hours ago, the incomplete post, which had not been updated, was published at the appointed time.

But today's announcement contained major news that needed to be properly focused on, so I determined that the best option would be to delete the post that had been published as scheduled and to start this one with the major developments in a fresh new post. So I apologize to any of you who read or were in the process of reading that preset post, because it was incomplete and did not have the relevant information. Hopefully the new post penned at this time will make up for that.

That being said, let's get to the huge news shared by the Church this morning:: With this week's update being published, it will be the last one published for May. The next update, likely coming next week, will be posted on June 1. So the last update for May indicated that, as part of the phased reopening of temples, if COVID-19 conditions permit, 76% of all temples will open for proxy work by the end of July. This is a huge step towards normalcy for the Church.

phLet's break down the details: 60 temples are planned to open in phase 3 between now and the end of July. Rather than list the individual temples, I will refer anyone interested to the link I shared above, which breaks down the individual temples by area. My personal focus will be on listing the number of temples by geographical area that will open in phas:e 3 by the end of July:

Caribbean Area: 1 temple

Central America Area: 2 temples

Mexico: 4 temples

North America Central: 10 temples

North America Northeast: 1 temple

North America Southeast: 4 temples

North America Southwest: 15 temples

North America West: 7 temples

Utah: 16 temples

As an important note, the Mesa Arizona, Salt Lake, and St. George Utah Temples are closed for renovation but will be given phase 3 designation, which will allow patrons in those districts to schedule proxy work at the nearest temple open in phase 3. Additionally, in the standard weekly update on temple reopenings from the Church News, two weeks from now (on June 7), 13 temples will move from phase 2 to phase 2-B, which allows the performance of all living ordinances, in priority order, in addition to offering youth the opportunity to participate in baptisms for the dead.

Those 13 temples include: 5 in the United States (Denver and Fort Collins Colorado; Boston Massachusetts; Hartford Connecticut; and Philadelphia Pennsylvania); 6 in Latin America (Hermosillo Sonora and Tijuana Mexico; Caracas Venezuela; Manaus Brazil; Quetzaltenango Guatemala; and Trujillo Peru); and 2 in Europe (Lisbon Portugal and Rome Italy). The information about the reopenings is further explored in the weekly temple status tracker, in addition to which all of these new updates and details are likewise confirmed through the official release on the Newsroom.

In view of these updates, effective Monday (May 31), the Church's temples will break down as follows: 8 remain closed for major renovation, 4 of which (Hamilton New Zealand, Mesa Arizona, Salt Lake, and St. George Utah) have been given reopening statuses, which will allow patrons in those districts to schedule appointments at nearby temples. The Hamilton temple went into phase 3 status as of yesterday, and the 3 US temples have been in phase 2-B and will all be granted phase 3 status between now and the end of July.

Meanwhile, 1 temple (Kyiv Ukraine) has not reopened in any phase whatsoever since all temples were closed last year, 5 temples have "paused" in their reopening (3 were in phase 3, with 1 each in phase 2 and 2-B when local COVID-19 conditions necessitated the pauses); 4 are in phase 1, 41 in phase 2, 82 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 27 in phase 3. I am grateful for the latest reopening announcements (demonstrating the caution and inspiration attending that process), and will watch with great interest for further information on the June and July reopenings in the coming weeks.

I also continue to monitor all other Church news reports and temple updates and will do my best to bring you all word of those here as I become aware of all 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.