BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson Officially Becomes the Oldest Living Apostle in This Dispensation

Hello again, everyone! I do have a breaking news development to get to this morning. From his death on the last day of July 2004 until today, Elder David B. Haight has distinguished himself as the oldest living apostle. Effective today, the age of our current prophet, Church President Russell M. Nelson, has officially surpassed that of Elder Haight, who died at the exact age of 97 years, 10 months, and 29 days. With President Nelson officially reaching the age of 97 years, 10 months, and 30 days today, that is the official new record for the oldest living apostle, which will continue to be broken as long as he lives.

By all reports, our prophet continues to be healthy, and every Church leader has reported having trouble keeping up with him. I have also not heard anything currently to contradict previous reports I've mentioned that his public appearances, vigor, and energy match or exceed that of someone 20-30 years younger than he is. So I have no doubts whatsoever that he will continue to set a new record for the oldest living apostle every day for the foreseeable future.

If I hear anything to contradict that impression, I will be sure to post a correction ASAP. 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. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.

UPDATE: October 2022 General Conference Predictions (Second Edition)

Hello again, everyone! In the last several weeks, I have put more thought into my predictions for the upcoming October 2022 General Conference. There are many things we don't currently know about that conference right now. For example, we still have no idea what the focus of the Saturday Evening Session will be. We have also not yet seen notification of any changes being made to area seventies effective August 1. 

So that makes things slightly more difficult to predict. However, I have taken a look back at what we saw in October of last year, and tried to model my predictions for this October after that. The process of the resulting revisions is far enough along that I am ready to formally present them for review here. So I am pleased to provide a revised speaker lineup, an adjusted list of changes to general Church leadership, and an expanded list of potential locations in which a temple could be announced. 

If I may provide it, some brief context on each might be helpful. First of all, I realized that the original speaking order I laid out did not account for one of the GA Seventies who had not spoken recently, while it had included that GA Seventy's counterparts who had last spoken at the same conference, so I added him in and adjusted accordingly. I had also failed to account for GA Seventies who will be released during that conference and have not spoken recently in General Conference. 

I had similarly forgotten that the Church has rotated speaking opportunities between members of the Sunday School and Young Men General Presidencies on an alternating basis, but that I had representatives from both in the lineup. And I also realized I hadn't allowed for an increased number of speakers from the female General Officers. So the revised speaker lineup fixes all of those issues.

As I mentioned above, the Church has not yet released a list of changes in area seventies that will go into effect this month. So either that list will be released tomorrow or there will not be any changes in area seventies this time around. And based on a deeper analysis of Nelsonian temple announcements thus far, I realized I needed to expand my list of potential temple candidates. I think I've been pretty thorough with all of that.

I think that's all the explanation the revisions require at this point. Once any details on the Saturday Evening Session are announced, further updates may be necessary. As a reminder, an open commenting period on these predictions remains in effect until 10:00 PM on Thursday, September 29, so that there will be sufficient time for me to make any necessary revisions before General Conference officially gets underway.

I look forward to a robust discussion. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson Observes His 67th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! With today being August 6, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is celebrating his 67th birthday. Gary Evan Stevenson was born to Evan and Jean Stevenson on this day in 1955 in Ogden, Utah. He grew up in the Cache Valley. He served full-time in the Japan Fukuoka Mission, after which he continued his secondary education at Utah State University's Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. During the course of his studies there, he met Lesa Jean Higley, whom he later married in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, and with whom he would raise four sons. He spent his professional career working as the COO of ICON Health and Fitness, and served on both the Marriott School of Management Advisory Council and also the USU Foundation Board.

In the Church, he has served as a bishop and a stake president's counselor. From 2004-2007, he and his wife presided over the Japan Nagoya Mission. Less than a year after his return, he was among the first general authority seventies called during President Thomas S. Monson's prophetic administration in April 2008. In August of that same year, he was called to serve as First Counselor in the Asia North Area Presidency, marking his third return to Japan as a representative of the Church. The following year, he became the president of that same area, and he served in that assignment until April 2012, at which point, he was released as a General Authority Seventy and sustained as the Church's 14th Presiding Bishop.

In October 2015, with three vacancies in the apostleship due to the deaths of President Boyd K. Packer and Elders L. Tom Perry and Richard G. Scott, Elder Stevenson was unexpectedly summoned to meet with the First Presidency. He related that he felt sure that he was being notified that one of his counselors (Bishops Gerald Causse or Dean M. Davies) were being called to the apostleship. He was stunned when the apostolic call was instead extended to him personally.

He was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 3, 2015, and was ordained an apostle on October 8, then released as Presiding Bishop one day later. His call to the apostleship marked the second time a current General Authority Seventy who had subsequently been called as Presiding Bishop was also eventually called to the apostleship. Previously, that had been the case with Elder Robert D. Hales, who was called as a General Authority in 1975, and as Presiding Bishop of the Church in 1985 before being called to the apostleship in 1994. Those two former Presiding Bishops of the Church would serve together in the apostleship for approximately two years before Elder Hales' passing on October 1, 2017.

2015 marked the first time since 1906 that the Church needed to fill more than two apostolic vacancies. 1906 that the Church had more than two apostolic vacancies to fill at the same time.

In 1906, following the resignations of Matthias F. Cowley and John W. Taylor over the Church's repeal of the doctrine of plural marriage, and the death of another apostle, Marriner W. Merrill, the Church called George F. Richards, Orson F. Whitney, and David O. McKay, Of the three, Then-Elder McKay was the youngest, with Elder Whitney being the oldest, and Elder Richards fell in age between the two. This was an exception to the gneral rule that when more than one apostle was called on the same day, they are typically ordained in order from oldest to youngest. The three apostolic calls in 2015 saw a similar anomaly in that respect. Although Elders Ronald A. Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, and Dale G. Renlund were all called to the apostleship on the same day of the week in the week prior to General Conference, Elder Rasband is the oldest, Elder Stevenson is the youngest, and Elder Renlund is in the middle of those three.

At the age of 60, Elder Stevenson was the youngest man called to the apostleship since Elder David A. Bednar (who was 52 at the time of his October 2004 apostolic call). He would retain his status as the youngest currently-serving apostle until the April 2018 call of Elder Ulisses Soares, who was 59 at the time of his call. With the apostolic calls of Elders Gerrit W. Gong (another apostle with strong connections to Asia) and Ulisses Soares in April 2018, Elder Stevenson is now the 9th in seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the 12th in seniority among all current apostles. In terms of his age, he is the second-youngest among both the Quorum of the Twelve and the apostles overall. In his 14 years of service as a general authority, he has given "17 addresses in General Conference (1 as a General Authority Seventy, 2 as Presiding Bishop, and the remaining 15 since his call to the apostleship). All of these addresses, covering a wide variety of topics, are well worthy of your time, attention and review.

I gratefully sustain Elder Stevenson as a prophet, seer, and revelator, and appreciate this opportunity to post this tribute to him for his birthday. I similarly greatly admire and sustain each and every one of the other apostles in their God-given roles and responsibilities, and I am grateful to them for giving their time and talents to build up the kingdom of God, and to go wherever they are sent, bearing witness of the Savior at all times and in all circumstances. I share my witness that these men are called of God, and that we will be blessed as we give heed to their words.

That does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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 LeGrand R. Curtis Released as Church Historian and Recorder; Elder Kyle S. McKay Called to Serve in his place; No Changes in Area Seventies

Hello again, everyone! There has been no official word from the Church about releasing Elder LeGrand R. Curtis as the Church Historian and Recorder, so I had mistakenly assumed that he would not be released from that assignment, even if he was granted emeritus status and released from active service. But according to a Deseret News report, Elder Curtis has indeed been released from that assignment and will be granted emeritus status in October.

That same article reports that Elder Kyle S. McKay has been called to succeed Elder Curtis in that assignment. Because Elder McKay was called as a GA Seventy in 2018, and will only turn 70 in 2030, that will provide the Church History Department with some definite consistency for the next 8 years. I found it somewhat odd that there was not an official acknowledgment in either the Church News or the Newsroom of this change, but was grateful to find this report in the Deseret News either way.

In the meantime, as I noted in a comment on the previous thread, there have been no reports from either the Church News or the Newsroom indicating that any area seventies have been released. And I can also confirm there haven't been any such updates noted in the Deseret News either. It is, therefore, my assumption that there will not be any other changes in area seventies before the end of this year. I continue to monitor all such updates (or the lack thereof) and will provide updates as I learn of them.

That does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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: Church President Russell M. Nelson Will Rededicate the Washington D.C. Temple on August 14; Other Participating General Leaders Identified

Hello again, everyone! Within the last 20 minutes, the Church News has shared a breaking update on the rededication plans cfor the Washington D.C. Temple. According to the news article, Church President Russell M. Nelson will preside at the 3 sessions, set to be held at 9:00 AM, 1:30 PM, and 5:00 PM on Sunday August 14. He will be accompanied by both of his counselors, Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring. 

Other general Church leaders participating to varying degrees in the 3 sessions are Elders Quentin L. Cook and Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder Paul V. Johnson (who may have supervisory oversight for the North America Southeast Area as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy); Sister Amy A. Wright, the new First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, who, while serving as Second Counselor in that presidency for the last year, was a member of the Temple and Family History Executive Council (as Elder Gong is currently); 

Elder Kevin R. Duncan, Executive Director of the Temple Department; and the presidency of the Church's North America Northeast Area (Elders Allen D. Haynie, W. Mark Bassett, and Vaiangina Sikahema). I am grateful the Church News has confirmed these details, including verifying my theory that President Nelson will personally preside at this temple's rededication.

I continue to monitor all other updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples site and will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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: 2022 Days of '47 KSL Parade Makes History

Hello again, everyone! KSL just shared a major new report regarding how the 2022 "Days of '47" KSL Parade will make history. As some of you are no doubt aware, for a long time, members of the First Presidency rotated the assignment to serve as grand marshal of that parade. In recent years, two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles did so (Acting President M. Russell Ballard, who has prominent pioneer ancestry, and Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who, at that time, had apostolic supervisory oversight for the Utah Area).

Elder Craig C. Christensen, who served for several years as the president of the Utah Area of the Church, also served as the grand marshal of the parade one year. Today, in a teaser for a story coming during the 6:30 PM newscast, KSL showed longtime religion reporter Carole Mikita with outgoing Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham, with the voiceover description indicating that the story would cover how this year's parade grand marshal will make history.

I am pleased to thereby confirm that Sister Bingham will fill that role this year, as one of the last (if not the very last) public appearances she will make as Relief Society General President before her release becomes effective August 1. This is another example of the Brethren publicly acknowledging the important role of Latter-day Saint women in the Church. Although this will be the first time the Church does this, I have no doubts it will not be the last, and I look forward to seeing when it will happen next.

I am grateful to have been able to learn of and pass along this news. 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. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time.

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data every 7 weeks. Having last done so on May 29, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents. The first part also includes updated 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 the 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 longest-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).

The latest version of that document also shows when the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as currently comprised will move up on the list of the longest-serving Quorums of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to specifics on when the current members of that Quorum, along with the current First Presidency, will reach the next milestones on that list.

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, 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. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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 Presidency Officially Confirms the Name of the Greater Guatemala City Guatemala Temple

Hello again, everyone! I have mentioned in the past that, per the official page for the Greater Guatemala City Guatemala Temple, the name was revealed to be the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple. A short time ago either late this morning or early this afternoon, an official announcement from the First Presidency confirmed that detail. I knew the official confirmation was simply a matter of time and am grateful that it has been confirmed today.

That official confirmation also reiterated the official details for that temple, including its' location, size, and rendering, which had originally been announced in mid-to-late September of last year. The confirmation of the official name gives me hope that a groundbreaking announcement might follow soon. I am similarly hopeful for groundbreaking announcements on the other three temples for which the official information (including exterior renderings) were released on that same day.

And given the Church's recently-reported progress on clearing the sites for the Montpelier and Teton River Idaho Temples (the latter being the temple announced for the Rexburg North area), announcements on potential groundbreakings could follow soon for both of those temples as well. I continue to monitor all such updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as those reports are provided.

In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Review of Temple Construction Progress During the First Half of 2022

Hello again, everyone! With just 10 minutes left in the first half of 2022, I wanted to provide a look back at temple construction progress during these first 6 months of 2022. To contextualize that, I have three reports: what temple construction looked like as 2022 began, a look at the progress made on that front when the April 2022 General Conference was a few days away, and how things look as we head into the month marking the General Authorities' annual recess.

As we know at this point, the Church has dedicated 3 new temples and has rededicated 1 (with the rededication of another occurring this weekend). So far, the Church has broken ground for 9 temples, and 2 others are scheduled to occur in mid-to-late August. And the site location and preliminary information have been announced for 1 temple thus far. In view of the recess month into which we're entering, I don't anticipate any major announcements relating to temples until August, but I would love to be wrong about that.

I am cautiously optimistic that the second half of this year will bring with it major updates on a variety of fronts. I continue to monitor all such developments and Church news reports, and will bring word thereof to you all here as time and circumstances allow. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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: Late October Groundbreaking Set for the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple

Note: The initial version of this post was published at 10:45 AM, and updated between 5:30 and 7:00 PM with additional information and analysis

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has announced this morning that ground will be broken for the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple on Sunday, October 29 with Elder Valeri V. Cordon, First Counselor in the North America West Area Presidency, presiding. Further analysis on this development will be available here later today. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

Hello again, everyone! As noted above, I published an initial version of this post this morning during some downtime prior to my father-in-law's funeral. After having focused sufficient time on his funeral services and family time, I am back to provide additional commentary on the announcement. Firstly, I found the timing of the announcement slightly odd, given the fact that the groundbreaking was set for four months in the future.

Based on the fact that the Church, now has two temple groundbreakings scheduled for mid-to-late August and one now for late October, I am cautiously optimistic that the Church will be able to set at least a few other groundbreakings to occur between the August 27 groundbreaking for the Ephraim Utah Temple and the October 29 groundbreaking announced today for Oregon's third temple. 

Among the most likely potential temples for which I anticipate announcements are the Teton River and Montpelier Idaho, Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala, Belo Horizonte Brazil, Cali Colombia, Torreon and Queretaro Mexico, and Cape Town South Africa Temples. Per information from one of my Pacific Area contacts, I also anticipate action will be taken in the second half of this year towards groundbreakings for the Tarawa Kiribati, Port Vila Vanuatu, and Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temples.

But I am also keeping my eyes open for other potential announcements. As some of you might recall, a report from December 1 of last year indicated that on November 26, Elder Larry S. Kacher presented the king of the Ashante in Kumasi Ghana a picture that appeared to show the exterior rendering for the temple in that city. If the Church confirms that that is the official rendering, and provides confirmation on the location of the temple site, a groundbreaking could soon follow. 

As we also know, Expo 2020 wrapped up a month or so ago in Dubai UAE, so the transfer of the property to the Church could occur in the coming months, enabling a groundbreaking for the temple in that city to follow shortly after the confirmation of the specific location and exterior rendering. And with sites reportedly also acquired for the Managua Nicaragua, Lagos Nigeria, and Kaoshiung Taiwan Temples, groundbreakings for each of those temples could be forthcoming soon.

In particular relation to the Managua Nicaragua Temple, the last time I heard from my Central American contact (Patzicia) here, there were issues the Church was trying to work around relating to that temple. I don't quite know whether those issues have since been resolved, but I'm hopeful we might soon see action taken on that temple. As I've also mentioned, any of the other 10 temples in the United States in October 2021 and April 2022 could potentially have announcements made as well.

And for the remaining 29 other temples announced between April 2018 and April of this year, at least 8 others (Budapest Hungary, Brussels Belgium, Vienna Austria, Beira Mozambique, Singapore Republic of Singapore, Antananarivo Madagascar, Culiacan Mexico, and Vitoria Brazil) have had at least 1 potential location identified in photographic galleries. 

If any of those locations are confirmed as the spots for those temples, the announcement of groundbreaking arrangements could occur at any time. It's also worth mentioning that, in view of the fact that there are now 6 temples with full-scale construction pending, I am hoping that at least a couple of them might soon have full-scale efforts begin. 

Having shared these notes, I also wanted to mention that, in view of today's announcement, even with no other groundbreakings currently scheduled, the announcement about the groundbreaking for Oregon's third temple means that, by the time that is held on October 29, the Church will have broken ground for as many  temples then as it had last year on December 11. 

And if the Church is able to schedule 9 or 10 more groundbreakings prior to the end of this year, the groundbreakings conducted in 2022 will match or exceed the number of temple groundbreakings held two years ago. For purposes of comparison, I'm again providing links for the side-by-side comparisons of temple groundbreakings in 2020 vs. 2021 and the now-updated 2021 vs. 2022. I will be interested to see what other temple developments might merit an announcement from the Church in the coming second half of this year.

Just by way of reminder, I will be posting my report on temple construction progress during the first half of 2022 in the early-morning hours when June 30 becomes July 1. I also continue to monitor all other Church news reports and any additional temple construction updates and will be sure to pass the word of those developments along as they cross my radar in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.