If you think about it, administrative changes to be approved by the First Presidency (new wards, new stakes, etc.) take about a month or two to implement. Leading up to Christmas, there is likely going to be less focus on administrative changes, and this slowdown manifests itself a month or two later. It's not that uncommon.
Africa continues to come along. I had a work associate in 2011 from Haiti who thought of the Church of Jesus Christ as only racist, and was wondering why some 15k plus would be members in his island back then. The Church is ever diverse in its Restoration, as we humans, God's family is. The corona virus is moving missionaries in a few places, it seems.
It states "Paul R. Burdon, 61, and Elsie C. Burdon, four children, Billingham Ward, Billingham England Stake: Adriatic South Mission, succeeding President Hal G. Anderson and Sister Julie B. Anderson....."
but, I have him replacing Brent Dee Larson, called to the Adriatic South Mission, July 2017.
"Adriatic South Mission
Brent Dee Rawson, 60, and Nena Helene Newell Rawson, four children, Inverness Ward, Klein Texas Stake: Adriatic South Mission, succeeding President Louis Weidmann and Sister Esther M. Weidmann...."
And Pres. Hal Anderson called to "New 2017 Mission Presidents Called to Serve in Mexico, U.S., Venezuela, and More 30 MARCH 2017
Baltic Mission
Hal Gary Anderson, 58, and Julie Ann Birrell Anderson, six children, Bloomington 7th Ward, St. George Utah Southgate Stake: Baltic Mission, succeeding President David P. Harding and Sister Kaylene Harding...."
I am quite encouraged by progress in Kenya. I hope that country gets at least one additional stake this year.
I am also hoping with another area in Africa we will see a lot more progress in using multiple languages. Tanzania pretty much only uses Swahili.
One issue in some parts of Africa, I know this has come up in Ghana, is differences over translating to localized languages or translating in a way that broader range of languages are invoked. This is the Akan v. Fante debate. To make it even trickier the native language of Accra is Ga, but Akan is widely used, but in Accra English is the language of education. The people who speak little English often can't read anything. So do you teach them to read the scriptures in English or another language. I favor the later but the issues are compkex.
Sort of like how 20 years ago in Bolivia you often had missionaries teaching in broken Spanish investigators who knew far more Quechua than Spanish. The Church has created Mayan speaking stakes in Guatemala. I wonder if there are other inroads needed into indigenous languages in Mexico, Central America and South America.
Hey, Chris, I'd probably trust the information on Lifey, which has been proven to be reliably accurate in the past, and I am assuming that, like this blog and my own, Lifey is an unofficial site that frequently shares official information. Also, above and beyond what has been noted about why few (if any) new stakes and districts appear to be established in January of every year, I am sure that at least one or two other elements come into play as far as that is concerned as well. Firstly, with new mission presidents generally having been announced in January of each year, the period of time spent calling those new presidents before those announcements are made likely slows congregational growth for January and the first part of February. But I am hoping that will pick up between now and General Conference weekend. Also, although I cannot be sure about this, I'd imagine that some consideration of matters relating to General Conference, including the calling of new General Authority Seventies, releases of some area seventies and the calling of several others, and the consideration of necessary changes to auxiliary presidencies prior to the April General Conference weekend requires some attention within the first few months of any given year. And I imagine that is the case even with President Nelson generally being ahead of the curve in all of those respects.
Speaking thereof, aside from the calling of new GA Seventies and the area seventy changes, I am anticipating that, this go-round, there will likely be at least two other changes in general Church leadership. Elder L. Whitney Clayton, who has served in the Presidency of the Seventy since April 2008 (due to the call of Elder D. Todd Christofferson to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) and who has been the Senior President of the Seventy since October 2015 (as a result of Elder Ronald A. Rasband's call to the Quorum of the Twelve) will be turning 70 later this month. That likely means that he will be released from the Presidency of the Seventy effective August 1 of this year, and based on the precedent we saw in April 2018 (wherein 3 changes that would be effective August 1 of that year were sustained during President Nelson's first General Conference as Church President), the upcoming General Conference would certainly be an appropriate time for Elder Clayton's release and the sustaining of his replacement in the Presidency of the Seventy. Barring any other changes, Elder Clayton's release will result in Elder Patrick Kearon becoming the Senior President of the Seventy, the latter of whom would be the first person born outside of the United States to serve as Senior President of the Seventy.
The other change I anticipate is the release of the current Young Men General Presidency, due to the fact that Stephen w. Owen, Douglas D. Holmes, and M. Joseph Brough have served together in that presidency since April of 2015, meaning they will then be marking 5 full years of service, which has been a somewhat standard tenure length for auxiliary presidencies within the last decade or so.
And the thought occurred to me based on that statement that the economic issues described that are affecting Liberia may also potentially delay the prospect of a temple being announced for Monrovia or elsewhere, as the Church would not want to be subject to negative feedback that might arise from announcing a temple in a nation that is in the midst of an economic struggle. Acordingly, I have downgraded Liberia on my list of potential locations in which a new temple could be announced in April. FWIW, just wanted to pass that along as well.
Also, I don't know how much discussion will take place in the future on these threads relating to ongoing congregational changes, but I have something to report on that relating to things in my neck of the woods. My wife and I have been members of the Geneva Heights Fourth Ward in the Orem Utah Geneva Heights Stake. Within the last year, the total number of congregations has increased to a total of 11 wards, which led to the realignment of several ward boundaries last year as well. Two of the neighboring wards are the Geneva Heights Third and Fifth Wards. The Third Ward was the one other congregation that met in our chapel, with whom we've alternated between the 9:00 AM and 11:30 AM block within the last couple of years. Sometime in mid-January, due to dwindling attendance numbers, the Third Ward was discontinued in our stake, and the members thereof were redistributed, based on where they reside, between the Fifth Ward and our Fourth Ward. That means that there is currently only one ward meeting in our building, ours at the 11:30 AM block. I am hopeful that that means we will continue to meet at that time each year unless and until another ward is transferred to our building. I will try to post any additional developments about this in other threads here as I learn about them. Thanks again.
Just wondering if you are intentionally excluding the First Council of the Seventy when you look at the "senior presidents of the seventy"? It seems like they should count too, as that group constituted the "first seven presidents" of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1835-1975, and also were general authorities, though the rest of their quorum were not.
(Those who don't know about this group of General Authorities should check out this page: http://gapages.com/1c70.htm .)
If you do include this group, then Brigham H. "B.H." Roberts, who was senior president from 1924 until his death in 1933, would merit the distinction you mention, having been born in England like Elder Kearon. (There were other foreign-born members of this group but I believe he was the only one to become senior president. As a side note, Elder Roberts' death left the famous/infamous? J. Golden Kimball as Senior president, until he died in a car crash 5 years later.)
I really do not think the Church cares about "negative impact" from building temples. A nation in crisis needs a temple most. Forget about apostates they gripe at everything.
That said, I am wondering what is really happening in Liberia.
However B. H. Roberts came to the US as a child and was a US citizen. He may have been foreign born, but he was American, and Elder Keron is not American.
In the same way Bishop Casse is the first non-American presiding bishop, even though there were others born outside the US. President Uchtdorf was the first non-American member of the 1st presidency since Anthon H. Lund, maybe even further back, and the same goes for the 12.
John Taylor as the only non-American president of the Church is probably accurate, he came to the US as an adult.
The church does care about its image to the extent it doesn't interfere with teaching the truth. I think the pushback wouldn't be from apostates as much as from non-member Liberians who wouldn't get why a fancy building would be built; Even the Aba temple has been closed for safety reasons periodically.
Also, West Africa does seem to be getting temples at a conservative rate; the recent announcement of a Freetown temple probably will delay a Monrovia temple anyhow.
I've never heard of missionaries being withdrawn because of economic problems before. They serve in impoverished countries literally all the time. Things must be really, really, really bad in Liberia.
Good points, JPL. I was thinking former counselors Hugh B. Brown and N. Eldon Tanner were Canadians, but looking them up I find that they were both born in Utah, and Pres. Brown at least had dual citizenship. But they did both live in Canada - I think in Alberta in both cases- for significant portions of their lives.
Pres. Tanner probably would have considered himself a Canadian, as his family moved there when he was young, and he appears to have lived there for at least 50 years of his life, including 17 years in Alberta's legislature, whereas Pres. Brown was 15 when his family moved to Alberta and "only" lived in Canada about 30 years, including time spent in the Canadian military, as a lawyer, and as a stake president, before returning to Utah.
When you guys start talking about specific people I find it so boring, to be honest. To me is so irrelevant who is who or who was who, and their skin colors and nationalities, etc. Now the gospel and the proper Church, yes, that matters to me.
twinnumerouno, no I do not include the First Council of the Seventy in my prior assertion. They are roughly considered an equivalent body by many. But that Council did not appear to merit any mention beyond brief ones here and there in the Doctrine and Covenants. My assertion referred to those that have been sustained as members of the Presidency of the Seventy since the reconstitution of the First Quorum to align with the original designation of that Presidency. By that measure, Elder Keaton is the first foreign-born Presidency member who will likely hold that distinction. JPL and Johnathan Whiting, I have some thoughts about your above replies to Chris on this issue as well, which I will provide later today as time allows.
R. Jofre: I understand your point. I find the languages component of the members and its leaders fascinating, which may often signify their nationality or ethnic background being new or different. The Gospel (and Restoration) will go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Individuals are people, and the church is composed of individuals and people. It is all great to see grow, individually and collectively. The more of kindreds and tongues, the better.
Safety reasons are a lot different than idiotic bowing to idiots who do not 7nderstand the truth. The Aba Temple was closed for safety reasons once not periodically.
It is only apostates who criticize the Church for building temples that stimulate local economies. The people of Liberia would live to have the Church invest in the country the amount yo build a new temple.
Canadians do not count, they are still North Americans.
All the more so in the cases of Hugh B. Brown and his nephew N. Eldon Tanner. Like Henry B. Eyring and Robert D. Hales were not ethnically mid-Atlantic but ethnic Utah transplants, in those cases complete with the requisite multi-week return to the home country each year by the expatriate.
I on the other hand did not set foot in Utah from the summer I was 1 uh until the summer I was 15.
N. Eldon Tanner was born in Urah because her mom was visiting her grandparents there. However he was raised in a community full of Americans where they played American not Cabadian sports. He may have lived north of the border but he was an American.
The only person after Anthon H. Lund who really challenges Dieter F. Uchtdorf being the next non-American is Marion G. Romney.
Except the very factors that make people say Romney growing up in Colonia Juarez was not Mexican enough apply even more to say that N. Eldon Tanber growing up in an all Anerican enclave just over the border was not Canadian. At least President Romney was not born in the US.
The Lord doesn't need to fill a diversity quota but at the same time, there would be a serious red flag if he "just happened" to only call white people from Utah to run His so-called global church decade after decade. So having leaders of different nationalities matters to me very much.
Probably more significant is the impact to someone (say from India) who is looking at the church and sees that there is no one there like him. The more diversity we have (and we will get more and more), the more likely people will look at The Church of Jesus Christ and it's members and see it as somewhere they can belong, too.
So this is the thing. Sister Leguizamón, a Paraguayan, was an incredible missionary. She baptized so many people and worked hard on keeping them all active. She was very very successful because she went against the vision of our mission president who just wanted us to baptize and nothing else. I didn't baptize like sister Leguizamón. I only baptized a few people per month, but I also worked against my president's vision and kept working hard to keep everyone active. The places where missionaries like us served saw an increase in attendance, more or less a 100% increase in a few months. Those places are still strong many years after those "rebel" missionaries served there. But here we tend to talk about mission presidents and their background. Sister Leguizamón is the one who deserves all the credit, her and others like her who served with their hearts. The policies my mission president applied created a huge backlog of people that never went to Church or just a couple of times and never again. A great mission president would have made sister Leguizamón's efforts much more fruitful.
So this is my point. We talk here about those "leaders" who actually don't make things happen.
Real growth comes from the efforts of those who go outside and share the gospel, help the needy, lift the fallen. After decades of stagnation and decline in Chile, those who sat in high chairs didn't accomplish much. Their suites might have been impeccable, while those lost in the jungle of lights and money perished, never coming back.
R. Jofre: There are individual mission presidents who miss the mark and may prove counter-productive with their convert policies, but that is certainly not the rule. Also, part of the service and work of the mission presidents (including the spouses) is to care for and inspire the missionaries doing the "real work" of which you speak. Mission leaders by and large are serving the same Lord and cause that all His servants do, from the prophet down to the obedient primary child of 5 years old. My mission president was loving, caring, humble, and in my opinion did a very good job to lead us in Chile. The problems of less activity are more cultural than any fault of mission presidents or missionaries. Some retention policies could be much better, sure, but this is the same virtually around the world. Although parts of Africa and a few other places seem to be retaining very well as of late.
Well M. Russell Ballard last year speaking to mission presidents and their companions den ounced leading with invitations to haptism.
My mission president constantly pushed baptizing weekly. Done right this would have been wise maybe, but too often it involved pushing too hard.
The general attitude a hff Saints retention work by missionaries in my mission was more missionaries resisting what my mission president taught.
Still what disturbs me most is my parents ward having so few missionaries serving when thosexserving are those who once were a group so large there were two deacons quorums.
I am hoping Come Follow Me, the gospel mastery program and other related things will lead to better missionaries. I have to say the route memorization of scriptures didnt.
Still what we really need is more senior missionaries. I wish my parents would serve but my Mom is all focused on caring for my granddad and she also doubts her health.
I have been reading some of David French's comments on Pentecostalism in the wake of the most recent attempted controversy around Paula White.
There are about 500 million Pentecostals world wide. That despite the fact the movement began in 1906.
Pentecostalism embraces the gifts of the spirit. Many of the early members in south-east Nigeria, those who waited 10 years and more to be baptized, came from Pentecostal traditions. It is also prevalent here in Detroit.
There are some common themes of belief between the restored Church of Jesus Christ and Pentecostalism.
Brazil has had serious problems with violent crime in the larger cities, there are some neighborhoods in Rio, for example, that the cops do not go into because they are that bad.
The person in Sao Paulo may have been one or more of several things: Drunk, high, or a mental case. We'll never know for sure what. He may have also mistaken those buildings for one of many office buildings in the general area, like those one would see east of the Marginal Pinheiros freeway there. We will not know that one either.
Just wondering how you know when the church creates new wards, stakes, etc. Is there a feature on classic maps you can subscribe to when things change? Or do you personally and actively look for new boundary changes? Thanks
Unknown, To answer your question. Those few here who have access to the Church's CDOL file, (which I do not personally), because of their calling in the Ward or Stake presidency or Clerks, have access to the daily updates in the Church Directory of Organizations and Locations. I usually come here to Matt Martinich's updates or other Bloggers here, for example, JSA, who just posted newest District update today. Which I went to the official Church Maps site to verify, searching by either the Unit name or unit #.
Another, not so accurate source I use is www.fullerconsideration.com/units.php , which has gotten me into trouble in the past. Kimball on that pro or against LDS site has often listed closed units that were still listed in the CDOL and Classic Maps official sites.
Use your own judgement and reasoning to verify his data. Also I personally search for the posted Unit names individually. Classic Maps does not have a feature to list the changes.
I follow an account which lists young missionaries who submit where they are going, when, etc. and their username so that others can reach out to them pre-mission (if they are going to the same mission or sharing tips). The other day I saw a post with a young woman going to the "Nauvoo Historic Sites" mission... to add on to your most recent comment.
I served in the Nauvoo Mission last summer, so I have a bit of personal connection to this conversation. What has been stated is true- the Nauvoo Illinois Mission has been discontinued and replaced with the Nauvoo Church Historic Site. There will still be missionaries serving there, but they are not under the direction of a mission president anymore. The new couple called to replace my mission president are being referred to in news releases as the "leaders" of the Nauvoo Historic Site.
They began their service just a few weeks ago as my Mission President came home in mid January.
I apologize if I offended anyone's sensitivity in my posts here this morning. I have deleted all the comments from this morning that I posted regarding the last 3 Temples being marked on Classic Maps + LDS.org maps finally this morning and the discrepancy in the assigned Stakes/Districts ion each Temple District. I thought the information regarding Church temple growth was relevant and useful. But, posterior to my posts no one has added any new posts. I hope I did not offend anyone.
It is not offensive, however after a certain amount of time after Matt's original posting time, comments seem to dwindle. People just not might not be checking back here. Thanks for that info!
I don't post very often, but I do enjoy reading the variety of info, opinions, experiences, etc that others share. Keep them coming. :)
It's interesting to see how temple district boundaries are created worldwide. Sometimes they seem fairly straightforward, other times they are a bit different than what I might expect.
Looking forward to the dedication of the Durban Temple. I'm curious as to who will dedicate it. We know there are several apostles who have not presided and dedicated/rededicated a temple since President Nelson started rotating that opportunity after the Rome Temple dedication last year.
Hope to hear news soon about a dedication date for the Rio de Janeiro Temple.
It will be interesting to see how the restoration work will eventually progress in China.
Seems like they are moving in a bad direction currently. Many articles like the one below are out about the problems for organized religion there. I remember as a young kid in the 80's thinking that we would never be allowed into Russia...
Since Rick's choice of Stakes/Districts for new Durban South Africa Temple District, include all 4 Stakes + 2 Districts of neighboring country of Mozambique. I believe he should include also the nearby 2 Stakes + 3 Districts of neighboring Madagascar + Reunion + Mauritius Districts.
That's just my reasonable opinion though. There may be a technical reason for not including them in the proposed District. (On my personal list of the future Durban Temple District, I also include from the South Africa Durban + Cape Town Missions :
1059734 Bloemfontein South Africa Stake 2020734 Bellville South Africa Stake 516783 Cape Town South Africa Stake
2104644 Phuthaditjhaba South Africa District 2075091 George South Africa District
But don't take my word for it. Again just an opinion.)
One new stake in Utah announced today on the CDOL. Checking the international atlas on the Cumorah site to estimate where it may be, I see that there are far too many large Utah stakes to guess its location. Does anyone know where it is? Thanks very much.
In the case of the island Nations/Territories of Madagascar, Reunion + Mauritius, I don't believe poor quality roads is the issue. I believe the decision may involve travel costs by AIR or BOAT to and from the islands, to either Jo-burg or Durban South Africa Temples. I don't have a way to compare.
Thanks, Nephi and Eric. That's a new stake I didn't see coming. Herriman, Bluffdale, and Daybreak are locations in Salt Lake County where I suspected there would be a new stake. Utah County has several large stakes that may be divided in the near future.
Elder Rasband posted on Facebook today that he will dedicate the Durban South Africa Temple next week: https://www.facebook.com/RonaldARasband/posts/1369654353237098?__xts__[0]=68.ARA8uAZY05VNcJ75y_fWUKB_wjo4dt-anUHrkzqb8MI42vVrU_h0tTH_d6MjoxgzVzoqnuihqXOEJV2PtcHG9PZhMXUqrYXi2g9l5qrEu4981dgo1BHuHrARP2QiFcVuMq0sHf20wFTqZUEnvknmoImtYgu_CIqhdN-RFiOJsIYO-V-F_Bn14AXKXj_cboCzyn8gBtxt1tf6tUDxA18oGXwjsQn9fp0_UIKe_o3cyKTlD9s3-T2q1kw2w7SDQukKixDTaem53-9-ZcuUmGJHxIzid6Itirx0QllhkQBX7dmBF1LjxABB-iWzaQKNutSm9C8igjCrADjbZIzuNa6eov5KXg&__tn__=-R
I do think that one of the purposes of Rome dedication was to teach and prepare the members of the 12 to preside over temple dedications. Since the dedication, here is a list of apostles that have Presided over dedications and rededications:
Nelson - Rome Oaks - Oakland Eyring - Oklahoma City Ballard - Raleigh Holland - Memphis Uchtdorf - Frankfurt Bednar - Port-au-Prince Cook - Baton Rouge Christofferson - Asuncion Anderson - Lisbon Rasband - Durban Stevenson - Renlund - Kinshasa Gong - Soares - Fortaleza, Arequipa
So Elders Stevenson and Gong are the only ones who have not yet presided over a dedication. I suspect Elder Stevenson would rededicate the Tokyo Temple later this year, since he speaks Japanese. This year, we will probably also have: Rio de Janeiro, Washington DC, Winnipeg, and maybe Mesa.
President Nelson was going to dedicate Arequipa Temple but at the last minute he did not feel up to it. This explains why Elder Soares is the only repeat on the list.
Just out of curiosity, I have noticed on LDS maps that several ward and branch leaders are designated as "Acting Leaders." Under what circumstances would there be an acting branch or ward leader instead of a branch president or Bishop?
Had that in 1994 here in Provo, where a bishop, who was a local judge, died of a heart attack. It took several weeks until the First Presidency and Twelve could approve the name as it was just before the Summer recess that it happened. The two couselors shared all the duties, one was eventually called to be the bishop.
In many branches that are under-developed, often missionaries will serve as temporary branch presidents. Had an Elder in our ward just come home who had that responsibility for a couple months in Costa Rica.
I have notices that this "Acting Leader" is specially true for Russia. I Think it has something to do with a law not to gather information on Russian citizens. So they show as Acting leader for the wards or branches the mission president or area president.
In a ward I know, the Bishop went less active. As the Stake President, former Bishop resides in the Ward he acted as Bishop about 4 months, whilst a new Bishop was called.
My point, JPL, is that a nation in the midst of an economic crisis, particularly in Liberia where the Church has pulled missionaries due to those issues, would likely look with suspicion on a building made of material that has a high market value. There is a reason that the Haiti and DR Congo Temples do not include an angel Moroni, and that reason has everything to do with the Church not wanting a negative impression to be formed through the utilization of gold on buildings in nations where some areas include those in poor economic systems. It has nothing to do with apostates or Church critics and everything to do with the Church being a good neighbor. So until conditions improve in Liberia in that sense, a temple might well be delayed. Anyone who did the research on the Church's efforts to be a good neighbor and a wise steward would know that.
JPL, see my above response to your previous comment. I agree with everything Michael Worley said, and you would as well if you actually researched the issues involved with an open mind. And unless you have somehow talked with several citizens of Liberia, both in and out of the Church, on what are you basing your absolute assertions regarding the attitude of the general citizenry about the idea of a temple? I sincerely hope (but also greatly fear) that you may have offered an assertion on this matter based on imperfect and incomplete research, which, IMHO, is never prudent or wise.
Chris, if it matters, insofar as I have been able to ascertain, all units in Madagascar are closer to the Johannesburg SA Temple than they would be to Durban. So that's probably why the Church Temples site lists them in the former rather than the latter. But given that no temple in any phase will be within 200 miles of Madagascar, which is separated from the rest of the African continent by water, so that nation is the top African candidate on my list.
Incidentally, I have never been bothered by any comments you have posted here, and would, in fact, be most interested in reviewing the content of the latest ones you have deleted here. Could you email me with that? Thanks.
If you look at the recent history of temple rededications, Elder Christofferson is the least-senior apostle to rededicate a temple thus far. My research shows that no apostle junior to Elder Christofferson may be asked to preside at a temple dedication for the time being, though I freely admit that President Nelson's inspiration trumps my research 100 percent of the time.
The prophet had some stomach discomfort and asked Elder Soares to go in his stead, although Elder Soares did read the prayer prepared by the prophet in dedicating that temple.
Since Elder Gong's native language is Chinese (well probably co with English, but they spoke Chinese in the house he grew up in at least some) I could see him rededicating Hong Kong. On the other hand President Nelson in fluent in Mandarin.
On further thought though, it might be odd to dedicate the Hong Kong Temple in Mandarin when the main language in that area is Cantonese. On the other hand doing the dedicatory prayer in Mandarin would signal connection with the Chinese government. So I really do not know.
Still I could easily see Elder Gong doing that dedication, even if he gives the prayer in English. He served his mission in Taiwan, but I am not sure what form of Chinese they spoke in his home growing up. It might have been Cantonese. Even though I personally knew his son I never asked deeply on the linguistic background of the Gongs.
When the Church built the Friburg Germany temple the economy of East Germany had already began collapse. The money transfer into the economy was key to getting permission to build that temple.
If I were a person in Liberia as it was in the midst of economic collapse the best decision to keep me there would be to announce a temple.
One point on acting leaders is bishops need to be approved by the quorum of the 12, branch presidents do not. So inherently I see no reason a missionary called as branch president would have to be designated as acting leader.
I think it is exciting that soon all 15 current apostles will have dedicated or rededicated a temple. I agree that the Rome Temple dedication was a unique teaching moment. Yet even before the Rome Temple dedication, the other apostles have been dedicating temples. I count 211 temple dedications/rededications since Kirtland (excluding private dedications, and including partial rededications).
Of the 211 dedications, 117 have been performed by the President of the Church: J. Smith - 1 Taylor - 1 Woodruff - 1 Grant - 3 G.A. Smith - 1 McKay - 5 J.F. Smith - 2 Kimball - 8 Benson - 2 Hunter - 2 Hinckley - 70 Monson - 19 Nelson – 2
72 have been performed by a Counselor in the First Presidency: Wells - 1 Brown - 1 Romney - 1 Hinckley - 28 Monson - 7 Faust - 7 Eyring - 14 Uchtdorf - 11 Oaks – 2
And 22 have/will have been performed by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Hyde - 1 L. Snow - 1 Packer - 2 Perry - 1 Faust - 1 Nelson - 3 Oaks - 1 Ballard - 2 Holland - 1 Uchtdorf - 1 Bednar - 2 Cook - 1 Andersen - 1 Rasband – 1 (Durban) Renlund - 1 Soares - 2
Could President Nelson dedicate it in Mandarin in one of the sessions and Elder Gong read the prayer in another session? With it being a former British territory could there also be an English session? The temple serves other countries as well and they could have a session in/or simulcast translation in those languages.
Homg Kong has an international district with English and Mandarin branches. Many of the people in the English branches are Filipinos.
Keep in mind that up until the rededication of the Friberg Germany Temple by Elder Uchtdorf in I think 2017 every dedicatory prayer at a temple was given in English.
President Nelson was married before the first endowment not in English was given. He is also the first president of the Church to give an address as president not in English. I believe to date he has only given addresses in Spanish.
Elder Renlund did the Kinshasa Congo Temple dedicatory prayer in French and Elder Soares did the Forteleza dedicatory prayer in Portuguese.
I actually am more intrigued by Elder Soares' area wide family home evening broadcast with his wife Rosana than him meeting with the president of Guatemala. Has such an area broadcast into member homes been done before? I am old enough to have known the days when unless you had a short wave radio you couldn't get general conference in your home in most of the US. I actually am surprised thinking back we didn't do the shortwave radio option more.
The dedication date is May 17, only 3 months and 5 days away. In the past few years, most temple dedications have been announced about 6 months in advance. I was delighted to see the news.
Johnathan, according to my Central American Church member contact, sites have already been acquired for all three temples that have been announced for that area, and each will likely have a groundbreaking in the mid-to-latter part of this year.
Further, this contact indicated that, based on what is known about those temples at this point suggests that the most likely sequence for those groundbreakings is currently as follows: San Pedro Sula Honduras, Coban Guatemala, and Managua Nicaragua. Hope this information is helpful. Thanks.
Very cool about the parents on their mission. My mom and step dad, both adult converts, served in Cambodia, then Indonesia. My stepfather who was released last year as counselor in the Bloomington IN bishopric thinks they would have served a third if she had not passed away in 2014. Liver cancer took her away, but I think she is still doing missionary work. As a young lady she was a nurse in Sierra Leone, where Ebola took many in... 2016? She was there in 1965-1966, before joining in Indiana in 1968.
JPL, it is often the case that, when apostles visit areas of the Church for an extended period of time, they often host area-wide Family Home Evenings, which has been the case for as long as apostles have been utilizing modern technology to reach more people in their global ministry.
106 comments:
So little this month. Makes me wonder what is to come in February
If you think about it, administrative changes to be approved by the First Presidency (new wards, new stakes, etc.) take about a month or two to implement. Leading up to Christmas, there is likely going to be less focus on administrative changes, and this slowdown manifests itself a month or two later. It's not that uncommon.
Africa continues to come along. I had a work associate in 2011 from Haiti who thought of the Church of Jesus Christ as only racist, and was wondering why some 15k plus would be members in his island back then.
The Church is ever diverse in its Restoration, as we humans, God's family is.
The corona virus is moving missionaries in a few places, it seems.
With regard to today's posting of next group of 16 New Mission Presidents,
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2020-02-02/mission-presidents-companions-leadership-california-japan-georgia-mexico-congo-172832
It states "Paul R. Burdon, 61, and Elsie C. Burdon, four children, Billingham Ward, Billingham England Stake: Adriatic South Mission, succeeding President Hal G. Anderson and Sister Julie B. Anderson....."
but, I have him replacing Brent Dee Larson, called to the Adriatic South Mission, July 2017.
"Adriatic South Mission
Brent Dee Rawson, 60, and Nena Helene Newell Rawson, four children, Inverness Ward, Klein Texas Stake: Adriatic South Mission, succeeding President Louis Weidmann and Sister Esther M. Weidmann...."
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/new-2017-mission-presidents-called-to-serve-in-brazil-south-africa-us-and-more?lang=eng
And Pres. Hal Anderson called to "New 2017 Mission Presidents Called to Serve in Mexico, U.S., Venezuela, and More 30 MARCH 2017
Baltic Mission
Hal Gary Anderson, 58, and Julie Ann Birrell Anderson, six children, Bloomington 7th Ward, St. George Utah Southgate Stake: Baltic Mission, succeeding President David P. Harding and Sister Kaylene Harding...."
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/new-2017-mission-presidents-called-to-serve-in-mexico-us-venezuela-and-more?lang=eng
Did President Brent D. Rawson and President Hal G. Anderson switch assignments in 2017?
According to Lifey.org website they did.
I am quite encouraged by progress in Kenya. I hope that country gets at least one additional stake this year.
I am also hoping with another area in Africa we will see a lot more progress in using multiple languages. Tanzania pretty much only uses Swahili.
One issue in some parts of Africa, I know this has come up in Ghana, is differences over translating to localized languages or translating in a way that broader range of languages are invoked. This is the Akan v. Fante debate. To make it even trickier the native language of Accra is Ga, but Akan is widely used, but in Accra English is the language of education. The people who speak little English often can't read anything. So do you teach them to read the scriptures in English or another language. I favor the later but the issues are compkex.
Sort of like how 20 years ago in Bolivia you often had missionaries teaching in broken Spanish investigators who knew far more Quechua than Spanish. The Church has created Mayan speaking stakes in Guatemala. I wonder if there are other inroads needed into indigenous languages in Mexico, Central America and South America.
Hey, Chris, I'd probably trust the information on Lifey, which has been proven to be reliably accurate in the past, and I am assuming that, like this blog and my own, Lifey is an unofficial site that frequently shares official information. Also, above and beyond what has been noted about why few (if any) new stakes and districts appear to be established in January of every year, I am sure that at least one or two other elements come into play as far as that is concerned as well. Firstly, with new mission presidents generally having been announced in January of each year, the period of time spent calling those new presidents before those announcements are made likely slows congregational growth for January and the first part of February. But I am hoping that will pick up between now and General Conference weekend. Also, although I cannot be sure about this, I'd imagine that some consideration of matters relating to General Conference, including the calling of new General Authority Seventies, releases of some area seventies and the calling of several others, and the consideration of necessary changes to auxiliary presidencies prior to the April General Conference weekend requires some attention within the first few months of any given year. And I imagine that is the case even with President Nelson generally being ahead of the curve in all of those respects.
Speaking thereof, aside from the calling of new GA Seventies and the area seventy changes, I am anticipating that, this go-round, there will likely be at least two other changes in general Church leadership. Elder L. Whitney Clayton, who has served in the Presidency of the Seventy since April 2008 (due to the call of Elder D. Todd Christofferson to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) and who has been the Senior President of the Seventy since October 2015 (as a result of Elder Ronald A. Rasband's call to the Quorum of the Twelve) will be turning 70 later this month. That likely means that he will be released from the Presidency of the Seventy effective August 1 of this year, and based on the precedent we saw in April 2018 (wherein 3 changes that would be effective August 1 of that year were sustained during President Nelson's first General Conference as Church President), the upcoming General Conference would certainly be an appropriate time for Elder Clayton's release and the sustaining of his replacement in the Presidency of the Seventy. Barring any other changes, Elder Clayton's release will result in Elder Patrick Kearon becoming the Senior President of the Seventy, the latter of whom would be the first person born outside of the United States to serve as Senior President of the Seventy.
The other change I anticipate is the release of the current Young Men General Presidency, due to the fact that Stephen w. Owen, Douglas D. Holmes, and M. Joseph Brough have served together in that presidency since April of 2015, meaning they will then be marking 5 full years of service, which has been a somewhat standard tenure length for auxiliary presidencies within the last decade or so.
Another Church growth matter has been detailed in a statement made through a Church spokesman:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/missionaries-liberia-february-2020
And the thought occurred to me based on that statement that the economic issues described that are affecting Liberia may also potentially delay the prospect of a temple being announced for Monrovia or elsewhere, as the Church would not want to be subject to negative feedback that might arise from announcing a temple in a nation that is in the midst of an economic struggle. Acordingly, I have downgraded Liberia on my list of potential locations in which a new temple could be announced in April. FWIW, just wanted to pass that along as well.
Also, I don't know how much discussion will take place in the future on these threads relating to ongoing congregational changes, but I have something to report on that relating to things in my neck of the woods. My wife and I have been members of the Geneva Heights Fourth Ward in the Orem Utah Geneva Heights Stake. Within the last year, the total number of congregations has increased to a total of 11 wards, which led to the realignment of several ward boundaries last year as well. Two of the neighboring wards are the Geneva Heights Third and Fifth Wards. The Third Ward was the one other congregation that met in our chapel, with whom we've alternated between the 9:00 AM and 11:30 AM block within the last couple of years. Sometime in mid-January, due to dwindling attendance numbers, the Third Ward was discontinued in our stake, and the members thereof were redistributed, based on where they reside, between the Fifth Ward and our Fourth Ward. That means that there is currently only one ward meeting in our building, ours at the 11:30 AM block. I am hopeful that that means we will continue to meet at that time each year unless and until another ward is transferred to our building. I will try to post any additional developments about this in other threads here as I learn about them. Thanks again.
James,
Just wondering if you are intentionally excluding the First Council of the Seventy when you look at the "senior presidents of the seventy"? It seems like they should count too, as that group constituted the "first seven presidents" of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1835-1975, and also were general authorities, though the rest of their quorum were not.
(Those who don't know about this group of General Authorities should check out this page: http://gapages.com/1c70.htm .)
If you do include this group, then Brigham H. "B.H." Roberts, who was senior president from 1924 until his death in 1933, would merit the distinction you mention, having been born in England like Elder Kearon. (There were other foreign-born members of this group but I believe he was the only one to become senior president. As a side note, Elder Roberts' death left the famous/infamous? J. Golden Kimball as Senior president, until he died in a car crash 5 years later.)
I really do not think the Church cares about "negative impact" from building temples. A nation in crisis needs a temple most. Forget about apostates they gripe at everything.
That said, I am wondering what is really happening in Liberia.
However B. H. Roberts came to the US as a child and was a US citizen. He may have been foreign born, but he was American, and Elder Keron is not American.
In the same way Bishop Casse is the first non-American presiding bishop, even though there were others born outside the US. President Uchtdorf was the first non-American member of the 1st presidency since Anthon H. Lund, maybe even further back, and the same goes for the 12.
John Taylor as the only non-American president of the Church is probably accurate, he came to the US as an adult.
The church does care about its image to the extent it doesn't interfere with teaching the truth. I think the pushback wouldn't be from apostates as much as from non-member Liberians who wouldn't get why a fancy building would be built; Even the Aba temple has been closed for safety reasons periodically.
Also, West Africa does seem to be getting temples at a conservative rate; the recent announcement of a Freetown temple probably will delay a Monrovia temple anyhow.
Was Elder Kearon the one who gave the talk on refugees a few conferences ago?
Yes, that was him Johnathan
Rumor has it that the DC temple will be rededicated this fall, 2020. The open house would be pretty lengthy, we think. Maybe the longest one ever.
I've never heard of missionaries being withdrawn because of economic problems before. They serve in impoverished countries literally all the time. Things must be really, really, really bad in Liberia.
Good points, JPL. I was thinking former counselors Hugh B. Brown and N. Eldon Tanner were Canadians, but looking them up I find that they were both born in Utah, and Pres. Brown at least had dual citizenship. But they did both live in Canada - I think in Alberta in both cases- for significant portions of their lives.
Pres. Tanner probably would have considered himself a Canadian, as his family moved there when he was young, and he appears to have lived there for at least 50 years of his life, including 17 years in Alberta's legislature, whereas Pres. Brown was 15 when his family moved to Alberta and "only" lived in Canada about 30 years, including time spent in the Canadian military, as a lawyer, and as a stake president, before returning to Utah.
When you guys start talking about specific people I find it so boring, to be honest. To me is so irrelevant who is who or who was who, and their skin colors and nationalities, etc. Now the gospel and the proper Church, yes, that matters to me.
twinnumerouno, no I do not include the First Council of the Seventy in my prior assertion. They are roughly considered an equivalent body by many. But that Council did not appear to merit any mention beyond brief ones here and there in the Doctrine and Covenants. My assertion referred to those that have been sustained as members of the Presidency of the Seventy since the reconstitution of the First Quorum to align with the original designation of that Presidency. By that measure, Elder Keaton is the first foreign-born Presidency member who will likely hold that distinction. JPL and Johnathan Whiting, I have some thoughts about your above replies to Chris on this issue as well, which I will provide later today as time allows.
R. Jofre: I understand your point. I find the languages component of the members and its leaders fascinating, which may often signify their nationality or ethnic background being new or different.
The Gospel (and Restoration) will go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
Individuals are people, and the church is composed of individuals and people.
It is all great to see grow, individually and collectively.
The more of kindreds and tongues, the better.
Safety reasons are a lot different than idiotic bowing to idiots who do not 7nderstand the truth. The Aba Temple was closed for safety reasons once not periodically.
It is only apostates who criticize the Church for building temples that stimulate local economies. The people of Liberia would live to have the Church invest in the country the amount yo build a new temple.
Canadians do not count, they are still North Americans.
All the more so in the cases of Hugh B. Brown and his nephew N. Eldon Tanner. Like Henry B. Eyring and Robert D. Hales were not ethnically mid-Atlantic but ethnic Utah transplants, in those cases complete with the requisite multi-week return to the home country each year by the expatriate.
I on the other hand did not set foot in Utah from the summer I was 1 uh until the summer I was 15.
N. Eldon Tanner was born in Urah because her mom was visiting her grandparents there. However he was raised in a community full of Americans where they played American not Cabadian sports. He may have lived north of the border but he was an American.
Well specific people matter. Things are done by specific people.
The only person after Anthon H. Lund who really challenges Dieter F. Uchtdorf being the next non-American is Marion G. Romney.
Except the very factors that make people say Romney growing up in Colonia Juarez was not Mexican enough apply even more to say that N. Eldon Tanber growing up in an all Anerican enclave just over the border was not Canadian. At least President Romney was not born in the US.
The Lord doesn't need to fill a diversity quota but at the same time, there would be a serious red flag if he "just happened" to only call white people from Utah to run His so-called global church decade after decade. So having leaders of different nationalities matters to me very much.
Probably more significant is the impact to someone (say from India) who is looking at the church and sees that there is no one there like him. The more diversity we have (and we will get more and more), the more likely people will look at The Church of Jesus Christ and it's members and see it as somewhere they can belong, too.
So this is the thing. Sister Leguizamón, a Paraguayan, was an incredible missionary. She baptized so many people and worked hard on keeping them all active. She was very very successful because she went against the vision of our mission president who just wanted us to baptize and nothing else. I didn't baptize like sister Leguizamón. I only baptized a few people per month, but I also worked against my president's vision and kept working hard to keep everyone active. The places where missionaries like us served saw an increase in attendance, more or less a 100% increase in a few months. Those places are still strong many years after those "rebel" missionaries served there. But here we tend to talk about mission presidents and their background. Sister Leguizamón is the one who deserves all the credit, her and others like her who served with their hearts. The policies my mission president applied created a huge backlog of people that never went to Church or just a couple of times and never again. A great mission president would have made sister Leguizamón's efforts much more fruitful.
So this is my point. We talk here about those "leaders" who actually don't make things happen.
Real growth comes from the efforts of those who go outside and share the gospel, help the needy, lift the fallen. After decades of stagnation and decline in Chile, those who sat in high chairs didn't accomplish much. Their suites might have been impeccable, while those lost in the jungle of lights and money perished, never coming back.
R. Jofre: There are individual mission presidents who miss the mark and may prove counter-productive with their convert policies, but that is certainly not the rule.
Also, part of the service and work of the mission presidents (including the spouses) is to care for and inspire the missionaries doing the "real work" of which you speak.
Mission leaders by and large are serving the same Lord and cause that all His servants do, from the prophet down to the obedient primary child of 5 years old.
My mission president was loving, caring, humble, and in my opinion did a very good job to lead us in Chile.
The problems of less activity are more cultural than any fault of mission presidents or missionaries. Some retention policies could be much better, sure, but this is the same virtually around the world. Although parts of Africa and a few other places seem to be retaining very well as of late.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-impacting-missionary-service-in-hong-kong
Well M. Russell Ballard last year speaking to mission presidents and their companions den ounced leading with invitations to haptism.
My mission president constantly pushed baptizing weekly. Done right this would have been wise maybe, but too often it involved pushing too hard.
The general attitude a hff Saints retention work by missionaries in my mission was more missionaries resisting what my mission president taught.
Still what disturbs me most is my parents ward having so few missionaries serving when thosexserving are those who once were a group so large there were two deacons quorums.
I am hoping Come Follow Me, the gospel mastery program and other related things will lead to better missionaries. I have to say the route memorization of scriptures didnt.
Still what we really need is more senior missionaries. I wish my parents would serve but my Mom is all focused on caring for my granddad and she also doubts her health.
I have been reading some of David French's comments on Pentecostalism in the wake of the most recent attempted controversy around Paula White.
There are about 500 million Pentecostals world wide. That despite the fact the movement began in 1906.
Pentecostalism embraces the gifts of the spirit. Many of the early members in south-east Nigeria, those who waited 10 years and more to be baptized, came from Pentecostal traditions. It is also prevalent here in Detroit.
There are some common themes of belief between the restored Church of Jesus Christ and Pentecostalism.
Intruder with knife entered Sao Paolo Brazil MTC.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2020-02-05/sao-paulo-brazil-mtc-intruder-incident-173559
Brazil has had serious problems with violent crime in the larger cities, there are some neighborhoods in Rio, for example, that the cops do not go into because they are that bad.
The person in Sao Paulo may have been one or more of several things: Drunk, high, or a mental case. We'll never know for sure what. He may have also mistaken those buildings for one of many office buildings in the general area, like those one would see east of the Marginal Pinheiros freeway there. We will not know that one either.
Klerksdorp South Africa District (2152592)
Active Date: 2 Feb 2020
Jouberton Branch (343242)
Klerksdorp Branch (72451)
Potchefstroom Branch (433446)
JSA, Thank you for the update. Was that a split of the "Vaal South Africa District (2055023)", the nearest I could find on Classic Maps?
Just wondering how you know when the church creates new wards, stakes, etc. Is there a feature on classic maps you can subscribe to when things change? Or do you personally and actively look for new boundary changes? Thanks
Unknown, To answer your question. Those few here who have access to the Church's CDOL file, (which I do not personally), because of their calling in the Ward or Stake presidency or Clerks, have access to the daily updates in the Church Directory of Organizations and Locations. I usually come here to Matt Martinich's updates or other Bloggers here, for example, JSA, who just posted newest District update today. Which I went to the official Church Maps site to verify, searching by either the Unit name or unit #.
Another, not so accurate source I use is www.fullerconsideration.com/units.php , which has gotten me into trouble in the past. Kimball on that pro or against LDS site has often listed closed units that were still listed in the CDOL and Classic Maps official sites.
Use your own judgement and reasoning to verify his data. Also I personally search for the posted Unit names individually. Classic Maps does not have a feature to list the changes.
I hope this is useful to you.
I follow an account which lists young missionaries who submit where they are going, when, etc. and their username so that others can reach out to them pre-mission (if they are going to the same mission or sharing tips). The other day I saw a post with a young woman going to the "Nauvoo Historic Sites" mission... to add on to your most recent comment.
I served in the Nauvoo Mission last summer, so I have a bit of personal connection to this conversation. What has been stated is true- the Nauvoo Illinois Mission has been discontinued and replaced with the Nauvoo Church Historic Site. There will still be missionaries serving there, but they are not under the direction of a mission president anymore. The new couple called to replace my mission president are being referred to in news releases as the "leaders" of the Nauvoo Historic Site.
They began their service just a few weeks ago as my Mission President came home in mid January.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2019-11-15/new-leaders-called-to-serve-over-church-historic-sites-166669
I apologize if I offended anyone's sensitivity in my posts here this morning. I have deleted all the comments from this morning that I posted regarding the last 3 Temples being marked on Classic Maps + LDS.org maps finally this morning and the discrepancy in the assigned Stakes/Districts ion each Temple District. I thought the information regarding Church temple growth was relevant and useful. But, posterior to my posts no one has added any new posts. I hope I did not offend anyone.
It is not offensive, however after a certain amount of time after Matt's original posting time, comments seem to dwindle. People just not might not be checking back here. Thanks for that info!
Now all 167 dedicated Temples are located officially on both Classic Maps and LDS.org Maps sites. Although 2 are marked in incorrect site :
https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=11.016667,-74.859994&z=18&m=google.hybrid&layers=temple,temple.construction,temple.renovated,stakecenter&q=Barranquilla%20Colombia%20Temple&find=temple:1795015
https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=-16.388163,-71.499652&z=18&m=google.hybrid&layers=temple,temple.construction,temple.renovated,stakecenter&q=Arequipa%20Per%C3%BA%20Temple&find=temple:1979582
We'll see how long after 02/16 it takes to add the new Durban South Africa Temple. Now that the queue is up to date on the Maps.
I didn't see your posts, Chris. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I don't post very often, but I do enjoy reading the variety of info, opinions, experiences, etc that others share. Keep them coming. :)
It's interesting to see how temple district boundaries are created worldwide. Sometimes they seem fairly straightforward, other times they are a bit different than what I might expect.
Looking forward to the dedication of the Durban Temple. I'm curious as to who will dedicate it. We know there are several apostles who have not presided and dedicated/rededicated a temple since President Nelson started rotating that opportunity after the Rome Temple dedication last year.
Hope to hear news soon about a dedication date for the Rio de Janeiro Temple.
I saw your posts, Chris, and I appreciated them. I would've commented, but I didn't think I had anything relevent to add.
It will be interesting to see how the restoration work will eventually progress in China.
Seems like they are moving in a bad direction currently. Many articles like the one below are out about the problems for organized religion there. I remember as a young kid in the 80's thinking that we would never be allowed into Russia...
https://nypost.com/2020/02/01/how-chinas-xi-jinping-destroyed-religion-and-made-himself-god/
And Coranovirus is pushing missionaries out of Hong Kong
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-impacting-missionary-service-in-hong-kong
Since Rick's choice of Stakes/Districts for new Durban South Africa Temple District, include all 4 Stakes + 2 Districts of neighboring country of Mozambique. I believe he should include also the nearby 2 Stakes + 3 Districts of neighboring Madagascar + Reunion + Mauritius Districts.
That's just my reasonable opinion though. There may be a technical reason for not including them in the proposed District. (On my personal list of the future Durban Temple District, I also include from the South Africa Durban + Cape Town Missions :
1059734 Bloemfontein South Africa Stake
2020734 Bellville South Africa Stake
516783 Cape Town South Africa Stake
2104644 Phuthaditjhaba South Africa District
2075091 George South Africa District
But don't take my word for it. Again just an opinion.)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/durban-south-africa-temple/district/
I presume in some cases it has less to do with distance than with how good the roads are and/or the cost of airfare.
South Africa has a good road network, the freeways are largely tolled, rural roads are largely good pavement
One new stake in Utah announced today on the CDOL. Checking the international atlas on the Cumorah site to estimate where it may be, I see that there are far too many large Utah stakes to guess its location. Does anyone know where it is? Thanks very much.
Ray...it is the West Jordan Utah Maples Stake. Split from the the West Jordan Sycamores and West Jordan Sunset Ridge Stake.
Yes, the new stake in West Jordan was created this last Sunday.
In the case of the island Nations/Territories of Madagascar, Reunion + Mauritius, I don't believe poor quality roads is the issue. I believe the decision may involve travel costs by AIR or BOAT to and from the islands, to either Jo-burg or Durban South Africa Temples. I don't have a way to compare.
Thanks, Nephi and Eric. That's a new stake I didn't see coming. Herriman, Bluffdale, and Daybreak are locations in Salt Lake County where I suspected there would be a new stake. Utah County has several large stakes that may be divided in the near future.
Elder Rasband posted on Facebook today that he will dedicate the Durban South Africa Temple next week:
https://www.facebook.com/RonaldARasband/posts/1369654353237098?__xts__[0]=68.ARA8uAZY05VNcJ75y_fWUKB_wjo4dt-anUHrkzqb8MI42vVrU_h0tTH_d6MjoxgzVzoqnuihqXOEJV2PtcHG9PZhMXUqrYXi2g9l5qrEu4981dgo1BHuHrARP2QiFcVuMq0sHf20wFTqZUEnvknmoImtYgu_CIqhdN-RFiOJsIYO-V-F_Bn14AXKXj_cboCzyn8gBtxt1tf6tUDxA18oGXwjsQn9fp0_UIKe_o3cyKTlD9s3-T2q1kw2w7SDQukKixDTaem53-9-ZcuUmGJHxIzid6Itirx0QllhkQBX7dmBF1LjxABB-iWzaQKNutSm9C8igjCrADjbZIzuNa6eov5KXg&__tn__=-R
I do think that one of the purposes of Rome dedication was to teach and prepare the members of the 12 to preside over temple dedications. Since the dedication, here is a list of apostles that have Presided over dedications and rededications:
Nelson - Rome
Oaks - Oakland
Eyring - Oklahoma City
Ballard - Raleigh
Holland - Memphis
Uchtdorf - Frankfurt
Bednar - Port-au-Prince
Cook - Baton Rouge
Christofferson - Asuncion
Anderson - Lisbon
Rasband - Durban
Stevenson -
Renlund - Kinshasa
Gong -
Soares - Fortaleza, Arequipa
So Elders Stevenson and Gong are the only ones who have not yet presided over a dedication. I suspect Elder Stevenson would rededicate the Tokyo Temple later this year, since he speaks Japanese. This year, we will probably also have: Rio de Janeiro, Washington DC, Winnipeg, and maybe Mesa.
President Nelson was going to dedicate Arequipa Temple but at the last minute he did not feel up to it. This explains why Elder Soares is the only repeat on the list.
I hope Elder Gong gets to rededicate Hong Kong. Then it will rhyme. XD
This week the Mission Presidents biographies include only 8, in comparison to the last 2 posts of 16 New Mission Presidents each.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2020-02-09/new-mission-presidents-brazil-arizona-alaska-benin-mexico-173313
Just out of curiosity, I have noticed on LDS maps that several ward and branch leaders are designated as "Acting Leaders." Under what circumstances would there be an acting branch or ward leader instead of a branch president or Bishop?
Had that in 1994 here in Provo, where a bishop, who was a local judge, died of a heart attack. It took several weeks until the First Presidency and Twelve could approve the name as it was just before the Summer recess that it happened. The two couselors shared all the duties, one was eventually called to be the bishop.
In many branches that are under-developed, often missionaries will serve as temporary branch presidents. Had an Elder in our ward just come home who had that responsibility for a couple months in Costa Rica.
I have notices that this "Acting Leader" is specially true for Russia.
I Think it has something to do with a law not to gather information on Russian citizens.
So they show as Acting leader for the wards or branches the mission president or area president.
In a ward I know, the Bishop went less active. As the Stake President, former Bishop resides in the Ward he acted as Bishop about 4 months, whilst a new Bishop was called.
My point, JPL, is that a nation in the midst of an economic crisis, particularly in Liberia where the Church has pulled missionaries due to those issues, would likely look with suspicion on a building made of material that has a high market value. There is a reason that the Haiti and DR Congo Temples do not include an angel Moroni, and that reason has everything to do with the Church not wanting a negative impression to be formed through the utilization of gold on buildings in nations where some areas include those in poor economic systems. It has nothing to do with apostates or Church critics and everything to do with the Church being a good neighbor. So until conditions improve in Liberia in that sense, a temple might well be delayed. Anyone who did the research on the Church's efforts to be a good neighbor and a wise steward would know that.
JPL, see my above response to your previous comment. I agree with everything Michael Worley said, and you would as well if you actually researched the issues involved with an open mind. And unless you have somehow talked with several citizens of Liberia, both in and out of the Church, on what are you basing your absolute assertions regarding the attitude of the general citizenry about the idea of a temple? I sincerely hope (but also greatly fear) that you may have offered an assertion on this matter based on imperfect and incomplete research, which, IMHO, is never prudent or wise.
Chris, if it matters, insofar as I have been able to ascertain, all units in Madagascar are closer to the Johannesburg SA Temple than they would be to Durban. So that's probably why the Church Temples site lists them in the former rather than the latter. But given that no temple in any phase will be within 200 miles of Madagascar, which is separated from the rest of the African continent by water, so that nation is the top African candidate on my list.
Incidentally, I have never been bothered by any comments you have posted here, and would, in fact, be most interested in reviewing the content of the latest ones you have deleted here. Could you email me with that? Thanks.
If you look at the recent history of temple rededications, Elder Christofferson is the least-senior apostle to rededicate a temple thus far. My research shows that no apostle junior to Elder Christofferson may be asked to preside at a temple dedication for the time being, though I freely admit that President Nelson's inspiration trumps my research 100 percent of the time.
The prophet had some stomach discomfort and asked Elder Soares to go in his stead, although Elder Soares did read the prayer prepared by the prophet in dedicating that temple.
Rude much?
Since Elder Gong's native language is Chinese (well probably co with English, but they spoke Chinese in the house he grew up in at least some) I could see him rededicating Hong Kong. On the other hand President Nelson in fluent in Mandarin.
On further thought though, it might be odd to dedicate the Hong Kong Temple in Mandarin when the main language in that area is Cantonese. On the other hand doing the dedicatory prayer in Mandarin would signal connection with the Chinese government. So I really do not know.
Still I could easily see Elder Gong doing that dedication, even if he gives the prayer in English. He served his mission in Taiwan, but I am not sure what form of Chinese they spoke in his home growing up. It might have been Cantonese. Even though I personally knew his son I never asked deeply on the linguistic background of the Gongs.
When the Church built the Friburg Germany temple the economy of East Germany had already began collapse. The money transfer into the economy was key to getting permission to build that temple.
If I were a person in Liberia as it was in the midst of economic collapse the best decision to keep me there would be to announce a temple.
One point on acting leaders is bishops need to be approved by the quorum of the 12, branch presidents do not. So inherently I see no reason a missionary called as branch president would have to be designated as acting leader.
I think it is exciting that soon all 15 current apostles will have dedicated or rededicated a temple. I agree that the Rome Temple dedication was a unique teaching moment. Yet even before the Rome Temple dedication, the other apostles have been dedicating temples. I count 211 temple dedications/rededications since Kirtland (excluding private dedications, and including partial rededications).
Of the 211 dedications, 117 have been performed by the President of the Church:
J. Smith - 1
Taylor - 1
Woodruff - 1
Grant - 3
G.A. Smith - 1
McKay - 5
J.F. Smith - 2
Kimball - 8
Benson - 2
Hunter - 2
Hinckley - 70
Monson - 19
Nelson – 2
72 have been performed by a Counselor in the First Presidency:
Wells - 1
Brown - 1
Romney - 1
Hinckley - 28
Monson - 7
Faust - 7
Eyring - 14
Uchtdorf - 11
Oaks – 2
And 22 have/will have been performed by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
Hyde - 1
L. Snow - 1
Packer - 2
Perry - 1
Faust - 1
Nelson - 3
Oaks - 1
Ballard - 2
Holland - 1
Uchtdorf - 1
Bednar - 2
Cook - 1
Andersen - 1
Rasband – 1 (Durban)
Renlund - 1
Soares - 2
Could President Nelson dedicate it in Mandarin in one of the sessions and Elder Gong read the prayer in another session? With it being a former British territory could there also be an English session? The temple serves other countries as well and they could have a session in/or simulcast translation in those languages.
Pleasant View Utah Orchard Springs Stake (2158892)
Active Date: 9 Feb 2020
Misty Meadows Ward (1046071)
Pleasant View 5th Ward (106283)
Pleasant View 7th Ward (155152)
Pleasant View 13th Ward (482323)
Pleasant View 16th Ward (1986740)
Pleasant View 17th Ward (1986759)
Willow Brook Ward (1988549)
JSA, Thank you for the update. I appreciate your hard work.
"11 February 2020 - Guatemala City, Guatemala News Release
Elder Soares Meets with Guatemala’s President
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-soares-meets-guatemala-president
I love to see countries working together for the common good. This is encouraging!
Homg Kong has an international district with English and Mandarin branches. Many of the people in the English branches are Filipinos.
Keep in mind that up until the rededication of the Friberg Germany Temple by Elder Uchtdorf in I think 2017 every dedicatory prayer at a temple was given in English.
President Nelson was married before the first endowment not in English was given. He is also the first president of the Church to give an address as president not in English. I believe to date he has only given addresses in Spanish.
Elder Renlund did the Kinshasa Congo Temple dedicatory prayer in French and Elder Soares did the Forteleza dedicatory prayer in Portuguese.
Interesting that President Nelson did the most to date as a member of the 12.
I actually am more intrigued by Elder Soares' area wide family home evening broadcast with his wife Rosana than him meeting with the president of Guatemala. Has such an area broadcast into member homes been done before? I am old enough to have known the days when unless you had a short wave radio you couldn't get general conference in your home in most of the US. I actually am surprised thinking back we didn't do the shortwave radio option more.
Australian-born General Authority uses story of ‘The Man from Snowy River’ to illustrate message to BYU students
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-02-11/byu-elder-vinson-australian-general-authority-man-from-snowy-river-174224
Saratoga Springs Utah Springside Stake (2157136)
Active Date: 9 Feb 2020
Heritage 1st Ward (2134047)
Heritage 2nd Ward (2134055)
Legacy Farms 1st Ward (2103656)
Legacy Farms 2nd Ward (2122472)
Saratoga Springs 1st Ward (266930)
Saratoga Springs 2nd Ward (276278)
Saratoga Springs 10th Ward (1244388)
Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple open house, dedication dates announced
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-02-12/rio-de-janeiro-brazil-temple-open-house-dedication-dates-announced-174308
The dedication date is May 17, only 3 months and 5 days away. In the past few years, most temple dedications have been announced about 6 months in advance. I was delighted to see the news.
Any word as to whether Elder Soares scouted out the location of the Cobán temple during his Guatemala visit?
Thanks for the reports on the new stakes, JSA. It's nice to finally see some stakes on the board for 2020!
"12 February 2020 - Accra, Ghana News Release
Elder Nash Hosts Former President of Ghana at Temple
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/former-ghanaian-president-visits-temple
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/alabang-philippines-temple/
Johnathan, according to my Central American Church member contact, sites have already been acquired for all three temples that have been announced for that area, and each will likely have a groundbreaking in the mid-to-latter part of this year.
Further, this contact indicated that, based on what is known about those temples at this point suggests that the most likely sequence for those groundbreakings is currently as follows: San Pedro Sula Honduras, Coban Guatemala, and Managua Nicaragua. Hope this information is helpful. Thanks.
My parents are now missionaries headed to the Laie Hawaii Temple! They fly ot tomorrow morning.
Not too surprising though, since he was an apostle for almost 34 years and has been prophet for just over 2 years.
Thanks for the update on Central America, James. That is helpful to know.
Very cool about the parents on their mission. My mom and step dad, both adult converts, served in Cambodia, then Indonesia. My stepfather who was released last year as counselor in the Bloomington IN bishopric thinks they would have served a third if she had not passed away in 2014.
Liver cancer took her away, but I think she is still doing missionary work. As a young lady she was a nurse in Sierra Leone, where Ebola took many in... 2016? She was there in 1965-1966, before joining in Indiana in 1968.
No problem.
JPL, it is often the case that, when apostles visit areas of the Church for an extended period of time, they often host area-wide Family Home Evenings, which has been the case for as long as apostles have been utilizing modern technology to reach more people in their global ministry.
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