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Wednesday, April 15, 2020

18 more reasons conference was historic

The fact the church plans to break ground and begin construction on 18 new temples this year arguably was the most overlooked newsmaking moment of the 190th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints earlier this month.

That is a remarkable number.

The church hasn’t come close to breaking ground on so many temples in any year since the turn of the century. To put it in perspective, this would be the second-biggest year for temple starts in church history. In fact, beginning construction on 18 news temples this year would be just one less than the combined total of temples started over the previous four years.

Only in 1999, during the surge of construction of smaller temples, did the church break ground on more of its holiest buildings:

Clearly, this is one of the greatest temple-building eras in church history. Remember, no new temples were announced between April 2013 and April 2015. The late President Thomas S. Monson said that pause was designed to give staff time to work on a backlog of 28 temples that hadn’t been started.

Since then, the church has increased its capacity. Today, the number of temples not yet started is 50% higher than it was in 2014, but members of the Presiding Bishopric, which oversees temple construction, told me earlier this year that while they’ve never seen a time like this, they are ready to move ahead.

President Russell M. Nelson now has announced 43 new temples in two years; so far, ground has been broken for seven of them. He has explained why new temples are so important.

“Temples are a crowning part of the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said at conference. “In God’s goodness and generosity, He is bringing the blessings of the temple closer to His children everywhere.”

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is the chairman of the Temple and Family History Executive Council. Before he mentioned that the church intends to break ground and start construction on 18 temples this year, he also explained why.

He said the church believes the most sacred covenants and priesthood ordinances can be received only in a temple. Temples emphasize the divinity of Jesus Christ, and temple covenants and ordinances “are central in the ongoing process of spiritual rebirth and transformation; they are the means whereby the Lord works with each of us from the inside out. … We do not come to the temple to hide from or escape the evils of the world. Rather, we come to the temple to conquer the world of evil.”

My Recent Stories

First Presidency has approved humanitarian projects in 57 countries to battle COVID-19 (April 14, 2020)

For Strength of Youth conferences in U.S. and Canada postponed until 2021, church announces (April 13, 2020)

What I’m Reading ...

Please, please, please do not fall victim to scams related to the pandemic. That goes for emails and phone calls you might receive asking you for personal information or money. It also goes for items you see on the internet that allege conspiracy theories. In England, people have committed more than 30 acts of arson on cellphone towers over a ridiculous theory that 5G technology is spreading COVID-19. That’s absurd.

In fact, the U.S. State Department “recently accused Russia of using thousands of social media accounts to spread coronavirus misinformation — including a conspiracy theory that the United States engineered the deadly pandemic,” according to a New York Times analysis. So, beware.

Michael Buffer’s catchphrase “Let’s get ready to rumble!” is worth $400 million, according to this incredibly well-written piece. This colorful story really is about how he met a brother he never knew he had and how that brother, too, became a famous ring announcer.

How can you not want to read a National Geographic story titled “Why plague doctors wore those strange beaked masks.” It’s short, but has some good information and history.

Behind the Scenes

We wanted to share side-by-side photos of the same spot on Tabernacle on Temple Square in 1957, when conference was canceled by a pandemic, and in 2020, when conference was held by broadcast only. Unfortunately, the Salt Lake Temple renovation made it impossible to get a picture from the same angle of the southeast corner of the tabernacle in the 1957 photo. So here is a photograph by the Deseret News’ Ivy Ceballo of the south side of the building. The idea for doing this was suggested by Ardis Parshall, an independent research historian. And the tale told by each photo is historic.

This overhead look at Temple Square and beyond shows the historically unique nature of the 190th Annual General Conference. Normally, the photo would be teeming with thousands of people, and the parking lots in the background would be completely full. (Photo Credit: John Lloyd, IRI)

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