Temple predictions for General Conference and fallout from the SEC fines
The Mormon Land Newsletter is the Salt Lake Tribune’s weekly highlight reel covering developments in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Keep supporting us Patreon and get the full newsletter, exclusive access to religious content, and podcast transcripts for Tribune subscribers only.
Where new temples can land
It has become a pre-general conference tradition of deciding where there will be ice after the Saturday night session and predicting whether it will rain during the biannual meetings.
This tradition: predicting where new temples will be announced.
With that in mind, and with just under five weeks until the Spring Conference, courtesy of eagle-eyed church tracker Matt Martinich’s crystal ball, we reveal the 10 “likeliest” cities where a temple will be announced:
• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (a fixture on Martinich’s list for several years).
• Spanish Fork (this would be Utah’s 29th existing or planned temple after zeroing new temples through 2022).
• Charlotte, NC
• Angeles or Olongapo, Philippines.
• Colorado Springs (yes, Martinich’s home).
• Kampala, Uganda (this would be the first Latter-day Saint temple in the African nation).
• Iquitos, Peru.
• Sao Jose, Brazil.
• Vina del Mar, Chile.
• João Pessoa, Brazil.
(Read more about Martinich’s temple picks at ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com.)
President Russell Nelson designated 18 new temples this past fall, bringing the total number of existing or planned temples to 300 (118, or nearly 40% as announced by Nelson).
Another conference tidbit to watch: Will global church membership surpass 17 million by 2022? At the end of 2021 it was 16,805,400.
The Latest Mormon Land Podcast: “Show Us the Money”
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Church office building shown Tuesday, February 21, 2023 is reflected in a building in downtown Salt Lake City where Ensign Peak Advisors, the investment arm of The Church of Jesus Christ Last day of the saints.
Popular Latter-day Saint blogger Sam Brunson, professor of tax law at Loyola University Chicago, speaks about the financial issues plaguing the church on multiple federal fronts, the potential outcomes of all these reviews, and how more transparency could help the faith such unflattering things to avoid attention in the future. listen to podcast
(Photo courtesy of Sam Brunson) Sam Brunson, professor of tax law at Loyola University Chicago.
He also blogs about the church’s settlement this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission, explaining that the faith has “taken premeditated action to do wrong,” moves that represent “a real betrayal of the millions of church members.” who have worked hard to live up to their standards, to be honest when it is difficult, to obey the law even when it is uncomfortable” and that “it must explain what went wrong, why it went wrong gone wrong, how it will make sure it doesn’t go wrong again.
Life 101, by Professor Baseball
(Photo by Roberto Borea | AP) Baltimore Orioles’ Cal Ripken holds his cap in front of the crowd September 6, 1995 as he broke Lou Gehrig’s record for most consecutive games.
Our national pastime is more than just a pastime. I am indeed a firm believer that baseball diamonds offer gems to live with.
With that in mind, and while spring training is in full swing, I’d like to revisit a 2007 article I wrote to prove my point.
Over the next nine weeks (hell, let’s call them innings) I’m going to master life lessons I owe to the bats, the balls, and the bases. derivative:
First inning • Cal Ripken is playing a record 2,632 straight games.
The former Baltimore Orioles star amassed 431 home runs, 1,695 RBIs and 3,184 hits. He was an All-Star, a Gold Glover, an MVP, a World Champion, and a Hall of Famer.
But Ripken will forever be remembered for one accomplishment: The Streak. He did not miss a day’s work between May 30, 1982 and September 20, 1998. That’s 2,632 consecutive games – a stat that cemented his legend and legacy. Of course, Ripken’s record also enabled him to amass these other Cooperstown-caliber numbers.
The lesson for us: Sometimes just showing up is enough.
When athletes appear larger than life, it’s because they are. Few people can run a mile in under 4 minutes or strap a baseball 400 feet. But we all remember – and sometimes we get annoyed – classmates with perfect attendance or know colleagues who never miss a day on the job and consequently make a lasting contribution.
Ripken’s record resonates with baseball fans and non-fans alike because it’s a working-class milestone — a tribute to the everyday worker (and woman) who works every day, man.
From the stands
(Andrew Harnik | AP file photo) The Securities and Exchange Commission building in Washington in 2017.
• In a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Church and its investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, agree to pay $5 million in penalties for failing to properly disclose prior stock holdings and taking “great efforts” to do so intentionally “covering up” them. faith investment portfolio.
• See how the Church and Ensign Peak hid these stock holdings for years by creating “clone” companies.
• Meanwhile, after three consecutive quarterly declines, Ensign Peak’s value rose $4.1 billion — for a total of $44.4 billion — at the end of 2022.
• The Tribune editorial board urges the church to be more transparent about its finances.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) President Spencer W. Kimball and his wife Camilla Kimball at Peter Whitmer Sr.’s farmhouse in Fayette, NY in 1980 to celebrate the bicentenary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to commemorate Saints’ Day.
• The Church has released the voluminous digitized journals of Spencer W. Kimball, the Yoda-like Prophet-President whose work ethic of “do it” became his calling card to ministers during his nearly 12-year presidency. His ending of the racist priesthood/temple ban in 1978 is considered one of the most momentous changes in church history.
“President Kimball’s journals are among the finest in Latter-day Saint history,” said Kyle McKay, General Authority Seventy, Church historian and recorder, in a press release. “Just as the amazing journal of Wilford Woodruff chronicles the history of the 19th-century Latter-day Saints, the journal of Spencer W. Kimball provides a magnificent insight into 20th-century Church history.”
Historian Benjamin Park examined the Kimball collection in a Religion News Service article and said it was one “rarely equaled in Mormon history.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) President Spencer W. Kimball’s journals contain the 1960 visas from his passport.
• Following a full-scale fraud case in Las Vegas, we examine why so many Latter-day Saints fall victim to pyramid schemes. In these crimes, some of the strengths of faith—trust, community, and connectedness—can actually make members more vulnerable.
• Latter-day Saint academics face a dilemma, warns Salt Lake Tribune guest columnist Natalie Brown: secular schools may discredit them for their faith, and parochial universities may reject them for their scholarship.
• Linda King Newell, whose 1984 book Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith brought new life and light to the First Lady of the Faith, has died at the age of 82.
(Photo courtesy) Linda Newell, who died earlier this month, was a co-author of the 1984 book Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith.