Today we celebrated General Conference Weekend! It’s like an oasis of refreshment! Between sessions the APs came to help us prepare for MLC this next week. We took a quick break for food:
Then the Elders left to go to the church with their investigators and we settled back in to listening to Conference here. I’m washing flannel and doing a little stitching as we listen. I LOVE Conference Weekend.
April 2017 General Conference News and Announcements
The First Presidency announced a new Relief Society General Presidency—Sisters Jean B. Bingham, President; Sister Sharon Eubank, First Counselor, and Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor—during the Saturday afternoon session of conference.
New Counselor in the Primary General Presidency
Sister Cristina B. Franco was called as the Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency.
New General Authority Seventies
Six new General Authority Seventies were announced: Elder Taylor G. Godoy, Elder Joni L. Koch, Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella, Elder John C. Pingree Jr., Elder Brian K. Taylor, and Elder Taniela B. Wakolo.
Area Seventies
The following 36 newly called Area Seventies were were announced:
Luis R. Arbizú, 52, Mejicanos, El Salvador; David A. Benalcázar, 44, Quito, Ecuador; Berne S. Broadbent, 62, South Jordan, Utah; David L. Buckner, 53, New York, New York; L. Todd Budge, 57, Sandy, Utah; Luciano Cascardi, 53, São Paulo, Brazil; Ting Tsung Chang, 59, East District, Taiwan; Pablo H. Chavez, 40, Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Raymond A. Cutler, 64, Bountiful, Utah; Fernando P. Del Carpio, 41, Tacna, Peru; José L. Del Guerso, 57, Itapema, Brazil; Aleksandr A. Drachyov, 40, Novosibirsk, Russia; I. Raymond Egbo, 42, Accra, Ghana; Carlos R. Fusco Jr., 50, São Paulo, Brazil; Jorge A. García, 62, Tijuana, Mexico; Gary F. Gessel, 64, Tacoma, Washington; Guillermo I. Guardia, 50, San Cristóbal, Venezuela; Marcel Guei, 42, Cocody, Cote d’Ivoire; José Hernández, 49, San Pedro Sula, Honduras; Karl D. Hirst, 45, Brixworth, England; Ren S. Johnson, 60, Reno, Nevada; Jay B. Jones, 63, Fairview, Texas; Anthony M. Kaku, 54, Cape Coast, Ghana; Paul N. Lekias, 49, Padbury, Australia; John A. McCune, 53, Springville, Utah; Tomas S. Merdegia Jr., 62, Calamba City, Philippines; Artur J. Miranda, 46, Sandton, South Africa; Elie K. Monga, 50, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo; Juan C. Pozo, 57, La Paz, Bolivia; Anthony Quaisie, 47, Accra, Ghana; James R. Rasband, 54, Provo, Utah; Carlos G. Revillo Jr., 51, Plaridel, Philippines; Martin C. Rios, 41, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Johnny F. Ruiz, 52, La Chorrera, Panama; K. Roy Tunnicliffe, 48, York, England; Moisés Villanueva, 50, Oaxaca, Mexico.
The following Area Seventies were released:
Taylor G. Godoy and John C. Pingree Jr.
Statistical report
The First Presidency has issued the following statistical report concerning the growth and status of the Church as of December 31, 2016.
|
CHURCH UNITS |
|
| Stakes |
3,266 |
| Missions |
421 |
| Districts |
556 |
| Wards and branches |
30,304 |
|
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP |
|
| Total membership |
15,882,417 |
| New children of record |
109,246 |
| Converts baptized |
240,131 |
|
MISSIONARIES |
|
| Full-time missionaries |
70,946 |
| Church-service missionaries |
33,695 |
|
TEMPLES |
|
| Temples rededicated (Suva Fiji, Freiburg Germany) |
2 |
| Temples dedicated (Provo City Center, Sapporo Japan, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Fort Collins Colorado, Star Valley Wyoming, Hartford Connecticut) |
6 |
| Temples in operation at the end of 2016 |
155 |
Our Washington Yakima Mission 