This is Unusual

As I write, it is Tuesday morning. Russell Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died Saturday night, Sept. 27. That was two weeks plus two days and a night ago. His funeral and burial were Tuesday, Oct. 7, which was seven days ago. When he died the quorum of the First Presidency was dissolved. Seventeen days since Pres. Nelson’s death and seven days since his burial, the First Presidency has not yet been reorganized. This is unusual.

Following the deaths of the first three Presidents of the Church, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and John Taylor, there were periods of 42, 33, and 20 months until the next First Presidency was organized. After that, beginning with the death of Wilford Woodruff, a new First Presidency has been announced to the Church and the world no more than five days after the burial of the last Church President, and no more than twelve days after his death. In almost all cases the transition period was quite brief, no more than a week between death and reorganization. The last time the Church and the world had experienced a couple weeks without a First Presidency was 1887 through 1889.

If anyone commenting here wishes to speculate why the First Presidency has not yet been reorganized, I request and require that you do so with respect and even reverence. Here is my speculation. It was been the Church’s pattern since 1973 to reorganize the First Presidency on a Sunday. It has also been the Church’s pattern recently to dedicate temples on Sundays. This recent Sunday Elder Gary Stevenson was in Elko, Nevada to dedicate a temple there. Next Sunday Elder Jeffrey Holland is scheduled to dedicate a temple in Grand Junction, Colorado. The next temple dedication after that will be at the end of November. Reorganizing the First Presidency before Sunday, October 26 would require one of four things I can think of: 1) Doing so on a day other than Sunday; from 1898 through 1972, those actions never happened on Sundays. 2) Postponing a temple dedication. 3) The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles acting with a member absent. 4) Rapid travel on a Sunday by an apostle between meeting with his quorum and dedicating a temple.