Stokes Sounds Off: Temple Updates

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Saturday, December 9, 2017

Temple Updates

Hello again, everyone! My wife Amy and I have spent most of the last week not feeling well (which in my case has involved a cold that has hung on for a couple of weeks). Our ability to get things done normally has ebbed and flowed each day based on how we have been feeling. So the posts I have done within the last week or so have come when I have had the strength to get them done. We are doing all right, just dealing with a lot, but we will get through it. We have been through worse.

In the absence of new content in recent days, I have been touched by how widely read the posts I have been able to do in the first week of this month, particularly those sharing my thoughts about temple prospects for the near or far distant future.

That said, I did want to send out a reminder: If any of you want to comment on a post I have previously done, I hope you know you can feel free to do so. When I turn my attention to temple possibilities within an area of the Church I have not covered, that is not intended to dissuade any of you who may have additional insights on such possibilities in areas I have already posted. In the last week, the new posts have been written for the purpose of extending and expanding the discussion.

If I have overlooked any possibilities in any area that I should be considering, I want to know about that. Likewise, if I have any possibilities that do not seem to be as likely, I want to know about that as well so I can make any additions or corrections to my list prior to next April's General Conference.

With those preliminaries out of the way, I would like now to turn to the purpose for this post: to provide some updated information of which I have become aware relating to the progress of temples.

In that regard, I wanted to first mention that, in order for the Church to have 200 operating temples by Saturday April 6, 2030, which will coincide with the 200th anniversary of the Church, there are now 12.32 years in which to announce and complete 18 other temples, in addition to the 25 others currently in various stages. That means that if 3-4 new temples are dedicated every full year between now and then, it could easily be done.

That is especially true in light of Elder Wilson's statement about the 80 potential locations for which the Church could announce a temple between now and late April 2032. Even if some of those possibilities are taken off or replaced by others, we may, as I have previously stated, be entering into a time when the Church could opt to announce a few temples every six months in General Conference, and have a few announced here and there between each conference. Whatever does happen in that regard, I will do my best to keep you posted on all of that.

In the meantime, I found out a little more about the Cedar City Utah Temple dedication attendees. As some of you may have seen, the Church News ran this article about how Elder Holland, a Southern Utah boy, would be returning home for the temple's dedication. That same article explains that President Eyring will preside at the dedication. As we also know from a previously published article, 7 other apostles will be participating as well.

We know as well that President Monson will not be in attendance, and we also know (from a comment on this blog) that Elder Renlund is on assignment in New Mexico and will not be in attendance either. So that leaves 10 other possibilities from which those 7 have been selected. I am keeping my eyes out for information about this weekend's events for the Cedar City Utah temple and I will pass anything new on to you all as soon as I can after learning about it.

That said, we now turn our attention to the Barranquilla Colombia Temple, where the roofing for the temple and missionary housing is nearing completion. As previously noted, the monument sign has been installed, and I also learned that scaffolding has been removed from the temple tower and that the installation of decorative fencing is underway on the temple grounds. I can see now more clearly why this temple will likely be dedicated prior to the dedication of the Kinshasa Temple.

Aside from these developments, there has been no other progress reported on temples. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

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Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.