Temple Site Possibilities: Utah Salt Lake City Area--Part One: Area and Temple Overview and Details About the Salt Lake Temple

Hello again, everyone! I am back tonight yet again with my post focusing on the Utah Salt Lake City Area of the Church. This area takes in those cities with the Greater Salt Lake geographical area, in addition to a very small part of Nevada. There are also 4 temples of the Church within that area to serve the Saints who reside in the region. They are as follows: the Draper Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain and Salt Lake Temples. And the number of stakes served within each district may warrant a couple of new temples, though I only have one such location on my list for now.

The oldest of these is, of course, the Salt Lake Temple, which became the Church's 4th in operation at the time of its dedication, which was held during an 18-day period spanning April 6-24, 1893, more than 40 years after its groundbreaking, which is the longest such period in Church history.

When Brigham Young announced this temple (just 4 days after the Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley, and during the groundbreaking ceremony for the temple, President Young indicated his intention to build an edifice that would stand through the 1,000 years of Christ's millennial reign on earth.

For that reason, though there have been minor adjustments to its exterior and interior look when that has been needed, there will be no need to ever close it long-term for a complete renovation process and rededication.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a popular Mormon myth was that the temple would be closed for several years for a complete overhaul. The Church put that rumor to rest with an official statement on that matter, and that statement has been reiterated at times since when the rumor has resurfaced. Unless and until it is officially announced, we can safely reject any such rumors in our time when we hear them.

Additionally, as I am sure most of you are aware, since Salt Lake City is the global headquarters of the Church, the Salt Lake Temple has special rooms on its top floors reserved for the weekly meetings of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as well as monthly meetings for all General Authorities that are assigned to Church headquarters.

I could go on about what an icon that temple is in Church history, but I will exercise restraint, and merely note that the Salt Lake temple is one of only two or three in the Church where temple workers perform the narration for endowment sessions live rather than running a video.

In the meantime, let me move on to talk about the temple district. The Salt Lake Temple currently serves those 59 stakes and 1 district located in the Salt Lake Valley and 2 other stakes in Nevada (based in the city of Elko). I wanted to pause here to note that I have added a potential temple for Elko to my list, which I covered in an earlier post.

If and when a temple is built in Elko, it may take away a few stakes from this district. But another popular option which I have heard floated around is the city of Tooele, which is the one potential candidate on my list for this area. I guess I should techincally put Elko in this area, since the Elko Stakes fall within this district. Let me know your thoughts on that in the comments below.

Because I spent so much time talking in this post about the Salt Lake Temple, I don't want it to become overly long, so I will follow this post up with a second post about the history of the other three temples in this area and any prospects I see for future temples there.

So 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.

Temple Site Possibilities: Utah North Area

Hello again, everyone! I am back once again to continue discussing the three areas in Utah, and the second part of that discussion will  focus on the Utah North Area. Because there is comparatively so little to discuss in terms of this area, its' current temples, and the one location in which I have felt we could see a new temple within it, I believe I can handle the entire area with a single post. If that changes, I will be sure to let you know.

So let's dive right in to that discussion. In addition to the cities in Northern Utah, this area takes in a small portion of Idaho, and the southwest corner of Wyoming. As such, it takes in 5 temples currently, including 4 from Utah (in Bountiful, Brigham City, Logan, and Ogden) and also the Star Valley temple in Wyoming.

Having listed these temples, we now turn to an exploration of their history and the size and composition of their districts. We will discuss those in the same order listed above. First, I wanted to note that the Bountiful Utah Temple, which was dedicated as the 47th operating temple of the Church during January 8-14, 1995. The unique fact about this temple is that it was one of only two (unless I have missed any others) dedicated by President Howard W. Hunter during his prophetic tenure, which was just a few days short of 9 months.

Because other temples operate in this area, the composition of its current district includes 49 stakes of the Church in Davis County. I have long felt that the Bountiful district could and should probably be split, and I have previously ventured my thoughts that a temple in the city of Layton might be the best way to do that. While the Saints in Layton only have a 14 mile drive to Bountiful, since the Bountiful Temple is by all reports kept fairly busy, a temple in Layton would ease that somewhat. And if a temple were to be built in Layton at any point in the future, then the stakes covered by the other temple districts could shift somewhat.

Moving on to discuss Brigham City, the dedication of that temple on September 23, 2012 gave the Church its' 139th such edifice to be dedicated. President Boyd K. Packer, who had been consulted by President Monson about the prospect of a temple in that spot, because it was where he grew up, was asked by President Monson to represent the Church in presiding at this temple's dedication. As for its district, the Brigham City temple serves 12 stakes from Box Elder County and the Malad Idaho Stake. Seems fairly manageable for the moment.

Turning now to Logan, that temple was the 2nd temple dedicated in this dispensation to which the Church still has ownership. Originally dedicated between May 17-19 in 1884 by President John Taylor, following a renovation process, President Spencer W. Kimball presided over its rededication between March 13-15, 1979. As to its' current district, it covers 39 stakes in Cache Valley and Southeastern Idaho.

There may or may not be a good reason to split this district, and if that happens, I could potentially see new temples in either Smithfield Utah (which is 7 miles from Logan) or else in Preston Idaho (which is 26.7 miles from Logan). But, as I said above, if a temple is built in Layton, and the units in the Utah North are redistributed as a result, the makeup of this dstrict could change, as could the distance the stakes within it would travel.

We now move on to Ogden, as most of you are probably aware, the temple in that city was dedicated originally between January 18-20, 1972, by President Joseph Fielding Smith. Its original exterior was similar in design to that of the Provo Temple.

But because the city's architectural style changed in the interim, part of its renovation process gave it a completely different exterior look, which some appreciated and others did not, and there are still some people I come across periodically who are not happy about it today.

Following that renovation process, the temple was rededicated by President Thomas S. Monson (one of the last such events in which he would participate) on September 21, 2014.

As for its district, that comprises 59 from Northern Utah and 4 others from Southeastern Wyoming. There may or may not be a reason to split this district, and that could happen by either building a temple in Syracuse or perhaps one in Evanston Wyoming. But again, if and when a temple is built in Layton, the stakes in all of these other districts will likely be redistributed as a result.

So that brings us to the final temple in this area, which is the one in Star Valley Wyoming.  As I'm sure we all know, the Star Valley temple became the 154th in operation in the Church when it was dedicated on October 30, 2016. Because his wife grew up in the Afton area, the First Presidency asked Elder David A. Bednar to preside at that event.

The Star Valley district is another very small one, as the temple was built to serve six stakes of the Church, three from Southeast Idaho, and 3 others from Southwest Wyoming. Not much need to split there.

Now, you may have noticed a strange anomaly. I have not given any distances in this post between the cities in these districts and each of  these temples. That is because, aside from a temple for Layton, I have no other options on my personal list for the near future, so there is no need to examine the reasoning behind any others. But I would like to hear from you.

Would Layton be the most likely location for the next temple in this area, and would that result in a redistribution of the stakes within these districts? And are there any other possibilities within this area which I should look at more seriously within the near future?

I look forward to your comments, which are always welcome and appreciated. That does it for this post. 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.

Introductory Information About the Three Utah Areas

Hello again, everyone! While I had said as recently as 12-15 hours ago when doing my final post covering the South America South Area that I would be stepping back a bit before moving on to the three Utah areas to allow sufficient time for you all to read and make any comments on the other posts in this series, since I am in the groove for it now and and since my wife and I continue to be stuck at home with illness, I thought I would at least get started on my posts about the three Utah Areas. The one thing I wanted to note about the boundaries of those areas is that they are somewhat oddly drawn, and that is reflected by the fact that some small portions of other states are considered part of those three areas.

Next, I wanted to make a general comment about the state. As a Utah citizen, I am grateful to live in the state that is the worldwide headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord is at work in prospering His Church here. And nowhere is that more evident than in the fact that the current data about Utah is quite extensive. With 18 temples (17 of which are in operation, and 1, for the northern Utah County city of Saratoga Springs, which was just announced last April), the Church in this state has 11 missions currently (though that may change somewhat based on the announced intention of the Church to consolidate missions worldwide).

Additionally, the Saints in Utah are served by 592 stakes and only 1 district, which are further divided into 4,785 wards and 326 branches, or a total of 5,111 congregations. Divided evenly among those 18 temples, the congregational average served by each works out to between 283-284 congregations for each temple. While some of Utah's 29 counties are pretty well stocked in terms of temples to serve the Church members here, there are options I can definitely see the Church announcing in both the near and more distant future.

With that background information out of the way, I can now focus on the particulars of each of the three areas of the Church within this state. So 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 nest post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Yet Another Status Update for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple

Hello again, everyone! As many of you have likely noticed, I went a little crazy in posting new content over the last 3-4 days because there was not much else for me to do while my wife and I have been stuck at home not feeling well over the Christmas holiday. So it is understandable, I hope, that I am opting to give you all a bit of time to continue to read those new posts (and to comment on any of them, if you so desire). As I mentioned in many of those posts, not only has doing so many over the last several days brought me closer to my goal of having 1,000 posts on this blog by the time 2017 ends, but I also hope that by the time we ring in New Year 2018 here in Utah that I will have also been able to provide those final posts in my series examining the likely potential locations in which new temples could be announced in the near future. Look for those later this week.

In the meantime, in addition to allowing a bit of time for you all to continue to read (and/or provide feedback about) the newest posts that have been put up during that time, I also promised in the last post I published early this morning to keep my eyes open for any news and updates regarding the Church in general or temples in particular. So in this post, I will be passing along some promising progress which I have heard has been made on the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple.

When I looked back at the last time progress had been reported on that temple, I found out that that had occurred 10 days ago (on December 16). So, on this day after celebrating Christmas, it was wonderful to learn that several of the sources I use for temple-related updates I share here have again updated the status of that temple.

So, what has changed? Well, 10 days ago, I had reported that the exterior walls of this temple were being plastered, and that a moisture barrier was being applied to the eaves of its roof. New information received just a few moments ago indicates that, while the plastering continues for the exterior walls of the temple, hardscaping is underway (which involves the addition of concrete planter boxes and curbing, while the path of the driveway for this temple has been compacted). In addition to that, it would appear that the process of adding that moisture barrier to the eaves has been completed.

To put these developments into context, the fact that we have had two very significant updates for this temple within the last 10 days seems to be a clear indication that this temple will more than likely be dedicated before the end of 2018, rather than during the early months of the following year.

As to a more specific time-frame in which that dedication might occur, if it does happen before the end of next year, my research on the climate in Kinshasa seems to point to either Sunday December 9 or 16 as being the most likely window for this event.

But if whatever remains to be done in this process is delayed for any reason, then that would, of course, push that dedication back into 2019. It doesn't seem likely at this point that will be the case, but since we have seen a couple of unexpected delays on several temples (in terms of either getting their construction started or seeing those that are under construction have their estimates pushed back), I wanted to note that possibility.

As with everything else, I am doing my level best to keep an eye out for any and all temple-related developments, and I will do everything in my power to bring you those updates as I become aware of them.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments (either on this post, or any of the previous ones I have done on this blog) 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.

Temple Site Possibilities: South America South Area, Part Seven--Analysis of Likely Split For Asuncion Paraguay and Montevideo Uruguay Temple Districts and Area Wrap-Up

Hello again, everyone! I know I indicated at the end of my last post that the last one that would cover this area (and would serve to wrap up that coverage), but as it turns out, I needed to do one first to examine the likelihood of other temples potentially being announced to split the other two current temple districts within this area in Asuncion Paraguay and Montevideo Uruguay. So how likely is such a possibility, and where might such a temple be built? Let's get right into all of that.

First, it makes sense that the temples in both nations are located in their capital cities. The Church has, as I previously observed, seemed to prefer doing things that way. That said, in looking at the two districts, I can see a couple of possibilities that might work if a determination was made to split these two districts. Please note that while there appear to be several candidates that will likely get their own temple at some point, I am focusing only on the most imminently likely possibilities.

The Saints from the Artigas region of Uruguay have a journey of 373.1 miles to visit the Montevideo temple. So that city could get one. And since it is also 496.6 miles from the Asuncion temple, it makes sense that the Church would not only have that city fall under the Montevideo district for the moment, but that Artigas could easily get a temple, if the Church feels one is needed there.

If a temple is announced for Artigas Uruguay, then the only other city that may need one at some point (at least for now) is Treinta y Tres Uruguay, which is 182 miles from Montevideo (slightly less than President Monson's target goal of 200 miles, but still close enough to qualify), and if a temple were built in Artigas, since that city is 318.5 miles from there, so that city would likely remain in the Montevideo district if a temple was announced for Artigas.

So there are some possible locations for other Uruguayan temples at some point, although how soon they might happen is anyone's guess. Moving on now to Asuncion Paraguay's district, let's next explore if, when, and how that district could potentially be split.

First, I have considered a potential second temple in Paraguay for a while, and in previous discussions about that possibility, someone mentioned that Ciudad del Este might be the best location for such a temple. And my subsequent research has shown the merits of that assertion.

The Saints in that city have a journey of 201.1 miles to worship at the Asuncion Paraguay Temple, and with it closed, the Saints are travelling even further than that to do so. For that reason, we could see a temple there at some point, perhaps sooner rather than later. And that seems to be the only feasible location to split the Asuncion Paraguay Temple district.

This brings to a close my thoughts on potential future temples to break up the Montevideo and Asuncion temple districts. I look forward to hearing yours. That does it for this post, and that also does it for my coverage of the South America South Area. My focus this next week as I can do so will be to report any new Church and temple-related news of which I hear, and also to hopefully finish my series of posts about potential temple locations in the final three areas I have yet to cover: Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South.

So stay tuned for that. 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.

Temple Site Possibilities: South America South Area, Part Six--Potential Future Temples in Chile

Hello again, everyone! In continuing to discuss the potential future temples that could be built to help serve the Saints within the South America South Area, we now turn our attention to Chile. Until we see which of Chile's 77 stakes and 16 districts are going to be part of the Concepcion Chile Temple district, it will be difficult to tell if and how soon another temple might potentially be needed. That said, it would appear that the driving force behind the Concepcion Chile temple is the fact that the Concepcion Saints currently have a journey of 310.5 miles, which is over 100 miles further than President Monson's 200-mile goal.

That said, I do want to explore the likelihood of potential future Chilean locations I can see in which the Church could build other temples. The first is the city of Antofagasta. The Saints in that city currently travel 847.7 miles to the Santiago temple. And the Saints in Antofagasta are even further away from Concepcion, as the distance between the two is 1,156,2 miles. So a temple there makes sense.

There may also be a chance that the Church could opt to announce a temple for the Chilean city of Los Angeles. Saints in that city currently travel 319.4 miles to get to Santiago, and that distance will be cut down to 79 miles once the Concepcion temple is dedicated. While that dedication could very well push back the time-frame in which a temple could be built in Los Angeles Chile, it still seems potentially possible, if not immediately, then perhaps at some point.

But perhaps my favorite option for Chile's third temple is the city of Valpaiaiso, which has been on my list for a while now. While it is only 71.6 miles from the temple in Santiago, it will stay with that temple district once the temple in Concepcion is dedicated, since Concepcion is 375,8 miles from Valparaiso.

Again, in examining these options, we see that the Church has a few for potential future temples in Chile. So 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 (which should come at some point tomorrow afternoon to wrap up my coverage of this area, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Temple Site Possibilities: South America South Area, Part Five--How the Church Could Potentially Divide the Cordoba Argentina Temple District

Hello again, everyone! I am back in the early morning hours of the 26th to continue my coverage on potential future temples that could be built to help serve the Saints in the South America South Area. Having explored in my last post how the Church could potential divide the current Buenos Aires Argentina district we now turn our attention to how, when, and in what way the Church could potentially divide the district of the other Argentine temple, which is located in Cordoba. We have set the background for this topic in one of the previous posts about this area which discussed the current composition of that district. So let's discuss some possible ways that district could potentially be split.

The Saints from the Bell Ville stake currently travel 129.4 miles to worship at the temple in Cordoba. While that is 70.6 miles less than the 200-mile goal set by President Monson, if it would save the Bell Ville Saints a journey, it would make sense if they got their own temple, which could also potentially serve other stakes and districts in that region as well.

Another potential option that could work is the Argentine city of San Juan, which is 362.8 miles from Cordoba and would be a prime candidate based on the 200-mile goal. If a temple is built in Bell Ville, then San Juan would likely remain part of the Cordoba distrct, and vice versa, since the two are 475.9 miles apart.

The Church could also announce a temple for the San Luis area, as the Saints in that region have aa journey of 266.1 miles to the Cordoba. Since those Saints are even further away from Bell Ville (with a distance of 276.4 miles), they would likely remain with the Cordoba district until the time a temple is announced in San Juan, which would only be slightly closer than Cordoba (with that distance spanning 202.2 miles, which is still a little much).

The final option I'd like to present that could split the Cordoba temple district would be a potential temple in San Rafael. Since the Saints in that region travel more than twice the 200-mile goal set by President Monson (with the exact distance being 433.9 miles), a temple there might be useful to those Saints, 

If a temple is built in Bell Ville, the San Rafael Saints would likely still attend the temple in Cordoba, since Bell Ville and San Rafael are slightly farther apart (the exact distance between the two is 444.2 miles). But if either San Rafael or San Luis gets a temple, then the city that did not will likely be within that district, since the two are a distance of exactly 169 miles apart, which is considerably closer. That said, I would anticipate that both cities will be getting a temple at some point.

But these are just my thoughts on how the Cordoba Argentina Temple district could potentially be split. 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,

Temple Site Possibilities: South America South Area, Part Four--How the Church Could Potentially Divide the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple District

Hello again, everyone! Having discussed in the last post the specifics relating to the current temple districts within the South America South area, it is time now to turn our attention to the potential locations throughout this area for which I feel a future temple is an imminent possibility. I have found a few prospects that look very promising to me, and I will detail what they are and why I have them on my list over the next few posts.

First, if the Church decides to split the Buenos Aires Argentina district (and it would make a lot of sense to me that they likely will), I could see that happening in a few potential ways.

The most likely of those options, in my opinion, is one fhat I have had on my list for a while, after a comment on an initial version of that list alerted me to it. That is the city of Neuquen, which is located 724.5 miles from the temple in Buenos Aires. Since that is more than three times the distance of 200 miles within which President Monson has set a goal for each Church member, it certainly makes sense by that measure.

Since the Saints in the Bahia Blanca region currently have a journey of 406.2 miles to get to the Buenos Aires Argentina temple, that is just over twice the 200-mile distance within which President Monson has set a goal for every member to be. If the Church does build a temple. If and when the Church opts to build a temple in Neuquen, the Saints in Bahia Blanca would have a slightly shorter distance to travel, as the two are 331.8 miles apart.

Another potential candidate that would split this temple district is the city or Rosario, as the Saints in that city travel 485.2 miles to worship at the Buenos Aires temple. Again, that is more than twice the 200-mile goal of President Monson. A temple in Neuquen would be around 300 miles further away (the exact distance is 747.8 miles) A temple in Rosario, which is within the Santa Fe province, would likely also serve the Saints from the two stakes based in Santa Fe.

And a fourth potential candidate for how the Church could potentially split the Buenos Aires district is the city of Trelew which, because it is 861.7 miles from Buenos Aires, makes sense in terms of the distance factor. A temple in Neuquen  would cut that distance to 451.9 miles, The Saints in Trelew would have an even shorter journey if a temple was announced in Bahia Blanca, which is 446.3 miles away. That said, if a temple were to be built in Rosario, that wouldn't help cut the distance the Saints in Trelew have to travel, as Trelew is more than twice as far from Rosario as it is from Buenos Aires (the exact distance between the two is 916.4 miles).

Whatever the Church might opt to do to split the temple district, it just seems a matter of time before that does happen (if only based on the distance factor). So that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, especially any feedback you might have on the prospects I have suggested herein. 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.

Temple Site Possibilities: South America South Area, Part Three--Temple History & Composition of Current Districts

Hello again, everyone! As we continue the discussion of the South America South Area, it is time now to turn our attention to the history of the six temples that serve the Saints in the 4 nations of which this area is comprised. We will approach that discussion in the same order in which we have discussed other aspects of this area in previous posts, so we will start with Argentina, move on to Chile, then discuss  Paraguay, and finish by covering Uruguay. Let's get right into all of that.

As mentioned in my previous posts, Argentina has two in operation. The first (built in the capital city of Buenos Aires) became the Church's 39th one dedicated in this dispensation. That dedication took place from January 17-19, 1986 with President Thomas S. Monson, who had been called just two months prior to that as the Second Counselor in the First Presidency to President Ezra Taft Benson.

Following a renovation process, President Monson, who had then become the President of the Church, assigned President Henry B. Eyring to represent him in rededicating the temple, and that occurred on September 9. 2012.

When the second Argentinian temple (built in the city of Cordoba) was dedicated, the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple district was left to serve 50 stakes and 14 districts from the regions of Eastern and Southern Argentina. There may or may not be a need to divide this district, and I will share my thoughts about if, when, and how that could occur in my next post about this area.

In the meantime, we move on to the Cordoba Argentina Temple, which was dedicated on May 17, 2015 by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, thereby becoming the 145th operating temple built in this dispensation. Its district is comprised of 22 stakes and 8 districts that are headquartered in the northern and western areas of Argentina. There may or may not be a good reason for this district to split. I will explore that more in my next post.

That brings us to Chile. The first temple built in that nation is located in the capital city of Santiago. When the dedicatory sessions for this temple were held (from September 15-17, 1983, with President Hinckley, the only fully functioning member of the First Presidency at that time, presiding), it became the Church's 24th operating temple. Following its renovation, President Hinckley returned to rededicate that temple on March 12, 2006.

For the moment, the Santiago Temple serves 77 stakes and 16 districts in Chile. But when the Concepcion Chile Temple is dedicated (which, as previously noted, is anticipated to occur during the 4th quarter of next year), the stakes that are closer to Concepcion will fall within that city's temple district.

We now come to a discussion about the Asuncion Paraguay Temple. When President Hinckley  presided at the dedication of this temple, which occurred on May 19, 2002, it became the 112th in operation for the Church. Since it is now closed for renovation, it is currently anticipated that a rededication will take place during early-to-mid 2019. After the temple reopens, it will continue to serve 11 stakes and 8 districts in Paraguay, along with 4 stakes and 6 districts from Northeastern Argentina and the Ponta Pora stake from Brazil West Central area.

Concluding our discussion of the current temples within this area, we turn now to the Montevideo Uruguay Temple, which became the 103rd operating temple of the Church when it was dedicated on March 18, 2001. That temple district serves the Saints from 18 stakes and 3 districts in Uruguay.

Having shared all of this, 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 (which should be posted shortly and will focus on potential future temples that could soon be announced to help serve the Saints in this area), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Temple Site Possibilities: South America South Area, Part Two--Church Presence (including the number of units) within this area

Hello again, everyone! While I had intended, as promised in the last post, to devote this one to an overview of the current temples within this area (which, when I do get to that, will include a history of those 6 temples and an exploration of the size and composition of each district), I remembered that I had wanted to give additional background information about this area, particularly in regards to the number of Church units within each nation that is part of this area. So I will defer the post about the temple overview for now and first talk some more about pertinent information for each of these nations.

As I have previously observed, the Church has been very prosperous in South America, and the nations which comprise this area of the Church (which, again, are Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay) have seen a very significant amount of growth, particularly in recent years. So let's first take a look at where each of these nations is in terms of temples, missions, stakes, districts, and congregational totals (wards and branches).

Turning our attention first to Argentina, there are two temples in operation there (in Buenos Aires and Cordoba). I will be offering a look at the history and dedication of these temples in my next post. but for now, I wanted to note that 14 missions operate currently in Argentina. With the Church's announced intention to consolidate missions and utilize advances in technology to allow those serving in the missions that will remain after that to find religiously-minded people, I don't know how those changes might take effect in Argentina. It will be interesting to see what happens there.

In the meantime, I also wanted to note that the Church in Argentina has 76 stakes and 28 districts, which in turn are divided into 488 wards and 275 branches, for a total of 763 congregations in that nation. That total means that, between the two temples, each serves an average of 381-382 congregations, which is a lot for just two temples.

After addressing the history of temples in my next post, I will be talking specifics (likely in that same post) about the actual number of stakes and districts served by those two temples, and will move on in another post to discuss if, when, and in what city Argentina's third temple could potentially be built.

But for now, we move on to Chile. The Church there also has two temples, with one operating in Santiago, and a second currently under construction in Concepcion (which is anticipated to be the very first new temple dedicated next year). For now, that nation is served by the 10 missions currently operating. In terms of congregations, the Chilean Saints fall under 77 stakes and 16 districts, which are further subdivided into 433 wards and 168 branches. That is a total of 601 congregations in this nation, which means that, following the dedication of the Concepcion Chile temple, the two temples will serve an average right between 300 and 301 congregations each.

And again, I will be providing more information on the history of those temples, including the composition of the Santiago district and what the Concepcion district might take away from Santiago, along with if, when, and where I feel an additional Chilean temple (or two) may be built in the near future, in subsequent posts.

In the meantime, let's turn our attention to the Church's presence in Paraguay. The Saints there are served by a single temple in Asuncion. And, as we know, that temple closed for extensive renovation in late October this year. While confirmation on the extent of that renovation process is still pending (since no updates have been provided by any of the sources I have available for temple-related information), I do know that other temples that were originally dedicated during the late 1990s and early 2000s under President Hinckley's inspired impetus & smaller designs have been (or, in the case of the Memphis Tennessee and Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temples, will be) given a similar new exterior appearance. Unless the Church at any point confirms that that will not be the case for the Asuncion Temple, it seems to be a safe assumption.

With that said, let's talk now about the Church's presence in Paraguay. The Church has two operating missions, both headquartered in Asuncion, that serve the missionary needs in that nation. With 11 stakes and 9 districts that are further subdivided into 61 wards and 74 branches, the congregational total comes to 135. I don't have any idea if or when a second temple may be needed to split that district, but I am sure that the Church could opt to do so if the growth trends for this nation continue.

Rounding out our discussion of the Church's presence in this area, I wanted to share some specific data about Uruguay. In addition to being the location of the one temple in that nation, the Church's two missions in this nation are both headquartered in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. With the Church in Uruguay having 18 stakes and 3 districts, the congregations in Uruguay include 104 wards and 35 branches, for a grand total of 139.

This concludes my overview of the Church's presence within the four nations comprising this area, so 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 (which should come shortly and will focus on the history of the six temples within this area, along with the composition of each of those current districts), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.