BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: First Presidency Announces Groundbreaking Arrangements for the Lethbridge Alberta Temple; Confirms the Site Location and Releases an Exterior Rendering for the Tuguegarao Philippines Temple; and Confirms Prelminary Details for the Culiacan Mexico Temple

Hello again, everyone! Today, the First Presidency announced the groundbreaking for the Lethbridge Alberta Temple, released a site location and exterior rendering for the Tuguegarao Philippines Temple, and released preliminary information for the Culiacan Mexico Temple. There's a lot to get into, so let's start right in:

Though the Newsroom release shares these updates in a different order, I am starting with the groundbreaking for the Lethbridge Alberta Temple, which has been scheduled to occur on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Elder Randall K. Bennett, a General Authority Seventy currently serving as President of the Church's North America Central Area, will preside at that groundbreaking. Obviously, though, future oversight of that temple will be under the purview of the new Canada Area presidency beginning in August 2025.

Given that the groundbreaking is set for late April, other groundbreakings announced after today could potentially be held before this one. As reflected in this document, which shows a side-by-side comparison of the groundbreakings in 2024 and 2025, the current fifth temple groundbreaking for 2025 will be held roughly 1.5 months before the first anniversary of the fifth temple groundbreaking in 2024. So, temple groundbreakings in 2025 will continue to outpace what we saw in 2024. I'm sure we will see other temple groundbreakings this year that will continue to outpace 2024.

Since the rendering of the Tuguegarao Philippines Temple speaks for itself, we now turn to its announced parameters. The single-story temple, which will be approximately 18,850 square feet, will rise on a 5.3-acre site just south of Enrile Avenue, Cariq Regional Centre, Tuguegarao, Philippines. Patron housing units and a distribution center are also planned for the project. The temple was initially announced at the April 2023 General Conference. If any of you have any comments about the rendering in question, I warmly welcome them.

We now wrap up today's news with some preliminary information about the Culiacan Mexico Temple. The planned single-story edifice, which will be approximately 10,000 square feet, will rise on a 5-acre site off of Avenida Milenium in the Colonia Country Tres Rios, between the cross streets of Miguel Tamayo Espinoza de los Monteros and Boulevard José María Figueroa Díaz. The temple project will include adjacent patron housing. 

Given the announced size, I will not be shocked if it is another modular temple. The Church seems to have recently increased the number of modular temples, so it seems safe to make that assumption. I am grateful to have learned of these updates and for the chance to share them with you all. Stay tuned here for updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I'll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. 

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to "sound off" in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe for the applicable updates. If you would like to support the work done on this blog, donations in any amount are always welcome and appreciated but never required. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: President Nelson Announces An "Open House Celebration" for the Salt Lake Temple in 2027

 Hello again, everyone! In a social media post earlier this morning, President Nelson announced an "open house celebration" for the Salt Lake Temple. Here is a plain-text copy of the post in question:

"On February 14, 1853, a groundbreaking ceremony in Salt Lake City began a 40-year journey of faith and sacrifice, culminating in the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple in 1893.  

"A current and comprehensive renovation to strengthen this sacred house of the Lord for future generations is now nearing completion. 

"Today, exactly 172 years after the groundbreaking ceremony, I am delighted to announce that the temple will reopen for tours during a public open house from April to October 2027. 

"We warmly invite our friends to come and learn about God's plan for His children and rejoice in the love of Jesus Christ. Details about this event will be shared as April 2027 approaches. 

"As houses of the Lord now dot the earth, I invite you to cherish your time and service at the temples closest to you as we prepare for the reopening of the Salt Lake Temple in 2027."

This official announcement supersedes anything I had privately or publicly theorized. Nothing in there about the temple's rededication, but the open house is obviously shorter than I had heard it might be. If the open house ends in October 2027, I imagine that the temple's rededication will likely follow in the early months of 2028.

Other than these notes, I will let this announcement speak for itself. Stay tuned here for updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe for the applicable updates. If you would like to support the work done on this blog, donations in any amount are always welcome and appreciated but never required.

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: Church Releeases 15 Additional New Hymns

 Hello agsin, everyone! Just a short time ago, the Church will officially release 15 new hymns from the new hymnbook, constituting the largest such release this far. I wi The newest selections will be available on all the appropriate channels within the next 24 hours or less. From the news release comes quotes from Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, the GA Seventy adviser to the hymnbook, but no new quotes from any of the apostles on this newest release. 

It occurred to me to wonder if the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have determined to use Elder Carpenter instead of an apostolic adviser, but I can't say that for sure one way or the other. If that is the case, then it would be in line with the Lord's direction for the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve to call on the Seventy "instead of any others" in such cases. Anyways, the new selections include the following: 

"Close As a Quiet Prayer”, “Come, Hear the Word the Lord Has Spoken”, “Faith in Every Footstep”, “Holy Places”, “I Can’t Count Them All”, “I Have Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ”,“I Know That My Savior Loves Me”, “Let Easter Anthems Ring”, “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling”, “Standing on the Promises”,“Take My Heart and Let It Be Consecrated”, “This Little Light of Mine”, “To Love Like Thee”, “Welcome Home”, and “Were You There?”

I am familiar with the following new releases: "Faith in Every Footstep" (the Pioneer anthem created for the 1997 sesquicentennial celebration of the Saints' arrival to the Salt Lake Valley), "I Know That My Savior Loves Me", "Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling", "Standing on the Promises", "This Little Light of Mine" and "Were You There?". I look forward to familiarizing myself with all of these selections in the coming months.

There are now 31 selections in the "Sabbath and Weekday" section and 6 more in the "Easter and Christmas" section, for a total of 37.  Additionally, the Church announced today that the first hymns released in May 2024 are now available in German, Korean, and Tagalog. Later this year, those hymns will also be available in Mandarin and Japanese.

While I was getting this post ready for publication, the home page for the new hymnbook was updated to include the newest selections. It may take up to 24 hours before they are visible in the Gospel Library section of the same page and in the Sacred Music app. I am grateful for this newest release of 15 hymns and look forward to using them at Church and at home in the coming days.

Stay tuned here for updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe for the applicable updates. If you would like to support the work done on this blog, donations in any amount are always welcome and appreciated but never required. 

Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.