BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the San Diego California and Phnom Penh Cambodia Temples

Hello again, everyone! Today, the First Presidency announced opening arrangements for the San Diego California  and Phnom Penh Cambodia Temples. Let's get right into the details: We start with the San Diego California Temple. A media day will be held on Monday, June 15, 2026, with tours for invited guests the following two days. The open house will then occur from Thursday, June 18 through Saturday, July 11, 2026. The temple rededication will follow on Sunday, August 23, 2026, with the presiding apostle to be named at a later time. The dedicatory session will be held at 10:00 AM local time, with a rebroadcast at 2:00 PM to all units in the temple district.

Meanwhile, the media day for the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple will be held on Wednesday, August 12, with invited guest tours the next two days. The public open house for this comparatively smaller temple will be held for a week between the Saturdays of August 15 and 22. The temple dedication will follow on Sunday, August 30, 2026, with Elder Patrick Kearon presiding thereover. The 10:00 AM dedicatory session will also be rebroadcast at 2:00 PM local time to all units in the temple district.

I am not surprised that the open house for the San Diego California Temple is almost a month long, and the temple's rededication was around the time I htought it would be. I am also not shocked that the presiding apostle was not named at this time. That means the odds are very good that it could be rededicated by a member of the First Presidency, though I don't know whether any of them have connections to San Diego. In the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I believe that Elder Quentin L. Cook has some connection to the San Diego area, but I could be mistaken on that.

But I was surprised that the open house for the first temple in Cambodia will only last a week, and that the temple dedication in question will not take place until the end of August. Ihad projected it would occur on August 2, 9, or 16. I was only off by two weeks from the latter end of that estimate, but it still surprised me. I am cautiously optimistic that the mid- to late August windows for both of these events might mean that we could get other new temples dedicated in early to mid-August (August 2, 9, or 16). That might be a good window for the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple. But time will tell on that.

I am glad that two more temples have had opening arrangements announced. I hope for other opening arrangements tobe announced later this month, along with perhaps some groundbreakings, exterior renderings, and/or site location confirmations later this month as well. I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest 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 to receive the applicable updates. 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.

UPDATED: Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data roughly every 7 weeks. Having last done so on Sunday, January 11, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 18 Church Presidents (including our current prophet, President Dallin H. Oaks), in addition to updated information on the tenure lengths for each of the 30 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (including Quorum President, Henry B. Eyring). 

The first document likewise notes information on the tenure length rankings for three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (with the current First Presidency not even making that list for the next 6 years), the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) The clock on the current group reset when Elder Gilbert was ordained last week.

Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the same data for the combined First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 2 of the current 15 apostles being on that list), and a final table showing the remaining time between today and when each of the other 13 apostles will become nonagenarians and join that list.

With these updates being published every 7 weeks, the next one will be provided here on Sunday, April 19.. Hopefully, this post is of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. Stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest 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 to receive the applicable updates.

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: 12 Additional New Hymns Released

Hello again, everyone! Breaking news from the Church was reported a short time ago: the release of 12 new hymns that will be included in Hymns—For Home and Church. The selections are as follows: 

“Joyfully Bound” 

“My Covenants”

“When I Am Baptized” (current children's song with updated lyrics

“The Power of the Holy Ghost”

“Elijah and the Still, Small Voice”

“Jesus Is My Shepherd”

“My Song in the Night”

“This Is My Father’s World”

“Build an Ark”

“Love Will Bless Our Home”

“Lord, Accept Our Humble Fast”

“Long Ago, Within a Garden”

The new releases in Hymns—For Home and Church now total 72 in English, French, Spanish, and  Portuguese, with some of those hymns already being released in other languages. Aside from "When I Am Baptized", I am only familiar with "My Song in the Night" and "This Is My Father's World", courtesy of the many times those songs have been performed by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during "Music & the Spoken Word". But I look forward to learning these newest selections.

And speaking thereof, since many of the new selections are based on Old Testament stories, the new release of hymns includes comments from Sunday School General President Paul V. Johnson, in addition to comments from Primary General President Susan H. Porter. President Johnson offered the folllowing suggestions for implementing these newhymns in our daily lives:

Memorize the lyrics.

Listen to the prerecorded songs throughout the day.

Teach from and sing together as a family.

Sing enthusiastically at home and church.

Invite someone to play or sing as part of a lesson at church.

Aside from these notes, I will let the new releases speak for themselves otherwise. I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest 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 to receive the applicable updates. 

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.