25 Temples Most likely to be announced in the most likely announcement order

I am reposting my list of the 25 most likely temples that may be announced. This time, I have put them in the order in which I feel they will be announced. Enjoy!

Nicaragua (Managua); Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby); Arkansas (Bentonville); Puerto Rico (San Juan); Kiribati (Tarawa); Sierra Leone (Freetown); Uganda (Kampala); Kenya (Nairobi); Montana (Missoula); Utah (Lehi); Utah (Layton); Hungary (Budapest); Nigeria (Lagos); Bolivia (La Paz); South Dakota (Rapid City); Mexico (Puebla); Chile (Valparaiso); Idaho (Pocatello); New Zealand (Auckland); Philippines (Davao); Scotland (Edinburgh); Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar); Spain (Barcelona); Brazil (Brasilia); Argentina (Neuquen); Ghana (Kumasi).

Top 25 temples that may be announced soon

Based on comments from Steven Kent, I have increased the number of temples that may be announced soon from 20 to 25. I feel fairly confident in these sites either being imminent or in the near future. Let me know what you think. Thanks, Steven!

Refined list of cities that may receive a temple soon.
1. South America (1. Managua Nicaragua 2. La Paz Bolivia. 3. Puebla Mexico. 4. Valparaiso Chile. 5. Brasilia Brazil 6. Neuquen Argentina)
2. Pacific (1. Port Moresby Papua New Guinea 2. Tarawa Kiribati. 3. Auckland New Zealand 4. Ulaanbaatar Mongolia)
3. Caribbean (1. San Juan Puerto Rico)
4. Africa (1. Freetown Sierra Leone 2. Kampala Uganda. 3. Nairobi Kenya. 4. Lagos Nigeria 5. Kumasi Ghana)
5. USA (1. Bentonville Arkansas. 2. Missoula Montana. 3. Lehi Utah. 4. Layton Utah 5. Pocatello Idaho 6. South Dakota Rapid City)
6. Europe (1. Budapest Hungary 2. Edinburgh Scotland 3. Barcelona Spain)

I find it really difficult to think about cutting this list further. I think I will go with all of them as possibilities. 20 temples is not that many. Let me know if there are any glaring oversights. Thanks.

Interesting Life Development

I called the ROI Solutions front desk today to find out when I could bring in my termination paperwork. When I talked to Kayla Crawford, the main receptionist, both in phone and in person, what she said blew me away completely. Apparently the only reasons they hadn't offered me another position with ROI were that they didn't know my schedule, and they were under the impression I had refused to meet with Kelly Services. I was quick to assure Kayla of my interest in continuing my job at ROI, and she told me if I would come to ROI tomorrow @ 10, I could meet with Kelly Services and would likely be put directly into another campaign. This means that I could start a new job as soon as Monday. What an unexpected blessing! I will keep you all posted. Thanks for your interest and support.

Temple Progress Update

Hello, all! Just wanted to let you know of the latest strides made in temple construction progress. As usual, any major changes are now highlighted in red. Enjoy!

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 7/19/16)

Current Temple Status: 150 operating, 16 under construction (5 scheduled for dedication), 11 announced (2 groundbreakings anticipated to be announced soon), 4 undergoing renovation (1 scheduled for rededication).

Dedication scheduled:

151. Sapporo Japan Temple: Public open house tours underway; dedication scheduled on Sunday August 21, 2016.

152. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Accepting free reservations for public open house; dedication scheduled on Sunday September 18, 2016.

153. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Accepting free reservations for public open house; dedication scheduled on Sunday October 16, 2016.

154. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Laying sod and planting trees; installing art glass windows; dedication scheduled on Sunday October 30, 2016.

155. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Granite being attached to front façade; temple president’s residence progressing; dedication scheduled on Sunday November 20, 2016.

Under Construction:

156. Paris France Temple: Planting trees, shrubs, and flowers; installing some art glass; completion estimated sometime in mid-2017.

157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Stained glass windows being installed; pouring parking lot curbing and installing light poles; completion estimated sometime in late 2017.

158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Pouring parking lot curbing and installing light poles; completion estimated sometime in late 2017.

159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Scaffolding removed from dome; completion estimated sometime in late 2017.

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work underway including some material replacement and rework; completion estimated sometime in 2018.

161. Concepcion Chile Temple: Exterior walls poured; completion estimated sometime during 2018.

162. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Site grading and clearing underway; building permit sign posted; completion estimated sometime in either 2018 or 2019.

163. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Site grading and clearing underway; completion estimated sometime in either 2018 or 2019.

164. Durban South Africa Temple: Site grading and clearing underway; completion estimated sometime in either 2018 or 2019.

165. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Building the substructure; completion estimated sometime in 2019.

166. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Ground broken on Saturday December 5, 2015; completion estimated sometime in 2019.

Rededication scheduled:

33. Freiberg Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication scheduled on Sunday September 4, 2016.

 Undergoing Renovation:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; installing marble trim; repainting fence; rededication estimated sometime in early 2017.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication estimated sometime in mid-2017.

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication estimated sometime in late 2017.

Announced:

167. Arequipa Peru Temple: General contractor selected; construction anticipated to begin in October 2016.

168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Construction preparation phase; plans approved by local government; groundbreaking may be announced soon and scheduled sometime after the summer Olympics.

169. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

170. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

173. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

174. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

175. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Key:

Bolded numbers and text denote temples whose number already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as dedication or groundbreaking dates.

Italicized numbers and text denote temples whose number may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose number may change based on the order in which their future groundbreakings are announced.

Red text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress update.

Utah's Ninja Newscaster

KSL recently ran a story narrated by Dave McCann and featuring his co-anchors on the 10 pm newscast, Deanie Wimmer and Mike Headrick. The purpose of the story was to determine who was Utah's Ninja Newscaster. Anyone familiar with NBC's American Ninja Warrior will by now know what such a competition usually entails. For those who don't know, what happened is this: Deanie and Mike went head-to-head competing in several obstacle courses. Though Deanie had more nimbleness and was quick, the title of Utah's Ninja Newscaster went to Mike because he got all the way through the course due to his large arm muscles. Dave, Deanie, and Mike joked with meterologist Kevin Eubank that a rematch was needed, perhaps getting Dave in on it this time. It was fun to watch. If you'd be interested in seeing that and reading more about it, please click here.

What an awesome news story!

More on how the new Russian law will affect missionaries and the Church's progress

KSL ran a story yesterday on how the new Russian law will affect missionaries serving in Russia. Missionaries will now be referred to in public and private as "volunteers" They will be referred to as such in both public and private. Instead of saying "My son is a missionary in Russia" people will say "My son volunteers in Russia for our C hurch." For more on this, click here. Thanks.

More Work on the List of Soon-to-be-announced temples

As those who follow this blog are aware, I've been posting A LOT lately about temples that may soon be announced. As you will recall, I narrowed my list down to 20 temples that I listed last time in geographical order. Now I am posting this time to list them in order of relevant likelihood. And again, please feel free to notify me if you disagree with this order or with any of the 20 I've selected.

1.      Nicaragua (Managua)

2.      Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby)

3.      Puerto Rico (San Juan)

4.      Kiribati (Tarawa)

5.      Sierra Leone (Freetown)

6.      Uganda (Kampala)

7.      Kenya (Nairobi)

8.      Arkansas (Bentonville)

9.      Montana (Missoula)

10.  Utah (Lehi)

11.  Hungary (Budapest)

12.  Bolivia (La Paz)

13.  Mexico (Quezon City)

14.  Chile (Valparaiso)

15.  New Zealand (Auckland)

16.  Philippines (Davao)

17.  New Zealand (Auckland)

18.  Nigeria (Lagos)

19.  Idaho (Pocatello)

20.  Scotland (Edinburgh)

Thoughts?

Apostolic Travels During July Recess/We Honor the Pioneers

As many of you may know, July is the one month of the calendar year that the leading Brethren (primarily the apostles) take off to spend time with their families, as their ecclesiastical duties don't allow them that much time to do so the rest of the year. As we have seen by what has happened with Church growth, this July has been one in which many stakes have been created. Additionally, on Facebook, Mormon Newsroom reported President Uchtdorf recently taking time to return to his native Europe to be with family. One of the things he is doing while in Europe is touring the temples announced or under construction. That was neat to hear about.

Then, I just found out that Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Angel's game on Friday July 15. The pitch was caught by Elder Ruben Acosta, an Area Seventy. To read more about this fun night, please click here.

That's the latest going on in apostolic news.

In the meantime, Brother Tad R. Callister, Sunday School General President, spoke on how we can honor our pioneer ancestors by the way we live. To read more about the event in which he spoke and what he said, click here.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available. Thanks for your readership, friendship, and interest.

Down to the top 20 most likely temples/Feedback appreciated.

I have been working on whittling down my list. I have gotten the list down to 20. I have done the list by world region.

I hope to refine the list further to the top seven or so. Let me know if you disagree with any of my choices or if you feel there are any glaring oversights.

Refined list of cities that may receive a temple soon.
1. South America (1. Managua Nicaragua 2. La Paz Bolivia. 3. Quezon City Mexico. 4. Valparaiso Chile. 5. Brasilia Brazil)
2. Pacific (1. Port Moresby Papua New Guinea) 2. Tarawa Kiribati. 3. Auckland New Zealand. 4. Quezon City Philippines)
3. Caribbean (1. San Juan Puerto Rico)
4. Africa (1. Freetown Sierra Leone 2. Kampala Uganda. 3. Nairobi Kenya. 4. Lagos Nigeria)
5. USA (1. Bentonville Arkansas. 2. Missoula Montana. 3. Lehi Utah. 4. Pocatello Idaho)
6. Europe (1. Budapest Hungary 2. Edinburgh Scotland)

I find it really difficult to think about cutting this list further. I think I will go with all of them as possibilities. 20 temples is not that many. Let me know if there are any glaring oversights. Thanks.