Apostolic news

Major apostolic news has come in the last few days; I just haven't had a chance to post about it before now.

Elder Quentin L. Cook is in Philadelphia to help conduct tours of the temple there, which will be dedicated on President Monson's birthday, August 21. Click here to read the Church News article about that.

Elder Dallin H. and Sister Kristen M. Oaks addressed the 2016 Mid-Singles' Conference in Salt Lake. Their message was simple, "You are loved." Click here to read more about what they said.

Elder M. Russell Ballard, representing the LDS Church as a descendant of Hyrum Smith, and Elder Lachlan A. Smith of the Community of Christ, a descendant of Joseph Smith, spoke at the Smith family reunion of those things that unite the two religious groups. Click here to read what they said.

As you can see, the apostles are as busy as ever. I will keep an eye out for more apostolic news and post it when I can. Thanks for your interest and support.

Major revamp and priority changes to list of temples that may be announced soon

I haven't been satisfied with my list of temples that may be announced soon. So I took a long look at my list and reordered some things. I now have the list split into three categories: Temples that may be announced soon (35); alternate locations (2); and dark horse candidates (13), for a grand total of 50. Let me know what you think of this new list. Here it is:

Temple Predictions:

3+ temples announced in any of the following cities and states:

1.      Managua Nicaragua: Proposed in 2012 by Elder Russell M. Nelson; land has already been purchased for it and an announcement is imminent there when membership warrants it. Please also note that it is the #1 city in terms of church presence that does not have a temple in some phase.

2.      Port Moresby Papua New Guinea: Land has been purchased for it and an announcement is imminent there when membership warrants it. Please also note that it is the #2 city in terms of church presence that doesn’t have a temple in some phase.

3.      Bentonville Arkansas: Land has been purchased for it and an announcement is imminent there when membership warrants it; please also note it is the strongest contender for a temple in the United States. I favor this location because a good friend served his mission there.

4.      2nd Southwest Salt Lake Valley Utah: Proposed in 2005 by Gordon B. Hinckley; more than likely because land has already been purchased for it.

5.      San Juan Puerto Rico: Please note that this is the #3 world city in terms of church presence that doesn’t have a temple in some phase.

6.      Tarawa Kiribati: Please note that this is the #5 world city in terms of Church presence that doesn’t have a temple in some phase.

7.      Freetown Sierra Leone: Please note that this is the #6 world city in terms of Church presence that doesn’t have a temple in some phase. May be needed due to extensive growth in Africa

8.      Kampala Uganda: Please note that this is the #7 world city in terms of Church presence that doesn’t have a temple in some phase. May be needed due to extensive growth in Africa.

9.      Nairobi Kenya: Publicly proposed by President Gordon B. Hinckley in 1999; please note that this is the #10 world city in terms of Church presence that does not have a temple in any phase. May be needed due to extensive growth in Africa.

10.  Phnom Penh Cambodia: Please note that this is the #9 world city in terms of Church presence that doesn’t have a temple in any phase; I favor this location because my brother-in-law served a mission there.

11.  Missoula Montana: Publicly proposed in 2016 by Elder David A. Bednar.

12.  Lehi Utah: I favor this location because it is my wife's hometown.

13.  Layton Utah

14.  Budapest Hungary

15.  Pocatello Idaho

16.  Auckland New Zealand

17.  La Paz Bolivia: I favor this location because my favorite bishop and good friend served a mission there.

18.  Rapid City South Dakota: I favor this location because my dad served his mission there. 

19.  Richmond Virginia
20. Lagos Nigeria (may be needed due to extensive Church growth in Africa)

21.  Tacoma Washington

22.  El Paso Texas

23.  Ulaanbaatar Mongolia: I favor this location because a good friend served his mission there.

24.  Barcelona Spain

25.  Puebla Mexico

26.  Valparaiso Chile

27.  Davao Philippines

28.  Maracaibo Venezuela: Publicly proposed in 1999 by Gordon B. Hinckley.

29.  Singapore: Publicly proposed in 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley/

30.  Edinburgh Scotland

31.  Cody Wyoming

32.  Jacksonville/Miami Florida

33.  Brasilia/Belo Horizonte Brazil

34.  Ghana (Kumasi).

35.  Neuquen Argentina

Alternative locations:

1.      Ivory Coast (2nd and possibly 3rd temples; may be needed due to extreme growth in the area)

2.      Kasai or other DR Congo region (Kasai proposed in 2016 by Neil L. Andersen; may be needed due to extreme growth in the area);

Dark horse candidates:

1.      Vilnius Lithuania (proposed in 1993 by M. Russell Ballard)

2.      Ipswich Australia

3.      Farbanks/Juneau Alaska

4.      Kaysville Utah

5.      Sandy Utah

6.      Orem Utah (I favor this location because it's where I'm living now, and when I worked at the Mount Timpanogos Temple for six years, a majority of my colleagues were from Orem, so the LDS presence is strong here.)

7.      Heber Utah

8.      Pago Pago American Samoa: Please note that this is the #9 world city in terms of Church presence that does not have a temple in any phase.

9.  Maputo Mozambique

10.  Oslo Norway

11.  Antananarivo Madagascar

      12.  Neuquen Argentina

      13. Jakarta Indonesia (I favor this location because a good friend served his mission there.)