Hello again, everyone! I just wanted to post briefly to remind readers of this blog that the open house for the Jordan River Utah Temple begins exactly one week from today. When the First Presidency first announced the relevant dates for this temple's open house and dedication (the official announcement came 7 months and 1 week ago), the plan had been for open house tours to run every day for the six weeks between March 17 and April 28, except for the Saturdays of March 24 and 31 and the Sundays of March 18 and 25 and April 1, 8, 15, and 22.
Since that time, in view of the First Presidency's additional announcement about the consolidation of General Conference sessions, the Women's Session will not be held on Saturday March 24, which means that open house tours can and will run on that day. So open house tours will run for a grand total of 36 days.
A cultural celebration is set to be held on Saturday May 19, with the rededication set to occur the following day, which will be broadcast by satellite to stake centers within the Draper, Jordan River, and Oquirrh Mountain Temple districts.
I also wanted to note three other things: First, this temple's rededication will be the first major temple-related event held during President Nelson's prophetic administration, aside from the already-announced private rededication for the Houston Texas Temple (over which President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has been asked to preside). For that reason, I would anticipate that President Nelson will preside at this event.
Second, since this temple is in Salt Lake County, I would anticipate this dedication will be widely attended by other general Church leaders. Third and finally, with the fact that the dedications announced for the temples in Conepcion Chile and Barranquilla Colombia will feature a special devotional for youth the night before, it could very well be true that such devotionals will now be held the night before temple dedications or rededications in lieu of a cultural celebration.
Nothing has been officially announced to that effect, but I am keeping my eyes open for any such annoucement and will be sure to pass word along if and when that occurs. 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 mypray next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will be with and bless you all in everything you do.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Jordan River Utah Temple Open House Begins In One Week
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.
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With conference a couple of weeks away, I am excited for some new temple developments including announcements. I also wonder if President Nelson will announce some temples during his multicountry trip in April.
ReplyDeleteHello, Chris, and thank you for your comment. As I have previously mentioned, if Elder Wilson's statement is correct, then we may be entering a time when temples are announced at each General Conference, with some in between. It is my personal belief that the only reason no new temples were announced last October is because President Monson may not have been able to give approval for that. With a new prophet, the odds are good that we will see such announcements during this next General Conference. As I have also observed previously, President Monson announced the first temples of his administration a few weeks after his first General Conference as Church president. In President Nelson's case, the length of his service as Church president at the time of his first General Conference as such will only be slightly shorter than the length of time between President Monson's ordination and the first temple announcements of his presidency. For that reason, it is likely that President Nelson will be announcing a few temples during this next General Conference.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of whether he could make other temple announcements during his trip, that is a possibility. President Hinckley did that very thing during some of his travels. But since the trip will occur shortly after General Conference, it seems more likely that any new temples announced in April will be during General Conference.
With that said, as was mentioned in a comment on one of my other recent blog posts, we could see President Nelson preside at one or more groundbreakings during that trip. It would appear that his visit to Asia may involve some time in the Philippines, so there are a couple of options there, especially now that the site for the Urdaneta Temple has been identified. It is also possible that if a site is identified in Bangkok, that would be another option.
There is also a chance of one or two groundbreakings in Africa as well during that time. As I have said, it had been anticipated at some point last year that a site announcement and groundbreaking would occur for the Harare temple, so that could occur during this tour. And if sites are announced for Abidjan or Nairobi, those would be possible as well.
Whatever might occur in that regard, you can depend on my reporting it here as I learn of it. As always, thanks for taking time to comment, Chris!
Some of president Monson's first temple announcements were an announced just 2-3 weeks after conference on April 26, 2008 and in May and were in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteChris, you make a couple of very good points, which are well taken. The Lord could and has inspired His prophet in the recent past to announce temples outside of General Conference, and He may inspire President Nelson to do so during his multi-continental tour. Additionally, the first temples announced during President Monson's presidency did occur on the date you mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, there is one factor which, in my opinion, makes it likely that President Nelson may announce the first temples of his administration during General Conference. First, President Monson had been Church president for 83 days when he announced temples for the first time in that capacity. President Nelson, who at 93 may be said to be in far better health than President Monson was for the last 5-7 years of his life, will have been Church president for only slightly shorter than that at the time of his first General Conference, since the time between his January 14 ordination and the April General Conference is 77 days.
When we add to those facts the additional information about Elder Wilson's statement and that likely the only reason why no temples were announced last October was because President Monson
s health did not allow him to give final approval for such new temples, then I doubt very much that President Nelson would hold off on announcing temples during his first General Conference as Church president.
But let me be clear: That does not mean in any way that I am saying that President Nelson could not additionally announce temples at any point during his multicontinental tour. If Elder Wilson's statement is correct, we could see a few temples announced every six months in General Conference, and at least a few here and there in between each April, October, and subsequent April.
The timing of temple announcements is up to the Lord and His prophet, and I will gladly embrace the news of such announcements whenever they may occur. But I do have the logic above that, to me, points to the fact that, at least for the first General Conference of President Nelson's administration, we will likely see temples announced then, whether or not any are subsequently announced during his tour of Europe, Africa, and Asia.
In the meantime, my suggestion that President Nelson was more likely during that tour to preside over groundbreakings for already announced temples than he might be to announce new temples was based on a tip I got in the comments on an earlier post I did which pointed the idea that there were a few temples within the three continents he will be touring that could very well be ready to have a groundbreaking by the time he visits them.
My hope and prayer is that the Lord will continue to clear obstacles to announced temples being built and to new locations having temples announced. And I will be sure to pass along any and all news relating to temples here as I learn of it. Thanks again for taking time to comment, Chris!