Miscellaneous Church and Temple News Provided

Hello again, everyone! Within the last hour or so, I have become aware of several significant temple developments and additional Church News. This post will serve to share all of those developments. We start with the temple developments. First and foremost, the Facebook page from which I have continued to pull recent temple updates shared here has shared an article in Spanish which indicates that President Nelson will preside at the dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple, the first new temple dedicated during his prophetic administration. I had thought that would be the case.

While I am not definitively sure who else might be in attendance from general Church leadership, since Elder Jeffrey R. Holland served for two years (from August 2002-August 2004) as president of what was then the Chile Area, it would not surprise me if he is the one accompanying President Nelson to this dedication. But since the country of Chile also falls under the South America South Area, over which Elder Ronald A. Rasband currently has a supervisory role, he could be the accompanying apostle as well. I will share more information on all of this as I find out more.

In the meantime, while the open house for the Concepcion Chile Temple continues, the open house for the Barranquilla Colombia Temple will begin in roughly 5.5 weeks. And new information received about the Lisbon Portugal Temple indicates that trees and plants are being added to the grounds of that temple.

I also have found an update on the Raleigh North Carolina Temple, where the process of cladding the exterior in stone continues. I should interject here that I have made yet another change to the section of my temple construction progress report which lists the temples currently undergoing renovation. Although the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple has seemed to make more consistent progress, the process of stone cladding for that temple has not yet begun. Given the fact that stone cladding has not only begun but is making significant progress on the Raleigh Temple, I have switched the two back to the original anticipated completion order.

That concludes the temple updates portion of this post. Let's move on now to the general Church news I wanted to pass along. Many of you may recall from Church history accounts that one of the first black members of the Church after its' restoration was Jane Manning (who later married and had the last name James). When she first joined the Church and sought refuge with the Saints, Emma Smith, the wife of the Prophet Joseph, not only took her in, but befriended her. The friendship of the two women would continue to last through the aftermath of the Prophet's martyrdom. As her husband's death shook her to the core, Emma found comfort in the quiet reassurance of her friend, Jane Manning James. The unlikely friendship of these two women is highlighted and underscored in a new movie, entitled "Jane and Emma". The article about the movie is well worthy of your attention.

The Church has released a new website that is designed to help individuals and families affected by the use of pornography. More details on that site are provided by the Newsroom on lds.org. And the Church continues to announce new members of the auxiliary boards, reporting that 2 men have been called to the Young Men General Board.

Also from the Newsroom was another article I may or may not have previously shared, describing how members of the Church (Latter-day Saints) in North Carolina are serving their neighbors in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. And, a final story, from the "News & Events" page on the Church website, shares how Elder Dale G. Renlund (who has responsibilities for the South America Northwest Area) visited Peru and Bolivia recently. He made stops in Iquitos and Lima (where he may have stopped off to see how work was progressing towards getting work started on the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple) and in El Alto, La Paz, and Santa Cruz Bolivia.

Quick interjection here: I have previously referenced the fact that a second temple for Bolivia seems likely, and Santa Cruz and La Paz seem like the most likely candidates for such a temple. Of the two, Santa Cruz may have somewhat of an "edge" or stronger case, but I would anticipate temples in both places within the next 15-30 years or less, depending on the extent of President Nelson's temple plans. And, from what I understand, a temple in La Paz would serve the El Alto region, since the two are close.

That said, Elder Renlund and his wife, Ruth, were accompanied by Elder Jose A. Teixeira of the Presidency of the Seventy and his wife Filomena, and also by the members of the South America Northwest Area Presidency (Elders Enrique R. Falabella, Hugo Montoya, and Mathias Held). The News & Events page has provided a full summary of what occurred during this visit.

All of these articles are well worthy of your attention. I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. Since tomorrow is Thursday, and since we have seen other major news come from the Church on Thursdays in recent weeks, I would anticipate that, if confirmation is going to be provided soon about the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple groundbreaking, that will occur tomorrow. I will be sure to pass along such news whenever it might come, along with any other breaking developments ASAP.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.