Temple Construction Updates Noted

Hello again, everyone! There have been a few developments reported within the last 12 hours or less in relation to temple construction. So let's dive right in to our discussion of those updates. First of all, information found earlier today indicates that President Nelson has asked his First Counselor, President Oaks, to dedicate the Barranquilla Colombia Temple this weekend. Later today, reports will come in about the youth devotional, and that will give us some idea of who is accompanying President Oaks from general Church leadership.

This was wonderful to find out about. I had wondered earlier this year how long it would be before President Nelson began sharing responsibilities for attendance at temple dedications with his counselors and the senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve. As we saw earlier this year, the two temples which were rededicated (Houston Texas and Jordan River Utah) were presided over by Presidents Ballard and Eyring respectively, who serve as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve and Second Counselor to President Nelson respectively.

I am not sure what that means for future temple dedications, but I imagine there will be some over which President Nelson presides as those dedications will be part of his ongoing Global Ministry Tour, while there will be others for which he taps his counselors or the senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Either way, President Nelson has, right out of the gate, shown a willingness to do things differently than they have previously been done, so we are almost certain to see that continue.

That said, let's move on to other temple updates. It has been noted earlier today that construction has officially been completed for both the Rome Italy and Kinshasa DR Congo Temples, where the placement of interior furnishings is underway, while both temples are being prepared for their open houses. The temple in Rome will have its' open house begin in roughly 7.5 weeks, with the open house for the Kinshasa Temple beginning on the last day of the Rome Temple's set dedication.

For the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, new information received earlier today notes that landscaping and construction efforts are in their final stages. It has additionally been noted that, if all goes well, the construction team assigned to that temple will be turning it back over to the Temple Department for the final touches within the next few weeks, at which point the open house and dedication information can and will likely be set.

Some of the sources I have available have moved the general estimate for this temple's completion back up to early-to-mid 2019, which I can understand. At the same time, however, given the dedication information set for the Rome, Kinshasa, and Port-au-Prince Temples (for March 10-12, April 14, and May 19 respectively), until more is known about the Fortaleza temple, or until the Church officially announces that information, I feel more confident standing by my recently-updated specific estimate of early-to-mid June.

A disclaimer here: I am not saying that the dedication of the Fortaleza temple couldn't happen somewhere in-between those already set. We have seen that occur a time or two. Instead, it is just my personal preference to be more cautious in the estimates I offer based on the information I have available.  Either way, it was wonderful to hear that this temple is getting close to the point where its' open house and dedication could be announced.

In the meantime, there are a couple of other temple updates I wanted to mention here as well. At the Arequipa Peru Temple, lamp-posts and bollards are being installed, and sod is being laid on the temple grounds.  And there has been a major update also reported on the renovation process for the Mesa Arizona Temple. New information indicates that water retention and irrigation systems are being installed, while excavation is underway for the underground parking area which will serve the Family Discovery Center.

I am grateful to have learned of these updates, and for the chance to pass them all along to you here. I will be sure to do the same with other major Church news and temple developments as I receive word of them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments align with the established guidelines. 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.