First Presidency Calls 16 New Temple Presidents; List of Temples That May Also Get a New President During 2018

Hello again, everyone! In a surprise move, the Church News reports that the First Presidency has called 16 new temple presidents that will begin their service later this year. The Church usually starts to announce new temple presidents at around this time every year, but 16 new presidents announced right off the bat is very unusual. And, in another surprising development, one of those 16 is assigned to the Provo City Center Temple. The reason I find that surprising is that the temple will only be marking its' two year anniversary next month, and the standard service length for temple presidents is 3 years.

I have taken time to look over the presidents of the 159 temples currently in operation and those that will likely be dedicated within the next 1.5 years, and I have assembled a list of the temples that may be getting a new president later this year. The full list follows below.

So as not to disturb its' flow, I will end now as I always do: 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 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.

New presidents have been called for the following temples:

1.      Manaus Brazil

2.      Boise Idaho

3.      Denver Colorado

4.      The Hague Netherlands

5.      Oquirrh Mountain Utah

6.      Helsinki Finland

7.      The Gila Valley Arizona

8.      Brigham City Utah

9.      Stockholm Sweden

10.  Palmyra New York

11.  Accra Ghana

12.  Papeete Tahiti

13.  Sao Paulo Brazil

14.  San Jose Costa Rica

15.  Albuquerque New Mexico

16.  Provo City Center

The first presidents will likely be announced for the following new temples:

1.      Concepcion Chile

2.      Barranquilla Colombia

3.      Rome Italy

4.      Kinshasa DR Congo

5.      Fortaleza Brazil

6.      Port-au-Prince Haiti

New presidents may also be announced for the following temples:

1.      Atlanta Georgia

2.      Billings Montana

3.      Boston Massachusetts

4.      Bountiful Utah

5.      Brisbane Australia

6.      Buenos Aires Argentina

7.      Cardston Alberta

8.      Cebu City Philippines

9.      Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico

10.  Cordoba Argentina

11.  Draper Utah

12.  Fukuoka Japan

13.  Guatemala City Guatemala

14.  Helsinki Finland

15.  Hermosillo Sonora Mexico

16.  Houston Texas

17.  Indianapolis Indiana

18.  Kansas City Missouri

19.  Laie Hawaii

20.  Las Vegas Nevada

21.  Manti Utah

22.  Montevideo Uruguay

23.  Monticello Utah

24.  Oaxaca Mexico

25.  Payson Utah

26.  Porto Alegre Brazil

27.  Recife Brazil

28.  Redlands California

29.  Regina Saskatchewan

30.  Sacramento California

31.  St. Louis Missouri

32.  Sydney Australia

33.  Taipei Taiwan

34.  Tegucigalpa Honduras

35.  Tijuana Mexico

36.  Trujillo Peru

37.  Vancouver British Columbia

38.  Veracruz Mexico

39.  Villahermosa Mexico

40.  Washington D. C. Temple (Note: The Church may opt to wait on calling a new president for this temple until 2020 when it is rededicated)

BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson in Bengaluru India

Hello again, everyone! There has been a lot of Church news (some of it temple-related) which I hope to report on later this evening. But KSL just aired a story about President Nelson being in Bengaluru India, and a couple of things stood out to me that I just had to share.

First, it was mentioned that President Nelson is looking for a site for the temple he announced in that city. But KSL shared an interview with President Nelson as he was there, and he indicated in that interview that he had felt impressed to announce the Bengaluru India Temple the day before General Conference began.

It is impressive that, with all that President Nelson was preparing for during General Conference, the Lord indicated to him that the time was right to announce an India temple, and that he did so within 48 hours of receiving that impression.

This would also seem to verify that Bengaluru was likely not on the list of 80 potential temples that Elder Wilson referenced almost a year ago. But without knowing which locations were on that list to begin with, I cannot say for sure that that location was not on the list.

Stay tuned for more on these developments as I learn of it. 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 my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everyting you do.

Some Additional Information and Corrections Regarding Announced Temples

Hello again, everyone! I am back in the early morning hours of April 19 to pass along some additional information of which I just became aware, and some corrections that were necessary to the list of announced temples I posted earlier today. First, the additional information I have shows that President Nelson and his traveling companions visited a potential site for the Harare Zimbabwe Temple. If that site is confirmed as the spot for that temple, then it, like the Nairobi Kenya Temple, could have a groundbreaking fairly soon afterward.

As I also previously noted, Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, who will conclude his service as president of the Church's Africa Southeast Area on August 1 of this year in order to become a member of one of the 6 area presidencies here in the US, was quoted shortly after the announcement of the Harare Zimbabwe Temple in 2016 as saying that a site announcement and groundbreaking were likely to occur at some point in 2017. And, as we know, 2017 came and went with no developments in that regard. I for one hope that the Church might enable a groundbreaking to occur at least for the Harare temple before Elder Hamilton returns to Church headquarters, but time will tell if that is possible.

In the meantime, the corrections I mentioned in relation to my list of announced temples are necessary because I failed to correctly update the numbering, and in view of the additional information that came my way within the last 12 hours or so. The corrected version of my list of announced temples follows below.

So as not to disturb the flow of that list, I will conclude now as I always do. 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 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.

186. Bengaluru India Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement.

Note: President Nelson’s recent world tour includes this city, which may involve a search for a suitable location. While there may be obstacles to getting this temple started, I could see a groundbreaking happening within the next 5 years or less. And perhaps Elder Gong’s status as someone of Asian descent might be a means to get work started on this temple sooner than that.

187. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement.

Note: President Nelson had publicly proposed a temple for Managua while an apostle, and he fulfilled that proposal himself. As noted elsewhere, Elder Juan A. Uceda is being assigned as president of the Central America Area, and one reason may be so he can work with the Nicaraguan government to get quick approval for this temple. If that occurs, a groundbreaking could happen within the next 3 years or less.

188. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement.

Note: Although this temple is the second to be announced for the Philippines since the beginning of last year, I would anticipate that this temple will likely not have a site announcement or groundbreaking until both the Urdaneta temple and the second temple in Manila are at least under construction. That said, I believe this temple could potentially have a groundbreaking within the next 3-4 years.

189. Russia: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official location and site announcement.

Note: Although Russia may have problems that could potentially create a barrier to getting this temple built, President Nelson had supervisory responsibility for the Europe East Area of the Church for several years, including during his tenure as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. For that reason, he may be able to effect an expedited start for this temple. That area is now overseen by Elder Uchtdorf, who, as a European-born apostle, may have unique connections to help that process as well. Being conservative, I could see a groundbreaking for this temple in 7-10 years, but certainly sooner if the Lord opens doors for that to occur.