Hello again, everyone! Two breaking news developments have just been reported by the Church. First, after a courageous battle with cancer, another of President Nelson's daughters, Wendy Nelson Maxfield, passed away yesterday at the age of 67 after a courageous battle with cancer. She leaves behind her husband, Norman Maxfield, 7 children, and 20 grandchildren.
And in temple news, an artist's rendering has been released for the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple. It will be a single-story temple, which is anticipated to begin the construction process later this year, and construction is anticipated to take two years. As many of you know, that temple was just announced last October, so the fact that construction will get underway on it later this year is significant. We could be seeing many temples announced by President Nelson being built on the smaller side.
The San Juan Puerto Rico Temple now joins the Brasilia Brazil and Pocatello Idaho Temples that will almost certainly have construction begin later this year. As I previously mentioned, the Saratoga Springs Utah, Lima Peru Los Olivos, Greater Manila Philippines, Nairobi Kenya, and Harare Zimbabwe Temples are also on my watch list for their future groundbreakings at some point this year.
I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will bring word of those to you all here as I receive 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 are made in accordance 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.
Saturday, January 12, 2019
BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson's Daughter Passes Away; Artist's Rendering Released for San Juan Puerto Rico Temple
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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I was opening up a tablet browser just now and while I don't have the URL, the Arizona Republic says that President Nelson will travel to Arizona and hold a devotional at a Glendale sports arena on February 10th, some meetinghouses will also carry the broadcast.
ReplyDeleteThe San Juan temple also looks smaller than Haiti is and although they said two years, that could end up being much sooner. This one apparently will not have an Angel Moroni statue either.
Thank you, James Anderson. I believe I may have cited the article in the Arizona Republic in the comments of another thread on this blog, but I am grateful you brought that up here as well.
ReplyDeleteConstruction times for temples are always a little speculative. The Brethren give a rough estimate for each, and then it can take much longer or a far shorter period of time than anticipated. As we have seen lately, some temples have been under construction for 3 years or more. Some have been able to be built and dedicated in the same year they are announced. Some temples have an accelerated construction process, while others experience massive delays. For the information I offer here, I prefer to mention what is officially stated at the outset, then alter those thoughts as more is known, which happens quite frequently. That said, if the San Juan Temple is an equivalent or smaller size than the Port-au-Prince Temple, the construction and subsequent dedication could occur much sooner than the 2-year estimate which has been initially offered. Something to keep our eyes on for sure. Thanks again, James Anderson, for taking time to comment.
Given the short time between announcement, render released and intended start and completion dates, I think it’s safe to assume that we will see an acceleration of temple construction this year. I think the 2 to 3 year wait between announcements and groundbreakings will be truncated as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteBrett, thank you for taking time to comment. I believe you are right. Many of the temples announced in 2018 may fall into the category of a smaller temple, and if that turns out to be the case, obtaining approval for and beginning construction on them will be much easier to get going. That said, I am not sure what the exact plan is for many of the temples. The announcement of the artist's rendering for the San Juan Temple opens up the prospect that, with the exception of the temples announced by President Monson which have not yet progressed to construction, the time-frame will be of a much shorter duration. That said, there are quote a few temples for which I am watching for more information before I venture a groundbreaking estimate or subsequent completion estimate. This may be the first of many Nelson-era temples which will likely be underway well within a year or less of their announcement. Have you, by any chance, heard anything more on the Auckland New Zealand Temple? I periodically have been checking the country Newsroom webpages for any word on progress for any announced temples, but other than what I have mentioned in other posts and comments, I haven't found anything. Thanks again, Brett, for taking time to comment.
ReplyDeleteHey mate, nothing yet on the Auckland temple. I’ve been periodically checking the Auckland public resource consent to see if something has been lodged recently. I doubt the 2006 resource consent would be still active without adjustments for a Temple now. If I hear anything I’ll let you know.
ReplyDeleteThere could be a backlog of temples that are advanced in their process with local authorities on the cusp of being started. I imagine a multi country and continent temple building project would require boosts in resources in the temple department and local facilities management teams.
If I am remembering correctly within this past year, out of the five temples that have had or are planned to have a groundbreaking soon, three have had an official rendering released before a groundbreaking announcement (Bangkok, Pocatello, and San Juan) and two had the rendering released and groundbreaking announced at the same time (Abidjan and Urdaneta). Based on that, I wonder if we may see more future temples have a rendering released before a groundbreaking is announced.
ReplyDeleteI have also noticed that the planned residential community surrounding the potential site for the Saratoga Springs Temple was approved and finalized by the city last month. So depending on where the planning and design phase is for the temple, we may see something announced soon for that temple.
Hello, Brett and Eric, and thank you both for these additional comments. With the Urdaneta and Bangkok groundbreakings scheduled to occur within the next two weeks, and with artist's renderings having been additionally released for Pocatello Idaho and San Juan Puerto Rico, I would like to share my list of other temples for which I anticipate more information in the near future. They are as follows: Saratoga Springs Utah (currently in the government approval phase, which is a precursor to a groundbreaking); Lima Peru Los Olivos (for which planning and preliminary construction efforts have been underway for almost two years now); Harare Zimbabwe (for which Elder Andersen indicated that a groundbreaking would occur in late 2019); Nairobi kenya (for which, according to the Africa Southeast Area public relations director, a site has been selected on which a smaller temple will be constructed and is anticipated to be dedicated sometime in 2021); the second Manila Philippines Temple (for which a site has been selected and an official name is anticipated to be announced at some point in the near future); the Salta and Mendoza Argentina Temples (for which sites have already been confirmed); Managua Nicaragua, Layton Utah, and Richmond Virginia (for which probable sites have all been identified); Bengaluru India (the one which President Nelson didn't anticipate announcing, for which he scouted for a site during his time there); Puebla Mexico (from someone living in Mexico at present who regularly comments on this blog, I have learned that a site has been identified, and that a groundbreaking might occur later this year as well, with construction anticipated to take 2-4 years once it commences); Auckland New Zealand (for which land has been held in reserve for a while); and Phnom Penh Cambodia (for which a potential site has been identified).
ReplyDeleteIn 2017, 2018, and this year, the Church has broke/will break ground for the "oldest" announced temples. That leaves those announced in April 2016 as the new "oldest" announced temples. No word yet on Quito Ecuador or Belem Brazil. Sites have been/are anticipated to be confirmed for all 5 temples that were announced in April 2017. And a majority of the 19 temples announced last year have had a probable (if not definitive) site confirmed.
That is why I noted in my comment above that all the Nelson-era temples will likely not be subjected to the typical 2-3 year period we have typically seen for other temples between their announcement and a subsequent groundbreaking. And the last couple of years have seen some surprises in terms of temples moving closer to a groundbreaking. I look forward to seeing just how many are able to begin construction later this year. Thanks again, Eric and Brett, for taking time to comment.
Additionally, I want to say, Brett, please let us know once you hear anything more definitive on the Auckland New Zealand Temple. Also, Eric, you are correct in terms of your analysis regarding which temples waited for a groundbreaking announcement to occur after the release of the artist's rendering and which had an artist's rendering and site identified in conjunction with the announcement of the groundbreaking ceremony. Another interesting anomaly: for the Abidjan Ivory Coast groundbreaking, the announcement was made public on one of the African Newsroom pages rather than being made on the main English Newsroom page. That page only addressed the groundbreaking by publishing an article noting the groundbreaking for that temple had occurred. So that's one reason I have taken more time recently to browse the country newsroom websites for the nations (or, in Puerto Rico's case, the territory) in which a temple has been announced. In that regard, Brett, I was on the Pacific Newsroom checking for word on Auckland and didn't see anything, which is why I asked. The only reason i know that Puebla Mexico is another temple to watch is because a Church member in the area let me know through a comment, for which I was grateful. I imagine that more local announcements on a nation's newsroom page may be all we see in the future until after a groundbreaking takes place. It is interesting to think about the timing of temple events. I am sure that Puerto Rico's status as a US territory helped speed the design and approval process along significantly. My thanks again to both of you for your invaluable contributions to the dialogue of such subjects covered on this blog.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, when the Church News published an article about the San Juan artist's rendering, they referred to it as the "first" rendering, which implies that that specific rendering may not be final. So that will be something else to watch out for.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! I have some additional Church news to pass along. First of all, it has been announced that President and Sister Nelson, accompanied by the North America West Area President, Elder Kevin W. Pearson, and his wife, June, would be in attendance at a special Stake Conference held today for the Chico California Stake, which is one of many areas recently impacted by the effects of the Paradise fire. You can read more about that in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-01-12/president-nelson-bringing-hope-to-paradise-fire-victims-after-devastating-losses-48761
Additionally, Gerry Avant, the retired former Church News editor, continues her retrospective look back at highlights of her career as a reporter for that paper. In this latest article, she shares her memory of completing President Hinckley's 2005 Book of Mormon challenge at Joseph Smith's birthplace while she was covering the visit of Church President Gordon B. Hinckley and then-Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to the birthplace of Joseph Smith in honor of the Prophet's 200th birthday. Her experience in that regard is found at the following address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2019-01-13/what-it-was-like-finishing-president-hinckleys-book-of-mormon-challenge-at-joseph-smiths-birthplace-48736
I will be keeping my eyes open for additional Church news and temple developments and will pass those along as I receive word of them. In the meantime, I am looking forward to tomorrow, when I will do a new post on this blog in honor of the one-year milestone of President Nelson's prophetic administration. So stay tuned for that. My thanks again to you all for your ongoing interest and support.
Also, just a minor temple update. It appears that all the preparatory work for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple groundbreaking (which will occur in roughly 51 hours) has been done. It would not surprise me at all to learn that Elder Holland, who is set to preside at this event, is already there.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in just around an hour, Elder and Sister Renlund will be speaking at the first Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults. Look for more coverage on both of these events as that becomes available to me. Thanks again, everyone!
Sorry, apparently I overlooked one other thing: It has been reported that the demolition of the last building on the grounds of the Bangkok Thailand Temple has finally been completely demolished. That temple will have its' ground broken 10 days after the groundbreaking for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple, at roughly the same Utah time.
ReplyDeleteBased on what has been noted on other temples, I would anticipate that several other temples will likely have a groundbreaking this year as well, and that those will be a combination of temples that were announced before President Nelson came to the Church presidency, along with some that President Nelson announced last year. We are likely going to see a dramatic and significant cut in the typical amount of time (which has generally been 2-3 years) which will pass between a temple's announcement and when its' ground is subsequently broken. This will be a big year for temple developments, and I cannot wait to see what is next.
Hello again, everyone! I am back with some additional Church news stories which have been made available. Tonight's Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults was wonderful. Elder and Sister Renlund gave a beautiful talk comparing and contrasting faith and doubt, and highlighting the importance of keeping the faith. The Church News shares the following report on that devotional:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-01-13/treading-water-heres-elder-and-sister-renlunds-survival-guide-on-how-to-get-back-in-the-boat-48768
And the Newsroom has also featured an article about that devotional, which can be found at the address below:
https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/elder-and-sister-renlund-discuss-faith-doubt-worldwide-broadcast
The Newsroom also shared a report about President Nelson's visit to the areas of California which have been ravaged by the Paradise Campfire. That can be found at the address below:
https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/president-nelson-brings-hope-to-californians-caught-in-2018-wildfires
Thanks again, everyone!
ReplyDeleteIn my second reading of the Newsroom article I shared about the Nelsons' visit to the victims of the Paradise Fire, I happened to notice that it lists Elder Pearson's role as "overseeing the North America Southwest (should be Northwest) & North America West Areas. That seems to imply that he and his counselors do have oversight of two separate and distinct areas, while the sources available on the Church's Utah website list a singular term there. So it would appear that the North America Northwest and North America West Areas are still separate, though administered by the same area presidency, which means the same could be true for the Idaho & North America Central Areas. Until further clarification is provided, I will assume that Utah is now a single area, and that the other four areas are still separate. Thanks again, everyone!
ReplyDelete