Hello again, everyone! One week ago, we heard news of the groundbreaking ceremonies to be held for the Pocatello Idaho and Yigo Guam Temples. Earlier today, the Church announced that the groundbreaking for the Praia Cape Verde Temple (with that temple adopting the Spanish version of its' name (in other words, Praia Cabo Verde Temple) will take place on May 4, which will be the same day on which ground is broken for the Yigo Guam and San Juan Puerto Rico Temples. This marks the first time in a long time (in my recollection) in which 3 temple groundbreakings have been set to occur on the same day.
The design for this temple is similar or identical to the designs previously announced for both the San Juan and Yigo Temples. And it also appears that Yigo Guam time is ahead of Praia Cabo Verde time, which is ahead of San Juan Puerto Rico time, which is ahead of Utah time. So the temples will have their groundbreakings in that order (Yigo, Praia, and San Juan). Construction of each temple is anticipated to take roughly two years, meaning that a dedication for each could occur in early-to-mid 2021.
But that's not the only news I have to share today. The Church also announced through Church spokesman Daniel Woodruff that the MTC in Buenos Aires Argentina will close this July. This is in accordance with President Nelson's desire to reevaluate how Church resources are being used, and what changes in that use of resources would be in the best interests of the Church. Missionaries who would have been trained in that MTC will now go to the MTCs in Brazil or Mexico.
It will be interesting to see what other developments are announced as 2019 continues. It appears that President Nelson's assessment (that 2019 will be more exciting than 2018, and that the years following will also be increasingly exciting ones for the Church) was not an understatement. I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all 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 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.
Friday, February 8, 2019
BREAKING NEWS: Praia Cabo Verde Temple Groundbreaking Scheduled; Buenos Aires Argentina MTC to Close
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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This also appeared four days ago on the Seminary pages on lds.org:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.lds.org/si/seminary/personal-invitation-to-seminary-and-institute?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR32SM3bC34Unmyn3LuJqMycYoyMzNKJQYcLZWwWZwjPQnJePAiJinrZcqw
James Anderson, thank you for sharing that address. I have been continually and increasingly more amazed in recent days to see how fully the apostles are invested in using the official Church website and various social media platforms to share messages of inspiration for our day. We are truly blessed to live in a time when those we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators are taking more time to share their insights, experiences, and testimonies of the Savior through more means than ever before. And spearheading this effort is our tech-savvy prophet, whose career as a heart surgeon enabled him to develop and further utilize technology in that profession. We now see him honing that attention to detail, and this is the second such full message posted by him to a specific group of individuals within the last two weeks or so. We certainly are blessed to live in this time. And as one who fully participated in both institute and seminary (though I did not graduate from the former), I can personally attest to the influence those programs still have on me today. Thanks again, James Anderson, for sharing that with us all here, and for taking time to comment. I would encourage anyone reading this comment thread to read that address. You'll be glad you did.
ReplyDeleteFor any who may be interested, the Church News sat down recently with Elder Brent H. Nielson, who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Church's Missionary Department, to discuss the reasoning behind the closure of 4 MTCs this year. In addition to evaluating the best usage of Church resources, it appears that the largest MTCs are not operating at the capacity for which they were designed. And in some cases, sending missionaries from certain areas to the largest MTC near them may be less expensive in terms of Church operating costs than sending them to a smaller but closer facility for training. With the way Elder Nielson explained it, the closures do make perfect sense. That article can be found at the address below:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-02-08/heres-why-the-church-has-decided-to-close-4-international-mtcs-48962
It is nice to have that contextual explanation in terms of these changes, and I hope the article is as helpful to others wondering about that question as it was to me. My ongoing thanks to you all once again for your interest and support.
Also, it appears that, at the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, a report and recent image indicate that interior and exterior renovations are progressing at a steady rate. For that temple, I stand by my estimate that it may be rededicated in early-to-mid 2021, perhaps not long after the April General Conference of that year. Thanks again, everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy question does anyone have an idea why 3 temples are scheduled to ground break at the same day? Why the rush of pushing all into one day Is this a hint more temple groundbreakings are scheduled for this year alone?
ReplyDeleteAlso a thing I noticed take a look at the architecture of the Ceder City Utah temple looking at the top half (3rd floor up) including the spire from front and side views this looks alike to the renderings of the 3 newest smaller temple apart from the round window on the Ceder the 3 smaller ones have an archway still round. Mini Ceder temples I'll call them now on this may be an indication where modern temple architecture is heading or nothing at all just a coincidence by observation.
Hello, and thank you for commenting. The Church ran an article a while back about calendar days when two or more temples had a groundbreaking on the same day. Particularly in the Hinckley-era, there was one occasion where 4 temple groundbreakings were set for the same calendar day. I emphasized "calendar" in my last sentence because, due to different time zones, May 4 in some locations may be May 3 or 5 in others, depending on the time difference. To put that into perspective, Yigo Guam is ahead of Cabo Verde time by 11 hours, so it is already the early hours of Sunday February 10 in Yigo. Cabo Verde is 3 hours ahead of San Juan, which is 3 hours ahead of local time here in Utah. This means that, by the time the San Juan groundbreaking takes place on May 4, the groundbreaking for Yigo will have taken place 14 hours prior.
DeleteWith that noted, once all three groundbreakings take place, the number of total groundbreakings for the year will be up to 6, and to have that many occur by early May of any year is astounding indeed. And if what I hear is correct, that is just the start. There are at least 5 other announced temples for which I am watching for news in the near future, in addition to at least 3 additional ones which could also go on to groundbreaking this year, depending on what happens over the next several months. And since the announcement of the Abidjan Temple groundbreaking last year took me by surprise, it is not out of the question to believe that several others none of us is anticipating might likewise have a groundbreaking.
And while there may be parallels between the design of the Cedar City Utah Temple and the three which will have their groundbreakings on May 4 in their local time, these temples are being built on a comparatively and substantially smaller scale. As I understand it, of the 3 locations, San Juan has the strongest Church presence, followed by Praia and Yigo. The Guam temple in particular is only going to serve the one stake that has been established in nearby Barrigada.
DeleteI have not seen the floor plans for any of these temples, but if, as I suspect, they are a new generation in terms of focusing on the most basic functions of a temple and eliminating anything else that is not absolutely essential, it is no wonder at all that they all got such quick approval.
As to whether this is the start of a new trend, that may remain to be seen. Of the 19 temples announced last year, only these 3 have been confirmed with that floor plan. The two Argentina temples have already had sites confirmed, and might be on a medium-sized scale. India, Cambodia, and Russia may not be Church strongholds yet, but there may be growth there once the temples are built, so a medium-size might be necessary there. The Church is thriving in both Cagayan de Oro and Davao, so those temples might not be small either. The same is true for Layton Utah and perhaps Virginia, though the Richmond temple will take from the current Washington DC district, so it may be difficult to gauge that. Brazil is another strong area in which the Church is thriving, and the presence of the Church in Salvador and the surrounding areas likely means a medium-sized or large temple there. Yuba City may be medium-sized but on the smaller end of that particular spectrum. The Puebla Mexico and Auckland New Zealand Temples have been compared to Tijuana and similar-sized temples. The Church is thriving in Nigeria, so Lagos will be medium or larger-sized. And as I understand it, Washington County and the surrounding areas has seen such significant Church growth as to necessitate not only the temple announced last October, but also one additional one in the near future, if not more immediately.
That said, perhaps Yigo, Praia, and San Juan are the "test candidates" for a new generation of temples. Given the easily expedited approval for each of them, we could be seeing many more of that style and design built in more isolated locations. And if that turns out to be the case, then that will surely be a way for the Church to rapidly increase the number of temples in a very short period of time. Hope that answers your questions. Let me know if you have any others, and thanks again for taking time to comment.