Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now to pass along word of another apostolic milestone that is occurring today. President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, is observing his first 2019 nonagenarian milestone. With today being February 20, President Ballard has now lived as long as President Thomas S. Monson did (90 years, 4 months, and 12 days). And barring anything unexpected, President Ballard will still be alive tomorrow.
Therefore, President Monson has now become the 18th oldest apostle, and President Ballard now ranks as the 17th oldest apostle. Just by way of a general note, my next major apostolic update will be the complete two-part report detailing the latest age & tenure statistics, and that will be posted on March 10, 18 days from now. I also continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments, and will bring word of those to you all here as I receive it.
In the meantime, 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.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
President M. Russell Ballard Marks His First 2019 Nonagenarian Milestone
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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Hello again, everyone! I have a few more temple updates to share today. First, another update has been provided for the Durban South Africa Temple, where the grand staircase has been clad in marble, finish work is underway on the celestial room ceiling, and palm trees have been planted around the entrance fountain. This temple seems to be on track for a dedication in mid-September, but if all goes well, it would not shock me to learn the Church will schedule that to occur before the September 1 dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple.
ReplyDeleteThat said, on to the Pocatello Idaho Temple, where the site has been staked out around the spot for the celestial room, where ground will be broken on Saturday March 16, less than one month from today. AFAIK, there is still no official word on who might preside at this event. President Eyring, Elder Bednar, and Elder Andersen all have ties to Idaho, but it could be any apostle, member of the Presidency of the Seventy, or a member of the Idaho Area Presidency.
Quick sidenote here: There has also been no official announcement about how might preside at the Rome Italy Temple dedication, but I will keep looking for any word on that and pass it along as I receive it.
In the meantime, we move on to the final temple update, for the Raleigh North Carolina Temple. It has been reported that the process of stone cladding the exterior walls is nearing completion. I have mentioned recently my theory that the private rededications for the Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples could occur in August of this year, but we will see in time whether or not that turns out to be the case. I continue to monitor these developments and will pass any additional word along to you all as I become aware of it. Thanks again, everyone!
Interesting tidbit about the Pocatello Temple Site
ReplyDeleteDear Highland 10th Ward,
I am so excited for this truly unique opportunity!
All the youth in our temple district are invited to clear our temple grounds by hand, rather than using heavy machinery given the snow and ground conditions.
This truly will be an experience like those of our pioneer ancestors. We have been given this opportunity to do something tough and hard, to work and sacrifice with our hands for our temple. I know the Lord has inspired our leaders to involve our youth in this manner. I also am certain that greater sacrifice is always met with greater blessings and spiritual experiences.
This will be our mutual activity for March 5th.
WE WILL MEET AT THE MICHELLE BUILDING @ 5:00PM, DRESSED APPROPRIATELY AND WITH TOOLS IN HAND, AND ALL WALK TO OUR TEMPLE SITE.
OUR WARD WILL NOT BE DRIVING ANY VEHICLES TO THE STAKE CENTER.
Please see emails below for more details.
Love you all,
- Bishop FrancisDear Bishops,
Please see the email below with information regarding a unique temple site service opportunity. We invite you to thoughtfully invite your ward youth to participate. Note that all stakes in the region are also invited (e.g. Blackfoot, American Falls, McCammon, Arimo, etc.) so there will likely be a lot of people and vehicles. Please plan to walk to the site or carpool so we can leave as much space as possible for others to park.
Clearing the temple site manually is a big job. The groundbreaking committee considered bringing in heavy equipment but the site is likely to be at least quite wet and muddy (hopefully not covered with snow!).
Please help your youth understand this is a different kind of service opportunity than we usually perform. Not to be too dramatic but I wonder how many other temple sites have been cleared in this manner - probably not many since the pioneer-era temples. We hope this will connect our youth in one more way to the Pocatello Temple - knowing they helped clear the site for groundbreaking and for construction to commence.
Exciting times!
Thank you,President Barfuss
Begin forwarded message:
From: Troy Dye
Date: February 18, 2019 at 2:56:59 PM MST
Subject: Pocatello Temple Site Service Project Opportunity, March 5th, 5:30pm
Presidents,
Please consider this request to extend an invitation to the youth to participate in a ground clearing, service project at the Pocatello Idaho temple site on March 5th at 5:30pm.
If they dress warm and wear shoes appropriate for the conditions, the youth will have a faith building experience. It will be wonderful to see 1,000 youth helping at the temple site and will enable the removal of the sagebrush without bringing heavy equipment onto the soft ground.
Tools needed:
· Gloves
· Pruners
· Bow-saws
· Sharp shovels
Those who attend can park at the Highland Stake Center on 2140 Satterfield Drive and walk a short distance to the temple site. We are certain this experience will create a powerful memory each youth can look back on throughout their life. Clearing sagebrush in waist-deep snow on a cold day in March, uphill both directions to build a temple! The pioneer ancestors of the young men and women who participate will applaud their efforts from the other side of the veil as they share a common connection in this labor of love and faith.
Thank you for taking time to comment. My one worry is, is this privileged information not meant to be shared outside of the circle of those to whom it was addressed? The Church does that sometimes with notices like this, and with this blog not being officially Church=sponsored or endorsed at all, I have to make sure. I apologize in advance, but if it was not meant to be shared outside of the membership of your ward/stake, your comment may need to be deleted. I have to be careful about that, unfortunately, as does any website that is not officially owned, endorsed, or sponsored by the Church. Thanks for clarifying this point.
ReplyDeleteThere was never any message that said not to circulate the email. Instead it was more like "share and bring friends to help with the service project" type thing. I am not a ward leader by any means.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that clarification. I hope it was okay that I made sure. I was told a year or two ago that my blog ranks as one of the top results in Google search for topics covered on this blog, and with this not being an official Church site, I have to be careful about that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteIf you know and would be allowed to share it, have you heard anything about who might preside at that groundbreaking? I know that President Eyring and Elders Bednar and Andersen have ties to Idaho, and I believe (if memory serves me correctly) that Elder Andersen lived in Pocatello for a while. I know that the Church often had whichever members of the Presidency of the Seventy had oversight for any given US area break ground for temples within that area. But I also know that Elders Wilford W. Andersen, S. Gifford Nielsen, and Brian K. Taylor serve as the presidency of the Idaho Area. I also know we have other General Authority Seventies who have ties to the area that will be served by the Pocatello Idaho Temple, and that the Executive Director of the Temple Department or one of his Assistant Executive Directors have done so as well. I do find it interesting (and more than slightly intriguing) that there is less than a month until the groundbreaking and there has been no public mention of who will be presiding at that ceremony, so I thought I would ask. Thanks again for stopping by to share this information.
Itis true that few sites have been cleared in the manner to be done at Pocatello. The only one for sure was Rio de Janeiro and while the site was more urban than this it had been vacant for some time and there were rocks, bushes, and likely a lot of trash given it was near a major road, much of that having been blown in by weather.
ReplyDeleteThe other possible was Gilbert, a few months before but after the site was identified.
Thank you, James Anderson, for mentioning those two temples, which I had forgotten about. It will be interesting to see which of the current announced temples have that occur as well. We may be moving into a period of time where either vacant or repurposed lots are used, which would not require such a clearing. The information I have indicates that both the Yigo Guam and Praia Cabo Verde temple sites are readying for their groundbreakings, and since no site clearing had to occur for either, it appears that unused Church-owned property that was ready for construction has been selected for both temples. Either way, we live in a very interesting time, where so much is being done with the Church's temple building program. Thanks again, James Anderson, for taking time to comment.
DeleteHello again, everyone! I have a couple of additional temple updates to pass along to you all. Firstly, at the Pocatello Idaho Temple site, it has been reported that the center of the temple has been staked out for its' groundbreaking, and that all of the necessary hurdles have been cleared for the issuance of the building permit, which is anticipated to occur shortly.
ReplyDeleteI also have a few updates on temples undergoing renovation. At the Raleigh North Carolina Temple, new information indicates that the monument sign has been completed, that the Holiness to the Lord inscription stone has been installed, and that stone cladding is nearing completion.
Meanwhile, based on new information, I am pleased to report that the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple has progressed as well, with the angel Moroni statue having been installed on February 13, 2019. while cladding has continued to progress on the temple's exterior.
In view of these reports, I am more convinced than ever that both of these temples could be privately rededicated in August, following the annual July recess for the General Authorities of the Church.
And I have one final update, this one regarding the Mesa Arizona Temple, where palm trees are being planted along Main Street, and where landscaping elements continue to be added. The process of demolishing the temple's interior is now nearing completion, and the process of replacing sections of the temple's roof continues as well.
It is wonderful to see these day-to-day milestone developments for various temples. I will keep my eyes and ears open for any additional general Church news or temple updates and bring you all word of those as I receive it. My thanks once again to you all.
A status update on the Pocatello temple was reported at some point within the last 3 hours since my last comment. While the note about the center of the temple being staked out still applies from my earlier update, a few other sources I have available noted the service project for this temple which is set to be held on Friday, March 5. Additionally all other preparations are being made for the March 16 groundbreaking of that temple.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to mention that the inspiring circumstances surrounding the announcement of the temple in Pocatello are well worthy of review, which can be done through the following resource:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/
It is significant to me that, roughly two months prior to the release of the May 23, 2017 statement from the Church (which noted President Monson would no longer be actively participating in the day-to-day administration of the Church), he had no hesitation in his firm statement that the time was right for that city to get a temple.
That is one of many reasons why I am grateful to see the approach President Nelson has taken in terms of prioritizing temple-related announcements. He has, right out of the gate, placed a clear priority on continuing (and expanding on) the legacy of Presidents Hinckley and Monson relating to the temple-building program. Within roughly the last 1.32 years, the First Presidency has prioritized clearing the queue of the one temple announced in 2010 (Urdaneta Philippines), and all 3 announced in April 2015.
There has also been more movement to procure sites for all temples announced from April 2016 to the end of last year. And right now, the only one announced in April 2016 which does not yet have a site procured is the Belem Brazil Temple. And sites have been procured for the four remaining temples announced in April 2017.
And at least 8 of the 19 temples announced last year have had a site procured or a probable location identified (or unofficially confirmed). What that tells me is that the next couple of years will see a dual-focused approach: the temples which were announced before President Monson's passing may be given priority, while temples announced within the last year, during this year, and the years following, will be advanced to a groundbreaking ASAP. It will be interesting to see all of that unfold. Thanks again, everyone!