President Nelson Announces Salt Lake Temple Renovation Plans; Will Minister in Florida in June

Hello again, everyone! I had the privilege of watching the press conference this morning in which President Nelson and others detailed the renovation plans for the Salt Lake Temple, and I had hoped to bring word of those plans to you all here not long after that press briefing concluded, but I wound up having to delay such a report in favor of allowing myself more time to recover from the prodedure I had yesterday.

Something I should have seen coming was that briefing being conducted by Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse. The Presiding Bishopric of the Church, among other responsibilities, handles certain aspects of temple construction and maintenance. Featured speakers at the briefing included President Russell M. Nelson with some introductory remarks, Bishop Dean M. Davies, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric (who had been working as the managing director of the Church's Special Projects Division prior to his call to the Presiding Bishopric), Elder Larry Y. Wilson, Executive Director of the Temple Department, and Brother Brent Roberts, the current managing director of the Special Projections Division.

It was explained that the Salt Lake Temple will close for renovation on Sunday December 29 of this year. When President Nelson originally announced the date, he inadvertently mentioned the wrong year. After he concluded his remarks, President Oaks was overheard quietly pointing out that error. President Nelson then corrected himself over the pulpit, and, with a twinkle in his eye and a straight face, said: "If that's the only mistake I made today, I'll count myself lucky."

The temple's renovation closure will take approximately 4 years, and an open house and rededication is anticipated to occur in roughly early-to-mid 2024. Since temple renovations have been known to take longer in some cases than originally anticipated, I could see that process taking shorter or longer than anticipated. The thought did occur to me that it would be really neat if the temple was rededicated either just before or not long after President Nelson observes his birthday that same year (which would thus make him the Church's first centenarian Church President).

I could see that occurring easily, since President Nelson's fellow apostles and his wife have all been quoted as saying that, when he is fulfilling his calling in any respect, he has appeared to have the vitality, vigor, and energy of those 2-3 decades younger than he now is at 94 years of age. That said, the specific plans, and indeed the entire press conference, speak very well for themselves. I would just note that I am grateful some parts of Temple Square will be restored to what they were originally, that the annex and sealings rooms in one of the areas of focus will be removed in favor of creating a couple of areas specifically for temple patrons, and that one of the Visitor's Centers on Temple Sqaure will be removed.

It is also nice to know that a formal temple open house will be held at the conclusion of the construction process, which will give Church members, friends of other faiths, and government and civic leaders a chance to tour the edifice.  It would not shock me at all if multiple rededicatory services were held over the course of a wekk or more to allow many Church members around the world to participate therewith. The Church News has created a special website section in which multiple articles about that subject have been and will be featured.

Turning now in conclusion to a couple other subjects, the Church's Newsroom also reported today that President Russell M. and Sister Wendy W. Nelson, accompanied by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Harriet R. Uchtorf, will speak to Church members in an evening devotional which will be held on Sunday June 9 in Orlando Florida. That devotional will be held in the Amway Center, which has been the home venue for the Orlando Magic NBA team and the ECHL Bears. So that will be another member devotional to be held in a professional sports arena.

The devotional will be held on the Sunday between the June 2 dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple and the June 16 rededication of the Oakland California Temple. And that will also be roughly 2 weeks after President Nelson wraps up his tour of the Pacific Area of the Church. It is good to see President Nelson continue the tradition of just stopping between trips long enough to catch his breath and switch apostolic companions. Whether he aims to do so or not, if he continues the travel rate he has observed since his ordination as Church President roughly 1.25 years ago, he will be on track within the next year (if not sooner) to become the most widely-traveled prophet in Church history

Aside from the announcement about the renovation plans for the Saltt Lake Temple, additional updates have been reported for 4 temples. Heavy equipment is now in place to clear the Quito Ecuador Temple site prior to its' scheduled groundbreaking on Saturday May 11.And it has now been confirmed that demolition of the Yigo chapel is officially underway. There has also been an update reported on the  Tokyo Japan Temple, where the angel Moroni statue was reinstalled on April 17, 2019.

It is also worth noting that there seems to be some confusion regarding the current status of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple. What we know for certain is the that most likely location for the temple has been identified. Less clear, however, is the status of the plans for that temple. Some sources note a "Special Project" site plan submitted by the Church to the city government on December 4, 2018.

But elsewhere, it has been suggested that the plans in question have not yet been submitted to (or aapproved by) the city government. Depending on if, when, and how that information is clarified, it may be harder or easier to get an idea about how soon a groundbreaking could take place for that temple. That said, I appreciate the chance I have had to bring you word of these developments. I continue to monitor all updates in terms of Church news and temple construction milestones and will bring you all word of those here either in new posts or in comments on existing posts as I become aware of such developments.

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.