A couple more pertinent general notes here: Naturally, the timing within which any temple has a groundbreaking is subject to official confirmation from the Church, either through a formal announcement from the First Presidency, or through information provided by local and area leaders and members who are in a position to know more in such situations than those of us who are not as familiar with those areas. Also, because the timing of these events is up to the Lord as revealed through his chosen leaders, I will be just as happy if my thinking in this regard is proven to be justified when arrangements for the groundbreakings for any or all of these temples are announced as I will be if the Lord throws some surprises our way, which he often does.
Information from various sources available to me seems to imply there may be as many temple groundbreakings between now and the end of the year as there were during the first half of 2019 (the total in those six months was 8). I fully believe that the focus between early August and early October will be on clearing the queue as much as possible before the anticipated announcement of several new temples during the October General Conference. To what extent that might occur remains to be seen, but I had also heard that President Nelson's intent is to keep the backlog of announced temples between 30-35.
So if, as I suspect, there will be 14-16 new temples announced in the upcoming October General Conference, if the Church breaks ground for 2 or 3 other temples in addition to the Belem Brazil Temple before the next General Conference, and if 4-6 other temples were to have a groundbreaking between then and the end of the year, then the announcement of 14-16 new temples would keep the backlog right around where President Nelson wants it to be, assuming I have done my math right. Either way, the last 1.5 years within which President Nelson has served as the Lord's prophet have seen somewhat unprecedented developments in relation to the announcement of new temples, and I have no doubt that will continue to be the case.
That said, the two reworked sections of my temple construction progress report follow below. In order to not disturb the flow of that information, I will end here as I always do: That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in compliance 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.
Groundbreaking
anticipated:
181. Brasilia
Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; property fence installed around
temple site; groundbreaking could
occur in mid-to-late 2019.
182. Richmond
Virginia Temple: Preliminary plans submitted to local government on March 22,
2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.
183. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Preliminary plans submitted to
local government on May 7, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.
184. Harare
Zimbabwe Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site
announcement; President Nelson visited potential site on April 17, 2018;
groundbreaking anticipated in late 2019.
185. Bengaluru
India Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement;
groundbreaking could occur in late 2019.
186. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and
approval phase; site location confirmed on May 21, 2019; groundbreaking could
occur in late
2019.
187. Greater
Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name
announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.
188. Layton Utah
Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location
officially confirmed on July 15, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.
189. Nairobi
Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; site
acquired (location not yet confirmed); groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.
190. Puebla Mexico Temple: Planning and approval phase; site acquired (according to a Church member living in
Mexico); awaiting official confirmation; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.
191. Salta
Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.
192. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site
location confirmed; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.
Announced Temples (for which more
information is needed before I provide a groundbreaking estimate):
193. Managua
Nicaragua Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired;
awaiting official confirmation.
194.
Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site
acquired; awaiting official confirmation.
195. Feather River California Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential
site identified; awaiting official confirmation.
Note: A potential site has been identified (though
not yet confirmed) for this temple.
196.
Antofagasta Chile Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site
announcement.
Note: A potential site has been identified (though
not yet confirmed) for this temple.
197.
Washington County Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official
city (and site) announcement.
198. Salvador
Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site
announcement.
199. Lagos
Nigeria Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site
announcement.
200. Cagayan
de Oro Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site
announcement.
201. Davao
Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
202. Pago Pago
American Samoa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site
announcement.
203. Okinawa
City Okinawa (Japan) Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official
site announcement.
204. Neiafu
Tonga Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
205. Tooele
Valley Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement
206. Moses
Lake Washington Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site
announcement.
207. San Pedro
Sula Honduras Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site
announcement.
208. Budapest Hungary
Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
209. Russia
Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site)
announcement.
I am excited to see all this progress these temples.
ReplyDeleteHello, Chris, and thank you for taking time to comment. So far in 2019 (particularly within the last couple of months), so many game-changing developments reported in relation to temple construction. Hopefully that continues to be the case.
DeleteIn the meantime, in checking my email recently, I saw you had sent me a message via Facebook. I wanted to let you know that because I've been dealing with increased anxiety and depression issues for most of this year, my involvement on Facebook has been scaled back a lot. I can't remember the last time I actually logged in there. And I am not currently sure how soon I will be ready to normalize my use of that platform again.
If your message was something important, and it wouldn't be inconvenient for you, could you send it via email? My contact info is available via my Blogger profile. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, and thanks for taking time to comment.
I don't use Facebook everyday either. Once or twice a week on average.
ReplyDeleteI think the last time I logged in to my account on Facebook was either in January or possibly February. The platform used to be a much bigger part of my life, and I had been able to drum up some interest in my blog thereby, but I haven't felt inclined to use it all that much lately. It's been better for me to not do so, at least for the time being. Thanks again, Chris!
DeleteFirst, thanks for always having information up to date,
ReplyDeleteIt is a wonder that the temples come out of that long waiting list, with how necessary they are for those who have faith in this work, even in many places there are no temples built or announced near them so they can attend.
Omar, thank you for taking time to comment. The fact that 8 temples had a groundbreaking already this year (1 of which had been announced in October 2010) gives me a lot of hope that we will see 5-8 additional temples have a groundbreaking during this second half of 2019. With the groundbreaking for one temple (in Belem Brazil) having had its' groundbreaking information announced by a letter from the Brazil Area Presidency, the size and design of that temple, along with the anticipated duration of its' construction, will hopefully be announced soon.
ReplyDeleteAnd given that President Nelson has made more temple announcements lately (namely confirmations of site locations for a few temples this year alone), we see that his focus really is on bringing temples to the people by announcing several new ones every six months in General Conference, and through taking time between each conference to clear the queue to the extent that he can. With the possible exception of the temple announced for a major yet-to-be determined city in Russia, I think the days when more than 5 years go by between a temple being announced and when it will have a groundbreaking are gone for good.
We have also, of course, seen temples which have a groundbreaking, but for which full-scale construction was delayed for an extended period of time. Two recent examples of that are the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple (which had a groundbreaking in December 2016, but due to inclement weather and issues with design approval, saw more than a year go by before its' full-scale construction began sometime last year) and the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, which had a groundbreaking in 2011, but for which full-scale construction was delayed until almost 5 years later in 2016).
There are a lot of reasons why a temple which had a groundbreaking may have varying periods of delays before full-scale work commences, but, with the exception of the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple, each of the other 7 temples which had a groundbreaking during the first half of this year have now had full-scale construction begin. It is plain that President Nelson takes seriously his responsibility and instruction from the Lord to bring temples closer to the people of the Church around the world, and there is no doubt in my mind that will continue to be the case. Again, Omar, thank you for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you.
James:
DeleteThank you
The truth is that seeing this progress in the construction of new temples gives hope.
Hopefully it continues like this and more baptized are encouraged to attend the temples and do their genealogy.
Hello, Omar, and thank you for this additional comment. The Church of late has implemented an altered focus in terms of missionary work, emphasizing the importance of missionaries being truly prepared for their labors. Church leaders also recently underscored how mission presidents should focus the attention of their missionaries on ensuring those they teach are truly converted, rather than on filling a baptismal quota. Hopefully the result of these emphasized strategies will be that more people will be truly converted to the gospel and remain faithful.
DeleteIn terms of how that might affect temple worship, if converts coming into the Church are helped to be temple-worthy, as temple activity resultantly increases, there will be a need for more temples to accommodate that surge.
The fact that President Nelson announced 27 new temples in his first 3 General Conferences as Church President is not only evidence that new converts are committed to progressing in the gospel, but is also a result of recent measures to expand tools available to those engaged in family history work.
As a result, the anticipated ten-fold increase in the number of temples will likely take effect because they will be needed. And President Nelson has been methodical and prudent in the way he has implemented those plans thus far. For that reason, I am anticipating that 14-16 additional new temples will be announced in General Conference in October.
I am planning on posting before the end of this month an updated list of the locations which I feel may get a temple during the next General Conference.
So stay tuned for that, and in the meantime, thanks again, Omar,for taking time to comment.
James
Deletethank you for such a detailed report, hopefully as you say continue to announce more temples and build as soon as possible.
This new approach in relation to the baptized we hope that it will take effect in a better quality and that they will last in the gospel.
The search of family history through www.familysearch.og is of tremendous help, in my case I work daily in it, ordinances are often joined.
You are welcome, Omar. The tide of the Church is changing in a variety of ways, and changes in temple announcements, missionary practices, and family history are just a few prime examples thereof. Particularly in relation to family history, I worked with the precursor to indexing, which was known at that time as extraction (where information from handwritten records would have to be deciphered and literally extracted to make those records available to individuals doing their familiy history and the resulting temple work. Since the time I worked with that program (which was roughly 15 years or so ago), the advancements the Church has made in terms of the resources available through Family Search have been amazing to observe.
DeleteI haven't personally had the time, health or ability to get too far into using such tools on Family Search, but from everything I have read, each change that has been made in those available resources has made the experience better, easier, and far more convenient to those who do utilize them. It is good to hear of your positive experience with those tools. Thank you, again, Omar, for taking time to comment.
Hello again, everyone! One additional Church News article shares how Latter-day Saints in Manhattan shared the "light" of their testimonies through an impromptu outside performance in the midst of a large-scale blackout:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-16/manhattan-blackout-new-york-city-lds-video-50322
Additionally, new reports of which I became aware around 9 hours ago indicate that renovation efforts are very close to wrapping up on both the Raleigh North Carolina and Frankfurt Germany Temples, which is wonderful because the open houses for both temples will begin in roughly 2 months.
I will continue to keep my eyes open for additional developments and will be sure to keep passing them along as I learn of them. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! Additional Church news has been reported. As shared by both the official Newsroom and by the Church News, President Nelson will be in Detroit this weekend to represent the Church in speaking at the NAACP annual convention. It has additionally been reported that Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided at and spoke during the final Sacrament Meeting for a German-speaking ward in Salt Lake that is being discontinued due to dwindling numbers.
ReplyDeleteYou can find those articles at the URLs that follow. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/naacp-national-convention-detroit-president-nelson
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-17/president-russell-m-nelson-naacp-convention-detroit-50325
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-07-17/elder-uchtdorf-salt-lake-german-ward-sacrament-50324
Hello again, everyone! Two additional articles have been published to share Church news. The first, as published in the Desert News, shares more specific information on the initiative for children and youth that will take effect next year:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.deseretnews.com/article/900080061/church-replacement-for-boy-scouts-personal-progress-lds-mormon.html
And the Church News also shared a summary of remarks made by Sister Cristina B. Franco during the Seminar for New Mission Leadership:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-17/sister-cristina-franco-2019-mission-leadership-seminar-50331
Just by way of reminder, Sister Franco is the Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, and also a member of the Missionary Executive Council.
My thanks once again to you all for your ongoing interest and support.
Jame
ReplyDeleteHI!
sorry for the discontinuation of this German-speaking neighborhood, hopefully the neighborhoods around the world continue to grow and strengthen.
Hello again, Omar, and thanks for stopping by to comment on this. I know that some are saddened when any congregation is discontinued, and I understand that in a way. But congregational discontinuations don't always have to be seen as such. During his remarks, among other things, Elder Uchtdorf commented on how, when the congregation was originally formed, the first members thereof showed great faith in coming together in that setting, when the need for it was great. He talked about how those members had done so well to lift where they stood as the congregation operated for as long as it did. He also talked about how many former congregants had moved on to other Church units and blessed their new congregations with their unique gifts. And he went on to describe how the remaining members of that congregation (which has shrunk from several hundred then to around 60 in number now), were continuing to lift where they stand and were exercising great faith in their willingness to accept the discontiuation of the ward, and in being prepared to move on to their new congregations, which would then be blessed by their talents, testimonies, and perspectives.
DeleteI worry at times that so many people look at congregations being discontinued as something that is always a negative development for the Church. But that is not always the case. Often, congregations being discontinued allows those that remain to be strengthened to a degree that would not have been possible had such discontinuations not occurred. But in addition to that, with the remaining membership of that ward being in their 70s, 80s, or 90s, within the next decade or two, most of them might have passed on, which would have resulted in the congregation discontinuing at that time.
And I find it fitting that Elder Uchtdorf's remarks in that last Sacrament Meeting referred back to his October 2008 General Conference talk from the Priesthood Session. As I have previously mentioned on this blog, last year, quite a few members of the Church had expressed their disappointment that Elder Uchtdorf, who had served as Second Counselor to President Monson, was not retained in the First Presidency by President Nelson. In responding to those concerns, Elder Uchtdorf referenced that talk, given almost 10 years before, and said that he was overjoyed to rejoin the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and to have the opportunity to continue to lift where he stood. Elder Uchtdorf thus epitomized the message of that talk perfectly, and the fact that he would again refer to that talk during the final Sacrament Meeting of a congregation whose members had been willing to lift where they stood as the congregation was established, as it grew, and even now as it was being discontinued, is a testament to the faithfulness of those members. I certainly wish them all well as they join other congregations and have different opportunities and experiences as a result.
Sorry for the mini-sermon, which I did not intend to give. But I hope these insights demonstrated the point I was trying to make, which is that a congregation being discontinued is not always a bad thing. In the meantime, Omar, I'd like to again thank you for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you.
Closing this German speaking ward is more like changing demographics. Many seem to have moved to English speaking units or left the area. Also over the last few years several units in Salt Lake City have closed but just a few miles south such as in South Jordan there has been rapid congregational growth. So closed units resulted only meant they moved to another part of the valley.
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris. You make a good point about other German-language units in the area. I believe the article noted that those remaining members of that ward were going to relocate to English-speaking units, but I would need to double-check that. I might just be mistaken in this respect. Either way, it was wonderful to see Elder Uchtdorf focus on the postivie aspects of the history of this congregation, and the reasons for which it was being discontinued. Thanks for stopping by to comment.
DeleteI had a lot conversation with someone who had returned from a service mission with her husband in Independence. She said one of their mision leaders stated to keep an eye on the Far West site. There apparently has been a lot of attention from apostles and other GA's at that site recently.
ReplyDeleteI am careful with rumors. But that was interesting to hear.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what to make of that. On the one hand, senior missionaries seem to be in-the-know about certain things relating to missionary work or what is going on in that area. But on the other hand, rumors about the Far West site have previously been perpetuated and have increased within the last couple of decades. I guess the only way we will know the truth of this latest report is if something about it is shared in General Conference in October. In the meantime, Joplin was one location I was watching for either the near or longer term as a temple prospect. It will be interesting to see what happens ther4e. Thanks, Chris.
DeleteHello again, everyone! I have some Church news and temple updates to pass along. I will share the Church news first, then include the temple updates either at the end of this comment or in a brand new one. So let's get right into it. First of all, the Church's official Newsroom and the Church News website have both confimed the details about the new "Children and Youth" inititave which were noted in the Deseret News article I cited on this thread yesterday:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-leaders-receive-information-new-global-youth-initiative
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-07-18/book-of-mormon-2020-curriculum-adults-youth-children-50330
The Church News also shared the inspiring story of a married couple, both of whom are 93 years of age, who, throughout their marriage, have served together in a total of 23 missions for the Church:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-07-18/orem-provo-church-missions-humanitarian-byu-couple-50335
And finally, a team of Latter-day Saint youth soccer players from Utah took advantage of a recent opportunity to share the gospel at a Brazilian soccer camp:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/latter-day-saint-youth-share-gospel-at-brazil-soccer-training-camp?lang=eng
Having shared those stories, let's move on to talk about temple updates. First of all, clarification has been provided on the staus of the Yigo Guam and San Juan Puerto Rico Temples. The construction barriers for those temples as seen in photographs were apparently left over from the demolition of the Church meetinghouses on those properties. What that means in this case is that full-scale efforts are still pending for those two temples, which renders the information I shared in the post below inaccurate. I apologize for the misinformation, but am glad to have been made aware of the correction in this respect.
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/07/preliminary-full-scale-efforts-underway.html
That said, hopefully full-scale efforts for the Yigo and San Juan Temples, will be able to get underway soon. I also hope that turns out to be the case for the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple. In the meantime, an update on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple notes that structural support for the entrance is being installed, and that a majority of the temple's exterior walls have been attached. And new information on the Quito Ecuador Temple indicates that site grading, leveling, and excavations are underway.
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring word of those to you all as I receive it. In the meantime, thanks again, everyone!
BYU-Pathway Worldwide has released a new video, which features an invitation from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles relating to the BYU-Pathway Worldwide program. The invitation, which was to "come and see", was an echo of an identical invitation he issued to Church members and friends of other faiths during the April 2019 General Conference. You can read more about that invitation, along with additional comments made by a few individuals who are directly involved with that program. Those newest comments are covered in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-07-18/elder-uchtdorf-byu-pathway-worldwide-video-50337
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.