1600th Blog Post: BREAKING TEMPLE UPDATE: Groundbreaking for Praia Cape Verde Temple Anticipated in 2019

Hello again, everyone! I am here with my 1600th blog post written to cover a breaking temple update. I call it an update rather than breaking news because as of yet, it is still subject to official confirmation by the First Presidency. As most who read this blog regularly will recall, so far, the Church has scheduled two temples announced last October by President Nelson for a groundbreaking later this year. New information received today seems to indicate that the groundbreaking for the Praia Cape Verde Temple may be held later this year.

That information is confirmed through consulting the construction status page on the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site. A word by way of a cautionary disclaimer seems appropriate: Until an official announcement is made on this matter by the First Presidency, the groundbreaking for Praia is merely anticipated to be held in 2019, which is not definitive at this point. But in light of the fact that that page of the aforementioned site correctly projected the timing (which was later confirmed) for the groundbreaking of both the San Juan Puerto Rico and Yigo Guam temples, I think official confirmation will likely come about this development within the next two weeks, but possibly less, if all goes well.

This development also serves to illustrate and further support my previously-offered opinion that many of the temples President Nelson announced last year (particularly in October) are going to be on the smaller side of the scale of temple sizes. And if that proves to be the case, then several more of those 12 locations may also have a groundbreaking announced.

I should also note that new information received over the last couple of weeks seems to point to the idea that other temples which were in the queue President Nelson inherited from President Monson may also have a groundbreaking scheduled in the near future. To illustrate what has changed, I will provide again the completely reworked sections of my report for temples that have a groundbreaking anticipated, and announced temples for which more information is needed before they are relocated to that first section. That newly-revised data will be presented in that order.

Preliminary note on groundbreaking anticipated section: During the weekend of February 1-4, with all temples previously listed in the section below having had a groundbreaking officially confirmed, I moved other temples into this category, based on what I know about the imminent likelihood of the timing for their groundbreaking. Most of that knowledge comes from sources I have available for temple information, or from members living in or near the cities of these temples who have knowledge of their status.

Groundbreaking anticipated:

177. Praia Cape Verde Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking anticipated in mid-2019

178. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Government approval phase; awaiting official site confirmation and release of artist’s rendering; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2019.

179. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

180. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Existing institute building and meetinghouse closed on January 27, 2019 in preparation for demolition; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

181. Puebla Mexico Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019.

182. 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.

183. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; property fence installed around temple site; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

Note on announced temples: During the weekend of February 1-4, 2019, I again reevaluated the information I had available, and made further adjustments to this section following the completion of the revision process for the “Groundbreaking anticipated” section. The following estimates represent my best efforts to predict the timing for the future groundbreaking of each of these temples based on what I currently know about them.

Announced Temples (for which sufficient information has me confident enough to venture a general groundbreaking estimate):

184. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

185. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; media event held June 14, 2017; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

186. Layton Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

187. Richmond Virginia Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

188. Salvador Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

189. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

190. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

191. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

192. Yuba City, California Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

193. Lagos Nigeria Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2020.      

194. Davao Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2020.

195. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020.

196. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020.

197. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; President Nelson toured potential locations on April 19, 2018; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020-early 2021.

198. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020-early 2021.

199. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2021.

200. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2021.

201. Russia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city and site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2021.

It appears that there will likely be a need to again completely redo, revisit, and revise the estimates offered above in both sections as more becomes known. It is wonderful to see how quickly things can change for the temple construction progress of the Church. The data I have at this time indicates that, in addition to the two temple groundbreakings held last month, and also the three for which groundbreakings are anticipated by the end of the first week in May, there are at least 7 others for which I anticipate more information will be provided in the near future, and 2 or 3 more that may also have a groundbreaking occur this year.

I will continue to keep my eyes open for more information in this regard, and will do my level best to pass word of those developments along to you all as I become aware of it. 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.

Yet Another Revision to My List of Announced Temples

Hello again, everyone! After I published the last couple of posts on this blog earlier tonight, something wasn't sitting right with me in terms of the order in which I had placed the announced temples of the Church on my personal list. Therefore, after reevaluating the entire situation of each temple, and especially as a result of further consideration, research, and analysis on my part, I completely redid that section of my report.

Perhaps the biggest change was reunifying the two previously-separated sections for announced temples, and consolidating them back into one section. I also considered the strength of the Church in each location, whether there was any known political or religious turmoil that might delay a future groundbreaking, whether or not there had been public confirmation of the site locations, and anything else which came to mind that would help me reorganize the order in which they are listed.

Coming in at a close second was the fact I took into consideration, to the effect that, we have recently seen President Nelson's administration working on the current backlog from both ends. 2 of the 19 temples announced last year have already had an artist's rendering released and a groundbreaking scheduled. If I am correct about this, then the next 2 years and beyond will be busy ones in terms of an influx for new temples having a groundbreaking and beginning construction.

According to those latest changes, I am estimating that the last of the current group (the temple for the major city yet-to-be determined in Russia) may have its' groundbreaking in early 2021. The others will likely have a groundbreaking within the 2 years between now and then. And if that is correct, then not only will the queue be rapidly cleared out within that time, but there will also be more room for other temples to be announced during General Conference within that same period of time.

And in that regard, I feel a need to reiterate some things I have previously said: President Nelson inherited a backlog of 12 announced temples which had not gone on to have a groundbreaking prior to the time when his prophetic administration began. Having announced 19 other temples last year, that brought the total number of announced temples to 32, and only 1 of those wound up having a groundbreaking last year.

This year, 2 groundbreakings have already taken place, and we have already seen 3 others scheduled to occur between now and mid-May. Additionally, there are at least 10 others for which a groundbreaking might also be set before the end of this year. If all of those were to occur, that would leave the remaining queue at somewhere around 15, which is just slightly over the amount of temples President Nelson inherited. As already noted, there is an equally likely chance that more groundbreakings could happen this year than I think might be possible as there is that several additional new temples will be announced during both the April and October General Conferences this year.

One thing is certain: The face of the Church's temple construction program is changing, and it will surely be interesting to see how that process evolves and proceeds in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. That said, the list of massive updates to that section of my temple construction progress reports follows below. So as not to disturb its' flow, I will end here and now as I always do:

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.

Announced Temples (for which sufficient information has me confident enough to venture a general groundbreaking estimate):

177. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Government approval phase; awaiting official site confirmation and release of artist’s rendering; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2019.

178. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Existing institute building and meetinghouse closed on January 27, 2019 in preparation for demolition; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2019.

179. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; property fence installed around temple site; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2019.

180. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

181. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; media event held June 14, 2017; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

182. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

183. 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.

184. Puebla Mexico Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019.

185. Layton Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

186. Richmond Virginia Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

187. Salvador Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

188. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

189. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

190. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

191. Yuba City, California Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

192. Lagos Nigeria Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.     

193. Davao Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

194. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

195. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

196. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; President Nelson toured potential locations on April 19, 2018; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2020.

197. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2020.

198. Praia Cape Verde Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020.

199. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020.

200. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020-early 2021.

201. Russia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city and site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2021.