Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency continues the careful and methodical phased reopening of temples. In addition to the 18 that opened under phase 1 2 weeks ago, and 18 more that have opened/will open for live sealings by appointment only today, 18 more templeswill reopen under phase 1 one week from today. On the latest list are the 1 temple in Alaska, the 2 in Colorado, the Orlando temple in Florida (the Fort Lauderdale temple may reopen in a week or two), and the single temples in Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklklahoma, the Dallas and Houston Texas Temples, Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple, 4 more in Canada (Candston and Edmonton Alberta, Regina Saskatchewan, and Vancouver Britisth Columbia), and the Helsiniki Finland Temple.
In the meantime, renovation efforts continue at the Salt Lake Temple, where crews are removing the angel Moroni statute and its' capstone. The Church News provided additional coverage on that development as well. And from Church News reporter Scott Taylor comes some thoughts about "preconceived missions", and how missionaries are, can, and should be responding to the unusual circumstances of their reassignments as a result of COVID-19.
In previous reports, the Church News has shared examples of the proper approach to that process based on accounts shared by missionaries whose service has been disrupted. It appears that the Church in some cases has also reassigned mission presidents to their homelands as well in the wake of COVID-19. But it is awesome that the Church continues to take a measured approach in dealing with unusual cirucmstances due to the ongoing pandemic. The way in which the latest developments have transpired is a clear indicator that the Lord is very much aware of His work, and is blessing those involved in helping to move it forward in the midst of these highly unusual circumstances. For my part, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such things.
This upcoming Sunday, I have scheduled the next apostolic age and tenure milestone update. The following Saturday will mark the groundbreaking for the Layton Utah Temple, unless COVID-19 conditions change that. That will kick off the first of 3 weeks straight during which the Church will break ground on temples each Saturday. And the final day of May, I'll be bringing you all a post in tribute to President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Preidency, who will mark his 87th birthday on that day. All of those developments and more will be covered on this blog in one form or another in the days ahead. I also continue to work on updating my estimates for known temple events in the near future.
And of course, the open commernting period remains in effect for my predictions for the October 2020 General Conference. So stay tuned for all such reports. 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 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.
Monday, May 18, 2020
TEMPLE UPDATES: 18 Additional Temples to Open Under Phase 1; Angel Moroni to Be Removed from the Salt Lake Temple As Renovations Continue
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.
2 comments:
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.
At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.
I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.
And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.
Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.
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Hello again, everyone! The Church News has provided an update on the resdesigned Gospel Media section (formerly known as the LDS Media Library) on the official Church website, and to the phone app of the same name:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-05-18/lds-media-library-name-change-gospel-media-184352
Aside from that, I just realized I had made an erroneous statement in my post above. I noted that 18 temples had opened during the last two Mondays, with 18 more to follow next week. But the first two sets of temple reopenings only included 17 temples each, for a total of 34. The fact that the number reopening next week has increased by 1 from what it has typically been thus far is fantastic, and I hope that trend continues.
Just another observation here: We have not yet seen the Church shift any reopened temples from phase 1 to phase 2. While I hope that may happen in some locations sooner rather than later, President Nelson previously addressed the reopening of temples and resuming normal Church operations. In the current approach, we see Church leaders following the scriptural injunction that all things should be done in wisdom and order. And in the ongoing process of getting things back to normal for the Church, if a measured approach is not taken, then the risk of increased cases of COVID-19 remains a possibility. With a home-centered, Church-supported method of worship, and with directions having recently been given about how Church members can be blessed by considering their covenants even when unable to gather together to partake of the Sacrament or worship in the temple, there really is no need to rush to get things back to normal. It's far more prudent to do so carefully and in an orderly manner. With that in mind, I provide my personal endorsement of the process as it is unfolding. The Church leaders know what needs to be done to protect and preserve the lives of their members and congregational leaders. My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
Hello again, everyone! Not long ago, a new report relating to the Urdaneta Philippines indicated that construction efforts were delayed due to COVID-19 conditions and related restrictions. As a result of that, I am predicting that construction on the Belem Brazil Temple, which, AFAIK, will continue, will soon put that temple ahead of Urdaneta in the queue of temples under construction. By extension, it is also possible that construction on the Alabang Philippines Temple may also be delayed, assuming the groundbreaking for it is able to proceed as currently scheduled.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, an update has also been provided for the Feather River California Temple:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/feather-river-california-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.