Stokes Sounds Off: CORRECTION: Status Update on the Tooele Valley Utah Temple

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Sunday, August 16, 2020

CORRECTION: Status Update on the Tooele Valley Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! I need to publish a correction today to something I had previously reported which turned out to not be accurate. In that earlier post, I had conjectured that Church-owned land in Grantsville,m which was reportedly being annexed elsewhere in the Tooele Valley, might help to deal with residential concerns in Erda relative to any delays to the commencement of construction for the Tooele Valley Utah Temple. Then, two days after that post was published here, I became aware of another article on the matter of the Tooele Valley Utah Temple. 

With that article being published on Friday, the day before the pre-appointed deadline for the signatures on the matter of the referendum, the article clarified that the annexation of the land on which I had reported was not connected in any way to the property on which the Church would like to bu8ild the temple, with an assist in the form of the residential development in Erda. The Deseret News article noted that some citizens who objected to the development but not the temple and had signed the referendum requested the removal of their signatures when they internalized that opposing the development would also delay or change the feasible prospect of a temple on that spot.

For some, the realization (which in my opinion should have been obvious) that the temple is a package deal was enough to retract their opposition to all of it and remove their signatures from the referendum. Time will tell if that will be enough to allow work to proceed on the full package, which in turn will impact the groundbreaking's timing. The article also noted that the Church's original hope and plan was to break ground for the temple in March, but that residential concerns had to be taken into account, and that the development as noted in the Newsroom release from May of this year was the compromised agreement and middle-ground on the matter.

So there is a lot of give-and-take push-and-pull still related to this matter, and the status of the Tooele Valley Utah Temple is still very much up in the air. The new information will be a consideration in my net round of analysis on and changes to the temple documents I have previously shared here. Hopefully, you all will be able to review those updates in the next week or two. Also, before the end of this month, I hope to have my October 2020 General Conference predictions more solidly put together and published on this blog, to allow for roughly a month-long discussion of them if needed before General Conference weekend.

I am also hoping for some additional temple developments to be reported, and some Church news updates, which I will cover as I can. And I have prepared already a scheduled post for publication two weeks from today that will serve as the next 2020 apostolic milestone update, in addition to putting together a preliminary plan for blog projects here that will cover known updates for next year. All that and more will be coming your way as I can make it happen. 

In the menatime, 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.

15 comments:

  1. Hello again, everyone! The Church's Newsroom and the Church News have both covered major (but not breaking news) developments, including COVID-19 updates. So let's talk about all of that. First, the Church has announced the consolidation of some of its' cannery operations here in Utah:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/two-utah-canneries-consolidating-2021

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-08-17/church-cannery-consolidation-utah-operations-murray-harrisville-190930

    COVID-19 updates not related to temples:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/multimedia/file/church-distribution-retail-stores.pdf

    https://www.deseretindustries.org/reopen

    Now the big news of the day. The Church has announced that 8 previously-closed temples will reopen one week from today under phase 1: 4 in Mexico (Ciudad Juarez, Colonia Juarez Chihuahua, Mexico City, and Tijuana) and 4 others elsewhere in Latin America (Campinas Brazil, Concepcion Chile, Guateemala City Guatemala, and Quetzaltenango Guatemala).

    Additionally, the Church is continuing its' phased reopening of temples, with a whopping 19 that will open under phase 2, also one week from today. Those 19 include 2 in Africa (Aba Nigeria and Accra Ghana); 2 in the Pacific (Apia Samoa and Nuku'alofa Tonga) 5 in Canada (in Alberta: Calgary, Cardston, and Edmonton; Regina Saskatchewan, and Vancouver Britis Columbia); 3 in Utah (Draoper, Jordan River, and Oquirrh Mountain); 6 elsewhere in North America (Idaho Falls, Rexburg, and Twin Falls Idaho; Oklahoma City Oklahoma, Reno Nevada, and Star Valley Wyoming); and I in Europe (Paris France).

    You can read week-by-week and area-by-area temple statistics in the following articles from the Newsroom and Church News:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-limited-reopening-temples

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-08-17/lds-temples-open-worldwide-phased-reopening-183918

    Oddly enough, the Church News article notes that the Columbus Ohio Temple, which had been set to close for renovation on Saturday August 15, remains in phase 2, into which it entered on July 27. I don't yet know if that means the Church is delaying the renovation process for that temple, but if that is the case, I assume an official announcement on that may follow. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello again, everyone! I have some temple updates to report, so let's get right into them. First, the latest information on the Pocatello Idaho Temple makes me more convinced than ever that it could be dedicated in August or September of next year:

    https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/

    Updates have also been reported on the Layton Utah and Feather River California Temples:

    https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/layton-utah-temple/

    https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/feather-river-california-temple/

    I also wanted to mention here that while I am still hopeful that construction could soon begin on the Puebla Mexico and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples, until that happens, I'm going to assume that every one of the six temples for which a groundbreaking has been scheduled will be ahead of those temples in the queue.

    The one other temple update I have indicates that the Columbus Ohio Temple has officially closed for its' scheduled renovation process. According to the Church of Jesus Christ Temples page for that temple, the temple is currently being decomiissioned:

    https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/columbus-ohio-temple/

    And according to the news page for that temple, the renovation plans do indeed call for an overhaul of the Columbus Ohio Temple's interior and exterior to match similar changes that have occurred most recently for the Memphis Tennessee, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, Raleigh North Carolina, and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples:

    ttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/columbus-ohio-temple/news/

    My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello again, everyone! The Church News has shared the following additional reports:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2020-01-27/utah-women-right-vote-150th-anniversary-timeline-172451

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-08-18/missionary-database-pioneer-database-consolidation-church-history-190964

    My thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. And the Church News has continued the series of articles on "Women of Covenant", with the latest article written by a member of the Relief Society General Board:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-08-18/women-priesthood-covenant-kathryn-reynolds-power-single-invitation-188563

    My thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  5. For the information of all who are curious, the First Presidency has shared the following statement on the Tooele Valley Utah Temple: "We acknowledge the efforts of those who have raised questions and sincere concerns about the Tooele Valley Temple project, including the residential development surrounding the temple. There is a sincere desire on the part of the Church to avoid discord in the community. Therefore, regardless of the outcome of a pending signature-gathering effort, we have determined to withdraw our rezoning request for the residential portion of the temple project. We look forward to working with local officials and community members to determine next steps to move forward with the construction of the temple. We hope those from all viewpoints on this matter will treat one another with kindness, civility, and Christlike love."

    Whatever these "next steps" may be, I look forward to covering them. Hopefully this means that the Church can redo the temple plans for that spot and get work underway sooner rather than later. This is developing news and will be updated. For more information, please consult the following pages:

    https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tooele-valley-utah-temple/news/

    https://www.ksl.com/article/50007804/latter-day-saint-leaders-withdraw-rezoning-request-for-proposed-tooele-valley-temple-community

    My thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, it seems obvious to me.too that signing the referendum on the project means the temple too. Who would have ever though a Utah city like Erda would have been the one to put up resistance to a temple?

    Honestly I think the church should just move the temple closer to Tooele city and then Erda would loose out on all of the benefits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will be intrigued to see what the next steps are. The Church could just move ahead with the temple in Erda and try for the residential development side of things elsewhere, or perhaps some other compromisee can be utilized. The unfortunate thing is that if the people in that part of the Tooele Valley don't allow the Church to do this now, someone else will do something far more controversial in terms of development, of that or other areas, in the future. But maybe this way the Church can meet its' goal of getting the temple built and dedicated on an accelerated schedule that would still allow it to help for a year or two of the time the Salt Lake Temple remains closed for its' renovation.

      It is a tragedy, but maybe the Lord allowed the opposition to gain traction the way it has because He has a higher purpose in mind. Hopefully we'll soon learn that the way has been made clear for the temple, either on the designated spot, or elsewhere, and construction can soon begin. In the meantime, thaks again, Kenny!

      Delete
    2. And further analysis has been provided on this from KSL and the Desert News:

      https://www.ksl.com/article/50007804/latter-day-saint-leaders-withdraw-rezoning-request-for-proposed-tooele-valley-temple-community

      https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/8/18/21372833/church-withdraws-tooele-valley-temple-residential-community-plans-mormon-lds

      My thanks once again to you all.

      Delete
  7. On this Wednesday, with no new Church news updates to share, we turn our focus to temple developments. A new status report on the Urdaneta Philippines Temple notes that the construction crew has received recognition and thanks from the Department of Labor and Employment in that area for reaching the milestone of 1,000,000 accident-free man-hours on that job:

    https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/urdaneta-philippines-temple/news/

    An additional general update on that temple notes that construction on the concrete body of the temple is nearly complete. It looks as though that temple may be completed sooner than I had believed would be the case when I detaled the potential timing for it in my temple documents, so I'll likly need to revisit that again, which I had already planned on doing.

    The one other temple development I have to report for the moment is a surprise one that I did not see coming. I have repeatedly mentioned in recent days that construction on the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple has been stalled for over a year, since its' groundbreaking occurred on June 8, 2019. In the interim, the construction process has been repeatedly stalled to the point where it has been almost impossible to pinpoint a completion estimate.

    That all ended today, when a new report indicated that crews were preparing to resume construction. Although that temple is still low on the queue of those under construction, it has been moved above the Puebla Mexico Temple. I am still weighing what that might mean for my estimates for future temple events.

    In the meantime, the commencement of construction on the second temple in the Peruvian capital city leaves just two temples in the queue in a "Full-scale construction pending" status: Auckland New Zealand and Puebla Mexico. Hopefully word of full-scale efforts beginning in both areas will soon be received.

    In the interim, temple construction information on a variety of fronts still remains very much in-flux. I will monitor all such developments and pass them along accordingly, in addition to making adjustments as necessary to my previously-offered thoughts in my temple documents. I also will be keeping my eyes open for Church news updates as well. My thanks once again to you all.

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    Replies
    1. As it happens, two Church News articles were published not long after I posted my comment above:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-08-19/napa-california-wildfire-vacaville-sonoma-solano-191091

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-08-19/motocross-racer-dixie-high-school-191050

      My thanks once again to you all.

      Delete
    2. ElAnd Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who has strong ties to Europe after hving served as a missionry there and later on the Church's Europe Area(s) in the years prior to his call to the apostleship, alongside Elder Patrick Kearon, who was born in England and has also served in one or more of the Church's Europe Area Presidencies, together gave remoate addresses to the Saints in 10 stakes within the England Birmingham Mission. The remote broadcast was held in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Solihull Ward Chapel dedication, which was commemorated with that remote broadcast on Sunday August 16.

      Marking that milestone was personal for Elder Holland. When the chapel was originally dedicated in 1995, presiding over that original event in 1995 marked Elder Holland's first opportunity to return to that prt of Great Britain since his apostolic call less than a year before the chapel had been completed.

      And coming back remotely for the 25th anniversry broadcast alongside Elder Kearon marked another of Elder Holland's maor assignments following his recent health issues that he dealt with earlier this year. You can read more on this broadcast at the following web address:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-08-20/elder-holland-england-solihull-ward-chapel-25th-anniversary-birmingham-191110

      My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.

      Delete
    3. Another update from the Church News:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-08-20/ensign-college-remote-classes-after-thanksgiving-191170

      My thanks once again to you all.

      Delete
    4. The Newsroom has provided a look at relief given to citizens of the Middle Eastern nation of Yemen through Latter-day Saint Charities:

      https://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/flood-victims-in-yemen-receive-help-from-latter-day-saint-charities

      My thanks once again to you all.

      Delete
    5. Rhe Newsroom and the Church News have provided the following additional updates:

      https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/worship-during-covid-19

      https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tabernacle-choir-at-temple-square-cancels-2020-christmas-concert-and-auditions

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-08-21/tabernacle-choir-at-temple-square-cancels-christmas-concert-postpones-auditions-191063

      Additionally, regarding temple updates, new information of which I became aware today appears to indicate that the construction for the Bangkok Thailand and Layton Utah Temples may wrap up sooner than I would have believed as recently as 12 hours ago. As a result, at least one of my sources for temple information now suggest that the two temples I mentioned could be completed in late 2022-early 2023, with both likely ahead of what's anticipated for the Richmond Virginia Temple. I am still in the process of evaluating if, how, and to what extent that may alter thoughts I have previously given on any of those temples. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all..

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    6. In the threads of my newest post, which was published not long after I posted my above comment here, I have noted some corrections and further adjustments to the estimates I mentioned here earlier this morning:

      https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2020/08/possible-breaking-news-arrangements.html?showComment=1598034712692#c1189358469240321805

      My thanks once again to you all.

      Delete

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