Hello again, everyone! Less than a few hours after the confirmation of the groundbreaking for the Taylorsville Utah Temple, I have another breaking temple development to report. The exact date been announced for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Coban Guatemala Temple.
Previously announced to just occur sometime next month, today, the announcement noted that that groundbreaking will take place two weeks from today, on Saturday October 14. That groundbreaking follows that of the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple, which was held on Saturday September 5.
Hopefully between now and then, full-scale construction will be able to begin on the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple, or there will be two Central American temples in the "Full-scale construction pending" status. Insofar as I am able to ascertain, none of the other 7 temples for which a groundbreaking has been set to occur in November have had an exact date set.
But if I am correct that Starudays may be utilized for those for the most part, and that the groundbreakings for the Salta and Mendoza Argentina and Antofagasta Chile Temples will all take place on the same day under the direction of each of the three members of the South America South Area presidency, then that leaves any of the 3 other Saturdays, including November 14, on which one or more temples could also have a groundbreaking.
For that reason, I will be interested to see how the scheduling arrangements for those are handled. I continue to monitor those developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such news.
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.
Hello again, everyone! On this Sabbath Day, the latest edition of the new Church News series "Week in Review" has been published, highlighting the 9 biggest developments which were covered in the Church News this week:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-11-01/president-oaks-byu-elder-gong-taylorsville-temple-elder-soares-religious-freedom-196650
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! Status updates have been provided on the following temples:
ReplyDeletePocatello Idaho:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/
Richmond Virginia:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/richmond-virginia-temple/
Orem Utah:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/orem-utah-temple/
Bangkok Thailand:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/bangkok-thailand-temple/
Columbus Ohio:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/columbus-ohio-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
As a brand new week begins, I am pleased to bring you the Church's sole COVID-19 update. The phased reopening of temples continues uninterrupted, as confirmed by the Church News and Newsroom:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-11-02/lds-temples-open-worldwide-phased-reopening-183918
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-limited-reopening-temples
No other temples will transition to phase 1 next Monday, which only allows living husband-and-wife sealings where both individuals have been previously endowed. However, four temples of the Church are transitioning from phase 1 to phase 2. Phase 2 allows all living ordianances to be performed in the following priority order: living sealings for couples where both have previously been endowed, all living ordinances for those preparing to be sealed in the near future who have not yet received these ordinances, then to missionaries already out in the field who started their service before being able to receive their own ordinances, then to those preparing to go out into the mission field, then to any others who may need to receive their own ordinances for any other reason.
The four temples transitioning from phase 1 to phase 2 effective next week include the current 2 in Chile (Santiago and Concepcion); 1 in the Caribbean (Port-au-Prince Haiti); and 1 in California (Oakland).
For any who may be keeping track, it was announced just last week that today the Oakland California Temple would transition from a paused status of reopening back to phase 1, so for that temple to now be transitioning to phase 2 one week later, it's a tremendous sign of progress.
The Church News also noted that the latest announced reopenings mean more than 90% of all the Church's available temples (which excludes those undergoing renovation) are now open in some phase, and with the latest announcement of those shifting to phase 2, 84% of all the temples that are reopened will be in phase 2 as of next week.
I mentioned either last week or the week before that that the news release on temple reopenings on that day noted that it could be a while yet before any of the now-opened temples transition over to phase 3, which allows all living ordinances and limited proxy work.
With that in mind, it may well be early next year before any of the temples are in phase 3, and could be several months into next year before the Church sees any return to normalcy as far as normal operations are concerned for those temples.
I hope I am incorrect in that respect, and that the process towards normalcy may be quicker than I anticipate currently, but given what I know about COVID-19 conditions here in my home state of Utah, throughout other areas of the United States, and in other world areas insofar as I've been able to research that topic, it seems more likely than not that the Church will need to be very cautious, perhaps even overly so, when it comes to advancing any temples into either or both of the last two phases.
ReplyDeleteParenthetically, I should also note that my research on conditions for areas in which new temples are anticipated to be dedicated within the next year appears to suggest that it could be May or June at earliest before any temple dedications occur, and will probably be September or October before any temples currently undergoing renovation are able to be rededicated.
I hope I am wrong in that respect as well, and that in areas where COVID-19 has not had such a wide-spread impact (such as Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, and Winnipeg Manitoba) those temples could be dedicated sooner than that, but given how cautious the Church has been in postponing those events thus far, and the slow but steady way temple reopenings are occurring, but wanted to mention that delays with respect to dedications or rededications are almost certain to occur above and beyond what we've seen thus far.
With that in mind, I'd assume that the Church will provide brief statements noting when each temple has completed the construction or renovation process, but also note that their subsequent dedications or rededications will be delayed in each case until large public gatherings are safe in each area.
So there will be a lot to consider in the days ahead as far as COVID-19's potential continued impact on the phased reopening of currently-opeerating temples, as well as on how soon temples currently in the queue of construction or renovation may be dedicated or rededicated.
I will do my best to track all of these developments, and will bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of it. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! Within the last couple of hours, new reports indicated that full-scale construction is now underway on the Moses Lake Washington and Taylorsville Utah Temples:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/moses-lake-washington-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/taylorsville-utah-temple/
So now, the only temples that remain in the "full-scale construction pending" status are the Brasilia Brazil and San Pedro Sula Honduras Temples, but I am hopeful that both may have full-scale efforts underway by the time the groundbreaking is held for the Coban Guatemala Temple (on November 14).
I also anticipate that, if the Church maintains the trend of confining temple groundbreakings to Saturdays, and if I am correct that the groundbreakings for the Salta and Mendoza Argentina and Antofagasta Chile Temples are held on the same day, that 2 of the upcoming Saturdays in this month may see two other groundbreakings each.
I am keeping my eyes open for anything more specific that may point to the specific dates for the other 7 temple groundbreakings in November, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof. My thanks once again to you all.