Stokes Sounds Off: BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreeaking Held for the Antofagasta Chile Temple

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Friday, November 27, 2020

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreeaking Held for the Antofagasta Chile Temple

Note: This post was originally published here at 3:20 PM, with updates being added thereunto at 6:00 PM MST.

Hello again, everyone! A short while ago, the Church's official Newsroom confirmed that ground had been broken for the Antofagasta Chile Temple today, as anticipated. Elder Juan Pablo Villar, a Chilean native and Second Counselor in the South America South Area Presidency presided at that event today. When the Church announced the groundbreaking arrangements for that temple and the Mendoza Argentina Temple, the rendering for the Antofagasta temple was released for the first time.

The temple, which will be built on a 2.2-acre site around Avenida de Las Palmeras 44 in Antofagasta, Chile, is set to be a two-story edifice with an approximate area of 23,000 square feet, making it slightly smaller in square footage than the Bentonville Arkanasas and Brasilia Brazil Temples, so I anticipate it will be another temple that could have its' construction completed at some point in 2023. 

There are now 6 temples total for which full-scale construction is pending: San Pedro Sula Honduras, Brasilia Brazil, Salta Argentina, Davao Philippines, Coban Guatemala, and Antofagasta Chile. I am hopeful that consutrction on half of those 6 could begin in full at some point next week, with the others perhaps follwing before the end of the year.

This leaves only the Mendoza Argentina Temple in the queue of those for which a groundbreaking had been set for November. And with no word on an exact date when that could occur, unless it has happened this evening, it is now approaching 10:00 PM Argentina time, so if the Mendoza groundbreaking does occur by the end of this month, that will likely happen either tomorrow or Monday, since those are the only viable days left in NOvember for such an event.

It is also worth noting as a quick aside that we do not yet have exact dates identified for the three temple groundbreakings set to occur in December, but I anticipate that all of them will be done before Sunday December 20 in order to not interfere wth the Christmas and New Year's celebrations in the Philippines, Aisa, and Africa. And I am also confident that, once next week rolls around, the Church will begin announcing the first temple groundbreakings that may occur in 2021.

I will do my level best monitor all of that and bring you word of updates on those developments and any additional Church news, in addition to all of the December blog projects I have planned for publication prior to the end of this year It has been a busy 2020 already, and I look forward to seeing whatever might be next. 

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.

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6 comments:

  1. James G. StokesNovember 27, 2020 at 5:08 PM

    Hello again, everyone! This morning, the First Presidency released their annual Christmas message, as confirmed by both the Newsroom and the Church News:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-releases-2020-christmas-message

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-11-27/christmas-message-first-presidency-2020-hear-him-christ-spirit-prince-of-peace-light-world-198659

    And from the Church News comes another report on how the display of lights on Temple Square each year has changed over time due to various worldly conditions and circumstances:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2020-11-27/christmas-temple-square-lights-president-mckay-1965-celebration-growth-198356

    I may have some temple updates to provide later today, and also am still planning on exapnding my post above at some point before the end of the day today. In the meantime, my thanks once agian to you all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. James G. StokesNovember 27, 2020 at 5:30 PM

      There are some other temple updates I wanted to provide before I try to expand my post above on the groundbreaking for the newest Chilean temple of the Church. Some of these updates were provided at some point yesterday, but I was not able to pass them along until today. The status of the following temples have been updated as noted in the following pages:

      Praia Cabo Verde:
      https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/praia-cabo-verde-temple/

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

      Puebla Mexico:
      https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/puebla-mexico-temple/

      Mesa Arizona:
      https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/mesa-arizona-temple/

      I will have an updated version of my above post published later this evening. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.

      Delete
    2. James G. StokesNovember 27, 2020 at 6:06 PM

      For the information of all readers of this blog, as of 6:00 PM this evening Utah time, the above post has been completed. Additionally, a few short moments ago, the Church News provided a report on the groundbreaking for this temple:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-11-27/chile-temple-antofagasta-groundbreaking-uchtdorf-198718

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

      Delete
  2. James G. StokesNovember 28, 2020 at 12:54 PM

    Hello again, everyone! The Church News shared some thoughts from the members of the Primary General Presidency on how children worldwide can "Light the World" this Christmas, even in the midst of a global pandemic:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-11-28/light-the-world-christmas-primary-jones-jesus-christ-service-children-198596

    I would also add that it's coming up on 5:00 PM Argentina time, so unless there is a report on the groundbreaking for the Mendoza temple in the next couple of hours, I'm assuming that may be delayed until Monday. There is also a slim chance, based on what I currently know, that the Mendoza groundbreaking could be deferred into early December, or that any one of the 4 remaining temple groundbreakings might, depending on a few uncertain factors at present, may be delayed into early 2021. Among other projects in my pipeline, I am keeping my eyes open for more information on that. I will be sure to pass along word of any updates in that respect as I learn about them. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. James G. StokesNovember 29, 2020 at 5:27 PM

      Hello again, everyone! On this Sabbath Day, the Newsroom and the Church News have provided a look at a social media post in which Church President Russell M. Nelson expressed thanks to all those who participated in the challenges he extended for the #GiveThanks initiative, and also encouraging Church members and friends of other faiths to participate in this year's iteration of the #LighttheWorld initiative, which will look different this year as a result of COVID-19 conditions worldwide:

      https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-expresses-appreciation-for-all-who-answered-call-to-give-thanks

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-11-29/president-nelson-give-thanks-social-media-light-the-world-198739

      And the latest installment of "Week in Review" has been published to highlight the top 9 developments reported this last week:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-11-29/president-nelson-give-thanks-elder-christofferson-thanksgiving-missionaries-temple-square-christmas-lights-198734

      I have one thing to note regarding that article: the seventh article listed includes a sentence in the summary that contains a homonymic error: "Shortly before COVID-19 took a sobering grip upon the Americas, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered prophetic council to Chilean Latter-day Saints." The word "council" used in the article refers to "an advisory, deliberative, or legislative body of people formally constituted and meeting regularly." Unless I am mistaken, the word the Church News article may have intended to use is "counsel", a word meaning "advice, especially that given formally." Church leaders serve on key councils that make decisions for the worldwide Church, but when they speak to Church members, they are providing counsel.

      One of the downsides of being the son of a freelance proofreader who has also personally had years of editing experience is that the unintentional errors like this jump out at me fairly easily.

      Having noted that, if there are temple updates to pass along, I will do so at a later time. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.

      Delete
    2. James G. StokesNovember 30, 2020 at 2:24 AM

      Here are some temple updates, which have all been reported since I published my last comment above. Those updates relate to the following temples:

      Feather River California:
      https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/feather-river-california-temple/

      Moses Lake Washington:
      https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/moses-lake-washington-temple/

      Syracuse Utah:
      https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/syracuse-utah-temple/

      My thanks once again to you all.

      Delete

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