Note: This post was originally published at 10:28 AM, with subsequent updates added at around 4:00 PM.
Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom and the Church News have noted that the Taipei Taiwan Temple will be the first to shift to phase 3 of reopening one week from today (Monday December 21). Phase .3 allows for limited proxy work and all living ordinances to be performed. The Asia North and Pacific Areas of the Church have seen specific success in controlling the conditions of the pandemic.
On that same date, the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple will shift from phase 1 to phase 2. Phase 2 allows all living ordinances to be performed, with priority given to temple sealings for those previously endowed, then to living ordinances for those preparing for a temple sealing who have not received those ordinances, then to all misionaries currently out in the field who were not able to receive those ordinances prior to commencing that service, then to those who are preparing to depart for the mission field, and finally, to any others who may need to receive their own ordinances for any other reason.
Additional information on this can be found in the Church News' new temple tracker, with further information available through the Newsroom's official update. Consistent with the practices observed by the Church since the pandemic led to the closure of all temples, the general leaders of the Church are making decisions regarind the phased reopening of each temple based on information received from congregational leaders, and area, mission, and temple presidencies, in addition to monitoring any local or regional pandemic restrictions that has impacted and may yet continue to impact the phased reopening of all temples.
With numerous former physicians, surgeons, and other medical professionals in the leadership ranks of the Church, and bearing in mind how many governmental leaders are being cavalier in terms of their lack of support for recommendations provided by competent medical professionals, it is heartening to see the way the Church has been able to keep their adustments consistent with what is safest for all members of the Church wherever they may live.
The Newsroom also covered an additional breaking development, announcing that parents now have the option to manage an official Church account for their children. Technically, each member of the Church with a valid membership record is capable of setting up and managing their own accounts. But any Church member under 18 needs parental permission to set up their individual accounts, so this step of allowing parents to manage their children's accounts through their own accounts eliminates problems that previously existed in that respect.
Additionally, over time, Church leaders have noted that many children and youth who had managed their own accounts from the time they were set up have experienced problems remembering their login information over time. Adding parentral controls for Church accounts for those under 18 eliminates that particular problem as well. In conunction with this change, the Church has added a more flexible way to recover an account, which had not been enabled before now. The Account Recovery feature will particularly help in view of the fact that only one Church account can be established per member (since member accounts are tied to a specific and unique membership record number).
I am grateful to have been able to learn about and pass along this report of these developments. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as I become aware of 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.
Hello again, everyone! In view of the confirmation that, here in the United States, the Electoral College has officially voted to accept former Vice President Joe Biden as President-elect and California Senator Kamala Harris as Vice President-elect, top leaders of the Church have issued a statement of congratulations for the incoming leaders, who will take their oaths of office on January 20, and also expressed thanks to the outgoing administration of President Donald Trump and Mike Pence for their efforts:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-leaders-congratulations-president-elect-joseph-biden
The Church continues to observe a strict institutional policy of political neutrality, never speaks in favor of or in opposition towards any political candidate, but has weighed in on major issues of policy or practice enacted by governments that affect members of the Church or where they relate to doctrines, practices, or teachings of the Church and its' leaders. With that in mind, on a personal level, I appreciate the magnanimity and neutrality of the wording of that statement.
The Church News also covered that development:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-12-14/church-statement-united-states-president-elect-joe-biden-199932
And the Church News also provided one additional report:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-12-14/president-ballard-wife-sister-barbara-bowen-video-simply-beautiful-199896
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
Another recent CHurch News report notes that a virtual concert in conjunction with the #Lightthe World initiative is set to be held at 6:00 PM MST here in Utah (around 40 minutes from now):
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-12-14/light-the-world-social-sing-serve-virtual-event-christmas-songs-199948
My thanks once again to you all.
Heard a bit of news that you may or may not already have, has to do with the Dubai temple.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, they plan to site it in the area the Worlds Fair is to be held in. The fair has been delayed by the pandemic, will now start next year and end spring of 2022. A groundbreaking could occur within a few months of that ending.
The infornation on the fair was from someone on the ground there. Locals there that the source talked to are excited about that temple eventually being built
Jim Anderson, thanks for stopping by to share this development. The latest information I had on the temple in Dubai is what was noted in the following page:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/dubai-united-arab-emirates-temple/
That page noted that the handover process was anticipated to occur sometime in late 2022, but it sounds like the information you have is an update to that, and that construction could begin sooner than late 2022-early 2023. Do you have a source for this update, just in case anyone reading about this wants more information? Either way, thanks for stopping by to share this information. I always appreciate hearing from you, Jim Anderson.
It was a Facebook comment from someone who is there on account of his work, was in a group having to do with ward music chairs, she was the branch music person.
DeleteAlso, forgot to mention that while everything was closed, they refaced the Chicago Illinois Temple with granite, removing all the marble. That process took 8 months, from April to December, it wrapped up two weeks ago.
Thanks for that additional context, Jim Anderson. I appreciate the clarification, as I'm sure others who read your comments on that here will also appreciate it.
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