NOTE: This post was originally published to this blog on December 16, 2020, at 6:28 PM MST, but the third-to-last and second-to-last paragraphs were added above that last paragraph of this post on December 17, with the updated post published just before 4:00 PM the following day.
Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news has just been brought to my attention in these early evening hours of December 16. As confirmed by the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Mendoza Argentina Temple is set to occur tomorrow, Thursday December 17, at an undisclosed time. That temple's groundbreaking had been set to occur in November, but due to COVID-19 conditions in the Argentine province of Mendoza, that had to be delayed 2.5 weeks into mid-December.I am grateful to have been able to learn of and pass along this update.
I had been reasonably certain that the Church would try to hold al the remaining temple groundbreakings for this year by no later than one week before Christmas Day (which would be Friday December 18), and it's nice to have that confirmed. With the groundbreaking queue cleared that much in advance of Christmas Day, I'm also certain that, at some point after Christmas and leading up to the new year, the standard announcements might be made of any changes to missions around the world and also relative to any groundbreaking ceremonies that might occur in January-March.
You can count on my coverage of these developments as they occur. In the meantime, once sources are available confirming that the groundbreaking for this temple has actually occurred, they will be added to this post in some way, which will eliminate the need to cover that in a new post, or in the comment threads of this once that has occurred. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! At some point this afternoon (December 17), an official report from the Newsroom was provided to confirm that the groundbreaking for this temple has indeed taken place. The Church has thus broken ground for 21 temples this year alone, which is an increase of 10 from the number for which ground was broken last year.
The queue of temples for which a groundbreaking was set to occur this year has been completely cleared. so hopefully the Church will soon be able to announce other groundbreakings.And again, I am not entirely sure how soon construction might begin on any of the now-10 temples for which that process is currently pending, I am hopeful that at least a couple of these temples might have that occur. I will be most interested to see what happens with respect to temple construction to close out the year.
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! Given my decision to delete the original post from yesterday, and republish the content today as a new post, I lost a few of the comments from the old post, which I have retrieved and will feature here. This is the first comment:
ReplyDeleteThe Church News reported on and linked to an article written by Latter-day Saint journalist Brother McKay Coppins, regarding the history of the Church in general, and what he learned in a recent interview with President Nelson in particular. That article was featured in “The Atlantic” website:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-12-16/president-nelson-interview-atlantic-mckay-coppins-president-ballard-200092
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/01/the-most-american-religion/617263/
The Church News also shared the following additional reports:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-12-16/young-women-general-presidency-2020-christmas-shepherds-symbol-199721
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-12-16/new-gospel-library-feature-related-sources-study-200069
And updates have been provided on the status of the following temples:
Yigo Guam:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/yigo-guam-temple/
Praia Cabo Verde:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/praia-cabo-verde-temple/
Quito Ecuador:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/quito-ecuador-temple/
Belém Brazil:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/belem-brazil-temple/
Feather River California:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/feather-river-california-temple/
Orem Utah:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/orem-utah-temple/
Bangkok Thailand:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/bangkok-thailand-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
This is the second restored comment:
DeleteHello again, everyone! The Church News has reported on remarks given by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who spoke today at the Fall 2020 virtual commencement ceremony for BYU-Idaho: https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-12-16/elder-bednar-nauvoo-exodus-commencement-byu-idaho-200087 Also, it appears that additional progress that has been or may yet be reported through the end of this year, previous thoughts I have provided may need to be overhauled completely. Stay tuned for more on that as I figure it all out. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
This is the third and final restored comment:
DeleteHello again, everyone! The Newsroom has provided yet another edition of "Latter-day Saints Around the World", which highlights articles focusing on what Church members in various regions around the globe are doing to help their neighbors and communities: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-around-the-world-country-newsroom-websites-december-17-2020 Today's installment features two articles each from Bolivia and the United States, along with one article each from Brazil, Panama, and Vanuatu. Additionally, both the Newsroom and the Church News have reported on a partnership forged this year in the United States between the Church and the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is one of many organizations that, among other things, focuses key resources on assisting those in need through publicly-provided donations and community-supported services, especially and particularly during this time of yaar. 2020 presented a unique situation for so many non-profit/charitable organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic here in the United States has had such a wide-spread and devastating impact on so many facets of life. Charitable organizations have been profoundly impacted due to the fact that the nature of the pandemic has shuttered many organizations, created constraints on both available resources and manpower available to help organize and distibute them, and difficulties getting available resources to those who are most in need of them. With all of that in mind, the Church has continued to engage in charitable giving and welfare-related projects as safely and consistently as possible during the pandemic, and the Church has previously partnered with the Salvation Army at key times, such as around Christmas, so the fact that the partnership is continuing this year despite the effects of the pandemic is very good news: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-donates-1-million-to-the-salvation-army-december-2020 https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-12-17/salvation-army-church-donation-christmas-hungry-200190 Additionally, the Church News has featured some observations from the Young Men and Young Women General Presidents (Brother Steven J. Lund and Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, respectively) and from a few youth and congregational youth leaders, to highlight how age-group progession is keeping youth on the covenant path: https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-12-17/youth-age-group-progression-young-men-women-200176 Finally, it appears that the groundbreaking for the Mendoza Argentina Temple did occur today as indicated by the Church Temples site, but there has been no official confirmation from the Church on that matter as of right now. As soon as an official source is provided, that information will be added to the post above, and then I will note here in the comments section that the content has been updated. Please stay tuned for that. My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom and the Church News have noted additional updates which have been made to the General Handbook:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/general-handbook-update-december-2020
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-12-18/general-handbook-december-updates-new-policy-prejudice-200277
The Church News also published one additional report:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2020-12-18/royalton-memorial-library-joseph-smith-plaque-ensign-peak-foundation-199878
My thanks once again to you all
Hello again, everyone!
DeleteI forgot to mention one other observation regarding the news articles about the updates to the Church Handbook that I shared in my above comment. I had previoously mentioned that Elder Kevin R. Duncan had been noted as serving as Executive Director of the Church's Temple Department until sometime this fall. As a result of Bishop Dean M. Davies being sustained as a General Authority Seventy in General Conference two months ago, I had conjuectured personally that now-Elder Davies might have been designated to that assignment instead, with Elder Duncan resultantly serving as Assistant Executive Director of the same department. But regardless of what I've personally conjectured on that in the past, it appears from the video released in conjunction with the handbook changes that Elder Duncan remains the Executive Director of that department. It also appears that some of the members serving on the Church's Correlation Committtee may have been identified by name in the above articles as well, but I am not as certain on that point as I am about the fact that the leadership of the Temple Department remains unchanged.
The Church News has also published the latest edition of "This Week on Social":
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-12-18/social-christmas-nativity-traditions-2020-pandemic-covid-19-oaks-uchtdorf-anniversary-dancing-bednar-200306
The following general leaders whose social media posts were featured this time around included: Presidents Dallin H. Oaks (from whom two posts were shared) and Henry B. Eyring, the respective First and Second Counselor to Church President Russell M. Nelson; the following members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson; and the following General Officers of the Church: Sisters Lisa L. Harkness, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency; and Sister Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.
My thanks once again to you all.
On this Sabbath Day, the Church News has taken a look back at the top 9 developments covered during the last seven days in the latest edition of "Week in Review":
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-12-20/president-nelson-atlantic-elder-bednar-byu-idaho-general-handbook-updates-200329
Thanks again, everyone!
Additionally, status updates have been provided for the following temples now under construction: Richmond Virginia, Bangkok Thailand, Orem Utah, and Red Cliffs Utah. I will provide the web addresses where each of those updates can be found, but wanted to note something else first. Due to the progress (or the lack thereof) on any temple currently in the construction queue, each temple under construction is currently in flux in terms of both the completion estimates for each and the order in which each temple is listed in that queue.
DeleteAs some of you may also be aware, within the last week alone, we have seen at least 2-3 (but possibly more) updates on the Bangkok Thailand Temple. It's wonderful to see the consistent progress there. As a result of the current status of that temple vs. the others that are both ahead of and behind it in the construction queue, the Bangkok Thailand Temple has moved up in the queue and now sits between the Layton Utah and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples.
As a result of this adjustment, the completion estimate for the Bangkok Thailand Temple has been pushed up to late 2022-early 2023. The total number of temples which now have that general completion estimate has now increased to 5, and includes the following temples, currently in the following order: Bangkok Thailand, Lima Peru Los Olivos, Feather River California, Moses Lake Washington, and Orem Utah.
It will be interesting to see how the queue changes further in the next several weeks and months. In the meantime, the updates to which I referred at the beginning of this comment can be found at the following web addresses:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/richmond-virginia-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/bangkok-thailand-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/orem-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/red-cliffs-utah-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
And now Lindon has a site, 800 East Center Street, by Oak Canyon Junior High, in Lindon, an 81k square foot temple with three stories, that is slightly larger than Orem.
ReplyDeleteRendering and other details at a later date, per the announcement posted on Rick's site
Jim Anderson, I saw that announcement at around the same time you posted your comment, and the Church News and the Newsroom have provided additional coverage on that, and on the latest temple reopening data. Thanks for making sure everyone reading this blog knows about this development.
DeleteFor the information of all readers of these threads, I have linked to official news releases on both of these developments in the post immediately above this one. This continues the Church's tradition started last year of announcing the locations for Utah temples within a couple of months after the temples themselves have been announced. My thanks once again to all my readers, and especially in this case to you, Jim Anderson, for taking time to comment. Always a pleasure to hear from you.