Review of Temple Construction Progress Which Has Occurred in the FIrst Half of 2021

Hello again, everyone! As the final moments of June 2021 wind down, it is time once again for a review of temple construction developments which have occurred between the beginning of this year and now, at the half-way point of this year. Let's get right into all of that. First, we look at where things stood as 2021 began,, the progress noted on temples a few days before the April 2021 General Conference, and the developments which have been reported to close out the first half of this year. 

The information largely speaks for itself, but I will note that the quarterly reports I share here relating to temple construction are seeing more significant changes per quarter than those which have applied to each quarter in the past years I've covered all of that. And it seems that other reports this year will demonstrate even more signficant updates. It's already been quite a year for temple developments and other major Church news, and I look forward to seeing what may be next in terms of future marjor announcments related to temples and anything else.

I remain committed to monitor all of these developments and to pass them along to you all here as I become aware thereof.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Additional Temple Reopenings Announced

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the latest temple reopening updates were released through the Newsroom, with those same updates noted in the Church News and reflected as well in the temple reopening status tracker, with each of those showing the changes that will go into effect during the first couple of weeks in July.

The Church has annrounced today that 17 more temple transitioned to phase 3 this week include 6 in Arizona (The Gila Valley, Gilbert,  Mesa, Phoenix, Snowflake, and Tucson), 4 more in Utah (Draper, Jordan River,   Oquirrh Mountain, and Salt Lake) and the following 7 elsewhere:Birmingham Alabama,  Houston Texas, Montreal Quebec, Nauvoo Illinois,  Panama City Panama, Star Valley Wyoming, and Tegucigalpa Honduras).

For the Mesa Arizona and Salt Lake Temples, still closed for renovation, their phase 3 designation will allow those rresiding in the two temple districts to schedule phase 3 proxy work at the next closest temple to them. Today's announcement means that all but 2 of the Church's 60 temples which were originally anticipated to open by the end of July. The remaining two are Los Angeles California and Port-au-Prince Haiti, which join the 36 temples announced last week for which reopenings are also planned by the end of July.

Today's announcement also indicated that the Manila Philippines and Stockholm Sweden Temples would move to phase 2-B, allowing all living ordinances and limited proxy baptisms by appointment. Both temples will shift to that phase on July 12. And the Church's plan to reopen The Hague Netherlands, Mexico City Mexico, and Vancouver British Columbia Temples in phase 2-B and the Kyiv Ukraine Temple in phase 1 next Monday remans intact.<

Additionally, the Durban and Johannesburg South Africa Temples have paused in their rheir reopenings due to local COVID-19 (both temples had recently transitioned to phase 3). As a result of changes announced today, next Monday (July 5), the Church's breakdown of temples by reopening status will stand as follows: 8 temples remain closed for renovations (4 of those 8 temple districts have been given phase 3 status, with 2 others in phase 2-B); 10 temples are currently paused in their reopening, of which 5 had been in phase 3, 2 had been in phase 2-B, and the final 3 had been in phase 2.

With 3 temples operating in phase 1, 13 in phase 2, and 50 in phase 2-B, the remaining 84 temples are all in phase 3. I am grateful to have learned about this updates and to have been able to pass them along to you all here. I continue to monitor all Church news and teple updates and will be sure to pass word of all such developents along to you all here as I becoe aware threof.

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.

UPDATED: Significant Temple Developmnts Reported Days Before the End of the Second Quarter of 2021

Hello again, everyone! Although we are now just days away from the conclusion of the second quarter, also the first half) of this year, and although I will be bringing a special report to you all to mark that milestone on June 30/July 1, in the last 24 hours, new information and updates have changed the entire layout of the quue of temples now under construction. There is so much that has changed that the easiest way to relay the information is to provide a report from yesterday (Saturday) that demonstrates all of these changes. 

Perhaps most significantly, the position of many temples previously anticipated to be completed next year or the year after have been dramatically altered because of the progress (or lack thereof) or the availabe information (or the lack thereof). And particularly, the newest updates have dtrastically borken up the previously-larger queue of temples anticipated to be completed next year and the year after that. That queue will continue to change based on all the factors that led to the changes demonstrated in the latest report. 

Hopefully at least the information will be of interest to some of you. I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware thereof.. 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. 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Mesa Arizona Temples

Note: This post was originally published at 10:02 AM, and updated with additional analysis throughout that afternoon.

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the First Presidency announced the reopening dates for the Mesa Arizona Temple. At some point shortly after the Newsroom reported those arrangements, subsequent additional coverage on the announcement was provided through the Church News. I was surprised by the timing of both the arrangements being announced and by the parameters of when that will take place. Let's get into the details. 

I want to note right at the outset that I had believed and asserted as recently as earlier this week that the reopening of the Mesa Arizona Temple seemed likely to be delayed into 2022, primarily because I knew Arizona has had some issues getting COVID-19 properly controlled. At the same time, however, I recognize that the First Presidency likely has some information that may not be available to those of us not privy to the relevant discussions that has led them to surmise that this temple can be safely reopened.

Getting into the specifics of this morning's announcement, the Church announced plans to dedicate the Visitor's Center on Thursday August 12 @ 7:00 PM PDT.The use of Pacific Daylight time in those arrangements may require a bit of explanation. Time works differently in Arizona. Most of the year, Arizona aligns with Mountain Standard time, as a result of which the time in Denver, a majority of Arizona, and here in Utah is exactly the same. 

But because Arizona does no spring forward or fall back time-wise, when daylight savings time impacts Denver and Utah, most of Arizona (including Mesa) does not shift, and the time during those months aligns with Pacific time (which is impacted by Daylight Savings).. So during Daylight Savings time, although most of Arizona doesn't observe that, given the shifts in Denver and Utah, the Pacific Daylight time applies to Arizona.

The open house for the Mesa Arizona Temple will be held in the weeks between the Saturdays of October 16 and November 20, 2021. That is a period of 35 full days, but tours will obviously not he conducted on any of the applicable Sundays (October 17, 24, and 31 and November 7 and 14), which brings the number of open house tour days down to 30.

A youth devotional is set to occur on Saturday December 11, with the rededication set for the following day. Three rededicatory sessions will be held (at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 3:00 PM). Presiding over that weekend's events will be President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency. The youth devotional and rededicatory sessions will be carried to all meeting houses in the temple district, which will allow a smaller number of guests to safely gather for each session in the temple proper.

And it appears that in-person attendance in the temple proper will be by invitation only. The announcement notes that additional details will be announced closer to that temple's opening. Given that the rededication of this temple is occurring roughly one month after the recently-announced dedication of the Pocatello Idaho Temple, it will be very interesting to see what happens in terms of opening arrangements for temples that are or will sonon be completed, and for the rededications of the Washington DC, Tokyo Japan, and Hamilton New Zealand Temples.

I imagine that the First Presidency is waiting a little longer on announcing arrangements for the Hamilton temple because more needs to be done to move it towards completion, but since New Zealand has the pandemic well under control, the Church could probably fit that in to the schedule wherever it might make sense. We additionally know that Brazil still does not have the pandemic under control, nor is that likely to occur until April of next year, so the dedication of the Rio de Janeiro temple might be postponed until that time. If Washington DC (technically Maryland), Japan, Manitoba, Ecuador, Guam, San Juan, and Praia all continue to see improvements in COVID-19 conditions, those temples could ee opening dates announced in the coming months as well.

The one big question, to which we might not have an answer in the near term, is whether any of these other temples to which I referred might be able to have their openings before the end of the year. My gut feeling is that the Church will likely hold off on announcing reopening arrangements for the Tokyo temple until after the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Summer Games in that city conclude. And it will be considerably easier for the Church to schedule openings for smaller temples. So I'm thinking that we might see the Church dedicate the Quito temple and rededicate the Tokyo and/or Hamilton temples by the end of this year, and that other temple openings or reopenings might be deferred until the early months of next year.

But the Lord has surprised us in the recent past, and He can and definitely will continue to do so in the future. In the meantime, I am grateful to have learned of and been able to cover this announcement today, and I was intrigued by the mention that "additional details" will be announced on the Mesa reopening closer to the time it is set to occur, so we'll look forward to seeing what that means. Aside from that, I will continue to also monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and will bring word of those to you all as I become aware thereof.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Locatons Confirmed and Preliminary Information Released for Three More Temples in the Western United States

Hello again, everyone! Within the last couple of weeks, six new temples announced during General Conference last April have had sites confirmed and preliminariy details announced. That trend continues today, with three more temples in the western United States having sites confirmed and preliminary information announced. Let's break down the details: The three today are the ones in Farmington New Mexico, Grand Junction Colorado, and Burley Idaho. The Farmington New Mexico Temple will rise at the intersecction of Windsor Drive and College Boulevard, on a site that is 6.62 acres. Plans call for a single-story temple of roughly 25,000 square feet (most likely comparable to the Bentonville Arkansas Temple), with the project to include a new meetinghouse adjacent to the temple.

The Grand Junction Colorado Temple is planned to have an identical square footage as the tmple in Farmington New Mexico. That project only includes the temple, which will be built at the intersections of North 12th Street and Horizon Drive. Meanwhile, the plans for the Burley Idaho Temple call for a two-story edifice of approximately 38,600 square feet. That temple will be built at the intersection of 150 East and 40 South, which is home to a 10.1 acre site.

Given the larger size of these temples, and the nuances that may factor in to their approval and construction processes, each of these temples could have a groundbreakng in the final quarter of this year, with varying time-frames for their completion. But this also further demontrates that not all of the temples announced most recently by President Nelson will be the smaller size that will use prefabricated modular components.

I suppose there is a chance that the Church could potentially expand the use of modular compoenents to slightly larger temples, so we'll have to see what happens there. By way of information, this leaves only 2 of the temples announced in the Western United States with no official information confirmed yet: Eugene Oregon and Yorba Linda California. But it wouldn't shock me if preliminary details were to come down the pike for both of those next week, along with one or two of their international counterparts. It will be interesting to see what happens there.

On my end, I continue to monitor all such updates, including new Church Newws reports and any other temple updates and will be sure to bring word of those to you all as I become aware thereof.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Additional Temple Reopenings Announced

Hello again, everyone! Last night, knowing that the Church would be making its' weekly temple reopening announcements this morning, I repeated the process I've used to prepare for that announcement by scheduling a post to be published here not long after the anticipated announcement was made. I prepared a scheduled post for that purpose by copying and pasting the content of my last update into that scheduled post.

The post I'd prepared in advance was published roughly 2 hours ago as arranged, but I had yet another rough night last night and I wound up sleeping through the Church News alert on temple reopenings that was sent at around the same time the post was published here. We have seen major temple reopening developments reported weekly within the last month, and today was no different. When I got the chance to go over today's report, there were some very significant developments reported today alone.

So I opted to delete the previously-published post and start fresh. There is actually more to the coverage of today's announcement than the usual 2 articles from the Church News and the Newsroom release. Let's get into specifics. This week, the Newsroom noted that the Kyiv Ukraine Temple, which has not reopened in any phase since the closure of all operating temples was first announced, will reopen in phase 1 (allowing living husband-to-wife sealings where both are previously endowed, with limited guests in attendance and COVID-19 guidelines strictly observed). That temple is set to reopen next Monday (July 5). That development was further confirmed by the Church News.

Aside from that long-awaited announcement, the Church also noted this morning that 4 temples (Mexico City Mexico, Paris France, the Hague Netherlands, and Vancouver British Columbia) will transition from phase 2 (allowing all living ordinances in priority order) to phase 2-B (continuing to offer all living ordinances in priority order, but also allowing the baptistries in each of those temples to reopen to small groups). Additionally, the Church reported that 16 more North American temples reopened in phase 3 yesterday (Monday June 21). Those temples, broken down by the area of the Church under which they fall, are as follows:

North America Central: Boise, Idaho Falls, Meridian, and Rexburg Idaho; Billings Montana

North America Southwest: Monticello Utah; 

North America West: Fresno, Newport Beach, Oakland, Redlands, Sacramento,  and San Diego California

Utah: Manti, Mount Timpanogos, Payson, and Vernal Utah

The Church has now announced phase 3 reopenings for 25 of the 60 temples mentioned in that announcement, which means there are 35 temples remaining from that announcement. By area, that includes the following temples:

Caribbean: Port-au-Prince Haiti

Central America: Panama City Panama and Tegucigalpa Honduras

North America Central: Nauvoo Illinois and Star Valley Wyoming

North America Northeast: Montreal Quebec

North America Southeast: Birmingham Alabama

North America Southwest: The Gila Valley, Gilbert, Phoenix, Snowflake, and Tucson Arizona; Houston Texas; and the Mesa Arizona temple district (which will allow patrons to schedule phase 3 proxy work at the nearest temple.)

Utah: Draper, Jordan River, and Oquirrh Mountain; and the Salt Lake temple district (which will allow those in that district to schedule phase 3 proxy work at the nearest temple).

Having said that, we now similarly break down by geographic area of the Church the 36 additional temples which are set to open in phase 3 by the end of July:

Europe: Frankfurt and Freiburg Germany; Bern Switzerland; Copenhagen Denmark; Lisbon Portugal; Madrid Spain; Rome Italy

North America Central: Denver and Fort Collins Colorado; Bismarck North Dakota; Chicago Illinois; Regina Saskatchewan; St. Paul Minnesota; 

North America Northeast: Manhattan and Palmyra New York; Boston Massachusetts; Columbus Ohio (which, while undergoing renovation, will allow patrons to schedule phase 3 proxy work at the next nearest temple); Detroit Michigan; Hartford Connecticut; Indianapolis Indiana;  Philadelphia Pennsylvania; Washington D.C. (which, while awaiting rededication, will allow patrons to schedule phase 3 proxy work at the next nearest temple).

North America Southeast: Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Florida; Columbia South Carolina; Louisville Kentucky; Memphis Tennessee; Raleigh North Carolina

North America West: Columbia River, Seattle and Spokane Washington; Medford and Portland Oregon; Anchorage Alaska; Los Angeles California

Philippines: Cebu City Philippines

South America Northwest: Guayaquil Ecuador

As of next Monday (June 28), the reopening status of all temples will break down as follows: 1 temple (Kyiv Ukraine) remains closed but is set to reopen in phase 1 next week; 8 others are undergoing renovation (2 of those districts have been granted phase 3 reopening status; with 4 granted phase 2-B opening status); 8 others remain paused (2 in phase 2-B, and 3 others each in phase 3 and phase 2); 2 remaining in phase 1; 18 in phase 2; 62 in phase 2-B; and the remaining 69 now in phase 3. The latest changes are also available in an area-by-area update of the temple reopening status tracker

I am grateful to have been able. to learn about and share these latest updates with you all. I continue to monitor all Church news reports and temple developments, and will be sure to pass word of those on to you all here as I learn about them.

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.

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! As most of you are almost certainly aware, I have provided updates on the latest apostolic data (specifically relating to tbeir lifespan or tenure length milestones) roughly every seven weeks. Having last done so on  May 2, it is time to publish the newest data on th. As with that last update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents, along with updated information on the tenure length records for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The first document also shows information on three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (which will not be updated with the First Presidency as presently constituted until 2024), in addition to the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles).  

The latest version of that document also shows when the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as currently comprised will move up on the list of the longest-serving Quorums of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to specifics on when the current members of that Quorum, along with the current First Presidency, will reach the next milestones on that list.

Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the apostolic groups overall, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 2 of the current 15 apostles being on that list, and the timing noted for when each of the other 13 apostles will join that list).

Hopefully this shared data will be of interest to you all, and again, I offer an open invitation to anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. I will, of course, conFitinue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of all 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Dates Announce for Pocatello Idaho Temple

Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news has just been reported by the Church. The opening dates have been announced for the Pocatello Idaho Temple Given the fact that COVID-19 transmission rates have been considerably lowered and that vaccination numbers are up in Idaho, it is fully safe for the Church to plan this temple opening. And barring something extremely miraculous, I imagine that this may be the first temple dedication, if not the first temple reopening, for this year.

I say that because regardless of what happens with COVID-19 elsewhere, New Zealand also has the virus well under control, and that could mean the Hamilton temple will be the first to reopen after the pandemic. As I've previously observed, when the Church has set temple dedications in the past, it's not unheard of for rededications to be subseuqnetly announcced and scheduled to occur before temple dedications. My gut feeling is that the Church may be able to rededicate the Hamlton Temple in the weeks after the October 2021 General Conference, but we will see what happens there.

Either way,  this officially bumps the Pocatello Idaho Temple ahead in the queue of  both Rio de Janeiro Brazil and Winnipeg Manitoba, and I wouldn't be shocked if Winnipeg were scheduled wither for the end of this year or early next year. From what I understand, Brazil is still a mess in terms of the pandemic, so it could be the early months of next year before the Rio de Janeiro temple is finally able to reopen. But determinations on both temples, or any of those for which renovations have been completed, will come at another time. With those preliminary musings out of the way, let's jump right into the details on the opening arrangements for Pocatello.

The temple in that city will host public tours in the open house, which will occur from Saturday September 19-Saturday October 23, with the obvious exception of the dates for the relevant Sundays and General Conference weekend. The specific dates on which tours will not occur are September 19 and 26, and October 2-3, 10, and 17. Following the conclusion of the temple open house and a 2-week final cleaning of the temple, a yoouth devotional will be held on the evening of Saturday November 6, followed by the dedicated on Sunday Novembeer 7 by Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. There will be three dedcatory sessions for that temple, which will be held at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 3:00 PM.

Barring anything unexpected, the Pocatello Idaho Temple will thus become the 169th operating temple of the Churb. I continue to monitor all Church news and updates and will be sure to pass along that informaton to you all here as I become aware thereof.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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Phased Reopening of Temples Continues with Additional Adjustments Announced Today

Hello again, everyone! Within the last few minutes, I have been able to confirm that the the Newsroom has provided this week's updates on temple reopenings. But in what I believe is a first for me, I am sharing the Newsroom updates before today's updates are reflected in the Church News or shown in the status tracker by the same source. This post will be updated to include those resources as they are made available. 

Additional note (updated at roughly 10:40 AM): While I was making preparations to publish updates on this post, the Church News covered that as well, in addition to updating their weekly status tracker. Those updates reflected the changes I noted later in ths post. Having acknowledged that update, we now reutrn to the previoously-composed content of the post.

As has become a weekly tradition, I will detail those adjustments in this post. Before speaking in terms of the specifics regarding today's announcement, I did want to note that the Church continues to use a measured and cautious approach in the weekly determinations that are made and announced. So when our prophet notes that the safety of Church members around the world is foremost in their minds as they consider how to safely reopen tesmples on a week-to-week basis. 

I am grateful for the way those reopenings have been allowed to occur, and I testify that the Lord knows what needs to be done, and inspires His servantss the apostles and prophets Having acknoleged that right at the outset, we now explore the specifics of the temple status changes announced by the Church this morning.

Effective next Monday  (June 21), the following  10 temples will begin phase 2-B, allowing all living ordinances in priority order, in addition to limited proxy baptisms as scheduled: Ciudad Juarez, Colonia Juarez Chihuahua, and Villahermosa Mexico; Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Florida; Detroit Michigan; Manhattan New York; St. Paul Minnesota; Freiberg Germany; and Lima Peru. 

Meanwhile, the following 11 temples have moved to phase 3 this week: Bountiful, Cedar City, Logan, Provo City Center, Provo, and St. George Utah (the latter of which is closed for renovation, but for which the Church's page for that temple can schedule phase 3 ordiances at the nearest phase 3 temple open to them); Dallas and San Antonio Texas; Albuquerque New Mexico and Twin Falls Idaho. And due to changing conditions in Peru and Chile, the temples in Arequipa and Santiago will be pausing in their phased reopening.

The changes that will be effective on Monday will result in the following dmographic changes: 1 temple (Kyiv Ukraine) has not reopened in any phase since last year; 8 others are closed for major renovations (with 2 given phase 3 status, and 4 others given phase 2-B status); 8 temples paused (3 in phase 3; 2 in phase 2-B; and 3 in phase 2); 2 in phase 1; 18 in phase 2; 80 in phase 2-B; and the remaining 51 in phase 3.

With these updates having been detailed, I continue to monitor all other Church news and temple updates, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you alll as I become aware thereof. 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.

Elder David A. Bednar Marks His 69th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! Given that today is June 15, I wanted to take an opportunity to pay tribute to Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who today is marking his 69th birthday today. So let's get into some details about his life experiences. David Allan Bednar was born in Oakland California on this day in 1952 to Anthony George and Lavina Whitney Bednar. His mother came from a long line of Latter-day Saint ancestors, but his father was not a member of the Church. Despite not having a formal Church membership, Anthony Bednar fully supported the rest of his family participating actively in the Church, and he would often step in and participate in meetings and Church activities, including various service projects, whereby he was in essence functioning in the same supportive way as other Church members did, but as one who was not a Church member. Young David would often ask Anthony when he would be baptized, to which his father replied that he would do so when he felt it was right.

Elder Bednar served a mission in southern Germany, during which time, then-Elder Boyd K. Packer visited his mission, and was advised that, in order to get through the necessary border security, he would need money. The future President Packer would later recount in General Conference that a young missionary provided him with the money he needed, and later revealed that Elder Bednar had been that missionary. Elder Bednar attended BYU-Provo, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's in organizational communication. He went on to earn a doctoral degree in organizational behavior from the prestigious Purdue University. He met Susan Kae Robinson at an activity for young adults. He recounts that they were playing flag football, and that he threw a pass, which she caught. Susan would later note that, incidentally, that was the only time she could remember catching a pass. That experience left a positive impression on both of them, and the two started dating not long afterward. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on March 20, 1975, and would go on to raise 3 sons together.

One major highlight of Elder Bednar's life came long after his marriage. Anthony called his son one day and asked, "Would you be free on (and he named a date in the near future)? I would like you to come and baptize me." He was able to baptize and confirm his father, and also ordained him to the priesthood.

He spent his vocational career as an educator at several secondary schools. For a four-year period (1980-1984), he was an assistant professor of management at what was then the College of Business Administration at the University of Arkansas. He spent the next two years as an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, after which he returned to Arkansas, where he served first as the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, then the Director of the Management Decision-Making Lab. During this time, he was recognized as being an outstanding educator through the receipt of many prestigious awards and honors.

He also had a few ecclesiastical responsibilities within the Church at around the same time. He spent several months as a bishop, then went on to serve first as the president of what was then the Fort Smith Arkansas Stake, then as the first president of the newly-established Rogers Arkansas Stake. During the final months of his service as a stake president, he was called to serve as a regional representative. In 1997, he was among the first men called to serve in the new position of area seventy. That same year, he was also called by the Church Board of Education to serve as president of Ricks College. His tenure there spanned from 1997-2004, during which time he led the transition of that college to BYU-Idaho. In October 2004, as a result of the apostolic vacancies which resulted from the July deaths of Elders Neal A. Maxwell and David B. Haight (which occurred 10 days apart), Church President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that the vacancies would be filled by Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf and David A. Bednar.

Interestingly enough, Elders Uchtdorf and Bednar joined only two other current apostles (now-Presidents Nelson and Oaks) who were called to the apostleship without having previously served as a general authority. At the time of his call to the apostleship, Elder Bednar, who was 52 at that time, was the youngest apostle to have been called since then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks (who had been called to the apostleship in 1984 Although he immediately commenced his service in the apostleship, he also continued to serve as president of BYU-Idaho for several weeks prior to the appointment of an interim president. Elder Bednar's tenure as an educator has molded how he speaks and ministers as an apostle. One of his common traditions as he speaks in General Conference is to invite the Holy Ghost to bless him and the rest of us as we listen to his remarks.

Since his October 2004 call to he has given 34 General Conference addresses, which are always well crafted and insightful, and are well worthy of review by all of us. He is currently the fourth-most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (which, including the current members of the First Presidency, makes him the seventh in apostolic seniority), and is still among the younger apostles, being the fifth-youngest both among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and all 15 ordained apostles as well. While I have never had the honor of personally meeting him, from the moment his apostolic call was first announced and onward since then, I have had a testimony that his apostolic call has been inspired and directed by the Lord, which I reiterate to you all today.

Given his relatively younger age in comparison to both the six apostles senior to him, and four of the eight apostles who are junior to him, I fully believe that, at some point in the future, Elder Bednar may serve as Church President. That, of course, will be up to the Lord’s will and the health and longevity of Presidents Nelson, Oaks, Eyring, and Ballard, and that of Elders Holland and Uchtdorf. And I want to make it very clear that such a prospect is merely my own personal opinion, and not anything I can attribute to anyone else. That being said, some of you will no doubt notice that one of the labels attachked to this post is "Temple Construction Update". That may warrant additional context from me.

Generally, when a new president of the Church is ordained, he has the prophetic prerogative to make assignment changes for his fellow apostles. Prior to the passing of President Thomas S. Monson, Elder Quentin L. Cook was serving as the Chairman of the Temple and Family History Executive Council. Within a couple of months after President Nelson's ordination and setting apart as Church President, Elder Cook was reassigned as the Chairman of the Priesthood and family Exeuctive Council, with Elder Bednar succeeding his immediate apostolic junior and seatmate as the Chairman of the Church's Temple Department. While Elder Bednar has served in that capacity, President Nelson has announced an unprecedented 70 nw temples, so there has been a lot for that council to consider throughout the last several years, and which will likely continue to be true for the forseeable future.

I am grateful to have been able to provide this tribute to Elder Bednar as he marks he 69th birthday today. I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will be sure to bring you word of thos as I receve them. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Locations Announced and Preliminary Details Confirmed for Three Temples in the Western United Statles

Hello again, everyone! More breaking temple news has been reported by the Church this morning. The site locations and preliminary details have been confirmed for 3 temples in the Western United States. Each of the three were announced by President Nelson in last April's General Conference, and two of them will be a similar size to the Helena Montana Temple, so I'd anticipate on those two that the site announcements will be followed fairly shortly by released renderings and groundbreakings set to occur in coming months. Let's get to the details.

The Casper Wyoming and Elkn Nevada Temples are each planned to be 10,000 square foot edfices, which will be the sole buildings on the sites in question. The Casper temple will rise at a 9.5 acre site at the intersection of southwest Wyoming Boulevard and Eagle Drive. Meanwhile, the temple in Elko will be buillt adjacent to the southeast corner of Ruby View golf course.

Meanwhile, the tthird temple to have preliminary details unveiled is the Smithfield Utah Temple, which is planned to be a 3-story temple of roughly 81,000 square feet. It is planned to be built on a 13.3 acre site at the interxection of 800 West and 100 North. It appears that the Smithfield Temple will be around the same size as the Lindon Utah Temple, so the exterior rendering for Smithfield, when that is released, may look similar or identical to (or at least have some similar elementsx to) that temple.

Based on the timing of this announcement, it would not shock me in any way if all 3 temples were underway by the end of the year. And again, if swift approval can be obtained for the Casper Wyoming and Elko Nevada Temples, then theey might be likely to also use the modular design and be ready for dedication within 12-15 months of when those projects begin.

On my end, I continue to monitor all such updates and will be sure to bring word of those to you all here. 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. 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Date Set for Helena Montana Temple

Hello again, everyone! In early May, when the Church announced an August groundbreaking for the Salvation Brazil Temple, I had theorized that other temple groundbreakings could be scheduled to occur. At the time, I was thinking about the Pago Pago, Neiafu, and Port Moresby Temples in the Pacific. However, I was open to the idea that others could be scheduledl as well.

I am pleased, therefore, to report this mroning that, two months after being announced in the last General Conference, and around 6 weeks after having its' site confirmed and rendering released, a groundbreaking date has been released for the Helena Montana Temple. By contrast to other temples which have had or will have a groundbreaking in the midst of COVID-19, an exact date has been announced for this event. It will take place before the end of this month, on  Saturday June 26.

Elder Vern P. Stanfill, a native of Montana, who is currently serving as First Counselor in the North America Southeast Area and will become the area president in August, will preside at this groundbreaking for the temple  Since he was born and raised in an area less than 35 miles from where the temple will be built, he has various personal connections to the area, which is why he will oversee this groundbreaking outside of his area assignment.

As noted previously, the Helena Montana Temple is anticipated to use modular parts that can be put together on-site and hasten construction on the temple. The construction process is anticipated to take 12-15 months, so a dedication for this temple could easily occur in mid-to-late 2022. As I previously noted, I anticipate that this temple will be a pilot test for how quickly temples of a similar size, design, and used materials can be built.

It will be interesting to see what happens there. 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. 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Reopening Status Changes Announced for 21 Additional Temples; Church Facilities to Reopen on Temple Square

Hello again, everyone! Within the last few minutes, the Church News and the Newsroom have provided this week's updates on temple reopenings, as further corroborated by the Church News status tracker. I will get to those details shortly, but also wanted to note that there has also been an announcement made this morning that facilities on Temple Square are likewise preparing to reopen to the public. There's a lkot to break down here, so let's get right into all of that.

First, the temple reopenings. The changes announced this week will impact a total of 21 temples in the United States and Mexico. So for starters, 11 templs (7 in the United States and 4 others in Mexico) have transitioned to phase 3, allowing ordinances for the living in the previously-established priority order, in addition to allowing those in the affected temple districts to schedule proxy work.

The phase 3 reopenings are now in effect for the following temples (with United States locations listed first, followed by Mexico's): Baton Rouge Louisiana; Lubbock Texas; Ogden Utah; Oklahoma City Oklahoma; Reno Nevada; St. Louis Missouri and Winter Quarters Nebraska in the United States, and the Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tampico, and Veracruz Temples in Mexico.

Additionally, less than two weeks from now, the following temples will move to phase 2-B: In the United States: Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Florida; St. Paul Minnesota; Manhattan New York; and Detroit Michigan. In Mexico: Ciudad Juarez, Colonia Juarez Chihuahua, and Villahermosa Mexico. In Europe: Freiberg Germany. And in South America: Lima Peru.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple has paused in its' reopening as the result of  COVID-19 conditions and resulting restrictions. With today's announcement, 14 of the 60 total temples for which a phase 3 reopening was previously announced have officially moved to that phase, leaving the remaining 46 that are anticipated to reopen at some point.

With these announced changes, as of Monday June 14, the Church's temple reopening process will stand as follows: 8 temples are currently closed for renovation ( of those 8 has been given a phase 1 designation, while 5 others have been granted a designation of phase 2-B. That allows those living in the affected districts to schedule the authorized living or proxy work at the temple closest to the one to which they are currently assigned. 

1 temple (Kyiv Ukraine) remains closed. 6 previously-reopened temples remain paused (3 had reached phase 3, 2 were in phase 2-B, and 1 had reached phase 1). As far as officially reopened temples, as of next Monday, there will be 2 remaining in phase 1; 30 in phase 2; 80 in phase 2-B; and the remaining 41 in phase 3. The information released today also notes that by the end of July, at least 139 of the Church's total 168 operating temples will be designated for proxy work.

That wraps up coverage of the temple reopenings. We now turn to the other breaking development, the reopening of several facilities on Temple Square to the public. The way that will work is by allowing limited in-person tours by small groups, with options for virtual tours online remaining available as well. The Conference Center will be the first to reopen, and that is set to occur on Monday. The fact that that facility is reopening for tours will not change the parameters announced yesterday for the October General Conference.

On July 8, the Assembly Hall and Tabernacle will reopen, as will the Family History and Church History Libraries.  Then on August 2, the Beehive House and Church History Museum will reopen.  Further specific details are available through the Newsroom and Church News releases, including information about the recommended health and safety protocols in play.

I am grateful to have been able to learn of these breaking news updates and to have passed them along to you all here. I continue to monitor all such developments (Church news and temple updates) and will be sure to pass those along as well when I come acorss them. I have also revised my predictions for the upcoming General Conference and hope to have those posted within the next 24 hours or less.

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.

BREAKING NEWS: First Presidency Announces Discontinuation of Saturday Evening Sessions of General Conference

Hello again, everyone!i Within the last couple of minutes, break ing news has been reported relating to General Conference. In an ongoing effort to reduce and simplify the work of the Church, and as a result of General Conference being more readily available worldwide, effective imeediately, Satuday Evening Sessions on General Conference will be discntinued. The change means no Women's Session each October, and no Priesthood session every April.

Additionally, the First Presidency has also noted that the October 2021 General Conference will again be closed to the public, following the same parameters as rhe previous 3 held during the pandemic. The four sessions will again originate from the Conference Center auditoruim, Although nothing in that respect has been noted as of yet, I imagne that prerecorded music is a given and that only the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and those speaking at or praying during each session.Since I am still in the process of updating my October General Conference predictions, it very well could be that this announcemnt will send me right back to thd drawing board again. I continue to monitor all other Church news updates and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof,

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Additional Phased Temple Reopenings Announced

Note: This post was originally published as scheduled at 10:15 AM, with subsequent updates added between 11:45 AM and 12:45 PM.

Hello again, everyone! The Church News previously announced that the weekly announcements about temple reopenings were moving from Monday to Tuesday. That was followed by the major announcement last week that just over three quarters of temples worldwide will move into phases of proxy work by the end of July.

As a result of those announcements, this week, further details and updates have been shared. Let's get right into discussing all of that. First, for informational purposes, these updates are being pulled from official announcements from the Newsroom, with the details further confirmed by the Church News. The Church News also has a weekly status tracker, which shows the updated status of temples by area. So anyone with any questions on the changes laid out in this post is invited to go to any or all of these sources for additional context.That being said, let's take some time to break down the latest announced changes. 

Effective Monday June 7 (6 days from now), the temples in Atlanta Georgia, Brigham City Utah, and Nashville Tennessee will be the first of those mentioned in last week's announcement to transition to phase 3, offering all living ordinances in the previously-established priority order, along with limited proxy work as scheduled. For each of these temples, as June 7 draws closer, members in those districts will be able to schedule whichever appointments are needed through the Church's online temple page.  

The question might be asked: If a number of temples were announced to transition to phase 3 by the end of July, why is the Church only starting with 3 of them? The answer to that question was provided in advance of the changes announced last week. During his concluding remarks during General Conference, he said: "You may be wondering when you will be able to return to the temple. Answer: Your temple will be open when local government regulations allow it. When the incidence of COVID-19 in your area is within safe limits, your temple will be reopened. Do all you can to bring COVID numbers down in your area so that your temple opportunities can increase."

So, based on President Nelson's statement, the Church continues to encourage all of its' members wherever they live to follow governmnt regulations relative to the pandemic. As COVID-19 conditions improve, more temples will be able to safely transition more towards normal operations. But in addition to the phase 3 reopenings for the 3 temples in the United States, the Church also announced today that two other temples, Vancouver British Columbia and Mexico City Mexico, are now in phase 2, which allows the perofrmance of all living ordinances in the previously-noted priority order.

Both of the temples now transitioning to phase 2 following a roller-coaster for both. The Mexico City Mexico Temple was first reopened in phase 1 in late August of last year, and has seen multiple issues where phase upgrades were attempted, only to have that temple paused in its' reopening before attempting to resume any previous operational phase. The Vancouver British Columbia Temple had originally shifted to phase 2 in mid-to-late August of last year, moving back to  phase 1 in November, so that temple is now able to resume phase 2.

And perhaps the shifts described in the efforts to reopen the two temples provides further insight into the need for caution and prudence in the process of reopening temples more than anything else could. Although some areas may have low transmission rates for the virus for the time being, if too much complacency occurs too prematurely, then any shifts announced by the Church may have to be undone or reversed. In my opinion, one major benefit of having a former physician as the President of the Church at this time is that he understands the effects that any health issues can have on individuals, communities, and congregations.

I have previously shared my belief that President Nelson has been held in reserve and that his life has been spared up to now because the Lord knew that he would be best suited to help the Church deal with the present pandemic. I love and sustain President Nelson, his counselors, and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and am grateful for their measured and moderate approach to resuming normal operations in the Church.

Meanwhile, as previously announced, the following 13 temples in the following general regions will reopen under phase 2-B, also effective Monday June 7:

United States: Denver and Fort Collins Colorado; Boston Massachusetts, Hartford Connecticut; Philadelphia Pennsylvania; 

Latin America (including Mexico and Central and Soouth America): Hermosillo Sonora and Tijuana Mexico; Manaus Brazil; Caracas Venezuela; Quetzaltenango Guatemala; Trujillo Peru

Europe: Lisbon Portugal & Rome Italy

In view of these announced changes, effective June 7, 8 temples will remain closed for renovations, with 1 of those given phase 1 status and 5 others given 2-B status (which will allow individuals or small groups to schedule ordinances through the page for their assigned temple at the nearest open temples); the Kyiv Ukraine Temple still being the sole temple of the Church that has not open in any phase whatsoever since all temples were closed last year; 5 temples remaining paused (3 of which had reached phase 3, with 1 each in phase 2 and 2-B); only 2 remaining in phase 1; 30 in phase 2; 92 in phase 2-B; and the final 30 temples in phase 3.

The Church will continue to monitor COVID-19 conditions worldwide and will continue to announce temple reopenings as those arrangements can safely be made. I am grateful to have been able to hear about these updates and will be sure to pass any additional Church news or major temple developments as I become aware thereof.

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.