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.
I think here in Idaho we are more open than other places in the world. I agree with you that Brazil still has high COVID numbers so Rio May be a bit longer away. I'm not sure about Canada's Numbers or elsewhere in the world. But I anticipate that we will see a lot of temple news in the coming days and weeks.
ReplyDeleteI live in Ammon but I go to Pocatello once a week usually on Wednesdays. The temple on the hill is looking nice and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris. Thanks for stopping by to share your two latest comments here. In Utah, COVID-19 numbers are also down quite a bit. Despite some thoughtless comments from critics of the Church, it appears that the more senior apostles getting their vaccines, and that being confirmed by the Newsroom, was enough to convince most Church members here in Utah to get vaccinated. It makes sense that Idaho is similarly thriving.
DeleteI know for sure that, in relation to Brazil, the president of Brazil, along with some of the leaders of various Brazilian states. seem to be maintaining a cavalier, devil-may-care attitude about COVID-19. Transmission rates remain high in Rio de Janeiro, and probably other Brazilian states. By contrast, although I have not heard anything specifically about the Canadian province of Manitoba, other parts of Canada are faring far better. It will be interesting in the coming months to find out how the timing of each temple opening or reopening might work out.
Last year, before the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed, the Church noted a general intention to rededicate the Tokyo Japan temple before the 2020 Summer Olympics. Obviously, the onset and exacerbation of COVID-10 changes that, and the variants, which are becoming more of a problem in areas that do not yet have the pandemic under control, are another huge variable that might affect things.
That being said, I had heard a rumor (nothing more solid than that) to the effect that the Hamilton New Zealand Temple could be the first temple to be open to the public, primarily due to the way the prime minister of New Zealand, former Church member Jacinda Ardern (who is the niece of Elder Ian S. Ardern, the current president of the Pacific Area) has handled the pandemic.
The one other thing I'd note is that it appears likely that by the end of this year, only 2-3 temples might be dedicated, with perhaps only 1 rededicated. For next year, when COVID-19 conditions improve in the areas those delayed temple openings have occurred or might yet occur, I could see a potential scenario where the world as a whole gets the pandemic under control within the first quarter or half of next year. If that turns out to be the case, when it is safe to do so in each location, the Church can then get to work on clearing any backlogs.
DeleteSuch a scenario could very well result in several consecutive months in which the Church is dedicating or rededicating 1 or more temples during most weeks in the first half of next year. As we know, following the March 2019 dedication for the Rome Italy Temple, President Nelson transferred the bulk of presiding at temple dedications or rededications to his fellow apostles.
If that resumes as COVID-19 gets under control in more locations, then sending 2 or 3 apostles or apostolic groups out to handle the backlog could be done in a relatively short amount of time, which will be good, because there are a number of other temples which could be completed and dedicated or rededicated by the end of next year.
It will be interesting to see it all unfold. Thanks again, Chris, for stopping by to share your thoughts in these two latest comments. I always appreciate hearing from you.
Did hear that Elder Gong presided at a stake conference in the Boise metro last week, and mention was made there otherwise of an expected explosion in population there, if not involving much of the state, in the future. 3rd temple for Boise is not likely very soon, we just have to see how and when things play out.
DeleteCovid numbers are high in Brazil, no details on affected regions, but the southeast and south, including Rio, are just about to winter right now, numbers go up in the winter for most of the respiratory viruses.
Jim,
DeleteWas the comment about the temple from Elder Gong, or is that your thoughts? I live in Nampa and within the couple of years there could be at least one possibly two additional temples needed in our area.
He was in Meridian West Stake and mentioned the explosive future growth, , and while he did not state another temple might be possible, what is obvious about the Bose metro will definitely lead to more temples in the metro area.
DeleteHello, ScottS and Jim Anderson. I apologize for my delayed acknowledgemnt of your feedback. Thanks for your recent exchange here. In another thread on this blog a while ago, I seem to recall one comment (it might have been a comment from you, Jim Anderson) suggesting that one key factor that may be in play for temples announced in the United Statess is to look at the various Coordinating Councils that cover clusters of stakes, and that the Church may be working towards having at least one temple in the area covered by each coordinating council. I also know that I was surprised in April when 9 of the 20 temples announced were for locations in the United States. So with those metrics in mind, I'm relatively certain we might be able to more easily target areas where temples are most likelhy to be nanounced. For the infromation of anyone reading my latest comment here who may want to look over the list of the various coordinating councils with a view towards using that list to weigh the likelihood of temples in certain areas of North America, the list can be found in the following web address:
Deletehttps://assets.ldscdn.org/11/b6/11b646746735124f5e8bf10b65709d2090ff22f5/stake_assignments.pdf
My thanks once agan to you both for your recent comments here. I appreciated being ale to read your exchange.
Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom and the Church News have both shared an announcement from the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, noting that, following the 2-year postponement due to COVID-19, plans are moving forward and will not be delayed again, for the Choir to finally make their Heritage Tour of European nations in which events helped facilitate the formation of the Choir and its legacy, which continues through today. The tour will see the choir perform in the following European cities and nations: Stockholm Sweden; Helsinki Finland; Copenhagen Denmark; Oslo Norway; Edinburgh Scotland; Newport South Wales; and Cardiff Wales::
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tabernacle-choir-reschedules-heritage-tour
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-06-18/tabernacle-choir-orchestra-heritage-tour-europe-pandemic-2022-216877
Meanwhile, the Newsroom has provided one additional report:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-wheat-supply-provides-food-home-storage-humanitarian-efforts
And the Church News has provided additional content as well. First is a video featuring thoughts and insights that came to Elder Quentin L Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as he recently visited Liberty Jail, in which the Prophet Joseph Smith and several companions were incarcerated for four months until they were permitted to escape:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-06-17/elder-cook-video-liberty-jail-joseph-smith-216742
The Church News has also shared 5 videos about fatherhood in the lead-up to Sunday’s Father’s Day:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-06-18/fathers-day-videos-fatherhood-family-216851
Church News staff writer Sydney Walker explored why the Face-to-Face event, which was recently held for the Single Adults of the Church, did not include any answering of questions which are usually a part of Face-to-Face events for other demographic groups:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-06-17/face-to-face-single-adults-sydney-walker-216275
And one other Church News report shares how the Church’s global vision care initiative is helping to restore eyesight, with a special emphasis on providing care and treatment for any who are not able to pay for it:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2021-06-17/latter-day-saint-charities-eyes-vision-cataracts-africa-215459
My thanks once again to you all.
Apparently, while I wsa preparing and posting my comment above, the Church News shared the same update detailed the aforementioned Newsroom release about the wheat supply that is aiding humanitarian efforts of the Church, in addition to providing crucial home storage in areas where that is needed:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-06-18/deseret-mill-pasta-plant-utah-wheat-storage-216908
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News additionally provided the following report:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-06-18/elder-curtis-church-history-evening-museum-doctrine-and-covenants-216867
And since I last shared temple updates, additional status updates have been noted on the following temples: Pocatello Idaho, Quito Ecuador, Yigo Guam, Belem Brazil, Orem Utah, Moses Lake Washington, Mendoza Argentina, Deseret Peak Utah, Syracuse Utah (the latter of which is heading to a point where full-scale efforts will soon be underway), and Salt Lake. Here are those updates:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/quito-ecuador-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/yigo-guam-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/belem-brazil-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/orem-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/moses-lake-washington-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/mendoza-argentina-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/deseret-peak-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/syracuse-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/salt-lake-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.