Hello again, everyone! Following a one-week hiatus necessitated by my aforementioned medical emergency, I am back to share the latest temple reopening updates, which were released by the Church this morning. This post will highlight those updates, as they in are found in the updated official release from the Newsroom, with coverage also provided through the Church News update and the updated temple reopening status tracker.
Without further interruption, let's dive right in to what these changes are, when they will go into effect, and the updated data about how many temples will be open in each operational phase as of next Monday (August 9). According to today's report, the Paris France and Stockholm Sweden Temples have now offficially entered phase 3, allowing all living ordinances in priority order, in addition to limited proxy work by appointment.
Meawhile, 5 temples in Brazil are anticipated to move to phase 2-B later this month, alowing all living ordinances in priority order, in addition to limited prxy baptism as scheduled. The 5 in question are Campinas, Curitiba, and Recife (each of which may enter phase 2-B as early as next Tuesday (August 10), with the Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo Brazil Temples anticipated to enter phase 2-B as early as the following Tuesday (August 17).
Today's coverage also reiterated that the Spokane Washington Temple was still anticipated to transition to phase 3 as early as Monday August 16, with the Medford Oregon Temple anticipated to do the same at some point between now and the end of August (an exact date on that has not yet been mentioned on that). Additionally, the two temples in the Philippines (Cebu City and Manila) will pause operations for the time being, out of an abundance of caution and in compliance with restrictions in that island nation.
As I have previously done with recent temple reopening reports, I wanted to again share the demographic breakdown of the different temple statuses. It remains a given that 8 temples continue to be closed for renovation. Of those 8, 6 have been granted phase 3 status so that those in the relevant temple districts can schedule living ordinances in priority order, in addition to limited proxy work, at the temple nearest to the Church members in the districts of those 6 temples.
Meanwhile,` 9 temples are "paused" in their reopenings. Of those 9, 6 had been in phase 3 when they were paused, with 2 in phase 2-B and 1 in phase 1. Of the remaining temples in various phases of reopening, there are 2 in phase 1, 9 in phase 2, 16 in phase 2-B, and the reamining 124 in phase 3. I am grateful for the measured approach and week-to-week adaptability the First Presidency has shown in their efforts towards reopening temples as quickly and as safely as possible. I remain committed to bringing you all the latest in Church news and temple developments (relative to temple reopenings, temple construction, and temple milestones.
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 omments 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! With today being Tuesday, the newest edition of the weekly Church News podcast was released this morning:\
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/podcast/2021-08-03/episode-42-podcast-church-historic-sites-spirit-of-place-221230
In this week's episode, Church News editor Sister Sarah Jane Weaver speaks to two men who have key roles in the operation and maintenance of Church History sites. Within the last year, the two brethren had the unique challenge and opportunity to create interactive virtual tours of prominent Church history sites while the sites themselves were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And recently, a television studio in Kosovo conducted an interview with one of the Church's missionaries serving there. As he was preparing to conclude his missionary service and return home, the television studio invited him to share his experiences trying to learn the Albanian language, and how he learned to appreciate the cutural experience he was able to have as he worked to find Albanian-speaking individuals who might be interested in the Church, or at least open to the idea of learning more about that, whether or not they subsequently chose to continue with those discussions.
The Church News report about that missionary's recent interview is the latest in an ever-expanding list of ways in which local news stations or newspapers around the world interviewed full-time missionaries or local Church leaders. One of the many ways in which COVID-10 has changed things around the world is that television and radio stations and newspaper personnel are noticing the good things the Church is doing in their nations, and especially the way in which the Church has ensured member and missionary safety during COVID-19, all while more individuals are now seeking for something better in their lives. It's wonderful to see this occurring the way it has.
Having provided those updates here, I would also like to note that it appears several temple updates are now available. I will do what I can to assess and analyze any such updates, and will pass those along to you all as I am able to do so, either later today or sometime tomorrow. Parenthetically, it's also worth noting that I believe we will see at least one more major temple update by the end of Friday this week, which I will pass along to you all here as I become aware thereof. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! While I am still hoping to pass along any temple updates to you all here at some point later today, and also that the Church may have breaking news to pass along either later today, or sometime tomorrow or Friday, For the time being, I wanted to note today that the Newsroom and the Church News have both shared coverage on updates made to the General Handbook for all leaders and members of the Church. Those updates have been made within the last month or so, and are now available in the online version of the Handbook:
Deletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/august-2021-update-general-handbook
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-08-04/general-handbook-update-councils-callings-and-leadership-latest-221288
The Newsroom additionally reported on an FSY conference recently held in the Caribbean Area of the Church, which recently concluded with a keynote address from Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
https://news-caribbean.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/for-the-strength-of-youth-conference-concludes-with-musical-program-and-message-from-elder-soares
And the Church News has shared some updated information about the 30 nations around the world that have the largest number of Church members:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2021-08-04/latter-day-saints-countries-with-the-most-members-221168
Insofar as I have been able to ascertain, the Church has still not updated its' facts and statistics on either the main Newsroom page or on the pages for individual nations. Hopefully that process in in progress in one way or another.
In the meantime, I am also awating updates to the Global Leadership of the Church page, in the hopes that those updates might shine more light on the specific assignments for all general authorities and general officers of the Church, including perhaps our 15 apostles.
And again, as I'm able to later today, my hope is to pass along temple updates. Stay tuned for all of these updates as I become aware thereof. My thanks once again to you all.
Young Women General President Sister Bonnie h. Cordon has shared her thoughts on the council system in the Church:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-08-04/video-president-cordon-church-of-saints-221344
And additional coverage on Latter-day Saints in the Olympics has been provided today as well:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/category/olympics
My thanks once again to you all.
I'm back with the temple updates to which I referred. There are quite a few surprises there. First, an update has been provided on the Pocatello Idaho Temple:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/
Next, since the temple president and matron have arrived in Guam to begin getting things ready for whenever the temple in Yigo is dedicated, and since there hasn't been any word yet on the identity of the first president for the Quito Ecuador Temple, the Church Temples site has moved Yigo Guam ahead of Quito Ecuador in the queue.
As a general note, I'll be interested to see how the timing for the next temple openings or reopenings works out. About the only thing I'm reasonably confident in asserting in that respect is that it's still more likely than not that the opening dates for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple will be set for sometime next year when those arrangements are reset.
Having said that, let's move on. Another update has been noted on the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/san-juan-puerto-rico-temple/
Up next is a completely unexpected development which I could not have possibly anticipated. The latest update on the Okinawa Japan also includes a major change in that temple's completion estimate. For a while now, the Church Temples site has listed a completion window of late 2023 for that temple. Given the latest information on that temple, that site has shifted the estimate for Okinawa up by about a full year. Instead of late 2023, that temple's entry, including the recent status update, has changed the completion window to be late 2022-early 2023:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/okinawa-japan-temple/
As a result of the major shift in that estimate, the temples anticipated to be completed by late 2022-early 2023 are now in the following order in the queue: Feather River California, Okinawa Japan, Helena Montana, and Lima Peru Los Olivos.
I've mentioned in the past that such shifts in the queue are almost certain to continue to occur, but moving the completion estimate for Okinawa up by around a year is very significant.
Status updates have also been provided for the Bentonville Arkansas, Tallahassee Florida, and Columbus Ohio Temples:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/bentonville-arkansas-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tallahassee-florida-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/columbus-ohio-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has provided the following additional updates:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-08-05/elder-bednar-face-to-face-young-adults-22128
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-08-05/justserve-birthday-buddies-southern-california-foster-children-relief-society-221430
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-08-05/inside-church-headquarters-photo-gallery-summary-points-220912
My thanks once again to you all.
At some point within the last 4-6 hours or so, an updated has been posted for the Deseret Peak Utah Temple:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/deseret-peak-utah-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.