Hello again, everyone! A short time ago, the Church released the latest information in the ongoing process of reopening all temples Churchwide, which continue to bring more temples worldwide yet another step closer towards resuming normal operations. The latest changes have, as always, been detailed in the latest update from the official Newsroom, with updates also mentioned by the Church News, and reflected in the latest updates to the temple reopening status tracker, The strategy observed by the Church remains the same: focus on a cautiously-coordinated carefully-planned approach to changes in temple reopening stauses, and adapt to circumstances as necessary.
The results of that strategy speak for themselves. Let's now explore the changes that have been most recently announced this morning. The Church has announced updates that will impact the status of 8 temples in total, with 6 that will now offer proxy ordinancces in either phase 2-B or phase 3, and the remaining 2 unpausing and resuming an operational phase. 1 of those 2 is retruning to the same phase it had been in, while another is tranisitioning to a different phase.
Now, regarding specifics: As soon as one week from today (Tuesday September 7), 5 Brazilian temples (Campinas, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, and Sao Paulo) and 1 European temple (The Hague Netherlands) are expected to tranisition to phase 3, and offer all proxy ordinances on a limited availability basis, so that the Church can thus ensure that they are doing their best to keep Church members who are able to work in and attend the temple ast patrons are safe.
I am not sure how temples elsewhere in the world might work, but I do know that when I worked at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple for 6 years (2006-2012), although a fair porition of the workers there were older retired individuals and couples, there were also a fair number of young adults, both single and married, who rounded out the workforce for the temple.
I imagine that age, health, and likely susceptibility to COVID-19 would factor into the decisions each temple makes about who staffs the various areas Most temples are probably using the proverbial "skeleton crew" and having areas staffed by individuals who are either younger, not as susceptible to catching the virus, or those that have been fully vaccinated.
In the meantime, the other two temples having changes announced are the two in South Africa (Durban and Johannesburg). Both have come out of recent pauses in their reopening process. For Durban, the unpausing also involves a shift to phase 2-B, which will allow limited proxy baptisms to occur, in addition to all living ordinances in priorirty order. And with the Johannesburg South Africa Temple, following the conclusion of its' recent pause, it's going back to phase 3, which will allow all living and proxy ordinances by appointment.
Additionally, the Church had previously noted that the Medford Oregon Temple was anticipated to transition to phase 3 at some point this month, but that change has not yet been able to occur, likely because the Church prefers to be cautious in that temple's particular case, but hopefully, during any one of the 4 Tuesdays in September, that change might be able to go into effect. And the Church News again shared the list of 10 temples that have not been able to offer any proxy ordinances yet, with no phase designation given to the Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan Temples (both of which are closed for renovations).
6 others are in Latin American nations, and 1 of those 6 remains in phase 1, while 1 other had reached phase 2 but has since paused. And the remaining 2 temples are in Eastern Europe and Asia. In view of the changes announced today, the Church has the 8 temples closed for renovations (all but the previous 2 Asian temples I mentioned above have had a phase 3 designation given to the patrons in their districts). And in view of updates announced today, 5 temples remain "paused" in their reopening due to local COVID-19 conditions (of which 3 had reached phase 3 at the time of their pauses, with 1 each in phases 2-B and 20.
Of the temples not closed for renovation or currently impacted by a pause in their reopening statuses, only 1 remains in phase 1, with 6 in phase 2, 10 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 138 are now in phase 3. I willingly and gratefully testify to the inspired nature of the latest announced adjustments, and am grateful that process continues to go as well as it has. For my part, I continue to monitor all developments announced by the Church News and the Newsroom, and remain committed to continuing to provide those reports 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.
Hello again, everyone! I wanted to mention one other thing. In a recent comment on the threads of the Church Growth Blog, one comment mentioned that Elder Vern P. Stanfill, who presided at the groundbreaking for the Helena Montana Temple towards the end of June, was the visiting General Authority assigned to preside at the stake conference she recently attended. Elder Stanfill mentioned during his remarks that, as the result of discussions that he'd been part of, the modular design of prefabricated components used in the Helena temple was indeed a test case for the Church. With the approvals having gone through as quickly as they did, Elder Stanfill mentioned that he had heard that the modular temple design would be used again in US temples of a similar size, and that efforts were underway to ascertain how to expand the size of the modular components for other temples in the US that are slightly larger. If those efforts prove successful in the United Xtates, the hope is to use similar modular designs on temples outside the United States, especially those that will be on the smaller side. According to that report of what Elder Stanfill said, this could easily revolutionize the temple construction program of the Church, and could mean that most temples will not be in the queue for more than 2-3 years without action being taken to move them closer towards being constructed.
ReplyDeleteAnd since such methods also are more cost effective and make temple building easier, anywhere those modular components are used will see temples built far more swiftly than we have seen overall in the past. With that in mind, a simple shift to building most temples with modular components could easily accelerate the speed at which temples are constructed, and could help keep the queue clear for additional temple announcements. As a result, we would all be very well served to follow President Nelson's prophetic prescription: "Eat your vitamin pills. Get your rest. It's going to be exciting."
As I mentioned in the threads of my post from yesterday, it appears the Church is on track to have 200 operating temples by sometime in 2024, probably earlier in the year rather than later. With that in mind, if the Church opts to use modular components in most temples going forward, it does not seem impossible to believe that the Church could easily have 300 operating temples before the bicentennial anniversary of the Church's restoration (Saturday August 6, 2030). I will monitor all such updates and bring you word thereof here ASAP as I find out about thatr. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! Earlier today, following the release of the latest information about temple reopenings, the Church News shared the following additional reports, which speak for themselves:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/podcast/2021-08-31/episode-46-former-utah-gov-mike-leavitt-on-his-role-with-the-tabernacle-choir-at-temple-square-223767
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-08-31/emmeline-b-wells-diaries-suffrage-1897-to-1900-223764
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-08-31/lds-paralympics-gold-swimming-goalball-track-shot-put-223894
It appears that there may also be some new temple construction updates, and if that is correct, I will pass those along ASAP. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
I completed my latest check for temple construction updates a short time ago, and it appears that only two temples have had significant changes in their current status. The two in question are the Moses Lake Washington and Deseret Peak Utah Temples:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/moses-lake-washington-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/deseret-peak-utah-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church just anounced this morning that Elder Dean M. Davies has died at age 69 due to cancer:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-dean-m-davies-dies
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-09-01/elder-dean-davies-dies-of-cancer-presiding-bishopric-223936
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News has also provided the following additional reports, which speak for themselves:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2021-09-01/latter-day-saint-charities-continues-aid-to-afghan-refugees-humanitarian-223995
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-09-01/england-mexico-mtcs-set-to-slowly-reopen-on-site-training-provo-mtc-adding-languages-223784
The Newsroom also provided the following report:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saint-charities-afghan-refugees
If there are any new temple construction updates, I will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, thanks again, everyone!
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saint-charities-afghan-refugees
Here are a couple new Church News reports:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-09-01/elder-christofferson-best-of-gen-z-avoid-traps-generalizations-224019
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-09-01/elder-rasband-finding-answers-to-questions-california-institute-devotional-223684
My thanks once again to you all.
New updates which were shared on the Church Temples site earlier today indicate that both the Yigo Guam and Quito Ecuador Temples are in the process of being prepared to open to the public. The Church Temples site currently lists the Quito Ecuador Temple ahead of the Yigo Guam Temple. On my own temple construction progress report, I have listed them in reverse order. Around a year ago. the Church provided information on the first president and matron for the temple in Yigo. Since the previously-announced president and matron have since arrived in Yigo, and since the Church has not yet identified the president and matron for the Quito Ecuador Temple, I think that we might see formal arrangements for Yigo sooner than we see similar arrangements for Quito. It would not shock me if both of those temples were to be dedicated prior to the April 2022 General Conference. You can find the updates on both of these temples at the web addresses listed below:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/yigo-guam-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/quito-ecuador-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News has shared key experiences in the life of President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as an overview and sampling of the many accounts featured in the recently-published biography about his life:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-09-01/life-president-m-russell-ballard-acting-president-quorum-of-the-twelve-apostles-anxiously-engaged-223770
My thanks once again to you all.