Review of Temple Construction Progress During the Third Quarter of 2021

Hello again, everyone! As the last day of September 2021 winds towards its' conclusion, not only has the commenting period for my October 2021 General Conference predictions ended, but additionally, as September concludes, it is time to take a look back at the temple construction progress that has occurred from the beginning of the year until today.  So we have the three reports showing where things stood at the beginning of this year, in the days just prior to the April 2021 General Conference, at the halfway point of this year, and how things look as we near the October 2021 General Conference weekend.

As I've mentioned in the past, I anticipate that between the Church's capacity to use modular components on smaller temples (a process which could potentially expand to larger temples) and precast concrete panels on other temples, that might accelerate the process whereby most temples are able to be constructed in the future.  With that in mind, I believe that we will see most temples moved from the status of just being announced to being under construction within roughly 2-3 years of their announcements.

And if that can happen, that in turn will clear up the queue for more new temples to be announced. So I anticipate that, given all that has been done to clear the queue since the April 2021 General Conference, we are more likely than not to see President Nelson announce another double-digit number of temples this weekend. While there could be 20 or more that are announced, it's also possible that the number of temples announced this weekend could be any other double-digit number between 10 and 20.

Whatever might happen this weekend, I will do my level best to cover those developments here ASAP after any such announcements are made.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: October 2021 General Conference Leadership Meetings Includes Releases and Sustainings of Area Seventies

 Hello again, everyone! I mentioned earlier this week that I wasn't sure whether or not the Church would hold leadership training sessions, but this afternoon, a news release being prepared with content that will be shared has conclusively verified that the leadership training is occurring today and tomorrow. Among the other highlights that will be shared, the Newsroom release as it currently exists showed that President Nelson focused his remarks on the life experiences of Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the restoration can help general and area leaders in our day to fill their assignments more effectively.

The Newsroom releasse will also share information about counsel given by Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring, First and Second Counselors in the First Presidency, and from Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, during this morning's leadership meetings. The offered counsel in and of itself is breaking news, but the news release as it currently stands also referenced the releases and sustainings affecting area seventies I found it interesting that both releases and sustainings occurred. and I'm intrigued to see what that means.

In the meantime, I will plan on adding more information to this post as the Newsroom release is updated accordingly. 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 Process of Reopening Templex Continues Into October

Note This post was published at around 10:30 AM ias originally scheduled, with further analysisa and context added thereunto between 12;00-1:45 PM.

Hello again, everyone! The final Tuesday before General Conference has rolled around, as a result of which the latest information about temple reopenings has been released by the Church. Since there is just over a week of September left, the latest update shares some details about reopenings that are planned through the rest of September and into October. The updates are, as always, detailed in the updated Newsroom release, and through the Church News, with the latter also linking to the area-by-area temple reopening status tracker.

I will have a more complete analysis on the latest announced adjustments at some point later today. (Note: I was able to post content on the announced change as indicated at the top of this post, so the content between this paragraph and the traditional closing of my post was added at around that time.) I am back to provide additional analysis on the latest temple reopening updates provided by the Church earlier today.

This morning, the Church announced that the Arequipa Peru and Bogota Colombia Temples will shift from phase2 to phase 2-B as early as next Tuesday. Additionally, today's update was the first to mention anything about the status of the Manti Utah Temple, which, as we know, is scheduled to close for its' formal renovation at some point on or around Friday October 1. 

That temple, becoming the ninth in the current queue of those undergoing renovations, will retain its' phase 3 designation, which will allow those served by that temple district to schedule living and proxy work at the closest temples to Manti. As we know, the adjusted plans for that temple renovation will cut the amount of work needing to be done, and will also cut the time needed to do it. The temple is anticipated to conclude its' renovation within 18-24 months of its' closure. 

With that in mind, the renovation of that temple could wrap up in either April or October 2023, with the temple reopening events being held a couple of months after that. As we also know, the Columbus Ohio and Hong Kong China Temples are anticipated to wrap up their renovations at some point next year. The renovation process for the St. George Utah Temple is now anticipated to wrap up at some point in 2023, perhaps within a similar window as is expected for the temple in Manti.

We also know that, before the announcement of changed plans for the Salt Lake Temple, the first full-scale multi-year renovation of that temple was originally anticipated to be complete at some point in 2024. With official Church resources noting that the additional work on the Salt Lake Temple, which was not part of the original plan, now being included, the Church has only acknowledged that the additional work will extend the length of time for that prospect. As a result, I have adjusted my general estimate for that temple's completion to sometime during late 2024-early 2025.

Additionally, the Church has confirmed that plans are well underway for the renovation process of the Logan Utah Temple. Depending on when those plans are announced, that could be another temple completed in 2023 or 2024. It will be interesting to see what happens in terms of those historic temple renovations.

Returning now to the latest temple reopening announcements from today (sorry about my unintended detour), the Church also noted again today that the Medford Oregon Temple, which had been originally planned to transition to phase 3 operations in August of this year, will still do so this year on a yet-to-be-determined date. The Church also again shared the list of 10 temples not yet open for any proxy work, which again included 2 in the renovation queue.

So, as of next Tuesday October 5), the current status of temple reopenings in the Church will stand as follows: 9 remain closed for major renovations (2 of which have dedications scheduled, with 2 more anticipated to have reopening arrangements announced in the relatively near term; in addition to which, 7 of those 9 have been granted phase 3 designations). 3 temples have paused in their reopening process due to factors relating to COVID-19 (2 of those 3 had been in phase 3 at the time the pause became necessary, while the other temple was in phase 2 when its reopening was paused).

And for the final four phases, there will be 3 in phase 1, 4 in phase 2, 5 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 144 temples of the Church are in phase 3. The Church continues a cautiously-coordinated plan, with a long-term view of the process that will, in due course, result in all temples of the Church being open for normal operations. 

COVID-19 is the huge variable here, and for that reason, I'm grateful to know that, as plans for the latest temple reopening announcements are made each week, the Brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who have roles in supervising each of the 22 Church areas with the assistance of members of the Presidency of the Seventy, are regularly meeting with area leaders virtually to determine the best courses of action for temples worldwide. on a week-to-week basis.

My hope is that, as each of the Church's temples eventually resume normal operations, that the members of the Church around the world will not forget what it was like to not have access thereunto during the COVID-19 pandemic. I similarly hope as well that the closure of all temples and the subsequent reopening adjustments will also fill those of us living very close to a temple with more gratitude for that blessing, and will instill in each of us a greater appreciation for the plight of those who do not currently live anywhere near a temple.

On Sunday of this week, my ward's Elders' Quorum discussed President Eyring's talk from the Saturday Morning Session of the April 2021 General Conference.

In the course of that lesson, I felt impressed to share the experience my mom, her siblings, and her parents had in having to sell off nearly everything they owned just to enable them to make the journey from South Africa to the temple in England (which was the closest one at that time). I then made the observation that, while all the temples of the Church had closed for a time, all members of the Church had likely understood what not being able to go to a nearby temple is like. And it's something that I hope none of us take for granted going forward. 

With that in mind, I'm grateful to have been able to learn about these latest updates and to pass them along to you all here. While I don't know if any breaking news (whether that is related to temples or not) might be reported before General Conference weekend, I remain committed to bringing those updates to you as I become aware thereof. I am also monitoring all other Church News reports and temple construction updates and will likewise pass those along as I find myself able to do so. 

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 August 8, it is time to publish the newest such data. 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, continue 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: Site Locations Confirmed and Exterior Renderings Released for 4 Latin American Temples

 Hello again, everyone! In another stunning announcement I could not have seen coming, this morning, the Church officially shared renderings and locations for 4 temples in Latin America. The four temples in question are Belo Horizonte Brazil,  Cali Colombia, Greater Guatemala City Guatemala, and Torreon Mexico. 3 of those 4 ttemples were announced in April of this year, with the Greater Guatemala City Guatemala Temple announced in October of last year. 

I wanted to first note at the outset that once Latin American Temples are far enough along in the process for a site location and exterior rendering, the Church has generally taken action on those temples to get them under construction sooner rather than later. So while I can't say this for certain, I anticipate that each of these temples could have groundbreakings by either the end of this year or the early months of next year. With that said, let's get to the details and specifics.

First, for the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple, plans call for a single-story temple of 27,000 square feet to be built on 11.8 acre site at the Rua Professor Jose Vieira de Mendonça. The Cali Colombia Temple will be a 9,500 square feet single-story edifice rising at the 3.14 acre site in La Flora in Cali Colombia. 

The Greater Guatemala City Guatemala Temple is planned to be a two-story temple of approximately 30,000 square feet. Given ins' two-story plan, the temple will be built on a 1.5 acre site at the intersection of 13 Calle and 5-56 in Guatemala. A more official name for that temple will be determined prior to the groundbreaking.

And the Torreon Mexico Temple is planned to be a 10,000 square foot temple that appears to use similar modular components to what is planned fby the Church for the Helena Montana, Casper Wyoming, and Elko Nevada Temples, which will mark the first usage of those modular components in a temple outside the United States. The temple will be built on a 0.89 acre site on the corner of Paris and Amsterdam streets in the city of Gomez Palacio, Mexico.

So, based on their smaller sizes, I could see the Church potentially taking action to break ground for the temples in Cali Colombia an Torreon Mexico before the end of this year. Given the fact that the other 2 temples are 2-3 times larger than their newest Latin American counterparts, it may be a few months into next year before groundbreakings are set to occur.

But in any case, the Church is clearly expanding efforts to find quick ways to get temples approved and under construction, so I'm confident that we might have some additional surprises on the way. That's especially true if the modular components can be used in smaller temples outside the United States.

In the interim, whether these 4 temples have groundbreakings set this year or next year, it's nice to see that these temples were not in the queue very long. The Church is nearing the first anniversary of the announcement of the temple in Greater Guatemala City Guatemala, so the fact that official information was shared on that temple and 3 more announced by President Nelson in April of this year is very wonderful indeed.

With the recent groundbreaking for the Phnom Pehn Cambodia, the Church is down to 40 announced temples. Of those 40 temples, 2 (Casper Wyoming and Pago Pago American Samoa) have groundbreakings scheduled, hopefully with more on the way.  But with 38 temples for which groundbreakings have not yet been set, the number of temples for which no official information has been confirmed now rises to a total of 23.

I have previously mentioned the theory that groundbreakings could be announced sooner rather than later for the Elko Nevada, Willamette Valley Oregon, Grand Junction Colorado, Burley Idaho, Yorba Linda California, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, and Bahia Blanca Argentina Temples. So if we add Cali Colombia and Torreon Mexico to that list, that raises the total number of temples likely to have a groundbreaking announced to 9 more at minimum before the end of the year.

But I'd just add here that I'm hoping more official information will come down the pike for the Farmington New Mexico, Lindon and Smithfield Utah, Port Vila Vanuatu, and Tarawa Kiribati. I know that, per the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site, the groundbreaking for Lindon is anticipated to occur sometime early next year, but I'm hoping that something might be done for that newest Utah County temple sooner than that.

Also, I am watching for official information to be released for the Ephraim Utah, Managua Nicaragua, and Lagos Nigeria Temples. But above and beyond that, I think we might see more official information released on other temples before the end of this year. Today's announcement may point to the Church potentially also releasing official information about any of the 11 temples remaining from last year or this year, and to also clear any of the 7 remaining temples from announcements in 2018 and 2019.

With that in mind, hopefully the Church will indeed be able to exceed in 2021 the 21 total temple groundbreakings held last year. In the meantime, I'm hoping that the modular design might be used on any other temples that have been announced elsewhere in the world. The fact that the modular design will probably be used for the Torreon Mexico Temple opens the prospect that something similar could be done for smaller temples in Europe, Africa, and Asia. 

I have a strong feeling that we will have at least one other breaking news update on temples in the current queue before General Conference, and personally, I can't rule out the feeling that there could be more than one major announcement relating to temple construction between now and General Conference weekend. And if that belief is justified, that gives President Nelson a solid reason for another large number of temples to be announced during the October 2021 General Conference.

I don't know whether the Church will announced 20 temples again, or if the number announced could be larger or smaller, but given how the queue has been cleared out since the April General Conference, including the official details being announced for 12 of the 20 temples announced by Presidet Nelson in April of this year, I really do think we might be in for some surprises. While I was putting together my analysis of today's announcement, the Church News also provided coverage on this development.

 I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will do my best to bring you all word of those updates as I become aware thereof. Also, just by way of reminder, the commenting period for my revised predictions about the upcoming General Conference remains in effect until Friday October 1 @ 10:00 PM, so feel free to weigh in on those. 

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: Predictions for the October 2021 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! In the last couple of months since the Church reinstated the Saturday evening session , I have been pondering if, how, and to what extent thr typical General Conference patterns under President Nelsson might change. When it comes to the speaker lineup predictions, I ran some specific scenarios to see if they would potentially be better than what I had originally suggestied following that announcement.  

After running those simulations, I have come to the conclusion that my original version of the potential lineup was the best scenario of the bunch, so not a lot has changed there. Meanwhile, slight adjustments have been made to the list of the most likely changes in Church leadership. And although I still have some checking to do on the list of the most likely locations in which a temple could be announced, the fact that I might still have updates on that was not enough of a good reason to delay posting that information.

That's especially true given the fact that there are less than 2 weeks before General Conference. I am hoping to take any comments into account as I go, which would potentially enable me to push the end of the commenting period to Friday October1 @ 10:00 PM. If I might do so, I'd like to offer a few preliminary things to bear in mind as you review these updates. 

First, with the shift from focusing on a specific demographic group to an additional general session for all members and friends of the Church, the reasoning behind that change was to give more general leaders of the Church an apportunity to speak than there would have been had the session been discontinued. So when I was recently running some simulated scenarios, I had a lot to consider. 

I see no reason why President Nelson would not continue to offer 4 addresses (meaning the only session in which he will not speak is Saturday Afternoon, unless there is a reason to do so). As I ran the simulations, I also saw no reason why both counselors in the First Presidency would not offer remarks in the Saturday Evening Session alongside the prophet, while also alternating being the concluding speaker on Saturday Morning and the opening speaker on Sunday Afternoon. 

Additionally, we have seen the Church take action to shorten the length of time that is taken by the Sustaining of Church Officers, cutting that by half, which in April allowed 4 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to speak in the second session. And in all but 2 of the 7 General Conference held under President Nelson's prophetic guidance, 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have spoken in the Saturday Morning Session.

Therefore, as far as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is concerned, I am predicting 3 members speaking in the Saturday Morning Session, 4 others that afternoon, and 1 in the evening session, which leaves 2 members to speak in each of the two Sunday Sessions. Having a majority of the Quorum speak in the first 3 sessions will enable the Church to call upon more non-apostolic speakers in both of the Sunday Morning and Sunday Afternoon Sessions.

Overall, that scenario would enable the Church to hear from 2-4 more non-apostolic speakers than would be able to speak if  another pattern or scenario were followed. Other considerations weere the average number of general officers that could speak going forward (that works out to a total of 4), and the GA Seventies and member of the Presiding Bishopric. 

Given that Elder Teixeira (who has been a member of the Presidency of the Seventy since August 2018) and Elder Palmer (who started serving in the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1 of this year) both spoke in the Sunday Morning Session of the April General Conference, (after having only 1 member of that Presidency speak per General Conference since 2018 began), my theory is that no members of the Presidency of the Seventy will speak. 

Then it became a matter of determining which GA Seventies to add to that lineup. Of those tenured GA Seventies who have not spoken recently, 2 last did so in October 2012, with 2 others last doing so in April 2013, so I put those Brethren in the lineup, along with several of the newer GA Seventies who have not yet spoken in General Conference.

Next, when it came to changes in general Church leadership, I have made a specific prediction this time around about a few of the newest area seventies that appear likely to be sustained. I could be partially or completely wrong on that, but I thought that merited a mention.  I've also noted in the past that I anticipate another double-digit number of new temples to be announced, but that I anticipate that number will likely be below 20.

And again, the list of prospective locations might be edited in the midst of the discussion about these updates. That being said, I look forward to feedback from any of you who might care to offer some. It's also worth noting that I'm hopeful that, with only 3 days remaining in the workweek, that one or two breaking temple updates or other breaking developments might be reported. If that occurs, I will be sure to pass those items on 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 to Continue Worldwide Through October

Hello again, everyone! Another Tuesday has rolled around, as a result of which the latest information about temple reopenings has been released by the Church. Since there is just over a week of September left, the latest update shares some details about reopenings that are planned through the rest of September and into October. The updates are, as always, detailed in the updated Newsroom release, and through the Church News, with the latter also linking to the area-by-area temple reopening status tracker.

As I've mentioned in most (if not all) of the latest posts I've published to cover these updates, the Church has done remarkably well in understanding issues that will affect the reopenings, and there have been very clear signs that the Lord is inspiring these efforts. Parenthetically, I'd norote that the reason the Church has been able to make these changes work so smoothly appears to be due in part to the apostles taking an active role in checking in weekly with the presidencies of each Church area for which each of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have direct supervisory roles.

I am grateful for that inspired process. It has been humbling to see how that has worked out week-to-week. With that preamble, let's now get into the specifics that were detailed this morning. First, the Church has announced that 4 temples, including 3 in Mexico (Hermosillo Sonora, Mexico City Mexico, and Villahermosa Mexico) and the Kyiv Ukraine Temple will transition to phase 3 as early as Tuesday September 28.

Above and beyond that, 2 temples are unpausing, but have been downgraded in their reopening processes as a result of COVID-19 conditions and restrictions. The Cebu City Philippines Temple has been shifted back to phase 1, allowing only limited husband-to-wife sealings where both have previously been endowed. And the Papeete Tahiti Temple has been downgraded to phase 2, which will allow all living ordiances in priority order.

The Church has also noted one other previously-announced change that has not yet gone into effect. The Medford Oregon Temple was anticipated to transition to phase 3 at some point in August, but that has not yet happened, though it hopefully will occur soon. The Church News release also reiterated the information about the 11 temples not allowing any proxy work, which includes the changes announced today, in addition to all other temples not currently offering any proxy work.

As of next Tuesday (September 28), the Church's temple reopenings will stand as follows: 8 closed for major renovations (all but 2 of which have had phase 3 status granted to those within their districts),  with 3 temples "paused" in their reopening process (2 of which had reached phase 3, with 1 in phase 2 at the time their reopenings were paused); 3 in phase 1; 6 in phase 2; 3 in phase 2-B; and the remaining 145 in phase 3.

I am grateful to have been able to learn about (and pass along) these updates. I continue to monitor all Church News reports and temple developments, and remain committed to bringing word of those 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: Exterior Renderings Released for 4 US Temples

Hello again, everyone! We have breaking temple news this morning that I was not anticipating. In a stunning single announcement, the Church has officially released the exterior renderings for 4 US temples, as a clear sign of what the plans might be for the Church for the remainder of this year.  In addition to the Newsroom release, these updates were detailed by the Church News shortly after the Newsroom release was published.

The renderings in question are for the Yorba Linda California Temple (for which the location and preliminary information were announced in mid-July) the Grand Junction Colorado and Burley Idaho Temples (for which the site locations and preliminary details were confirmed in mid-to-late June), and the Elko Nevada Temple (for which the site location and preliminary details were confirmed in mid-June.

The Elko temple incorporates similar exterior design elements comparable to the Casper Wyoming and Helena Montana Temples, so I anticipate that it will also be built using modular components, and that construction on that temple will take 12-15 generally (around 13 specifically) once construction begins. The Grand Junction Coloard Temple is of a similar size and design to the Bentonville Arkansas Temple, so I assume that the construction period for the Grand Junction temple will be identical to Bentonville.

The Yorba Linda California Temple incorporates similar designs as temples of similar sizes (particularly it reminds me a lot of the McAllen Texas Temple), so given its' projected size of 30,000 square feet, I anticipate the construction time-frame will be similar to those temples. And at an anticipated 38,600 square feet, the Burley Idaho Temple appears to be similar to temples of around the same size and design.

Others more qualified than I am to do so are invited to provide additional context into the designs of the newest temples. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see what happens with US temple groundbreakings for the rest of this year. The order in which any of these temples could have groundbreakings may be hard to determine. There is also the fact that the details of each of these 4 temples have been announced gradually, unlike the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple, which had a name, location, details, and rendering released all at once.

If I had to venture a guess, Elko would probably be first, given the quick approvals obtained for the similarly-designed Casper and Helena Temples.  Willamette Valley Oregon could be next, followed by Grand Junction Colorado, Burley Idaho, and Yorba Linda California. And that's just US temples. We also have more than a few international ones that could very well be interspersed with each of the 5 US temples. 

I will be taking time this weekend to reevaulate my previously-offered thoughts about temples for which a groundbreaking is anticipated, and I also will hopefully have my updated predictions for General Conference posted early next week, if not sooner. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates 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. 

UPDATED: Pago Pago American Samoa Temple Groundbreaking Postponed

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, on July 27 (while I was hospitalized), the Church announced the original groundbreaking dates for the Neiafu Tonga Temple (Saturday September 11) and the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple (originally set for Saturday October 9). My reason for mentioning that announcement again today is due to an update provided by the Church.

I'm assuming that this is due to COVID-19, but regardless of the reason behind it, the Church announced this afternoon that the groundbreaking for the  Pago Pago American Samoa Temple has been rescheduled from October 9 to three weeks later (Saturday October 30). The Church has further specified that Elder K. Brent Nattress, First Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, will preside at the groundbreaking for American Samoa's first temple.

Even with the slight delay of 3 weeks, the Church will still have two more temple groundbreakings by the end of Ocltober of this year than they did at the same point last year., per information I have previously provided. I continue to monitor all subsequent temple updates and any other Church news developments and will bring word of those 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: Church Continues Phased Reopenings of Temples Around the World

Hello again, everyone! As I observed in one of my comments posted yesterday on the previous thread, information I found appears to indicate that resurgences of COVID-19 in Tokyo Japan (especially after the recently-concluded 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games), Hamilton New Zealand, Yigo Guam, and Quito Ecuador have led to some limits on gatherings in general, but on large gatherings in particular. 

Given the fact that the Church tries to encourage its' members and friends all over the world to be good global citizens, I'm reasonably certain that might lead to a slight delay in the next few months before any of those temples can have opening or reopening arrangements announced. With that in mind, I'm thinking that we might not see the number of temple dedications or rededications going up significantly until after next year's annual July recess for General Authorities has concluded.

I'd love to be proven wrong on that, but until further evidence suggests otherwise, I'm sure the Church will probably want to be safe rather than sorry. Having acknowledged that, it's also worth noting that, despite the COVID-19 variants in various parts of the world, the Church remains committed to a cautiously-coordinated and carefully-planned reopening of temples worldwide, and that has been again proven correct with the latest adjustments which have been aannounced in the last little while here.

As has been the case for the last 1.5 years or so in wihch the Church has announced weekly reopening updates. thoae latest adjustments have been detailed in the updated official Newsroom release, the customary Church News update, and the updated temple reopening status tracker. Having provided that overview, let's now look at the specific adjustments that have been noted today.

First up is an announcement that I was not necessarily expecting, but probably should have anticipated. Given COVID-19 conditions in Idaho, once the Pocatello Idaho Temple is dedicated, the Church will have it operating in phase 3 right from the start. That temple's dedication is set for the first Sunday of November, so following its' dedication, the temple will be able to start off in phase 3, offering all living ordinances in priority order, along with limited proxy work as scheduled. It has additionally been noted that the Curitiba Brazil Temple will transition to phase 3 as early as September 21 (next Tuesday). And as has been the case the last several weeks, it's again been noted that the Medford Oregon Temple will reopen in phase 3 at some point when it is safe to do so. The original plan was to reopen that temple in that phase by the end of last month, but, again, the Church has adjusted plans due to COVID-19 conditions and restrictions.

The Church News also again recapped the nine temples still in phase 1 or phase 2 (not yet allowing any proxy work), and again noted that the Tokyo Japan and Hong Kong China Temples, currently closed for renovation, have not yet been granted any phased reopening designations. With the updates announced today, by next Tuesday (September 21), the 168 operating temples of the Church will break down as follows: 8 closed for major renovations, all but 2 of which have been granted phase 3 designations for the members in their districts; 5 temples currently paused. of which 4 had reached phase 3, and the remaining 1 was in phase 2 at the time the pauses went into effect; just 2 temples will remain in phase 1, with 6 each in phases 2 and 2-B; with the remaining 141 temples of the Church now in phase 3, offering living ordinances in priority order and limited proxy work as scheduled.

If anyone anywhere has any questions about whether prophets and apostles are inspired for our day, they only need to look at the methodical week-by-week adjustments that have been made, and how that has been done by always keeping the well-being of Church members in mind. I am grateful to have been able to pass along these updates to you all.  I continue to also monitor all other Church news updates and reported developments and remain committed to bringing those 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: Specific Times Unofficially Confirmed for Temple Groundbreakings on September 11

Hello again, everyone! I have mentioned in the past my theory that, if the Nairobi Kenya and Neiafu Tonga Temples both had their groundbreakings at the same time of day (such as 9:00 or 10:00 AM local time, then the groundbreaking for the Neiafu Tonga Temple would likely occur first, since Tonga was 10 hours ahead of Kenya. In the interim, I have looked for (and failed to find) exact times for those events. That search led me to Facebook, where the relevant pages noted that the delayed broadcast for the Neiafu Tonga Temple groundbreaking will be available to view from that page at 10:00 PM MDT tonight.

By contrast, the Nairobi Kenya Temple groundbreaking will be available through that temple's Facebook page at 12:30 AM Utah time tonight, when September 10 goes into September 11. So it appears that, as I had anticipated, the broadcast of the previously-held Neiafu groundbreaking will be available to watch 2.5 hours before the broadcst for the Nairobi groundbreaking.I anticipate that reports on those groundbreakings could be made available not long after those broadcasts end. So I will keep my eyes open for that and will probably update this breaking news post with the sources confirming those groundbreakings once those are available. I was grateful to have been able to find this information and to pass it along 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. 

Added at around 8:45 PM The Church Temples site has unoffically confirmed that the groundbreaking has been held, but the release of the official report on that is still pending. This means the Church now has 42 temples under construction and 42 others announced. The anticipated completion of that temple has been set as sometime in 2024. Additional updates will follow as official sources confirm the information. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

CORRECTION (added just after 10:00 PM): At some point following the publication of this post, the times noted on the two Facebook pages I mentioned apparently changed. It's now been noted that the groundbreaking for the Nairobi Kenya Temple will be streamed on the aforementioned page at 2:00 AM MDT (just over 3 hours from now, while the delayed broadcast of the Neiafu Tonga Temple will not be available until tomorrow night at 10:00 PM MDT. Once reports are shared about the two temple groundbreakings, I will be sure to pass those along here. My thanks once again to you all.

Church President Russell M. Nelson Observes His 97th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back once again, this time to share a post in tribute to our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, who officially marks his 97th birthday today. So let's talk about this wonderful man whom we sustain as the President of the Church and as the prophet, seer and revelator for the Church. Russell Marion Nelson was born in Salt Lake City Utah to Marion C. and Edna Anderson Nelson on this day in 1924 (just a day before the birth of Boyd K. Packer, his future immediate predecessor to the Presidency of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) .

Though he grew up in a loving family, his parents were not active in the Church. As a teenager, he went looking for books about the Church at Deseret Book. His parents allowed him and his siblings to be baptized when he was 16. President Nelson married his first wife, Dantzel, in the Salt Lake Temple. They have nine daughters and one son. When his wife unexpectedly died in 2005, he described having "inconsolable grief" for a time. He married Wendy Watson, a BYU professor, the following April.

He studied at LDS Business College and went on to obtain his BA and MD at the University of Utah. He simultaneously trained as a surgeon and did doctoral studies at the University of Utah. He was part of the research team that developed the heart-lung machine that was first used for an open-heart operation on a human being in 1951. He spent two years on medical duty for the US Army during the Korean War, then underwent another training period in Boston at the prestigious Harvard Medical School's Massachusetts General Hospital.

At one key point in his medical career, the University of Chicago was anxious to get him to come and teach at their school of medicine, so the president of that university asked Dallin H., Oaks, then a professor at the law school, to try and persuade him to come. Then-Brother Oaks did his best to convince then-Brother Nelson to accept the offer. But Church President David O. McKay advised Brother Nelson not to go, so he turned down that opportunity.

In 1955, he accepted a teaching opportunity at the University of Utah School of Medicine, where he built his own heart-and-lung machine. Around a year later, he was on duty to perform the first pediatric cardiac operation. In 1960, he performed the first successful operative repair of a tricuspid heart valve. Being worried that a surgical procedure he had been asked to perform was too risky for anyone, he requested and received a blessing from then-Elder Spencer W. Kimball, who was one of his patients.

That surgery was a success, and he later w used the same technique to operate on Elder Kimball himself, a risky procedure, which only moved forward following a pointed directive from President Harold B. Lee, who at that time was serving as First Counselor in the First Presidency. While performing that operation, Brother Nelson had the overwhelming feeling that President Kimball would one day be President of the Church.

As a result of that operation's success, Church members were blessed to enjoy the counsel and ministry of President Kimball for almost another decade and a half. The doctor-patient relationship he experienced with President Kimball enabled Brother Nelson to write a letter of assurance about President Kimball's health when the latter was called as Church President.

He has served in many positions on different hospital boards and has received several awards for his pioneering work. He likewise had many service opportunities in the Church. He served as a stake president for over six years, during which time he served alongside another future apostle, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin.

In mid-1970, Ernest L. Wilkinson, then president of BYU, submitted his resignation, which went into effect early the following year. As Neal A. Maxwell, Commissioner of Church Education, searched for a replacement, Brother Nelson was one of the candidates considered for the position, which was in due course filled by Brother Nelson's future apostolic seatmate, Dallin H. Oaks.

In the meantime, Brother Nelson was called in June of 1971 as the Sunday School General President (during which time, Brother Wirthlin would again serve alongside him.) Brother Nelson would go on to also serve in the now-defunct calling of regional representative, during which time, having been present when President Kimball suggested that some of them should learn Mandarin Chinese, took on that task in obedience to the prophet's counsel.

In April 1984, with the advice and consent of President Spencer W. Kimball, President Gordon B. Hinckley, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency, called Brother Nelson to fill one of two vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Then-Brother Oaks was called to fill the other vacancy, and the two have sat side-by-side in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since that time.

Over the next 31.25 years, each one of the living apostles junior to President Monson but senior to Elder Nelson would pass away. When President Boyd K. Packer died on July 3, 2015, Elder Nelson became the de facto President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was officially set apart in that capacity 12 days later, on Wednesday July 15, 2015, by Church President Thomas S. Monson, who had by that time begun to decrease his involvement in the day-to-day administration of the Church.

When the Church released an official statement in mid-May 2017, which noted that President Monson would no longer be taking an active role in leading the Church, as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President Nelson filled a vital role in assisting President Monson's counselors, President Henry B. Eyring and then-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, in taking care of the day-to-day administration of the Church.

When President Monson passed away on January 2. 2018, President Nelson directed the affairs of the Church as the senior apostle (and the de facto Acting President of the Church) for 12 days before his ordination as Church President.

After meeting individually with each of the other 12 apostles, he selected his seatmate, Elder Oaks, and Elder Eyring, who had served as a counselor to both Presidents Monson and Gordon B. Hinckley, as his First and Second Counselors, respectively, in the First Presidency. As a result of that reorganization, Elder Uchtdorf again took his place in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. During the broadcast and subsequent press conference when the new First Presidency was introduced to the world on Tuesday January 16, President Nelson paid tribute to his predecessor's counselors and mentioned that both were willing to now serve where they were most needed. The responsibilities assigned to Elder Uchtdorf were those previously held by the senior three apostles of the Church, Presidents Nelson and Oaks, and the new Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, M. Russell Ballard.

Even prior to serving as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, or subsequently as President of the Church, President Nelson took great care of his fellow Brethren in the apostleship.

Many of you will recall how, in the midst of an address about charity, the pure love of Christ, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin began shaking uncontrollably, In a silent demonstration of what his colleague was teaching, Elder Nelson stood by and supported Elder Wirthlin until he closed his address, then gently helped him back to his seat. Not long after Elder Richard G. Scott underwent a needed surgical procedure, he was surprised to learn that President Nelson had stood inside the operating room observing the procedure in its entirety.

And, of course, as recounted during the funeral of Elder Robert D. Hales, following the Sunday Morning Session of the October 2017 General Conference, President Nelson felt impressed skip his lunch break and go immediately to the hospital to visit Elder Robert D. Hales, who passed away within a few minutes after President Nelson arrived.

President Nelson has demonstrated a keen intellect, a willingness to seek for and follow revelation from the Lord, and an undeviating loyalty and full commitment to his family, his Church, and his apostolic colleagues. We have seen him respond swiftly to such revelation, and perhaps the greatest details of the revelation he continues to receive regularly are yet-to-be revealed in the upcoming General Conference.

I have always been impressed and touched by President Nelson's remarks. He has given 99 addresses thus far in General Conference, including 65 following his call to the apostleship, 5 given while he served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and 29 so far which he has given since becoming President of the Church. I am grateful for the chance to have paid this birthday tribute to President Nelson. He and all of the other apostles have my unequivocal and everlasting support and sustaining vote.

I know for myself that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God, that he will not lead us astray, that he speaks for and on the behalf of he Lord and that we will be blessed by the Lord as we follow the counsel given by His chosen mouthpiece. 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 Quentin L. Cook Observes His 81st Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back to share some thoughts about Elder Quentin L. Cook in honor of his 81st birthday today. Let's dive right into that subject. Quentin LaMar Cook was born to J. Vernon and Bernice Cook on this day in 1940 in Logan, Utah. His ancestry includes his great-great-grandfather, Elder Heber C. Kimball, who was one of the original apostles of the Church and who was instrumental in bringing the gospel to England and supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith at key moments when apostates made efforts to replace Brother Joseph as the Lord's mouthpiece.

Young Quentin was a middle child, having an older brother and a younger sister. He grew up in a very gospel-centered home, although his father eventually lost interest in Church activity .At age 15, he had a discussion with his brother Joe that changed his life. Joe was unsure whether to continue with his medical school studies, or to delay that in order to serve a mission, with their father favoring the former. During that conversation, they determined that either the gospel was true or it wasn't, and that if it was, serving a mission would be the best use of Joe's time. Joe’s decision to go resulted in young Quentin eventually accepting his own call to serve in the British Mission.

One of his two mission presidents was Elder Marion D. Hanks, who simultaneously served as a general authority. At one point during his mission, his companion was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Though the two didn't know it at the time, both would go on to serve as General Authority Seventies and as colleagues in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Cook later noted the following in relation to Elder Holland:

"Sometimes we receive revelation even when we do not know the Lord’s purposes. Shortly before Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was called to be an Apostle in June of 1994, I had a beautiful revelatory experience that he would be called. I was a regional representative and could see no reason I would be given that knowledge. But we were companions as young missionaries in England in the early 1960s, and I had a great love for him. I considered the experience a tender mercy for me. In recent years, I have wondered if the Lord was preparing me to be junior in the Twelve to an incredible missionary companion who was my junior companion when we were young missionaries. I sometimes warn young missionaries to be kind to their junior companions because they never know when they might be their senior companion."

Elder Cook returned from his mission with a strong testimony of the Savior and a resolve to associate with people who love the Savior, both within and outside of the Church. He married his high school sweetheart Mary Gaddie in the Logan Utah Temple on November 30, 1962. Their posterity includes three children and numerous grandchildren.

He graduated from Utah State University with a degree in political science and from Stanford University with a juris doctorate degree.As a managing partner in a San Francisco Bay area law firm, he specialized in business law. He later became president and chief executive officer of California Healthcare System, and vice chairman of Sutter Health Systems. His church service has included being a bishop, stake president’s counselor (during a period of time when his brother Joe was president of that same stake), stake president, regional representative, and area authority. While he was in the stake presidency, he was instilled with a love of people from all nations when he had responsibility for Spanish, Tongan, Samoan, Tagalog, Mandarin, and Cantonese congregations.

He was named a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy on April 6, 1996, and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 4, 1998. He served as a member of area presidencies in the Philippines, the Pacific, and North America, and he also served executive director of the Church Missionary Department during the period of time that "Preach My Gospel" was developed and instituted as the standard guidebook for missionaries, and was subsequently called to the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1, 2007.

Nine days after that, the death of President James E. Faust, who had been serving as Second Counselor to Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, would wind up having an unexpected impact on Elder Cook's life. As the October General Conference rolled around, then-Elder Henry B. Eyring was called as President Hinckley's new Second Counselor, which created a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. On October 6, 2007, Elder Cook was sustained to fill that vacancy, and he was ordained an apostle five days later.

Elder Cook has spoken 30 times in General Conference: twice as a General Authority Seventy and 28 additional times in the almost-14 years since his call to the apostleship. I am grateful for his service as a special witness of Christ, and I wholeheartedly sustain him and the other apostles.

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 Reoping of Temples Worldwide Continues as the Latest Adjustments Are Announced

Hello again, everyone! With another Tuesday comes the latest weekly updates on the process of reopening all Church temples worldwide in a phased manner that adapts week-by-week on the variables assosciated with COVID-19. As always, those updates have 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. 

Before I get into my analysis of those changes, I wanted to note one other thing. I've found through my coverage of the weekly updates that the Newsroom's coverage thereof is always featured at the same web address, while for the Church News update on each week's change and the temple reopening status tracker have been shared with almost-identical web addresses (but on any given week, the dates in those articles are updated weekly as each new update is shared).

That has made it easier to pre-set a version of this post for publication at the time of day when those announcements have typically been released. But today, I had other things I needed to get sorted out. So although this post bears the original time-stamp I had preset, in the hours leading up to that time, I reverted the post to its' draft version. Because of the other priorities I needed to focus on first, it was around noon before I could actually detail the updates in this post.

Having acknowledged those circumstances, let's get to the updates themselves. As early as next Tuesday (September 14), 2 temples in Peru (Lima and Trujillo) and 1 in Bolivia (Cochabamba) are anticipated to move to phase 3, allowing all living ordinances in priority order and limited proxy work by appointment. In addition, the Church also noted today that the Manila Philippines Temple, which had been puased in its' reopening, will unpause now. 

But in consideration of COVID-19 conditions and restrictions, the Church will donwgrade the Manila temple from phase 2-B, allowing all living ordinances and limited proxy baptisms by appointment, to phase 1, only allowing living ordinances in priority order. Additionally, a pause has been announced for the Papeete Tahiti Temple, which had been operating in phase 3. 

It has also been noted that the Medford Oregon Temple, for which an anticipated shfit to phase 3 had been tentatively announed to occur sometime last month but has not yet actually done so, will make that shift at a yet-to-be-determined date. The Church now has a total of 11 temples which are not in a phase that allows proxy work. 6 of those are in Latin America, with 1 each in the Philippines and Asia. 

The remaining 2 temples (Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan), currently closed for renovation, have not been given any phase designation, while the districts of the other 6 temples closed for renovation have been given phase 3 designations. And with the latest adjustments announced, as of next Tuesday, 5 temples will be paused in their reopenings, with 4 of those 5 in phase 3, and 1 in phase 2 at the time their reopenings were paused. 

There are also 2 temples in phase 1, 6 in phase 2, 7 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 140 in phase 3. With 140 of the 168 temples worldwide now in phase 3, roughly 83.33% of all temples will be in phase 3. It is humbling to see how the Church has adapted to constantly-shifing COVID-19 facttors, and I gratefully testify of the inspired process whereby these reopening adjustments continue to occur. I will continue to monitor all major Church news and temple updates, and remain fully-committed to bringing you all word of those 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: Groundbreaking Date Set for the Casper Wyoming Temple

 Hello again, everyone! On the heels of yesterday's announcement about the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple, more breaking temple news has been shared this morning.  The Church has officially set a groundbreaking date for the Casper Wyoming Temple. The Church has set that event to occur on Saturday October 9, coinciding with both the Saturday following General Conference and the same date previously announced for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple.

And it appears that the city of Casper is actually 5 hours ahead of Pago Pago American Samoa, which means if both temple groundbreakings occur at the same time of day, Casper would actually be the first of the two to have a groundbreaking. Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, who serves as the president of the North America Central Area of the Church, will preside at the groundbreaking for Wyoming's second temple.

It's also worth noting that the Church has not yet released a rendering for the Casper Wyoming Temple, but that was apparently not enough of a reason for the Church to delay the Casper groundbreaking any further. If I am correct, and if this temple does have a similar or identical design as the Helena Montana Temple, then we have some idea of what Casper will look like.

On my end, I am personally grateful that my hunch proved correct. In my post from yesterday about Oregon's newest temple, I had mentioned the theory from the Church Growth Blog that temples of a similar size and design as Helena would be delayed until Helena was further along, so that the Church could ensure that the "test case" in Helena was fully working as a faster way to build temples. I am grateful the Lord has proven otherwise today.

And it gives me hope that within the next week or two, we might also see a similar announcement (a groundbreaking scheduled) for the Elko Nevada Temple( sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the fact that the Church is moving forward on the Casper Wyoming Temple also gives me hope that other North American temples that have had preliminary information anonunced would be able to also see a groundbreaking sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, this development was also covered by the Church News not long after the Newsroom announcement was made. I am more certain than ever that the final four months of this year will be chock full of temple announcements. I continue to monitor all such developments and remain committed to bringing you word thereof as all Church news updates or temple developments are shared.

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: Location, Rendering, Name, and Preliminary Details Released for the Eugene Oregon Temple (Renamed the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple)

Hello again, everyone! Within the last half hour or less, the Church has released initial details on the temple to be built in Eugene Oregon. So let's break down those official details. First of all, the official name by which that temple will now be known is the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple. Those familar with early Church history will note the significance of that name. 

The temple's location has been announced as a 10.5 acre plot of land that is at the intersection of Corporate Way and International Bouelvard in Springfield Oregon.  The temple is planned to be a single-story edifice that will be roughly 30.000 square feet in area. And in contrast to the other US temples for which preliminary details have been announced, this temple has had an exterior rendering released. 

The released rendering in question seems to incorporate similar (if not identical) designs and parameters as the temple currently under construction in Moses Lake Washington. That makes sense because both temples have been planned for construction in the Northwestern United States. Having acknwlwedged that, anyone who knows me knows thatt I have some issues with visual perception problems, so with that in mind, I think I will defer to some of you, my readers, to post any other observations you have about that temple design.

When it comes to past temple plans, longtime follower Jim Anderson, who has also extensively commented on developments I share here, has brought a lazer-like accurate assessment of new temple designs, so I would particularly defer to him. And if he dcides to weigh in here on this, I will warmly welcome any such insights he might have.

I would just add something else here. I had the opportunity to read subsequent comments that have been published on the comment threads of the newest Church Growth Blog's post. I have referred to previous commients which have been part of that discussion, particularly the one that noted that, if the Church utilizes modular components for other US temples and even some outside of the United States, that could speed up construction of all temples.

It was also mentioned that, even when the modular design is not being used, precast concrete paneles are also becoming more widely used. Subsequent comments noted in addition that if the Helena Montana Temple is being used by the Church as a "test case" for modular components, it seemed more likely that temples of a similar size which might also use the modular components, whether inside the United States, or elsewhere in the world, might not have their construction begin until the Church is farther along in the process of seeing how well such plans work with the test case of the Helena Montana Temple.

I can certainly understand the rationale behind those expressed opinions. But in general, based on what we saw last year, it seems more likely that most temples going through the approvals process should have their groundbreakings within 6-9 months of when their site locations and preliiminary information were confirmed. And particularly with the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple, since  so much information has been shared in conjunction with the initial announcement, I would be absolutely stunned if ground was not broken for that temple before the April 2022 General Conference.

In the meantime, with the Church getting further into the construction process for the Helena Montana Temple, the similarly-sized temples announced for Casper Wyoming and Elko Nevada might have renderings released and groundbreakings announced perhaps either just prior to or not long after the October 2021 General Conference. 

And until futher evidence suggests otherwise, I'm also reasonably confident that the number of temples that will have a groundbreaking this year will exceed the number of temples that had a groundbreaking last year (21), which is especially true now that the Church can resume setting specific dates for those events. With only one temple (thus far) set to have its' groundbreaking after the October 2021 General Conference, I anticipate subsequent announcements this month will set other groundbreakings to occur on that same day, or on any of the other 3 Saturdays in October.

I likewise anticipate temple groundbreakings could be set for at least 3 of the 4 Saturdays in November, and that the first 2 or 3 Saturdays in December might also see groundbreakings occur. Additionally, at this point, it's also worth noting that, barring anything every unexpected, I don't see the Church scheduling any other temple dedications or rededications to occur prior to the end of this year. But it does seem likely that subsequent announcements about temple dedications or rededications could be made before the end of this year, with the events themselves set for the early months of 2022.

Right now, there are a lot of moving parts relating to temple construction, and it's interesting to think about all that has happened in that respect up to now. I feel reasonably certain that the remaining 4 months of this year will see a high number of announcements relating to temple construction. It's also worth noting that subsequent comments on the Church Growth Blog have seen quite a few people noting that they don't think as many temples might be announced in General Conference next month as were announced in April and May 2021.

While I also understand the rationale behind that opinion, and while I agree to a certain point, as some of you mgiht recall, in advance of General Conference next month, I identified 24 specific locations throughout the Church's 22 geographical areas wherein new temples could be announced. And given the fact that all but 1 of the temples in the United States which were announced by President Nelson thus far this year have had at least preliminary information confirmed (that one temple is the Ephraim Utah Temple), I anticipate that jaround 30-35% of the temples that might be announced next month could be for locations in the United States.

And given the fact that the Church was able to move so many US temples from an announced status into the construction queue last year, I am hopeful that several more US temples and hopefully a good number of temples outside the US might also have groundbreakings occur. I continue to monitor all such developments and will bring you all word thereof here as I am able to discover all such updates.

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.