Hello again, everyone! Throughout this week, there have been periodic changes in the number, ordering, or time-frames for the completion of new temples under construction. As a result of the changes made in the last couple of days, I have prepared an updated copy of my temple construction progress report. I am pleased to be able to share that with you.
On my end, I also continue to minotor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will be happy to pass those along to you all as I receive such updates. In the meantime, 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! The Church News has reported on the calls of 21 new stake presidencies:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2021-10-23/read-about-these-21-recently-called-stake-presidencies-around-the-world-230249
The Newsroom has also provided some key updates. The first notes that the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square is getting ready to resume participating in next week's all-new broadcast of "Music and the Spoken Word":
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tabernacle-choir-at-temple-square-resumes-live-sunday-broadcasts
The Wyoming governor, along with several other state and local representatives, met with Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, who serves as President of the North America Central Area, to take a tour of the historic Church sites throughout Wyoming:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/wyoming-governor-visits-martins-cove
And the Newsroom has also reported on Elder David A. Bednar's visit to the Middle Eastern nations of Amman and Jordan. In addition to being accompanied by his wife, Susan, two members of the Relief Society General Presidency (Sisters Jean B. Bingham and Sharon Eubank), and Elder Randy D. Funk, a GA Seventy currently serving as First Counselor in the Middle East/Africa North Area. It is also worth noting that the area president, Elder Anthony D. Perkins, is currently overseeing that area while battling cancer, so that is why he is not physically with the group in their tours. Additionally, the second counselor in that area presidency, Elder Jeffrey H. Singer, is an area seventy who lives and works in the United Arab Emirates, so I imagine he will accompanny the general leaders on some parts of their tour as well. Here is that report:
https://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-bednar-ministers-in-amman-jordan
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church has published four new articles, each of which speaks for themselves:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-23/martins-cove-wyoming-governor-visit-history-helping-230604
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-23/music-and-the-spoken-word-our-songs-of-loudest-praise-230376
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-23/tabernacle-choir-to-broadcast-sunday-first-live-music-and-the-spoken-word-pandemic-230569
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2021-10-23/read-about-these-21-recently-called-stake-presidencies-around-the-world-230249
And Elder David A. Bednar is apparently visiting the Middle East/Africa North Areas of the Church:
https://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-bednar-ministers-in-amman-jordan
Elder Bednar is traveling in company with his wife, Sister Susan K. Bednar, Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham and her husband Bruce; Sister Sharon Eubank, the First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency; and Elder Randy D. Funk, who serves as the First Counselor in the Middle East/Africa North Area Presidency of the Church. The area president, Elder Anthony D. Perkins, is currently dealing with cancer, so that explains his absence at this event. Elder Funk's wife, Andrea, is also in attendance, and I believe it is safe to assume they will be joined by Elder Jeffrey H. Singer and his wife Sandra Mackay. Elder Singer has the distinction of being the only member of the Middle East/Africa North Area Presidency who is a permanent resident of the UAE:
https://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-jeffrey-h-singer
I would just interject a thought here: Elder Randy D. Funk, the current First Counselor in this area presidency. will turn 70 next year, and will thus likely be released from editing Church magazines and his service as First Counselor in the Middle East/Africa North Area. In preparation for that, Elder Singer could be sustained as a GA Seventy in April and be the permanently-statinoed GA Seventy there. Just a thought.
Here is the article about Elder Bednar's Middle East/Africa North Area ministry:
https://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-bednar-ministers-in-amman-jordan
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! it has been noted by the Church Temples site that the open house has concluded for both the Winnipeg Manitoba and Pocatello Idaho Temples:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/winnipeg-manitoba-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/
Tomorrow night will mark the week-in-advance devotional prior to the dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple one week from tomorrow (on Sunday). My thanks once again to you all.
On this Sabbath day, the Church News has shared the following additional reports, which speak for themselves:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-23/genesis-group-commemorates-50-years-building-faith-jesus-christ-unity-230624
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-10-24/orson-hyde-dedicated-jerusalem-holy-land-180-years-230492
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-23/martins-cove-wyoming-governor-visit-history-helping-230604
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-10-24/week-in-review-president-nelson-elder-uchtdorf-heartland-counsel-hollands-visit-southern-utah-byuhawaii-230495
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-24/tabernacle-choir-music-spoken-word-live-broadcast-pandemic-miracles-230687
My thanks once again to you all.
The Newsroom has shared the following additional updates, which also speak for themselves:
Deletehttps://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-bednar-ministers-in-amman-jordan
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/genesis-group-50-years
And after some additional thought and prayer on my end, I've made additional revisions to the latest published edition of my temple construction progress report. Among other things, I moved the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple further down on my list, below all the other temples for which COVID-19 is not anticipated to cause delays in their arrangements. Although I hope I am incorrect in my conclusion here, unless and until it is safe to reschedule the opening of the Rio temple, my research shows the earliest that could happen might be between the latter months of 2022 or possibiy the early months of 2023. I hope I'm wrong in that assessment, but COVID-19 remains a huge variable in Rio de Janeiro state.
As a result of that, I anticipate that all of the temples in the construction queue from Quito Ecuador to Layton Utah could be dedicated before the Church is able to get Brazil's newest completed temple in operation. Again, I hope I'm wrong.
But I additionally realized there were some unresolved issues with the numbering of temples in the current order in the construction queue, and that I had alluded to (but not detailed) the fact that plans to renovate the Logan Utah Temple are underway and expected to begin soon.
So the Logan Utah Temple is now on the list of those renovations that are planned. I don't personally think the Church will wait on those renovations until after the Smithfield Utah Temple is built and dedicated, so we cna probably look for something more official on that renovation at some point following the April 2022 General Conference.
Hopefully this information is helpful to all who read it here. My thanks once again to you all.
Just as a reminder, the link at which my updated temple construction progress report can be found follows below:
Deletehttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1RHVZs5Vef7OGaMPmrnerupAPtvkoM04BZ0UzbjHpG1Y/edit?usp=sharing
I wanted to explain a major change I made to the ordering of the data in the sections for temples under construction and anticipated to dedicated between now and early 2023: My research shows that Rio de Janeiro is still staggering under the effects of COVID-19 variants. If current projections hold, it may be early-to-mid next year (think February-May) before the Church can even think about announcing a revised schedule for the open house and dedication.
With that in mind, I've moved that temple below all others anticipated to be completed in late 2022 or late 2022-early 2023. I hope it won't take that long for the Church to actually dedicate that temple, but I'd prefer to be safe rather than sorry, so until further adjustments indicate anything otherwise, I'm reasonably confident in claiming it will probably be a while. My thanks once again to you all.
The weekend newscasts have been reporting on a significantly-large storm that is expected to batter the Western United States at various points this week. While I can't say this with any certainty, it does seem like a possibility that any action taken on the groundbreakings for the Farmington New Mexico, Elko Nevada, Willamette Valley Oregon, and Yorba Linda California Temples. More to come on that as I find out more. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
DeleteSorry. I didn't complete my thought there. What I meant to say is, that for the 4 Western US temples, the factor of the horrendous storm might be enough to deter groundbreaking arrangements for those 4 locations. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteElder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided over this evening's youth devotional held in conjunction with the open house and dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2021-10-24/elder-gong-duncan-wong-winnipeg-canada-temple-youth-devotional-230438
Elder Gong was accompanied by his wife Sister Susan P. Lindsay; Elder Kevin R. Duncan, Executive Director of the Church's Temple Department, accompanied by his wife, Nancy; and Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, the current First Counselor in the North America Central Area Presidency and his wife, Carol.
Still not sure why the devotional in question was held tonight rather than on the night before the temple's dedication, but will look forward to the report on that temple dedication next weekend, and to the report on the dedication of the Pocatello Idaho Temple one week after that. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Maybe Elder Gong has a Ward trunk-or-treat on the 30th. Lol
DeleteStranger things have happened. It did occur to me that the week in advance youth devotional might become a new tradition. But I don't think it's been explicitly spelled out. Thanks, Scott, for the chuckle. Easily made my day.
DeleteAs another week begins, I sincerely hope we will see one (or more) temple opening/reopening announcement, one (or more) temple groundbreaking announcement and/or more official confirmations of the initial details for other announced temples.
ReplyDeleteGiven the fact that the Church has not reported any groundbreaking ceremonies since October 6, I'm hopeful that one or more groundbreakings are set soon.
In the meantime, the first new updates for this new workweek have been published by the Newsroom and the Church News:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/historic-nauvoo-preservation-award-landmarks-illinois
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-10-25/historic-nauvoo-temple-district-recognized-with-preservation-award-landmark-illinois-230770
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-25/national-survey-latter-day-saints-deeper-feelings-community-trust-connection-230453
My thanks once again to you all.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-10-25/historic-nauvoo-temple-district-recognized-with-preservation-award-landmark-illinois-230770
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-25/national-survey-latter-day-saints-deeper-feelings-community-trust-connection-230453
Hello again, everyone! Within the last 16 hours, 5 updates have been shared by the Church News. The first four speak for themselves as updates on the ministry efforts of 8 general Church leaders, all but 3 of whom are members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-10-30/president-ballard-elder-holland-cook-british-isles-missionaries-jesus-christ-231268
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-10-29/elder-bednar-president-bingham-eubank-ministering-middle-east-northern-africa-231320
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-10-30/elder-christofferson-6-reasons-societies-should-protect-religious-freedom-231474
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-10-30/sister-aburto-invites-unity-faith-love-religious-freedom-forum-231489
The final update (published yesterday afternoon) was not reported here before now due to some minor health issues I've been dealing with that have wiped me out quite a bit.
DeleteThat update constitutes the latest edition of "This Week on Social":
.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-29/social-media-great-britain-middle-east-apostles-231392
In addition to President Henry B/ Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, the following members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were also featured this week: Acting President M. Russell Ballard (from whom 2 posts were shared); and Elders Jeffrey R. Holland, David A. Bednar, and Quentin L. Cook As an additional note of reference to Elder Bednar, although he has had apostolic oversight for the Middle East/Africa North Area for the last couple of years, his ongoing tour of that area now marks his first personal visit to the nations within that area.
The following general officers of the Church likewise had content featured: Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham and her Second Counselor, Sister Reyna I. Aburto; Sister Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency; Primary General President Sister Camille N. Johnson and her First Counselor, Sister Susan H. Porter; and Sunday School General President Brother Mark L. Pace and his First Counselor, Brother Milton Camargo.
Also, by way of general information, I found a notification online that the groundbreaking for the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple will take place at 10:00 AM local time this morning. Due to the fact that Pago Pago is 5 hours behind Utah time, the groundbreaking will only occur at 3:00 PM here in Utah. I will cover the report on that whenever it is made available. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd apparently while I was preparing my previous comments today, the Church News also published the transcript of the "Spoken Word" message that is set to be given this weekend during the traditional Choir broadcast:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-30/music-and-the-spoken-word-he-simply-went-to-work-231214
My thanks once again to you all.
Again, not sure whether or not we'll see a report on the groundbreaking this afternoon or evening, but a rebroadcast of that event is planned to air through Facebook at 1:00 AM MDT on the morning of November 1:
Deletehttps://fb.me/e/3pHCVpTwl
My thanks once again to you all.
The Newsroom has reported that Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham and her First Counselor Sister Sharon Eubank have visited a refugee camp in Iraq:
Deletehttps://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/relief-society-leaders-visit-refugee-camp-middle-east
My thanks once again to you all.
At some point this evening, a news release from the Pacific edition of the Newsroom confirmed that the groundbreaking took place this morning as scheduled for the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple:
Deletehttps://news-nz.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-and-community-leaders-break-ground-for-temple-in-american-samoa
My thanks once again to you all.
This afternoon, the Church News covered the groundbreaking for the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2021-10-31/ground-broken-temple-pago-pago-american-samoa-231624
And Church News editor Sister Sarah Jane Weaver has provided a look at how the Lord has amplified the ministry of the 3 current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who served full-time missions in Great Britain (Acting President m. Russell Ballard and Elders Jeffrey R. Holland and Quentin L. Cook):
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-10-31/sarah-jane-weaver-ballard-holland-cook-lord-amplifies-missionary-miracles-in-britiain-england-231591
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News has just provided an article covering the dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2021-10-31/winnipeg-temple-canada-elder-gong-dedication-covid-19-prairie-crocus-231656
An updated official release from the Newsroom (complete with photographs and at least one video) are likely to be released within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, the Church has now dedicated the 169th temple in this dispensation. There have been recent comments which have come to light indicating that the unprecedented season of temple building is just barely beginning.
These statements (traced back by second- or third-hand accounts to statements by apostles) have continued. There was a recent comment indicating the Church hoped to dedicate 70 more temples in the next 5 years. That suggests a significant surge in the queue of temples announced and in various stages of construction, and may point to a period of time where, in due course, multiple temples could be dedicated several weekends of each year.
The Church Growth Blog's recent comment threads first detailed the prospect of 70 temples being dedicated in the next 5 years. That means the Church will be looking at having at least 240 operating temples by sometime in 2026. And if that milestone is reached, then it's logical to assume that there could also be at least 300 dedicated temples in operation by the bicentennial anniversary of the reestablishment of Christ's Church. In view of today's temple dedication, the remaining 131 temples (to get the total 300) would need to be dedicated in the 8.43 years between today and that day.
That could be done if, during the average year, a minimum of 15.66 temples is dedicated per year during that time. While COVID-19 is the huge variable for the time being, I could see the Church meeting (or even exceeding) that average, once the proper traction is built up to lead into that.
As a matter of general information, by the time the end of next year rolls around, there will be a minimum of 11 (and a maximum of 17) more temples dedicated. As the world puts COVID-19 behind it, it's anticipated that the trajectory of temple construction will be able to proceed full steam ahead.
I will be sure to pass along the Newsroom report and resources once those are provided. For now, my thanks once again to you all.