Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, last week, we had two temple reopening updates released on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the first comment I posted yesterday, I indicated that, with no new reopening updates reported, I was unsure whether the Church would share such a report later this week, or if they would hold steady for the time being with the information posted Wednesday.
This morning, I am pleased to report on the latest update from the Church, which was released by the Church News a short time ago. That update indicates that with additional phase 4 transitions that occurred yesterday and today, the number of temples making the transition to phase 4 now officially exceeds 100. As of Tuesday April 26, the following 23 temples that began transitioning to phase 4 included:
13 temples in Mexico (Cuidad Juarez, Colonia Juárez Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Hermosillo Sonora, Merida, Mexico City, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Tampico, Tijuana, Tuxtla Guitierrez, Veracruz, and Villahermosa Mexico); 7 in the United States (Meridian and Pocatello Idaho, Logan Utah, Manhattan New York, Nauvoo Illinois, St. Louis Missouri, and Star Valley Wyoming); and 3 elsewhere in the world (Papeete Tahiti, Port-au-Prince Haiti, and Santo Domingo Dominican Republic).
The following 3 temples in the Western United States began transitioning to phase 4 effective today: Fresno California, Medford Oregon, and Seattle Washington. As a result of the changes to these 26 temples, the status of all Church temples now stands as follows, effective today: 8 are closed for major renovations (with all 8 designated as phase 3, allowing patrons in those districts to schedule living or proxy work at the nearest phase 3 temples open to them).
Phase 3 operations at the Kyiv Ukraine Temple remain paused/suspended due to the ongoing Russian invasion. The Suva Fiji Temple remains in phase 1. And with 0 temples in phase 2 or 2-B, there are now 51 temples still in phase 3, and the remaining 109 are now in phase 4 (returning to normal operations). These changes can be confirmed in the area-by-area status tracker.
The Church remains committed to a carefully-planned, cautiously-coordinated effort to move all 170 temples worldwide towards resuming normal pre-pandemic operations. As I've watched that process unfold, I have become even more convinced of and profoundly grateful for the prophetic foresight that continues to guide this process. In the coming weeks, I will be interested to see if future updates are published on Monday or Tuesday, or if the announcement today shifts those updates to Wednesday.
I continue to monitor any and all Church news updates and newly-reported temple developments, and remain committed to bringing word of those to you all here as I become aware thereof. 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 feedback offered is consistent with the established guidelines.
I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.
The Church News has shared the following additional updates:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022-04-27/13-ways-the-holy-ghost-helps-answer-the-invitation-to-hear-him-byu-pathway-devotional-brian-ashton-252168
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022-04-27/music-therapy-mental-health-europe-refugees-amar-foundation-windsor-dialogue-252140
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News has shared one additional update:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022-04-27/relief-society-women-around-the-world-meet-together-perform-service-throughout-march-and-april-251947
My thanks once again to you all.
Good news as more temples open more fully
ReplyDeleteChris, I apologize for my delayed acknowledgement of your comment. I've not been feeling well in the past 24 hours or so. I have been pleasantly surprised at the timing and prophetic foresight that has been attending this gradual return to normal operations for so many temples. I am hopeful there will be at least one additional update in that respect every week until most (or all) operating temples can return to normal. My understanding is that the one temple likely to lag for a while before reopening in any phase is the temple in Kyiv Ukraine. Thus far, I have been grateful to see that the current warzones have not come near that temple. I am likewise grateful that President Nelson is the prophet right now. As a former physician, he's had the unique oppportunity to direct these carefully-planned and cautiously coordinated returns to normal operations, and the process has been inspiriing to behold. Chris, you've been a good friend and longtime loyal follower of this blog, so I wanted to extend my ongoing thanks for your readership and for weighing in as often as you do. Hope all is well with you and yours. Stay safe out there.
DeleteHello again, everyone! I mentioned in my reply to L. Chris Jones that I've not been feeling well in the last 24 hours. That is why this is the first time today that I'm passing along updates from the Newsroom and the Church News. The latest VIP/Media tours for the Washington D.C. Temple have been led by Elders Quentin L. Cook and D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostlles. The two apostolic seatmates are both former attorneys, and Elder Christofferson was a young law clerk to US District Court Judge John J. Sirica at the time he (Sirica) presided over the Watergate trials that eventually resulted in the resignation of Richard M. Nixon. The two senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were privileged to lead tours of the Washington D.C. Temple.
ReplyDeleteElder Christofferson led a tour including 16 of the 100 current United States Senators. And Elder Cook had the opportunity to lead tours for several current (and former, I believe) US Supreme Court Justices, their law clerks, and their family members, through the temple. Additionally, several international ambassadors assigned to embassies in the D.C. area were also hosted. The Newsroom provided a report on that:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/apostles-government-officials-dc-temple
And another report from the Newsroom features reactions from those who participated in the VIP/Media tours:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/dc-temple-invited-guests-social-posts
Several of those prominent guests took to social media afterwards to share what they had seen and felt. And a new Church video has been released by the Church News. It features Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (who chairs the Temple and Family History Executive Council) and his wife, Sister Susan K. Bednar, along with the project manager for the Washington D.C. Temple renovation, who spoke about the significance of the light from and the lack of shadows within the temple walls:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/church-news-videos/2022-04-28/video-washington-dc-temple-rennovation-bednar-rededication-light-lack-of-shadows-252329
Two other Church News reports speak for themselves:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2022-04-28/ashley-hatch-washington-temple-soccer-spirit-nwsl-byu-252268
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2022-04-28/global-youth-service-day-justserve-gather-and-serve-their-communities-252341
Additionally, the Church News shared biographical sketches for the incoming new leaders of the Santiago Chile and Tuxtla Guitierrez Mexico Temples:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2022-04-28/new-temple-presidents-matrons-called-santiago-chile-tuxtla-gutierrez-mexico-252353
The total number of temples for which new leaders have been featured now totals 64. In view of the March 25 announcement by the First Presidency that 72 temples would have new leaders start serving later this year, there are only 8 temples remaining for which new leaders have not yet been featured: Belem Brazil (first leaders TBA), Fresno California, Manhattan New York, Panama City Panama, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Quetzaltenango Guatemala, Seattle Washington, and Tegucigalpa Honduras.
The current presidents of the Detroit Michigan and Port-au-Prince Haiti will continue to serve beyond the 3-year mark. Aind since the current leaders of the Columbus Ohio, Hamilton New Zealand, Mesa Arizona, and Tokyo Japan Temples had their service interrupted by extensive renovations, the Church will have those current leaders continue to serve for at least the next year. And the progress (or lack thereof) on 9 current temples anticipated to be dedicated by the mid-point of next year will determine how quickly the first leaders for each might soon be announced:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J-KR6Hdv4ElYa8ZxBn6OqGWSEMcZxi3GaLcCoYTrJec/edit?usp=sharing
My thanks once again to you all.