BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Late October Groundbreaking Set for the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple

Note: The initial version of this post was published at 10:45 AM, and updated between 5:30 and 7:00 PM with additional information and analysis

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has announced this morning that ground will be broken for the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple on Sunday, October 29 with Elder Valeri V. Cordon, First Counselor in the North America West Area Presidency, presiding. Further analysis on this development will be available here later today. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

Hello again, everyone! As noted above, I published an initial version of this post this morning during some downtime prior to my father-in-law's funeral. After having focused sufficient time on his funeral services and family time, I am back to provide additional commentary on the announcement. Firstly, I found the timing of the announcement slightly odd, given the fact that the groundbreaking was set for four months in the future.

Based on the fact that the Church, now has two temple groundbreakings scheduled for mid-to-late August and one now for late October, I am cautiously optimistic that the Church will be able to set at least a few other groundbreakings to occur between the August 27 groundbreaking for the Ephraim Utah Temple and the October 29 groundbreaking announced today for Oregon's third temple. 

Among the most likely potential temples for which I anticipate announcements are the Teton River and Montpelier Idaho, Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala, Belo Horizonte Brazil, Cali Colombia, Torreon and Queretaro Mexico, and Cape Town South Africa Temples. Per information from one of my Pacific Area contacts, I also anticipate action will be taken in the second half of this year towards groundbreakings for the Tarawa Kiribati, Port Vila Vanuatu, and Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temples.

But I am also keeping my eyes open for other potential announcements. As some of you might recall, a report from December 1 of last year indicated that on November 26, Elder Larry S. Kacher presented the king of the Ashante in Kumasi Ghana a picture that appeared to show the exterior rendering for the temple in that city. If the Church confirms that that is the official rendering, and provides confirmation on the location of the temple site, a groundbreaking could soon follow. 

As we also know, Expo 2020 wrapped up a month or so ago in Dubai UAE, so the transfer of the property to the Church could occur in the coming months, enabling a groundbreaking for the temple in that city to follow shortly after the confirmation of the specific location and exterior rendering. And with sites reportedly also acquired for the Managua Nicaragua, Lagos Nigeria, and Kaoshiung Taiwan Temples, groundbreakings for each of those temples could be forthcoming soon.

In particular relation to the Managua Nicaragua Temple, the last time I heard from my Central American contact (Patzicia) here, there were issues the Church was trying to work around relating to that temple. I don't quite know whether those issues have since been resolved, but I'm hopeful we might soon see action taken on that temple. As I've also mentioned, any of the other 10 temples in the United States in October 2021 and April 2022 could potentially have announcements made as well.

And for the remaining 29 other temples announced between April 2018 and April of this year, at least 8 others (Budapest Hungary, Brussels Belgium, Vienna Austria, Beira Mozambique, Singapore Republic of Singapore, Antananarivo Madagascar, Culiacan Mexico, and Vitoria Brazil) have had at least 1 potential location identified in photographic galleries. 

If any of those locations are confirmed as the spots for those temples, the announcement of groundbreaking arrangements could occur at any time. It's also worth mentioning that, in view of the fact that there are now 6 temples with full-scale construction pending, I am hoping that at least a couple of them might soon have full-scale efforts begin. 

Having shared these notes, I also wanted to mention that, in view of today's announcement, even with no other groundbreakings currently scheduled, the announcement about the groundbreaking for Oregon's third temple means that, by the time that is held on October 29, the Church will have broken ground for as many  temples then as it had last year on December 11. 

And if the Church is able to schedule 9 or 10 more groundbreakings prior to the end of this year, the groundbreakings conducted in 2022 will match or exceed the number of temple groundbreakings held two years ago. For purposes of comparison, I'm again providing links for the side-by-side comparisons of temple groundbreakings in 2020 vs. 2021 and the now-updated 2021 vs. 2022. I will be interested to see what other temple developments might merit an announcement from the Church in the coming second half of this year.

Just by way of reminder, I will be posting my report on temple construction progress during the first half of 2022 in the early-morning hours when June 30 becomes July 1. I also continue to monitor all other Church news reports and any additional temple construction updates and will be sure to pass the word of those developments along as they cross my radar in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.