Hello again, everyone! As anticipated, because yesterday was Presidents' Day in the United States, today, the First Presidency made their weekly major temple announcements. Included this week are a rename for the Provo Utah Temple, the exterior rendering released and groundbreaking set for the Teton River Idaho Temple, and the site location and preliminary information released for the Jacksonville Florida Temple. There's a lot to get into here, so let's dive right in:
The Provo Utah Temple, which will close for renovation on Saturday, will now be known as the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple. The release states: "The Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple will be built to current seismic codes and have reconfigured rooms and energy-efficient electrical, heating, and plumbing systems." And of course, there is also the redesign, which will see its' exterior changed to match its' sister temple in Orem. It occurred to me to wonder if this name change may be in advance of a potential third temple coming to the Provo area. But the Rock Canyon name makes sense. I am grateful for this news.
We now move on to the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking. As mentioned, it will be one of the largest in the Church. I heard a rumor through the Church Growth Blog that this announcement was forthcoming, so it's nice to have that confirmed. The rendering reminds me of other temples of a similar size. I will defer to any of you who would like to comment more on the exterior rendering of this temple. In the meantime, the groundbreaking for this temple has been set to occur on Saturday, June 1, with Elder Ricardo P. Gimenez presiding.
I think we will likely see other groundbreakings take place between the March 9 groundbreaking of the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple and the June 1 groundbreaking for the Teton River Idaho Temple as announced today. As to which temples might have a groundbreaking between now and then, that's not for me to say. But the good news is that I think other groundbreakings will be announced between today and General Conference weekend, so I look forward to seeing what happens there.
We now move on to the site location and preliminary information for the Jacksonville Florida Temple, which was originally announced in October 2022. A 6.6-acre site located at 3323 Loretto Road, Jacksonville, Florida, will be the home to a single-story, 29,000-square-foot edifice. There are now only 44 announced temples that have not had any official information confirmed yet.
The Provo Utah Temple being renamed took me by complete surprise, as did the release of information about the Jacksonville Flordia Temple. As I noted earlier, I had anticipated the groundbreaking would soon be announced for the Teton River Idaho Temple, and the fact that it will be a larger temple means it makes perfect sense that a groundbreaking announced for it now will only take place in early June.
I am grateful for all of this news and the opportunity to pass it along. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. 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.
I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
The Church News has covered the renaming of the Provo Utah Temple, the groundbreaking date and rendering for the Teton River Idaho Temple. and the site location for the Jacksonville Florida Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteWith the renaming of the Provo Utah Temple, it makes me wonder if we will get renamings for the Lima Peru, Sao Paulo Brazil, Guatemala City Guatemala, Santiago Chile, Buenos Aires Argentina, and Mexico City Mexico Temples. I would imagine St. George would remain, as it is a historic temple and is already distinct from Red Cliffs.
ReplyDeleteI don't think so, at least not immediately. I think Provo's renaming has more to do with either making a distinction between the original edifice and the rebuilt one or perhaps preparing for an eventual third temple in that area than it does with suggesting other temples will be renamed. Of course, with other temples announced for the Lima Peru, Sao Paulo Brazil, Guatemala City Guatemala, Santiago Chile, Buenos Aires Argentina and Mexico City Mexico areas getting one or more additional temples, the odds are likely that each of the originals will be renovated at some point. Could that include a name change? I personally doubt that. But anything's possible. Thanks, Noah, for taking time to comment.
DeleteI'm still surprised at the estimated size (130,000 sq ft) of the Teton River Temple. Mostly because of the close proximity to the Rexburg temple(and even relatively close to Idaho Falls), and the small size of the growing but mostly rural community, and that we have not built a temple over 100,000 sq ft in almost 3 decades (about 28 years). Are we. Anticipating lots of growth in Rexburg and BYU-Idaho?
ReplyDeleteNot sure. There must be a reason. My guess is that the Brethren must know something we don't. Thanks, Chris!
DeleteIn a new announcement from the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, the third leg of the Choir's ongoing multi-year Global Ministry Tour has been announced. The Choir will travel to and perform in Florida and Georgia in the Southeastern United States. The Choir also announced that, going forward, there would be two legs of their Global Ministry Tour per year. Though the reports don't state this explicitly, I am assuming that, of the two legs per year, one will be foreign (outside the United States) and one will be domestic (within the US). Other than these notes, the details speak for themselves.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Church News has shared two new reports. My thanks once again to you all.
Not sure how I missed this, but yesterday, the First Presidency released their 2024 Easter message. Also, a reminder has been posted about the March 17 Relief Society devotional, which will feature messages Church from Church President Russell M. Nelson and the Relief Society General Presidency (President Camille N. Johnson and Sisters J. Anette Dennis and Kristin M. Yee). And one new report has been shared by the Church News. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd an update has been noted on the status of the Bahia Blanca Argentina Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Thursday, the Church News has shared a few new reports: Church News editor Sister Sarah Jane Weaver describes what she learned about building bridges from the dedication of the McAllen Texas Temple last year. A JustServe volunteer has sewn several wedding gowns into tiny angel robes for babies who either do not come home at all or who are stuck in the hospital for a while. And some of you may recall my theorizing that the Church would likely not share any news about new temple leaders for this year until they were almost done sharing the biographies of new mission leader couples. Turns out I was wrong about that: 8 new temple leaders have been featured by the Church News today.
DeleteThe new temple leaders will begin their service either in September or when the temples are dedicated. Included among the 8 couples are 1 branch president, temple ordinance worker, and former area seventy (Holgar Detlef Rakow); 1 current institute teacher and former area seventy (Sergio Luis Carboni); 1 current counselor in the presidency of a different temple than the one for which he will assume oversight; and 4 temple sealers (1 is a patriarch, 1 is a transient bishop, 1 is an Elders' Quorum presient, and 1 is a ward temple and family history ); and 1 temple ordinance worker and stake financial auditor. Each of these presidents and matorons have served in other significant roles, both indiviually and as a couple.
Among those called are the first leaders for the Salta Argentina and Tallahassee Florida Temples. As previously mentioned, I have created a document tracking these updates. With today's updates accounted for, aside from the 8 temples for which new leaders have been identified, the leaders of 1 temple were identified last year but have not yet been featured in the Church News; 16 other new temples may also have their first leaders identified by the end of this year, and a minimum of 61 currently-operating temples may also have new leaders identified.
That list will be continuously updated as new biographies of temple leaders are shared in the coming weeks. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
The Church News has reported on the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square's arrival in the Philippines. And a new Member Tools feature enables teachers and leaders in each organization to take attendance virtually. Until now, that permission was only available to organizational presidencies and secretaries. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd the Church News has also shared what Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a member of the Church, recently said about disagreeing better when those you work with don't see eye-to-eye on any issue. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Friday, the Church News has posted 16 more biographies of incoming mission leaders. With these 16 reported, of the 144 new mission leader couples called this year, only 32 have not been featured in the Church News. If the Church News continues publishing 16 biographies per week, they will be done covering those biographies 2 weeks from today.
ReplyDeleteAmong the latest leaders featured, as repeatedly noted, the couples have all served extensively, both separately and together, in a wide range of Church callings. Of particular note are 1 who is serving as a mission president for the second time; 1 current counselor in a mission presidency; 1 current stake president; 1 former stake president; 2 current counselors in stake presidencies; 1 stake addiction recovery specialist; 2 current bishops (1 is also a temple worker); 2 current Elders' Quorum Presidents; 1 ward mission leader; 1 branch president; 1 temple ordinance worker; and 1 current Sunday School and institute teacher.
Official information has been released about the upcoming BYU Women's Conference, set to occur in early May. And a new Church news videos commemorates the anniversary of early Latter-day Saints' exodus from Nauvoo. My thanks once again to you all.
Young Single Adult events have recently been held worldwide. Elder Kyle S. McKay, Church Historian and Recorder, examined the ongoing restoration at a recent event at the Church History Museum. And the latest edition of "This Week on Social" has been published.
DeleteThe following general leaders had content featured in the latest installment: President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency; Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson; the entire Relief Society General Presidency (President Johnson and her respective First and Second Counselors, Sisters J. Anette Dennis and Kristin M. Yee); Sister Tamara W. Runia, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency (via Young Women Worldwide); Sister Amy A. Wright, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency; Young Men General President Steven J. Lund (via Young Men Worldwide) and his Second Counselor, Brother Michael T. Nelson.
My thanks once again to you all.
Additional changes have been made to the general completion estimates of temples anticipated to be completed in 2024 and 2025. The relevant queue had looked like this:
DeleteMid-to-late 2024: Alabang Philippines; Farmington New Mexico
Late 2024: Auckland New Zealand; Syracuse Utah; Burley Idaho
Late 2024-early 2025: Elko Nevada; Grand Junction Colorado
That queue now looks like this:
Mid-to-late 2024: Farmington New Mexico
Late 2024: Alabang Philippines; Burley Idaho;
Late 2024-early 2025: Auckland New Zealand; Syracuse Utah; Elko Nevada; Grand Junction Colorado
And status updates have been shared on the Farmington New Mexico, Alabang Philippines, and Burley Idaho Temples. My thanks once again to you all.
This just in regarding the Heber Valley Utah Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Saturday, the Newsroom and the Church News have provided updates on both Elder Neil L. Andersen's apostolic ministry in the Philippines and the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square's tour in the same nation. The Church has also donated medical supplies to hospitals in Asia. And the text of the message that will be given during tomorrow's rebroadcasted "Music & the Spoken Word" that originally aired on October 15, 2023. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Sabbath Day, the Newsroom continued to report on the ministry trip of Elders David A. Bednar and Patrick Kearon in the Africa West Area. Additionally, the Church News has reported on the ministry of Acting President Jeffrey R. Holland and Elder Dale G. Renlund in the Washington D. C. area. The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square continues its' ministry trip in the Philippines. The Church News shares the unique connection between two missionary companions in Ghana. The top 9 developments from the Church News this last week were recapped in the latest edition of "In Case You Missed It: Week in Reveiew". And with the Church set to study 2 Nephi 11-19 this week, teachings from Church leaders and scholars highlight the importance of those passages. My thanks once again to you all.
Delete