Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the First Presidency announced the next major temple construction update. Today's announcement includes the opening arrangements for the Salvador Brazil Temple, the exterior rendering released and groundbreaking scheduled for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple, and a groundbreaking scheduled for the Austin Texas Temple. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's jump right in!
We start with the opening arrangements for the Salvador Brazil Temple. A media day will be held on Monday, August 19, followed by VIP tours the next two days. From Thursday, August 22-Saturday September 7 (except for the Sundays of August 25 and September 1). The temple dedication will follow on Sunday, October 20, with Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presiding at the two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM UTC (which, unless I am mistaken, is 3:00 AM and 6:30 AM MDT).
I will just note here that the Salvador Brazil Temple dedication comes after the previously announced dedication for the Casper Wyoming Temple, which suggests that no other temple might be dedicated before Casper, and I had hoped one or two other temple dedications would happen before that. I had heard through the grapevine that there were some bureaucratic issues that were delaying the announcement of opening arrangements for this temple, so I'm glad to hear that has been resolved.
I also seem to recall that Elder Andersen served in the presidency of whichever Brazil Area covered Salvador, so this is yet another example of President Nelson recognizing those connections and sending an apostle to a dedication that holds personal significance to them. As a result of today's announcement, I have updated my document showing apostolic temple dedication assignments.
We now move on. The site for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple site was announced on November 28, 2022. The exterior rendering of the temple largely speaks for itself. I will just note that I see a lot of Spanish architectural elements in the rendering, and with that, I will leave it to others more qualified than I am to comment on the specifics of the rendering. The groundbreaking for Bolivia's second temple will be held on June 8, 2024, with Elder Jorge F. Zeballos, the president of the South America Northwest Area, presiding.
Given the size of the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple, I estimate that construction will take roughly 2 years to complete, give or take a few months. We now move on to the groundbreaking for the Austin Texas Temple. Previous reports suggested that that groundbreaking would occur in June. However, it is set to occur on Saturday, August 17, 2024, with Elder Michael A. Dunn, currently the Second Counselor in the North America Southwest Area Presidency, who is set to become the First Counselor in that presidency by the time the groundbreaking occurs.
I likewise project that the construction of the Austin Texas Temple will take roughly 2 years. I can't remember who it was at the moment, but I distinctly remember someone in General Conference urging us to pray for the approvals and construction of temples worldwide. That is something I would likewise strongly encourage from my readers. As a result of today's announcements, there are now 4 temples with scheduled groundbreakings, and I have a feeling more will follow.
The Church seems to have some pattern of alternating site announcements, exterior renderings, and groundbreaking announcements, but I am not sure what that pattern is. The announcements today have given me much to think about, and will necessitate more updates to the files of information that I keep. I will try to remember to link to those updated files here as those updates and adjustments are made.
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.
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The Church News also published articles about the Salvador Brazil Temple dedication and the two groundbreakings announced today. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteI have updated my document showing a side-by-side comparison of temple groundbreakings in 2023 vs. 2024. As that document reflects, the Church is actually ahead this year of where they were last year. In 2023, the sixth temple groundbreaking was held on October 7. This year, the sixth temple groundbreaking will take place on August 17, more than 7 weeks earlier than the sixth groundbreaking last year. And as I mentioned, I anticipate more groundbreaking announcements to occur in the coming months, so the calendar of temple events should be jam-packed for the foreseeable future. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteNot sure when it was last updated, but I just noticed that there are 2 parking locations for the Tarawa Kiribati Temple on Google Maps. Hopefully this means that a groundbreaking will be announced soon. In less than 2 weeks, it will have been 3 years since the site was announced.
ReplyDeleteNoah, thanks for these observations. I know the site for the first temple in Kiribati had been cleared, but the fact that it now has 2 parking locations also gives me hope that a groundbreaking for that temple will soon be announced. As I mentioned, I have at least 10 temples I'm keeping my eye on for a potential groundbreaking in the near term. Tarawa is one of those. I think we will see more groundbreakings announced this month, though if I had to venture a guess, I'd project that the next such announcement won't be until May 20 or possibly May 28 (since May 27 is Memorial Day). Thanks again for letting me know about this development, Noah! I always appreciate hearing from you.
DeleteI have also noticed that the placement of the Queretaro Mexico Temple icon on Google Maps is incorrect. The Bacolod Philippines Temple had an incorrect placement for a long time, and was only corrected a couple of months ago.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Maps is somewhat notorious for incorrect geographical placements, unfortunately. We once used Google Maps to try to find a doctor's office in a somewhat remote part of northern Utah County. Google Maps prompted us to the presumed location, but we couldn't find the office. When we called them to help us find them, it turned out that they were in the opposite direction from the one we had taken. My understanding is that that's not exclusively a Google Maps issue. Any website or app used for navigation can have flaws like that. It certainly isn't helpful that Google Maps shows the wrong placement for certain temples. I'm glad they have now added an option to provide feedback on such things. Thanks again, Noah!
DeleteOn this Tuesday, the Church News has provided 3 new reports. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteOf the 49 temples without any official confirmation, 13 have sites identified on Google Maps:
ReplyDelete1. Beira Mozambique (even includes a site plan)
2. Monrovia Liberia
3. Naga Philippines
4. Santiago Philippines
5. Retalhuleu Guatemala
6. Calabar Nigeria
7. Cape Coast Ghana
8. Luanda Angola
9. Laoag Philippines
10. Kahului Hawaii
11. Fairbanks Alaska
12. Uturoa French Polynesia (honestly surprised the official name isn’t Uturoa Tahiti)
13. Maracaibo Venezuela
The Beira Mozambique Temple site is the only one that appears reasonable to assume will be the actual site, while the others are likely candidate sites or mere speculation.
I am a little surprised that there hasn't been any official confirmation on the Missoula, Tacoma, and Springfield temples yet.
And the Cody Wyoming Temple site remains the only official site that does not have a location on Google Maps, likely due to litigation (but this hasn't prevented the apearances of the Heber Valley, Lone Mountain, and McKinney temples on the site). There hasn't been any update since February regarding the ongoing lawsuit.
I guess I overlooked a little bit. There's also a site for the Rosario Argentina Temple that has a site plan posted.
DeleteInteresting, Noah! The Beira Mozambique Temple page on the Church Temples site indicated that a prospective site had been identified, so I wouldn't be shocked if that site lines up with what you're seeing on Google Maps. There are 7 weeks remaining between now and the beginning of July, when the Brethren take their typical recess month. According to the Presiding Bishopric, most new temples that are announced will have a site confirmed within months of their announcement. They've been able to accelerate that process. So I wouldn't be shocked if most of the 14 temples you mentioned have sites confirmed by the end of June.
DeleteI have also been thinking about temple groundbreakings some more. Reports on the Austin Texas Temple indicated that a groundbreaking would take place sometime during June, but the Church announced it for August, as we know. So I think what we're seeing is the Church being more deliberate with their site selection and planning process. Although that will likely impact how quickly some temple groundbreakings are announced, hopefully the outcome will be that once those groundbreakings occur, construction is not disrupted or delayed. And if that's what's going on, I think it will be worth it in the long run. I am not sure what you mean about there being "no updates since February" on the lawsuits. If you are referencing the Cody Wyoming Temple, the Church Temples site last listed an update on April 8. If you are talking about the Heber Valley Utah Temple, the latest update was just provided on May 3. Not sure if you were aware of the updates provided on either or both of those temples, but there you go. Thanks, Noah, for these additional comments.
Also, Noah, it appears (per a Google search) that the reason that the Uturoa Temple does not bear the Tahiti name is that Uturoa is actually on an island neighboring Tahiti. That island is Ra'iātea. So that's why a general designation of French Polynesia was used in the announcement. If the Uturoa Temple is renamed, it will likely bear the Ra'iātea name, since that is the island to which it will belong. Incidentally, Uturoa is only 25.2 miles overseas from Bora Borta Tahiti, for which I had predicted the next temple in Polynesia. Just wanted to let you know that.
DeleteLate yesterday evening, the Church News provided one additional report from the BYU Women's Conference. Today, the Church News provided a report on the BYU Hawaii devotional held yesterday. The Church News and the Newsroom also noted the calls of 2 women to serve on the Primary General Advisory Council. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe Church Temples site has noted updates today on the Freetown Sierra Leone and San Luis Potosi Mexico Temples, the latter of which now has full-scale construction underway. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd the Newsroom and the the Church News have each shared one new update apiece. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteHere's the latest on the Cody Wyoming Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd the biography of Elder Aroldo B. Cavalcante. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteApparently the biographical article of Elder Cavalcante was released prematurely, as it's not accessible now. In the meantime, the Church News has shared one new report. My thanks once again to you all.
Delete