Stokes Sounds Off: BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Salt Lake Temple Celebration Theme Announced

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Tuesday, September 1, 2026

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Salt Lake Temple Celebration Theme Announced

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the Salt Lake Temple Celebration theme was officially announced by President Dieter F. Ucthdorf, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Chairman of the Salt Lake Temple Celebration Committee, with that theme being Rejoice in Christ. That announcement came from the new West Entrance of the Salt Lake Temple. Rather than doing a detailed recap of that broadcast, I will instead refer any of you who are interested in either watching or reading more about the broadcast to the official Newsroom release I linked to above.

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such 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. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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.

19 comments:

  1. 'Rejoice in Christ" is also reportedly the youth theme for 2027 and also the theme of the October 2026 General Conference, per official Church communications. My thanks once again to you all.

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    1. The Church News reported on the Salt Lake Temple Celebration Theme; youth music experiences are now available; Church leaders in Mozambique are increasing child nutrition screening, and the Eprhaim Utah Temple provides a place of higher and holier learning. My thanks once again to you all.

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    2. On this Tuesday, the Newsroom reports that, within the first 24 hours after the first batch of reservations were released for the Salt Lake Temple Celebration, 1 million spaces were reserved. Subsequent reservation batches will be released in the coming weeks and months. To stay up to date on the availability of reservations, be sure to monitor templesquare,org or the corresponding Temple Square app.

      Aside from that update, the Church News has reported on 5 ways to prepare for the new youth Sunday experience, as outlined by Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman and Young Men General President Timothy L. Farnes in the special Monday episode of the Church News podcast.

      A new Church News video features Elder Patrick Kearon at the dedication of the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple. And Elder Quentin L. Cook counseled missionaries to develop 3 keystones of faith on which to anchor their testimonies. My thanks once again to you all.

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    3. The Church News has shared the information about the 2027 Youth Theme, while the Newsroom has shared a couple of new updates: the latest edition of Latter-day Saints Around the World features stories from Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Paraguay,, Peru. the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. In addition to that update, Elder David A. Bednar recently wrapped up a ministry trip to Asia and Micronesia, where he joined Saints in Japan in commemorating the Church's 125th anniversary in that nation. My thanks once again to you all.

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    4. And an update has been reported on the Singapore Temple. My thanks once again to you all.

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    5. Per this page, the media days for the Salt Lake Temple will be held on Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6, 2027. My thanks once again to you all.

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    6. The First Presidency invites all to participate in the October 2026 General Conference, which will consist of 4 two-hour sessions. Additionally, the Church News has shared what to expect when applying for admission to a Church-sponsored college, Donations of truckloads of food from across the contry continue to go out to foodbanks across the nation. Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt toured a television studio in Puerto Rico to discuss the media's role in strengthening communities worldwide.

      Aside from the letter about General Conference, the Newsroom shared a couple more reports: Elder Soares ministers in Mexico, and the Church's collaboration with UNICEF strengthens maternal and newborn care in South Asia. Those efforts recently included a $1.2 million donation for maternal and newborn health in Pakistan.

      In addition, there has been some movement in the temple construction queue. The Port Vila Vanuatu temple has been pushed back from being in between the Freetown Sierra Leone and Queretaro Mexico Temples to now being between the Cagayan de Oro Philippines and Santiago West Chile Temples, while the Teresina Brazil Temple moved up from being between the Fairview Texas and Kumasi Ghana Temples to now being between the Jacksonville Florida and Missoula Montana Temples. In addition, status updates were reported on the temples in Teresina Brazil and Missoula Montana, and a new update on the Florianopolis Brazil Temple has sent that temple skyrocketing to near the top of my list of temples for which we are awaiting a groundbreaking announcement. And based on the latest update for the Spanish Fork Utah Temple, I have moved it up in that queue as well. These updates will be reflected on my Temple Construction Progress update for the third quarter of 2026, which will be posted here at the end of this month. My thanks once again to you all.

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    7. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Qa AAuorum of the Twelve Apostles continues his ministry in the South America Northwest Area, where he recently discussed peacemaking with the President of Peru. And the Newsroom shared this release about the aforementioned October 2026 General Conference. I have revised parts of my General Conference predictions, and I will be sharing those updates in a new post at some point this weekend. My thanks once again to you all.

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    8. I forgot to mention that Elder Ulisses Soares is building bridges in Mexico, where he recently met with Church members, government officials, journalists, missionaries, and religious leaders. My thanks once again to you all.

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  2. On this Saturday, the Church News reported on our Prophet and Church President Dallin H. Oaks' desire to "be good", like his parents. The Church News also shared the text of the message that will be given by Brother Derrick Porter during tomorrow's historic 5,060th episode of "Music & the Spoken Word". My thanks once again to you all.

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    1. And a construction status update has been provided on the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple. My thanks once again to you all.

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    2. In a rare Saturday edition of "This Week on Social", content from the following general leaders was shared:

      President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the following other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Elders David A. Bednar (from whom two posts were shared), Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband, Dale G. Renlund, Patrick Kearon, and Clark G. Gilbert; Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson; Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman (posting via Young Women Worldwide); Primary General President Rosemary K. Chibota (posting via Primary Worldwide); and the Young Men Worldwide account.

      My thanks once again to you all.

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    3. On this Babbath Day thus far, two new Church News reports have been shared: the September 2026 edition of The Friend focuses on the temple, and the latest edition of "In Case You Missed it: Week in Review" recapped the top 9 updates reported by the Church News within the last week. My thanks once again to you all.

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    4. Sorry. I meant "Sabbath Day" above. In addition to the reports already shared, the Church News has also shared what Church leaders have taught about our Come, Follow Me study, which centers on Proverbs 1-4, 15-16, 22, and 31 & Ecclesiastes 1-3 & 11-12 (13 chapters total). My thanks once again to you all.

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    5. A status update has been provided for the Santiago West Chile Temple. In addition, new photographs of the Couer d"Alene Idaho Temple site show that preliminary excavations are underway, which hopefully means that full-scale construction will begin on that temple in the near term. This surprised me, since that temple was the most recent one to have a groundbreaking conducted. But I was gratified to see that update.

      My thanks once again to you all.

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    6. The Church News has shared one other update that speaks for itself. My thanks once again to you all.

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    7. On this Monday, Sister Kristen M. Oaks, wife of Church President Dallin H. Oaks, sat down with a dear friend of hers, JoAnn F. Phillips, to discuss their decades-long efforts to spread faith in Jesus Christ. The Church News also reported on Elder Clark G. Gilbert's Africa West ministry. In other news, the media day for the Managua Nicaragua Temple was supposed to occur as scheduled, but I have not seen any reports indicating that it has. If that changes, I will share any such updates here. My thanks once again to you all.

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    8. The Nicaraguan Newsroom has now reported on the media day for the temple in Managua. Central America Area President Elder Patricio M. Giuffra led the media day, accompanied by Elder Taylor G. Godoy, who serves as an Assistant Executive Director of the Temple Department. My thanks once again to you all.

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    9. The Church News has also covered the media day for the Managua Nicaragua Temple. My thanks once again to you all.

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In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.

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