BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: First Presidency Announces the Next Major Temple Construction Milestone

Hello again, everyone! During this 2:00 PM MST hour here in Utah, it is anticipated that the First Presidency will announce the next major temple construction update. This post has been preset for publication at this time to cover the temple news whenever it is shared, and will be updated with details and analysis as time allows. While those updates are in progress, the ability to comment on this post may be intermittently unavailable. My thanks once again to you all.

BREAKING NEWS: Refinements Coming to Children and Youth Program

Hello again, everyone! As my at-home recovery continues, I just wanted to note briefly here that this afternoon, the Church announced refinements to its Children & Youth program. In consideration of my personal situation, I will let those refinements speak for themselves. My thanks once again to you all.

BREAKNIG NEWS: Next Batch of Hymns Released; Cover of New Hymnbook Unveiled

Hello again, everyone! The next batch of hymns has been officially released. With 8 in this newest batch, the number of released new hymns stands at 90. The newest additions are available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. The hymnbook will be published in those four languages in late 2027.  The latest batch includes the following 8 hymns:

“Be Thou My Vision”

“Our Savior Brings Us Joy”

“Jesus Is the Strength of Youth”

“How I Love the House of God”"

“God’s Armor”

“Seek Peace”

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

“A Quiet Night”

The cover design of the new hymnbook has also been released, as has the exact number of hymns in the new hymnbook: 394, with additional hymns and songs available online and in the Gospel Library app. In the news release, Elder Dale G. Renlund was quoted as saying: "Each hymn has been approved by the First Presidency and the Twelve, and these approvals have not been taken lightly."

Further, Elder Mark D. Eddy, a GA Seventy assigned to the hymnbook project, noted the following: "As we worship together by joyfully singing these hymns, we trust you will feel what we have felt in the preparation of this new Hymnbook. We have found increased faith in the eternal truths taught in its lyrics, and courage and peace in the beautiful sound and structure of its music. May we receive what the Lord has prepared for each of us in these sacred songs of the heart."

The painstaking process of selecting these 394 hymns was outlined as follows: "After determining that a hymn sufficiently met the goals of the hymnbook, research was done to determine whether the Church could obtain the needed publishing licenses. In some cases, when a license agreement couldn’t be made, the hymn was no longer considered for inclusion.

"Ultimately, with so many hymns under consideration, there was more music that qualified for inclusion than there was available space in a single hymnbook. Difficult decisions had to be made about which hymns would best contribute to a balanced collection of both hymns and children’s songs, new and familiar music, and stylistic representation—and which would provide enough coverage for essential doctrinal topics of the restored gospel."

While this post was being prepared for publishing, the Church News also reported this latest news. I am excited about this newest release, and look forward to next year's release of the hymnbook. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Arrangements Set for the Lehi Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! Today, much to my excitement and elation, the First Presidency has set groundbreaking arrangements for the Lehi Utah Temple. That ceremony will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2026, occurring on the same date as the previously announced groundbreakings for the Calabar Nigeria and Vina del Mar Chile Temples, which were both announced two weeks ago.

The Lehi groundbreaking announcement follows that temple's April 2024 announcement, the site location confirmation just about 3 weeks later, and the release of its exterior rendering in late February 2025. I was elated to hear this announcement, since it is in my wife's hometown and will be our temple when it is built and dedicated. We will go from a 25-30 minute commute to the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple to this temple, which will be less than 5 minutes away from us.

I had been hoping that ground would be broken for this temple before the end of 2026, but based on the aforementioned set arrangements for the Calabar Nigeria and Vina del Mar Chile Temples' groundbreakings, I wondered if that was still feasible or a reasonable hope. I look forward to observing this temple's progress in the coming months following this groundbreaking. In the interim, this temple's groundbreaking will be the 26th for the Church in 2026, as opposed to the 20 temple groundbreakings conducted by the Church in 2025.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Location & Preliminary Details for the Revealed for the El Paso Texas Temple

hello again, everyone! this afternoon, the first presidency officially announced the location and preliminary details for the El Paso Texas Temple. let's dive Right into the relevant details: 

According to the Newsroom release, the single-story edifice of approximately 22,300 square feet will rise on "a 6.4-acre site at the northeast corner of Northern Pass Drive and Pasco del Norte Boulevard" in El Paso Texas.

The temple in question was announced by President Nelson in October 2024. Hopefully a rendering and groundbreaking will follow shortly. In the interim, I'm glad we got this news today. It means that the number of temples awaiting official information of any kind now falls to 41.

I will admit that I was hopeful there would be more dedications, groundbreakings, exterior renderings, and more than one site location. But at least we have this for today. Little by little the Church is clearng the construction queue. I'm hoping we will see updates about major developments continue into next year.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreakings Announced for Eket Nigeria, Calabar Nigeria, and Viña del Mar Chile Temples; Offical Renderings Released for the Goiânia Brazil and Campo Grande Brazil Temples; President Eyring Will Dedicate the Montpelier Idaho Temple (2600th Blog Post)

Hello again, everyone! Today, the First Presidency released renderings & announced groundbreakings for the Eket Nigeria, Calabar Nigeria, and Viña del Mar Chile Temples, in addition to releasing official renderings for the  Goiânia Brazil and Campo Grande Brazil Temples. The renderings largely speak for themselves, but we will be discussing the latest developments for each of these five temples. So let's jump right in!

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Eket Nigeria Temple will be held on Saturday, November 28, 2026, underElder Sergio R. Vargas the presiding direction of Elder D. Martin Goury of the Africa West Area Presidency. The release of the exterior rendering and groundbreaking information was preceded by its October 2022 announcement and its subsequent site location confirmation in mid-April 2022.

As for the Calabar Nigeria Temple, its groundbreaking will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2026, under the presiding direction of Elder Christian C. Chigbundu, also of the Africa West Area Presidency. The release of its exterior rendering and groundbreaking information was preceded by its October 2023 announcement and its subsequent site confirmation in mid-November 2025,  It appears that the Calabar rendering was released at the same time as the site location was confirmed, so that part of the opening paragraph of this post is incorrect, but  I will leave it as is.

We now move on to the Viña del Mar Chile Temple. Its groundbreaking will also take place on Saturday, December 5, 2026, but will be under the direction of Elder Sergio R. Vargas of the South America South Area Presidency. The release of the exterior rendering and the groundbreaking announcement follow the temple's October 2023 announcement and its subsequent site confirmation just one month later (for which I can't seem to find the associated Newsroom release). 

I have updated my document showing temple groundbreakings in 2025 vs. 2026. We have now outpaced last year's 20 with a whopping 25, and hopefully there may be a few additional groundbreakings announced for 2026, though time is growing short for such prospects. Hopefully my theory is correct in that regard. As I noted above, the renderings for the two Brazilian temples speak for themselves, but I'd like to note that the rendering of the Goiânia Brazil Temple follows its announcement, which also occurred in October 2023,.and its site location confirmation in mid-July of this year.

Meanwhile, for the Campo Grande Brazil Temple, the release of the exterior rendering follows the temple's site announcement in mid-July of this year and its original announcement in October 2023. In view of today's announcement, there are now 8 temples with groundbreakings announced, 53 more with sites announced (38 of which have exterior renderings published), and 42 temples with no official information released yet.

And while I was preparing this update, the Newsroom also reported that President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, will dedicate the Montpelier Idaho Temple this weekend, so that information has been added to my document showing current apostles' temple dedications and rededications during President Oaks' prophetic tenure. I'm glad to hear that he will be well enough for that assignment. He didn't look well during General Conference, so I was glad to see that additional announcement.

It's been a monumental day for temple developments, and I'm grateful for the chance to share the latest with all of you here. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Preliminary Work to Begin on the Yuma Airzona Temple

Hello again, everyone! On this Monday after General Conference, I wondered whether there would be any new temple construction news. But we did. I am pleased to be able to share that preliminary work is set to begin soon on the Yuma Arizona Temple, According to the news release itself, that will reportedly involve "grading and the installation of underground utility infrastructure such as water, sewer and electrical service connections to the city’s existing systems. Design work on the temple continues, and a date for an official groundbreaking ceremony has not yet been announced."

The Yuma Arizona Temple was first announced in April 2024, with the site and exterior rendering released in late November 2025. Since the Yuma Arizona Temple is on the smaller side (18500 square feet), hopefully that preliminary work can be carried out fairly quickly, which would then enable the Yuma Arizona Temple to have a groundbreaking within the next 6-12 months, if not sooner. I am grateful we got this announcement today, even if it wasn't what I was expecting for today.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple; Preliminary Details for the Otavalo Ecuador Temple

Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom just shared this announcement from the First Presidency: a groundbreaking ceremony for the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple, and preliminary details for the Otavalo Ecuador Temple. Let's get right into those updates: The groundbreaking ceremony for the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple will take place on Saturday, November 14, 2026, under the presiding direction of Elder Moises Villanueva.

The groundbreaking announcement for this temple follows its' October 2022 announcement, and its' location and rendering  in mid-December 2024. This latest announced groundbreaking will be the second one set to take place on November 14, the other being the Piura Peru Temple. Given the fact that Piura time is 1 hour ahead of Cuernavaca time year-round, the earlier announced groundbreaking will take place before this newest one in Mexico.

Today's announcement moves down the La Paz Bolivia Temple groundbreaking, and there are now a total of 22 scheduled to occur this year, vs. the 21 we had last year. And there are plenty of Saturdays left in November and December on which the Church could hold other groundbreakings, so we are likely to see more announced to take place before the end of this year.

Let's now move on to the details released about the Otovalo Ecuador Temple, which was just announced at the end of this year.. Before I get into the details, it's worth noting that the temples announced by President Oaks' First Presidency may be further along in the approvals process than their Nelsonian counterparts, which is why we may have this new on the Church's most recently announced temple before we hear about temples that were announced longer ago by President Nelson.

With that in mind, here are the details for the Otavalo Ecuador Temple, per the official news release previously cited: "The Otavalo Ecuador Temple will be built on a 6.05-acre site at the corner of Calle Bolívar and Calle Abya Yala in Otavalo, Imbabura Province, Ecuador. Plans call for a temple of approximately 18,850 square feet."

With the site location and parameters already announced, hopefully a rendering and groundbreaking will follow swiftly. I have updated my list of announced temples for which no official information has been released yet, and I hope that information proves to be helpful to all who view it.  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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Knoxville Tennessee and Smithfield Utah Temples; Groundbreaking Arrangements Set for the La Paz Bolivia and Cincinnatti Ohio Temples

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency just announced the next major temple construction milestones, and they are somewhat significant in that we got two dedications (Knoxville Tennessee and Smitithfield Utah) and two more temple groundbreakings (La Paz Bolivia and Cincinnati Ohio). There's a lot to get into, so let's get right into the details!

We start in Knoxville, where a media day will be held on Monday, January 25, 2027, with VIP/guestt tours the following day. The public open house will run from Wednesday, January 27-Saturday February 13 (excluding the Sundays of January 31 and February 7). The temple dedication will follow on Sunday, March 7, 2027, under the direction of Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This announcement follows the temple's April 2022 announcement,  its late October 2022 site announcement, the mid-December 2022 release of the exterior rendering, and its late January 2024 groundbreaking.

As for Smithfield, the media day will take place on Monday, February 22, 2027, with invited guests touring the temple the next couple of days. The public open house will run from Thursday, February 25, through Saturday, March 27, 2027. The temple dedication will take place on Sunday, April 18, 2027, under the presiding direction of Elder Quentin L. Cook, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This dedication announcement follows the temple's original announcement in April 2021, the site announcement 5 months later, and the rendering released two months after that.

Both of these temple dedications are occurring later than I thought they would, but I'm glad for these announcements in any case. It's also worth noting that, with the Smithfield Utah Temple dedication set, the Church may release the Logan Utah Temple renovation plans at some point following the April 2027 General Conference. And with the Fort Worth dedication in January, Knoxville in March, and Smithfield in April, hopefully, a couple of other dedications might fill in the gaps between the set dedications. It'll be interesting to see how all of that works out.

Let's move on to the groundbreakings: Elder Juan Pabo Villar, South America Northwest Area President, will preside at the groundbreaking for the La Paz Bolivia Temple on Saturday, November 21, 2026. That groundbreaking follows the temple's October 2021 announcement, the late August 2023 site announcement, and its mid-June 2022 groundbreaking. Meanwhile, ground will be broken for the Cincinnati Ohio Temple on Saturday, November 7, 2026, under the direction of Elder Alan T. Phillips of the United States Northeast Area Presidency.

In light of these updates, I have updated my documents showing current apostolic temple dedications/rededications and a side-by-side comparison of temple groundbreakings this year vs. last year. As the latter document shows, we have now officially surpassed the number of temple groundbreakings we saw last year, and, as the document shows, it is 21 (this year) vs. 20 (last year). I still think we might see additional temple groundbreakings this year. 

We've still got one Saturday in November and two or three Saturdays in December on which groundbreakings could be set to occur. As to which or how many other temples might still have ground broken this year, that's harder to say. I will have some ideas about that that I will share with my end-of-third-quarter 2026 report. 

The only other thing to note is that I don't know how soon we might get other temple dedications set. Not for at least a month, I'd wager. But I do think that we can continue to expect these 2:00 PM MDT announcements at least until the time change in November. I appreciate the chance to share these thoughts with you all.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Announced for the Piura Peru Temple

Hello again, everyone! Right when I had given up all hope for a new temple announcement today, a new announcement from the First Presidency has set a gorundbreaking for the Piura Peru Temple. That event willl take place on Saturday, November 14, 2026, under the presiding direction of Elder Steven C. Barlow of the South America Northwest Area Presidency. Given that there are four Saturdays between the October 17 groundbreaking for the Vienna Austria Temple and the Piura Peru Temple groundbreaking, the schedule could and probably will fill out.

And if only one more groundbreaking is set to occur before the end of this year, we will be dead even with 2025's 20. I've got my eyes on several prospects. I am grateful for this news and for the chance to share it with you all here. 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.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Rendering & Groundbreaking Date Released for the Iquitos Peru Temple; Location Released for the Queen Creek Arizona Temple; & Exterior Rendering Released for the Charlotte North Carolina Temple

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has made the next major temple announcement, with a rendering and groundbreaking date released for the Iquitos Peru Temple, a site location released for the Queen Creek Arizona Temple, and an exterior rendering released for the Charlotte North Carolina Temple.

Let's get right into the details: We start with the Iquitos Peru Temple. Today's news follows that temple's late January 2024 site announcement, which was preceded by its initial announcement by President Nelson in April 2023. The rendering speaks for itself. Ground will be broken for the Iquitos PeruTemple on Saturday, October 10, 2026, under the presiding direction of Elder Sandino Roman of the South America Northwest Area Presidency. 

Note that this groundbreaking will occur on the same date as the previously-announced groundbreaking for the Maceio Brazil Temple. Because Maceio time is 2 hours ahead of Iquitos, Peru time, the groundbreakings are likely to take place in that order. This announcement puts 2026 temple groundbreakings dead even with temple groundbreakings in 2025, and I have a feeling more groundbreakings are coming down the pike in the near term. The Church would only need to set three more groundbreakings to make that possible.

Since the exterior rendering for the Charlotte, North Carolina Temple also speaks for itself, I will just add that the release of this rendering follows the temple's April 2023 announcement by President Nelson, its original site location announcement in late May 2023, and its adjusted location in late March of this year. Hopefully, with a rendering now released, the groundbreaking for this temple may not be far behind.

That brings us to the details about the Queen Creek Arizona Temple, which will rise on a 15.5-acre site at the southeast corner of Ryan Road and Euell Drive, between Meridian Road to the west and Ironwood Road to the east, in Queen Creek, Arizona. That site location will not only host a multi-story 82,000-square-foot temple, but a meetinghouse and an ancillary building as well. This site confirmation follows the temple's October 2024 announcement. This brings the total number of announced temples with no official ifnroation confirmed down to 43.

I am grateful to have learned of this news and for the chance to share it with you all here. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple; Groundbreaking Ceremony Set for the Vienna Austria Temple

Hello again, everyone! About an hour later than usual, the First Presidency officially confirmed the opening arrangements for the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple and the groundbreaking arrangements for the Vienna Austria Temple. There's a lot to get into, so let's dive right in! The media day for the first temple in American Samoa will take place on Monday, November 2, 2026, with invited guests touring the temple the next day. 

The public open house follows from Wednesday, November 4, through Saturday, November 21. The temple's dedication will follow on Sunday, December 13, 2026, under the presiding direction of Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Contrary to what I had originally theorized, this announcement demonstrates that the Church will still conduct some temple dedications in December. The arrangements make sense, given the smaller size of that temple.

It did occur to me to wonder if the Church might also be able to dedicate the Smithfield Utah Temple before the end of this year as well, but since it is a larger temple and there's no announcement on that dedication yet, Smithfield's dedication will probably take place in January of next year at the earliest. I am grateful we got this temple dedication news today. I have added this dedication to my document showing current apostolic temple dedications during President Oaks' prophetic tenure.

That brings me to the other news: a groundbreaking for the first temple in Austria. That event will take place on Saturday, October 17, 2026, under the presiding direction of Elder Michael Cziesla of the Europe Central Area Presidency. This one is personal to my wife, as she served in what was then the Vienna Austria Mission (which became the Germany Munich/Austria Mission). This groundbreaking will be the seventeenth this year, and there are still plenty of Saturdays left in the year for other groundbreakings. 

So we may yet see 2026 surpass the 20 groundbreakings we saw last year. I'm sure others will be scheduled in the coming weeks. The dedication and groundbreaking are the only updates we got this week, but I was glad to see both of them and to bring you word of them in this post. It'll be interesting to see if other temple updates on the next several Mondays are similarly delayed. But whatever happens in that regard, you can count on my covering it here.

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.

 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: President Christofferson Will Rededicate the San Diego California Temple

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the First Presidency officially confirmed that President D. Todd Christofferson, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, will preside at this Sunday's rededication of the San Diego California Temple. The dedicatory session is to take place at 11:00 AM PDT (10:00 AM here in Utah), with a rebroadcast at 2:00 PM.

It makes sense that the First Presidency would send out President Christofferson for this temple dedication. He is currently the youngest and healthiest member of the First Presidency, and I believe he has some personal ties to the San Diego area. This information has been added to my document showing current apostolic temple dedications and rededications during President Oaks' prophetic tenure.

I am assuming there was no new temple construction news yesterday due to the temple groundbreaking on Saturday and the two temple dedications on Sunday. I am hopeful it was only a one-week hiatus on such news, but we will have to see. As I have noted, there are two temples (Smithfield Utah and Pago Pago American Samoa) that are only awaiting the announcement of their respective opening arrangements, and there are multiple temples for which, due to semirecent status updates, are likely to have a groundbreaking. So I hope we resume regular weekly temple construction announcements next Monday.

I am grateful for today's update, and for the chance to share that news with you today. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: President Oaks Will Dedicate the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! Thanks to Michael Worley's comment in the threads of the previous post, I am pleased to report that Church President Dallin H. Oaks will preside at the dedication of the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple this Sunday. This will be President Oaks' second temple dedication overall and his first international one since becoming President of the Church in October.

The news release doesn't indicate anything about any other stops, and the prophet continues to recover from a semi-recent hip replacement surgery, so a one-stop international visit makes a lot of sense. I am grateful he is well enough for this one stop. Hopefully he will also be well enough to preside at a few upcoming dedications and rededications as well. The prophet will celebrate his 94th birthday tomorrow, and I will have a tribute post in his honor published about 10 hours or so from now.

I am grateful for this morning's announcement, and for the chance I had to cover it. I am grateful to Michael Worley for first sharing this news here. I have added this information to my document showing current apostolic temple dedications and rededications during President Oaks' prophetic tenure.  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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Fort Worth Texas Temple; Groundbreaking Scheduled for the Barcelona Spain Temple

Hello again, everyone! As anticipated, the First Presidency officially announced the next major temple construction updates. Today, it was opening arrangements for the Fort Worth Texas Temple and groundbreaking arrangements for the Barcelona Spain Temple. Let's get into all the relevant details:

We start in Fort Worth Texas. The media day for that temple will take place on Monday, November 2, 2026, followed by two days of tours for invited guests. The public is invited to tour that temple between Thursday, November 5, and Saturday, November 21, 2026. The temple dedication will follow on Sunday, January 10, 2027, with the presiding apostle TBA. I had hoped that the Fort Worth Texas Temple might be dedicated before the end of this year, but I was clearly mistaken in that theory.

I don't know what that means for the Smithfield Utah Temple. Likely that dedication will occur in 2027, I assume, but we'll have to see. For whatever reason, it appears that the Church may be opting to not schedule any dedications for the month of December going forward, which would make sense so the focus can be on the Savior during the Christmas season. 

I will have to evaluate that and figure out how it may alter the estimates I have previously offered. This dedication has been added to my document showing apostolic temple dedications during President Oaks' prophetic tenure. I am grateful we got this announcement. and llook forward to seeing what the timing is on other upcoming dedications.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Barcelona Spain Temple is set to take place on Saturday, September 19, 2026, under the direction of Elder James W. McConkie III of the Europe Central Area Presidency. This is the second groundbreaking to be set between the August 29 groundbreaking for the Couer d'Alene Idaho Temple and the previously announced October 10 groundbreaking for the Maceio Brazil Temple.

This brings the number of scheduled 2026 temple groundbreakings to 16. Last year, the 16th temple groundbreaking took place on September 25, so I hope we see one or two more groundbreakings set to occur in September to even things out. Time will tell on that hope. I am grateful for this announcement as well. On my blog a little while ago, someone had mentioned that a groundbreaking committee had been formed for this temple, so I knew that the groundbreaking announcement was only a matter of time.

So the Barcelona groundbreaking was on my radar for the near term, as was the announcement of opening arrangements for the Fort Worth Texas Temple, even if said arrangements were on a different timeframe than I had projected. Hopefully we soon hear news of the opening arrangements for the Smithfield Utah Temple, other temple groundbreakings, and more exterior renderings and site location confirmations.

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. 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Elder Clark G. Gilbert Will Dedicate the Cody Wyoming Temple

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the Church announced that Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside at the dedication of the Cody Wyoming Temple. on October 25, 2026 This marks Elder Gilbert's first temple dedication assignment. Elder Gilbert, who was called to the apostleship in February of this year, currently serves on the Missionary Executive Council, and it appears that Elder David A. Bednar has served as Elder Gilbert's apostolic mentor.

This is an interesting development. Elder Gérald Caussé, called to the apostleship in November of last year (a few months before Elder Gilbert) has not yet been assigned to dedicate a temple. But since Elder Gilbert received this assignment, hopefully Elder Caussé's first apostolic temple dedication assignment isn't far behind. I have added this information to my document showing current apostolic temple dedication assignments under President Oaks' prophetic tenure.

Interestingly enough, we still have no word as of yet regarding which apostle will dedicate the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple next Sunday (August 16), or who will rededicate the San Diego California Temple the following Sunday. That kind of makes me wonder if President Oaks will be presiding over either or both of those events. I will keep my eyes open for more details on all of that and will share those details ASAP after I learn about them.

In any case, I am grateful we got this news today. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the New Anchorage Alaska Temple; Closure Announced for Current Anchroage Alaska Temple

Hello again, everyone! An unexpected temple announcement came down the pike today: opening arrangements for the new Anchorage Alaska Temple, along with a closure for the current Anchorage Alaska Temple, which will close for demolition on March 22, 2027. As a reminder, the new Anchorage temple is being built where the former chapel stood, so the plan is for a new chapel to be built where the current temple sits once the existing structure is razed. The Church will want to be able to dedicate the new meetinghouse when the new temple is dedicated, so closing the existing structure a couple of months before the new temple is dedicated will allow the Church to do that.

That brings us to the opening arrangements for the new Anchorage Alaska Temple: the new temple's media day will occur on Monday, May 10, 2027, with invited guests touring the temple the next couple of days. The public open house will occur between Thursday, May 13, and Saturday, May 29, 2027. The new Anchorage Alaska Temple and the adjacent chapel will be dedicated (not rededicated) on Sunday, June 13, 2027. The session will be broadcast to all units in the temple district. The presiding official will be named closer to the time, making it likely that a member of the First Presidency or a senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside thereover.

This marks a change from the Church's original plan to dedicate the new temple, then raze the existing structure and build and dedicate the meetinghouse. But it is a welcome change that makes sense when outlined as done herein. I will confess I was not expecting this temple's opening arrangements to be announced this soon, nor did I anticipate that the first temple event announced for 2027 would be this rededication. But it is welcome news nonetheless.

With no other temple news announced this week, hopefully next week will bring opening arrangements for the Pago Pago American Samoa, Smithfield Utah, or Fort Worth Texas Temples, in addition to one or two more temple groundbreakings. I suspect we will continue to see announcements every Monday this month. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Dedication Set for the Torreon Mexico Temple; Groundbreaking Set for the Colorado Springs Colorado Temple

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the major temple construction announcement from the First Presidency set the opening arrangements for the Torreón Mexico Temple and the groundbreaking arrangements for the Colorado Springs Colorado Temple. Here are the details: We start with the Torreon Mexico Temple, which will have a media day on Monday, October 19, with invited guest tours the following two days.

The public will be invited to tour the temple between Thursday, October 22, and Saturday, November 7, excluding the Sundays of October 25 and November 1. The temple dedication will follow on Sunday, November 22, under the presiding direction of Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. That will be the same date as the previously announced dedication of the Modesto California Temple. By that date, daylight saving time will have ended, so Torreon will then be 1 hour ahead of Modesto, so if the two dedications are held at 10:00 AM, Torreon will be the first of the two to be dedicated.

The dedication announcement follows the temple's April 2021 announcement, with the site location confirmed in mid-September 2021 (the exterior rendering was simultaneously released on that same date) and the groundbreaking announcement in mid-October 2022, with the groundbreaking subsequently occurring in mid-December of that same year. I am grateful we got news of this temple dedication.

We now turn to the Colorado Springs Colorado Temple groundbreaking, which will be held on Saturday, September 12, under the direction of Elder Karl D. Hirst of the United States Central Area Presidency. The groundbreaking announcement follows the temple's October 2023 announcement by President Nelson, with the site location confirmed in early November 2024 and the release of its' exterior rendering occuring in early May 2025. I am grateful that my theory of other groundbreakings between Couer d'Alene Idaho and Maceio Brazil has proven correct. There are now 

In view of these announcements, I have updated my documents showing apostolic temple dedications under President Oaks' prophetic administration and my side-by-side comparison for groundbreakings in 2025 vs. 2026. I still think at least a couple other groundbreakings could be set to occur between Colorado Springs Colorado and Maceio Brazil, or that perhaps one more could be set between Couer d'Alene and Colorado Springs, but time will tell on that.

I am grateful we got these two announcements. While I was doing the research to prepare the full post covering this news, the Church News covered both the Torreon Mexico dedication and the Colorado Springs Colorado groundbreaking. I still think the Church will set dedications for a few more temples to occur before the end of this year, and I have a feeling that additional groundbreakings are coming down the pike as well.

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.

BREAKING NEWS: 10 Additional New Hymns Released

 Hello again, everyone! Today, I am pleased to share that 10 additional new hymns have been released. These newest hymns focus on"simple, Christ-centered truths". The ten have been released in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French, and will be available in the Gospel Library app later today. These 10 hymns are:

“Peace, Peace, Be Still”

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

“Isaiah Said”

“Fight the Good Fight”

“It’s Joyful to Live the Gospel”

“To God Be the Glory”

“Speak to Us, Lord”

“The Miracle”

“What God Calls Us To”

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

Of these 10 newest selections, I have familiarity with "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" & "To God Be the Glory" (courtesy of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Sqaure) & "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" (courtesy of the ward choir in my parents' ward a decade or two ago). These 10 additions bring the total number of released hymns to 82. 

The Newsroom release also noted that "Additional hymns are being released in other languages, including 22 in Armenian and Malagasy, nine in Cebuano, Indonesian, Italian, Samoan, and Tongan, and 12 in German, Korean, and Tagalog."

We may be just about a year ahead of when the new hymnbooks are available for release, so I project that we may have about 3-4 more batches of new hymns released before the new hymnbook is widely available in our congregations. And while we don't know how big the "core collection" of current hymns and children's songs will be, taking a look at some of the current hymns that have been sung in the most recent General Conferences may give us clues.

I am grateful for these newest releases, and for the chance to pass this analysis on to you all. 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.