BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Salvador Brazil Temple; Exterior Rendering Released and Groundbreaking Scheduled for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple; Groundbreaking Scheduled for the Austin Texas Temple

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. 

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: New Location Announced for the Tampa Florida Temple; Site Locations and Preliminary Information Released for the West Jordan and Lehi Utah Temples

Hello again, everyone! A few minutes ago, the First Presidency announced the relocation of the Tampa Florida Temple and the site locations for the West Jordan Utah and Lehi Utah Temples. There's a lot to get to, so let's jump right in! 

The site location for the Tampa Florida Temple was originally announced in late October 2022. No reason was given for the relocation, but hopefully approvals will be easier to get on the new location. The single-story edifice of approximately 29,000 square feet will now rise on a 12-acre site at 9445 Camden Fields Parkway, Riverview, Florida. 

The announcements of site locations for the two newest Utah temples caught me off guard a little, as I didn't anticipate them so soon since those temples were just barely announced earlier this month in General Conference. But I am pleased to report that the Lehi Utah Temple will rise a short distance from where I currently live.  The multi-story temple of approximately 85,000 square feet will rise on a 22.48-acre site northwest of the intersection of 3950 North and Center Street in Lehi. 

A meetinghouse will also be built at that location.  The West Jordan Utah Temple will have the exact same square footage and multistory as the Lehi Utah Temple (the two might even be twins). The project will also include a meetinghouse. Both the temple and meetinghouse will rise on a 16.10-acre site at approximately 7148 South and west of Highway 111. 

The fresh-out-of-the-gate announcement of the site locations for the two newest Utah temples may suggest that the Church is already beginning to secure approvals for those temples. If that is the case, hopefully, exterior renderings and groundbreaking announcements can follow shortly. Likewise, hopefully the decision to relocate the Tampa Florida Temple (whatever might have been behind it) will enable approvals to be expedited for that temple.

As a result of today's announcement, I have updated my document showing announced temples for which no information has been officially confirmed yet. Of the 109 announced temples, 51 lack any official information. Given how many temple sites the Church has been able to confirm this year alone, I'm sure other site location confirmations are pending.  While I was working on getting this report ready for publication, the Church News also covered this update. 

I am grateful for this news and to have been able to share it with you all. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE & APOSTOLIC NEWS: President Nelson Rededicates the Manti Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! We have breaking temple and apostolic news this evening: after previously announcing earlier this month that Elder Ronald A. Rasband would preside at the single-session evening rededication of the Manti Utah Temple, the official report on that dedication has noted that our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, actually did so. This is a stunning and welcome development, which hopefully indicates President Nelson's recovery from his back injury is progressing well.

This dedication was personal for both President Nelson and Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who accompanied the prophet. Both apostles have family ties to the Manti area. But for me, it does beg the question: what, if anything, does this indicate about the health of our prophet? To me, it's a positive sign that President Nelson's recovery from his back injury is progressing well. And it may be an indicator that he will be able to gradually resume a normal apostolic ministry.

What will that look like? My gut instinct is to say that President Nelson will allow the other apostles to continue to preside at most temple dedications, and I believe that he and his counselors will also continue to have the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles conduct three of the five sessions of General Conference. But hopefully, it means our prophet may be able to be out among the people more, at least here in the state of Utah.

Whatever this might mean for the future, you can count on my covering it here. In the meantime, I testify to the fact that President Nelson's participation in today's rededication is a clear fulfillment of the promise of the oath and covenant of the priesthood that President Nelson has indeed been "sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewal of [his body]."

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Set for the Cleveland Ohio Temple; Opening Arrangements Set for the Mendoza Argentina and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temples; Site Location Confirmed for the Kananga Democrtaic Republic of the Congo Temple

Note: This post was composed during the 5:00 PM hour due to my appointment with the eye doctor, but is timestamped during the 2:00 PM hour as it would have normally been. My thanks once again to you all.

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the First Presidency made the next significant temple construction announcement. We received word of the groundbreaking date for the Cleveland Ohio Temple, the opening arrangements for the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Mendoza Argentina Temples, and the initial details for the Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple. There's a lot to get into, so let's dive in:

We start with the groundbreaking for the Cleveland Ohio Temple because it is taking place before either of the two temple dedications announced today. The groundbreaking is scheduled to take place on June 1, the same date as the previously announced groundbreaking for the Teton River Idaho Temple. Because Ohio is two hours ahead of Idaho, the Cleveland groundbreaking will likely occur first. Elder Vaiangina Sikahema, who serves as First Counselor in the North America Southeast Area of the Church, will preside at the groundbreaking for Ohio's newest temple.

We now move on to the two dedications announced today. Contrary to what I had supposed and predicted, both dedications will occur prior to the previously announced dedication of the Casper Wyoming Temple. For the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple, a media day will be held on Monday, August 12, with VIP tours following the next two days. The public open house will follow from Friday, August 16 through Saturday, August 31. The temple dedication, under the direction of Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will take place in two sessions on Sunday, September 15, 2024, at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM EDT (8:00 AM and 11:30 AM MDT)

For the Mendoza Argentina Temple, a media day will be held on Monday, August 19, with tours for invited guests for the next two days.  A public open house will occur from Thursday, August 22, through Saturday, September 7, except for the Sundays of August 24 and September 1. The temple dedication, under the direction of Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will take place in two sessions on Sunday, September 22, 2024, at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM UTC (which, unless I'm mistaken, is 3:00 AM and 6:30 AM MDT).

Finally, we turn to the information released about the Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple. The temple, which will be a single-story edifice of approximately 11,000 square feet, will rise on a 1.6-acre site at Avenue Ilunga and N1 in Kananga, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and will also include arrival facilities and patron housing. As a result of today's announcements, I have updated my documents showing apostolic temple dedications under President Nelson and the document showing the now 53 temples for which no official information has been announced.

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.

UPDATE: First Quarter 2024 Review of Temple Construction Progress

Hello again, everyone! With the final day of March coming to its' official conclusion, and as we head into April, I am pleased to provide a look back at temple construction progress through the first quarter of 2024. For this review, I have a link to what my temple construction progress report looked like on the first day of this year and a look at where things stand as the first quarter of 2024 ends. 

We are still getting regular temple construction updates every Monday, so I will be back to cover whatever that announcement is tomorrow. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking for the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple Confirmed; Site Location and Preliminary Information Released for the Savai'i Samoa Temple

Hello again, everyone! Today, the Newsroom confirmed that the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple's groundbreaking took place on Saturday as scheduled and released the site location and preliminary information for the Savai'i Samoa Temple. Since the information about the groundbreaking is self-explanatory, let's get to the details that have been revealed about the Savai'i Samoa Temple:

A single-story temple of approximately 29,630 square feet will rise on a 5.5-acre site at Lot 1098 to Lot 1105 in Fataloa, a subarea of Salelologa village. The temple was another of those originally announced in October of last year. As a result of today's announcement, 5 of the 20 temples announced during the last General Conference have had initial details confirmed.

And in view of the groundbreaking of the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple, of the now-94 announced temples, only 40 lack official information. That number will likely go down further by General Conference weekend. That being said, I was somewhat surprised that we haven't gotten any other site announcements or exterior renderings today. I am not at all surprised that no other groundbreakings have been announced.

I say that because I see the Church wanting to avoid the kind of holdups that have delayed the beginning of construction for the Heber Valley Utah and Cody Wyoming Temples. So taking it slowly and getting the approvals right will likely allow a larger number of temples to have groundbreakings and begin construction swiftly thereafter later this year.

I am grateful for today's updates. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Locations Confirmed for Jakarta Indonesia and Osaka Japan Temples; Exterior Rendering Released for Budapest Hungary Temple

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the First Presidency confirmed the site locations and preliminary details for the temples in Jakarta Indonesia and Osaka Japan, in addition to releasing an official exterior rendering for the Budapest Hungary Temple. Let's break down the relevant details: 

The Jakarta Indonesia Temple was announced by President Nelson in April 2023. A 1.33-acre site at Synthesis Square, Jalan Gatot, Subroto No. 177a, Tebet District, City of South Jakarta, Special Capital Region of Jakarta will be the spot where a four-story temple of approximately 40,350 square feet will rise. The fact that it is going to be built up rather than out is not surprising.

Meanwhile, the Osaka Japan Temple was just announced in October 2023. 3-50-1 Sugi, Hirakata City, Osaka, 573-0117 Japan has a 16.74-acre site on which the Church will build a single-story temple of approximately 29,630 square feet.

That brings us to the Budapest Hungary Temple rendering. With the temple announced in April 2019, the temple site was announced on October 9, 2023. With that temple set to be 18,000 square feet, the exterior rendering appears to be a nod to the modular-style temple without actually using the modular components. 

To my knowledge, this is not a modular temple, it just reminds me of the modular style. I will allow others with better insight into temple architecture and exterior renderings to share their insights about this exterior rendering. In the interim, on my end, I wanted to note that, with the site locations confirmed today, of the 95 currently announced temples, only 41 lack official information.

I was somewhat surprised that there were no temple groundbreakings announced today, but, as I said, if the Church is making sure to get the approvals process right and is being more careful about the integrity of the temples they're building, then if that means a slower pace of groundbreaking, I am not overly concerned we haven't seen groundbreakings announced today. 

I'm still holding out hope for at least one or two groundbreakings to be announced before the April 2024 General Conference. I am grateful for these updates and my chance to analyze them here. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Provo Utah Temple Renamed; Exterior Rendering Released and Groundbreaking Set for Teton River Idaho Temple; Site Location and Initial Details Confirmed for the Jacksonville Florida Temple

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Casper Wyoming Temple; Orlando Florida Temple to Close for Renovation; Revised Rededication Arrangements Announced for the Manti Utah Temple; Exterior Renderings Released for the Natal and Teresina Brazil Temples

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has announced the next major temple construction updates, which affect 5 total temples: opening arrangements for the Casper Wyoming Temple; a renovation closure for the Orlando Florida Temple; revised rededication arrangements for the Manti Utah Temple; and exterior renderings for the Natal Brazil and Teresina Brazil Temples. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's get right into it.

We start with the opening arrangements for the Casper Wyoming Temple. As a bit of a preface, I should note that I am somewhat surprised by the timing involved here, as it's much later than I anticipated. A media day will take place on Monday, August 26, 2024. The article doesn't mention any VIP tours, but since the open house only begins on Thursday, August 29, I am assuming VIP tours will take place on Tuesday-Wednesday, August 27-28.

The open house will run through Saturday, September 14 (excluding the relevant Sundays), and the temple dedication will take place just under one month later on Sunday, October 13, 2024, in two sessions to be held at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM MDT, with Elder Quentin L. Cook presiding thereover. Since Elder Cook does not have any connections to the Wyoming area (at least insofar as I am aware), my assumption is that he has apostolic oversight for the North America Central Area of the Church. 

I am not sure why that temple's dedication is not going to occur for another 8 months, as I had anticipated it could occur before the end of June. But I assume the Brethren know something I don't about the situation in Casper and have planned accordingly. It's probably a given, but we are likely to see the dedication of several other temples before the October dedication of the Casper temple.

We move on now to the Orlando Florida Temple renovation closure. The temple will close in July 2024 for extensive renovations, which are not described in detail. The First Presidency will announce the anticipated completion date of those renovations at a later time, and the eventual open house and rededication arrangements closer to the time when the renovation process is complete.

Moving along to the Manti Utah Temple, its' opening arrangements were originially announced on November 20 of last year, at which time the First Presidency indicated that more specific details would be announced at a later date. While the rededication date remains unchanged, and while there is still no word on who will preside over that temple's rededication, the First Presidency announced that the temple would be rededicated in a single session to be held at 5:00 PM MDT on April 21 and that Church meetings for all units in that temple district would still be held on that day.

And that brings us to the Natal and Teresina Brazil Temple renderings. While I will let others more qualified than I provide analysis on any architectural or exterior design elements, I will note that both temples were originally announced by President Nelson during the April 2023 General Conference, and both of them had their site locations confirmed less than 5 months later on August 28, 2023. I would also like to note that I am very appreciative that we got a groundbreaking announcement last week and more exterior renderings this week.

I see in these announcements that the First Presidency is releasing renderings as they can to enable the settings of groundbreakings at later dates. I fully believe other groundbreakings are coming. In fact, with the opening arrangements confirmed for the Casper Wyoming Temple today, and with no other dedication announcements likely for at least a month or two, that will allow the First Presidency to focus on site approvals and confirmations, exterior renderings, and groundbreakings. 

So I'm looking forward to such announcements in the coming weeks. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exterior Rendering and Groundbreaking Information Released for the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple

Hello again, everyone! Today, as expected, the next major temple construction update has been announced. I was not expecting this, but today's announcement related to the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple. Its' exterior rendering has been released and a groundbreaking date has been set. Let's break down the details:

This temple was announced during General Conference in April 2022. Its' site location was confirmed a little over six months later, several weeks after the October 2022 General Conference. The groundbreaking will occur in just over a month, on Saturday, March 9, 2024, with Elder Sean Douglas, Second Counselor in the Mexico Area presidency, presiding thereat. 

Today's announcement gives me hope that we could see groundbreakings for other temples sooner than I've conjectured, because I wasn't anticipating today's announcement and had projected a window of late 2024 for that temple's groundbreaking. So the fact that this groundbreaking will occur in March is huge news. Also, this means that 2024's second temple groundbreaking will be taking place one month earlier than 2023's second temple groundbreaking.

So if other temples in the queue can likewise have an exterior rendering released and a groundbreaking announced simultaenously, or if others can get a site announcement confirmed, a rendering released, and a groundbreaking announced, there could be many other drastic shifts to the current queue of announced temples as we know it. And this indicates that the Church may indeed be able to do a double-digit number of groundbreakings this year. 

With the size of the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple, I''m sure it could easily be constructed speedily, possibly having construction wrap up sometime in 2026 or 2027. Stay tuned for more on this as that information is released.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Held for Knoxville Tennessee Temple; Sites Identified for Iquitos and Cusco Peru Temples

Note: An initial version of this post was published at 2:07 PM today. Updated analysis was added between 4:30-5:30 PM.

Hello again, everyone! I had wondered if today's announcement on the Red Cliffs Utah Temple media day was the only announcement we'd get. I am pleased to be able to report that we got more than that. The Church has confirmed that ground was broken for the Knoxville Tennessee Temple on Saturday as scheduled. As I mentioned previously, barring anything unexpected, I anticipate that full-scale construction will begin on that temple either later this week or early next week.

And those aren't the only updates the Church shared in terms of temple construction today. The First Presidency also released official information for 2 temple sites in Peru: Cusco Peru (announced by President Nelson in April 2022) and Iquitos Peru (announced by President Nelson in April 2023). Let's break down the relevant details: 

A 2.48-acre site at Avenida Arcopata 452 Cusco, Cusco, Peru will be the location of what I presume will be a single-story edifice of approximately 9,950 square feet. And a 1.75-acre site at Calle San Marcos 117–137, San Juan Bautista, Maynas, Loreto, Peru will be home to what I believe will be a single-story temple that will be approximately 20,000 square feet.

The good news is that with both of these temples on the comparatively smaller side, approvals will likely be more easily obtained than for their larger counterparts elsewhere in the world. Exactly how soon that might occur is anyone's guess. But I imagine that these temples will have similar exterior designs as other temples of similar sizes.

I was somewhat surprised we have not yet heard about opening arrangements for the Casper Wyoming Temple, but even if that is not announced until mid-February, the odds seem pretty good that a dedication could still occur for that temple by the end of June. I know many of you might be surprised also by the fact that no groundbreakings have been announced today. I would count on an uptick of those announcements in February.

I would also like to note that I am not concerned about the lack of more groundbreaking announcements at this time. As was observed on the Church Growth Blog, approvals were accelerated for the Hinckley-era smaller temples, and many of them are seeing problems crop up now. I would prefer the Church take their time to get the necessary approvals to ensure we avoid that scenario going forward. As I have previously observed on this blog, President Nelson doesn't seem to be afraid of or deterred by a temple backlog.

As a result of today's announcements, of the now-95 announced temples, only 45 now lack an official announcement. I expect that number will go down further before General Conference in April. And when spring hits in the northern hemisphere, I expect to see an uptick in the number of temple groundbreakings, though we are also likely to see groundbreakings in the southern hemisphere between now and June, when winter hits that part of the world.

 In any case, I trust that the Brethren know what they are doing and how to work through the necessary approvals, so I have no doubt groundbreakings will pick up throughout the rest of this year. And I am not worried in the slightest about any sort of "backlog" of announced temples. Looking ahead to April, I think we will see anywhere between 15-20 new temples announced. The Brethren also seem to be more deliberate in how they schedule temple dedications and groundbreakings, so we can trust that process fully.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Coban Guatemala, Salta Argentina, and Taylorsville Utah Temples; Site Location and Preliminary Information Confirmed for the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple

Hello again, everyone! As I anticipated, the First Presidency announced the next major temple construction announcement a few minutes ago: the opening arrangements for the Coban Guatemala, Salta Argentina, and Taylorsville Utah temples and the site location and preliminary information for the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple. Let's get right into the details:

We start with the Coban Guatemala Temple, which will have a media day on Monday, April 22, 2024, which will be followed by VIP tours the next two days. The temple will open to the public between Thursday, April 25-Saturday, May 11, 2024. Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles will dedicate Guatemala's newest temple on Sunday, June 9, 2024, in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM Central Standard time.

Next, for the Salta Argentina Temple, a media day will be held on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, with VIP tours the next two days. The open house will be held between Friday, May 3-Saturday May 18, 2024. The temple will be dedicated by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM Argentina standard time.

Moving on to the Taylorsville Utah Temple, Media/VIP tours will occur from Tuesday, April 9-Friday, April 12, 2024. Public tours will follow between Saturday, April 13-Saturday, May 18, 2024. The temple will be dedicated by Elder Gerrit W. Gong, also a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on Sunday, June 2, 2024, in two sessions held at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM MDT

Each of these dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to those in each respective temple district. I was amazed that all three temple dedications will occur in June. I will be interested to see if they can also dedicate the Casper Wyoming Temple before the end of the first half of the year. But this means that June is stacking up to be a very busy month for temple dedications. It also means that the dedications of other temples might be able to occur sooner than I had projected. i will revise my thoughts on that based on today's announcements.

We conclude now with the information about the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple. A single-story edifice of 19,000 square feet will rise on a a 5.36-acre site southeast of the corner of Calle Hernán Cortes and Calle Santa Prisca in Colonia Vista Hermosa, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. That is now the second Mexico-city area temple announced by President Nelson in October 2022 that has had a site location and preliminary information confirmed.

In view of today's announcements, I have updated my documents showing current apostles' dedications and rededications and announced temples for which no official information has been confirmed yet. And I still wouldn't rule out a June dedication for Casper Wyoming either. Hopefully these latest announcements will lead to further shifts in the temple construction queue. And temple dedications may be accelerated even more than I previously thought. So it's back to the drawing board with the estimates I've offered.

But the only constant in life is change, so I am happy to revisit that based on these latest announcements. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exterior Renderings Released for 3 Temples

Hello again, everyone! The big temple news for today, and the first major announcement affecting temple construction in 2024 was the release of 3 exterior renderings for temples that have had sites announced previously. The three renderings are for the Londrina and Riberao Preto Brazil Temples (both of which were jannounced in October 2022 and had their sites confirmed one month later), and the Bakersfield California Temple (which was announced in April 2023 and had its' site location confirmed in July 2023. 

I will let others more qualified than I am share anything they like in the comments about the features of these exterior renderings. I will just note here that I anticipate each of these temples might now be closer to a groundbreaking. But I also wanted to provide an update to my thoughts on the potential timing for temple dedications in the near term. 

Since Casper is a smaller temple, I anticipate a short open hoouse there, which probably means the Church could hold its' dedication before the end of June. There has reportedly been a delay in completing the Taylorsville Utah Temple landscaping due to a supply shortage and backlog, so I anticipate that temple will only be dedicated after the Salta Argentina and Coban Guatemala Temples. 

Those temples (Salta, Coban, and Taylorsville) will likely be at the top of the list for August and September, unless the First Presidency opts to dedicate any temples in July. There is a precedent for that, but whether they'd do it again remains uncertain. So that's why I say I anticipate that the bulk of temple dedications in 2024 will come in the last 5 months of this year. 

There is also a precedent from last year to schedule 2 or more dedications for the same day, so we could see that occur this year as well. 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.

Final 2023 Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! As the final minutes of 2023 come to a close, we take a look back at the major progress made on temple construction in 2023. The highlights included 11 dedications and 2 rededications, 8 temple groundbreakings, and numerous site announcements and exterior renderings. There was also tremendous progress on temples in various phases of construction and renovation.

As a matter of review, here is what the temple construction program looked like as 2023 began, on the Saturday of the April 2023 General Conference, at the end of the first half of 2023, at the conclusion of the October 2023 General Conference weekend, and at the end of 2023. There has been tremendous progress in temple construction this year, and I've been privileged to track, report, and pass along all the updates.

As 2024 begins, my hope is for another year of double-digit dedications, double-digit groundbreakings, and many more updates in terms of site announcements, exterior renderings, and general progress updates. I have no doubt we've got significantly substantial updates coming down the pike, and I look forward to seeing that unfold and covering it all for you here.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Dedication Dates Announced for Layton Utah, Puebla Mexico, and Urdaneta Philippines Temples; Groundbreaking Announced for the Knoxville Tennessee Temple; and Site Location Confirmed for the Antananarivo Madagascar Temple

Hello again, everyone! In a stunning single announcement, the First Presidency has released details for the open houses and dedication dates of the Layton Utah, Puebla Mexico, and Urdaneta Philippines Temples. That alone would be impressive enough, but they also announced a groundbreaking for the Knoxville Tennessee Temple and the site location and preliminary information for the Antananarivo Madagascar Temple. There's a lot to break down here, so let's jump right in:

We start with the open houses and dedications. I'll go by date of dedication. The open house for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple will kick off with a media day on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, followed by VIP tours Wendesday and Thursday, March 13 and 14, 2024. The public open house will run between Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 30 (excluding the Sundays of March 17 and 24). President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, will dedicate the Urdaneta Philippines Temple on Sunday, April 28, 2024 in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM PHT.

Moving on now to the Puebla Mexico Temple, a media day will be held on Monday, March 25, 2024, followed by VIP tours on Tuesday, March 26-Thursday, March 28, 2024. The public open house for that temple will run between Friday, March 29 and Saturday, April 20, with the exceptions of March 31 and April 6-7 and 14, 2024. The temple will be dedicated on Sunday, May 19, 2024, in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM CST by Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

For the Layton Utah Temple, a media day is planned for Monday, April 15, 2024, with VIP tours available Tuesday, April 16-Thursday, April 18, 2024. The public open house will follow between Friday, April 19 and Saturday, June 1, except for the Sundays of April 21 and 28 and May 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2024. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate that temple on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in two sessions that will be held at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM MDT.

Each of these dedications will be broadcast to the stakes in their respective temple districts. I am a little surprised we didn't also get an announcement about the Taylorsville Utah Temple, but hopefully that will come down the pike next week. I am also a little surprised at the timing for each of these dedications, which are more spread out than I thought they would be. This again suggests that the second half of 2024 will see a high number of temple dedications. My gut instinct is to say that Taylorsville Utah and Casper Wyoming may be the only other temples likely to be dedicated in the first half of 2024.

We now move on to the groundbreaking for the Knoxville Tennesee Temple. It is set to occur on Saturday, January 27, 2024. Elder Shayne M. Bowen, a General Authority Seventy currently serving as First Counselor in the North America Southeast Area Presidency, will preside thereat. This more or less confirms my theory that no other temple groundbreakings will occur this year.

And that brings me to the Antananarivo Madagascar Temple. A single-story temple of approximately 10,000 square feet will rise on a 9.8-acre site at Fokontany Andranoro, Ambohibao, Antehiroka, Andranomena, Madagascar. Patron housing and arrival facilities will accompany the construction of the temple. Based on the size and on the fact that Madagascar is an isolated island, I think the Church might opt to utilize the modular components for that temple, which would be easier to bring to the island nation than building materials would be. As we know, that temple was announced by President Nelson in October 2021.

This brings the number of announced temples for which no information has offically been confirmed yet down to 50. I am grateful for this massive announcement today and to be able to pass it along to you all here.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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Site Location and Preliminary Details Announced for the Renamed Temple in Prosper Texas

Hello again, everyone! A few minutes ago, the First Presidency officially announced the next major temple construction update. Contrary to what I had supposed, no temple dedications were announced, nor were any new groundbreakings set. Today's announcement is related solely to the temple announced in October 2022 as the Prosper Texas Temple. According to today's announcement, that temple will now be known as the McKinney Texas Temple. 

The location of the temple and preliminary information about it has also been confirmed. An 8.16-acre site adjacent to and east of the existing chapel at 651 Stacey Road will serve as the location of the multi-story temple, which is anticipated to be roughly 44,000 square feet in area. As a result of this announcement, the number of temples for which no official information has been confirmed yet now stands at 51.

I am grateful for today's announcement. 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.

President Jeffrey R. Holland Observes His 83rd Birthday

Hello again, everyone! With today being December 3, President Jeffrey R. Holland is observing his 83rd birthday. I know that the Lord is no respector of persons, and doesn't play favorites, but on a personal level, I wanted to reiterate again that he is one of my favorite apostles. I have a couple of familial connections to him. My dad was born and raised in St. George, and his father (Dean Stokes), was Elder Holland's home teaching companion when "young Jeff" was an Aaronic Priesthood holder. According to my dad, his father often expressed his wonder that a boy like Elder Holland had become an apostle of the Lord.

I know that at times, it may seem that some members of the Church, to varying degrees, have put the leading Brethren of the Church on a pedestal, but I am reminded in accounts, such as that which was shared by my grandfather, that these men may have been foreordained to the apostleship, but they are no different than any other member of the Church; the Lord just ordered their lives based on their personal choices in such a way that when such calls came to them, they were qualified through years of service in the Church and living what they believe. That is important for all of us to remember.

My mom is a freelance proofreader, and in the early days of her marriage to my dad, she worked on many projects for the Church Educational System. Since that occurred at the time when then-Brother Holland was the Commissioner of the CES, he was essentially my mom's "boss." And she speaks warmly of the experiences she had working with him on such projects. Personal connections aside, I wanted to share a brief biographical sketch of Elder Holland.

Jeffrey Roy Holland was born in St. George, Utah to Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland on December 3, 1940. He served a full-time mission in the British Isles. His mission president was Marion D. Hanks, (who at that time was a member of the now-defunct First Council of the Seventy and later served in the First Quorum and Presidency of the Seventy). One of young Jeff Holland's missionary companions was Quentin L. Cook, alongside whom he would later serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Of now-President Holland, Elder Cook has remarked that it is interesting to him that he, as the previously-senior missionary companion to Elder Holland, is now the junior apostle to his former junior companion. Following the concusion of his missionary service, he attended BYU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in religious education. Additionally, shortly after his release from missionary service, he married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Terry, in 1963. They are the parents of a daughter and two sons, one of whom, Matthew, has served as the President of Utah Valley University and as president of the North Carolina Raliegh Mission. During General Conference in April 2020, Matthew S. Holland was sustained as a General Authority Seventy, marking the first time a fahter-and-son duo have served together as general authorities since the July 2015 death of President Boyd K. Packer. 

Once Elder Holland earned his bachelor's and master's degrees, he went on to earn a doctorate degree in American studies from Yale. He then became a professor at BYU, serving as Dean of the College of Religion. He served as Commissioner of Church Education from 1976-1980. In 1980, President Dallin H. Oaks, who was then serving as President of BYU-Provo, announced his intention to move on to other opportunities. Commissioner Holland was put in charge of the committee to find the new BYU President. 

Two days later, he was stunned when the First Presidency appointed him to that assignment. He had reportedly been favored for the position by President N. Eldon Tanner, who was then serving as First Counselor in the First Presidency, and was the protege of then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, who at that time was the senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles asssigned to the Church Board of Education. Elder Holland would go on to serve as president of BYU for 9 years himself, until his April 1, 1989 call as a General Authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. 

Prior to his call to general Church service, Elder Holland also served as a bishop, counselor in a stake presidency, and regional representative. After the First Presidency was reorganized following the death of President Ezra Taft Benson, President Howard W. Hunter took immediate action to fill the apostolic vacancy. In the space of a few short hours on Thursday June 23, President Hunter issued a call to the apostleship to Elder Holland, gave him his apostolic charge, set apart and ordained him to that calling, and had him join the other 14 apostles in their weekly meeting at the temple. That action was sustained by Church membership during the Solemn Assembly that was held exactly 100 days later.

As we know, then-Elder Holland experienced significant health challenges earlier this year that reportedly almost ended his life and kept him from speaking in both General Conferences this year. Prior to that hospitalization,Elder Holland also experienced the death of his sweet wife.

As we also know, President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,died on Sunday November 12, with Elder Holland set appart to succeed him in that assignment 3 days later.

President Holland has given a total of 60 addresses in General Conference.  Of those, 3 were prior to his apostolic call. The first time he spoke during General Conference was in April 1983, while he was serving as the President of Brigham Young University. He spoke alongside his son during that session. He gave two other talks following his 1989 call as a General Authority Seventy, and the remaining 57 General Conference addresses as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 

To me, it always seems as though the talks given by President Holland are specifically focused on something I have been dealing with personally at the time. As a consequence, listening to him speak every six months is one of my favorite things about General Conference weekends, and I have keenly felt his absence from the two General Conferences this year. The last thing I want to mention about Elder Holland is that he is currently the most-senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the third in seniority among all current apostles. 

He is also the third-oldest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and is the sixth-oldest among all living apostles. Interestingly enough, although he is the most senior of the three apostles born in 1940 (with Elders Uchtdorf and Cook being the other two), he is the youngest of the three. His apostolic seatmate, Elder Uchtdorf,  obsrved his 83rd birthday just under one month ago, with Elder Cook having done the same two months prior to that.

I am grateful for the life and ministry of Elder Holland, and for the chance I had to write this post in his honor today. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Rededication Announced for Manti Utah Temple; President Jeffrey R. Holland Will Rededicate the St. George Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has announced opening arrangements for the Manti Utah Temple. A media day will be held on Monday, March 11, with VIP tours held March 11-13. The public open house will run from Thursday, March 14-Friday, April 3, excluding the Sundays of March 17, 24, and 31. The temple will be rededicated on Sunday, April 21, 2024, and will be broadcast to all units in the Manti Utah Temple district. Additional details, including who will preside at the rededication, will be released at a later date.

The Church additionally announced today that President Jeffrey R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will preside at the rededication of the St. George Utah Temple on December 10, 2023. I had suspected he would be involved if he was able to do so, so it's nice to have that officially confirmed. This announcement has me hopeful that President Holland might also be present for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple dedication, even though President Eyring has been assigned to preside at that event.

I'm a little surprised that we got the announcement about Manti so soon, and that it will be rededicated in April. The fact that we got this announcement while several completed temples are still awaiting theirs may suggest that getting Manti back up and running was a higher priority. This also means that mid-April may be the earliest the next temple dedication will be scheduled.

I am grateful for this update. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple; Groundbreaking Set for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the First Presidency announced the opening arrangements for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple and groundbreaking arrangements for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple. Let's get right into the details: Media tours will be held for the Red Cliffs Temple on Monday, January 29, 2024, with VIP tours held for the next two days. The public open house will occur from Tuesday, January 30-Saturday, March 2, 2024 (marking the first time that both VIP tours and public tours will be held at the same time).

The Red Cliffs Utah Temple will then be dedicated in two sessions (at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM) on Sunday, March 24, with President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, presiding over those sessions. I had assumed Elder Holland would preside at this dedication, but it could be he will be the apostolic companion to President Eyring, if he is able to be well enough to do so by that time. Since I had projected that the Red Cliffs dedication would only occur in May, this suggests an accelerated timeframe for temple dedications than what I had projected.

That being said, opening arrangements are easier to set for Utah temples than for many of their counterparts, so that's not surprising. Hopefully, by the end of this month, we see at least two more temple dedications set. In the meantime, if that wasn't reason enough for this post, as I stated, the Church has also set a groundbreaking for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple. That will occur on Saturday, November 23, 2023, with Asia Area President Elder Benjamin M. Z. Tai presiding. 

I also was surprised by the announced timing for the groundbreaking of Taiwan's second temple. I had projected that the groundbreaking would be in mid-2024 at the earliest. But I am grateful that the Lord once again proved to me today that His timing trumps any mortal reasoning or projections I might offer.  So I am going back to the drawing board on those projections. I will have updated thoughts published here in some form as soon as I can make that happen.

I am grateful for today's landmark announcements. I continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as I become aware thereof. 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.

UPDATE: Third Quarter 2023 Temple Construction Progress Updates

Hello again, everyone! As the final moments of September (and thus the third quarter of 2023) wind down, it is time to take a look at where temple construction stands as of the end of this quarter. So, by way of review, let's look back at where things stood as 2023 began, on the Saturday of the April 2023 General Conference, at the end of the first half of 2023, and where things stand now.

The data largely speaks for itself. I also recognize that the last report will be outdated in about 16 hours, when, at the conclusion of the Sunday Afternoon Session of General Conference, President Nelson will likely announce new temples. The new temples will be added to both the third-quarter report and the main temple construction progress document. I am looking forward to that announcement.

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.