Temple Construction Updates Noted

Hello again, everyone! There have been a few developments reported within the last 12 hours or less in relation to temple construction. So let's dive right in to our discussion of those updates. First of all, information found earlier today indicates that President Nelson has asked his First Counselor, President Oaks, to dedicate the Barranquilla Colombia Temple this weekend. Later today, reports will come in about the youth devotional, and that will give us some idea of who is accompanying President Oaks from general Church leadership.

This was wonderful to find out about. I had wondered earlier this year how long it would be before President Nelson began sharing responsibilities for attendance at temple dedications with his counselors and the senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve. As we saw earlier this year, the two temples which were rededicated (Houston Texas and Jordan River Utah) were presided over by Presidents Ballard and Eyring respectively, who serve as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve and Second Counselor to President Nelson respectively.

I am not sure what that means for future temple dedications, but I imagine there will be some over which President Nelson presides as those dedications will be part of his ongoing Global Ministry Tour, while there will be others for which he taps his counselors or the senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Either way, President Nelson has, right out of the gate, shown a willingness to do things differently than they have previously been done, so we are almost certain to see that continue.

That said, let's move on to other temple updates. It has been noted earlier today that construction has officially been completed for both the Rome Italy and Kinshasa DR Congo Temples, where the placement of interior furnishings is underway, while both temples are being prepared for their open houses. The temple in Rome will have its' open house begin in roughly 7.5 weeks, with the open house for the Kinshasa Temple beginning on the last day of the Rome Temple's set dedication.

For the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, new information received earlier today notes that landscaping and construction efforts are in their final stages. It has additionally been noted that, if all goes well, the construction team assigned to that temple will be turning it back over to the Temple Department for the final touches within the next few weeks, at which point the open house and dedication information can and will likely be set.

Some of the sources I have available have moved the general estimate for this temple's completion back up to early-to-mid 2019, which I can understand. At the same time, however, given the dedication information set for the Rome, Kinshasa, and Port-au-Prince Temples (for March 10-12, April 14, and May 19 respectively), until more is known about the Fortaleza temple, or until the Church officially announces that information, I feel more confident standing by my recently-updated specific estimate of early-to-mid June.

A disclaimer here: I am not saying that the dedication of the Fortaleza temple couldn't happen somewhere in-between those already set. We have seen that occur a time or two. Instead, it is just my personal preference to be more cautious in the estimates I offer based on the information I have available.  Either way, it was wonderful to hear that this temple is getting close to the point where its' open house and dedication could be announced.

In the meantime, there are a couple of other temple updates I wanted to mention here as well. At the Arequipa Peru Temple, lamp-posts and bollards are being installed, and sod is being laid on the temple grounds.  And there has been a major update also reported on the renovation process for the Mesa Arizona Temple. New information indicates that water retention and irrigation systems are being installed, while excavation is underway for the underground parking area which will serve the Family Discovery Center.

I am grateful to have learned of these updates, and for the chance to pass them all along to you here. I will be sure to do the same with other major Church news and temple developments as I receive word of them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments align with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Revised Specific Estimates for Known Temple Events in the Near Future

Hello again, everyone! As promised, I am posting again now to share my revised specific estimates for known temple events in the near future. It should be noted, at the outset, that these estimates are subject to official confirmation through a Church announcement. That said, I have done my best to gauge the recent progress (or the lack thereof) on both new temples and those which are undergoing renovation, and, based on what is known through the sources I have available, I feel reasonably confident in offering these estimates. As time passes and more is known about whether each of these temples is on track, I will, of course, be altering those estimates as needed in the future.

The estimates follow below. If any of you have any questions on the reasoning behind the timing of these estimates, please let me know. So as not to disturb the flow of this information, I will end here and now as I always do. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback falls within the parameters of the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Specific Estimates for Known Temple Events in the Near Future

2018:

Sunday December 9: Dedication of the Barranquilla Colombia Temple (161^st operating temple; confirmed)

Note: President Nelson could (and probably will) preside at this temple’s dedication, but he may also opt to delegate that to one of his counselors or one of the six senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I had also wondered if he (President Nelson) would be doing another leg of his Global Ministry Tour in conjunction with this event, but given that nothing official has been announced in that regard, it seems more likely than not that the presiding officials will just do the temple dedication, since anything else would detract from the focus on Christmas and on Christ as the reason for this season.

Final note on 2018: I had heard that this year would be a potentially big one for temple groundbreakings. Although the Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire Temple unexpectedly had its’ groundbreaking in November 2018, unless there is something of which I am not aware, it does not appear as though any other temples will have a groundbreaking prior to the end of this year.

2019:

Wednesday January 16: Groundbreaking for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple (confirmed)

Note: On November 19, 2018, the First Presidency announced the groundbreaking date for this temple, and that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles would preside at this event. Until more information is available regarding the anticipated duration of construction, I have set a preliminary general completion estimate of early-to-mid 2021. If I find any new information indicating that this temple will be completed sooner than that, I will be sure to adjust this estimate.

Saturday January 26: Groundbreaking for the Bangkok Thailand Temple (confirmed)

Note: On November 27, 2018, just 8 days following the afore-mentioned announcement of the groundbreaking information for the Urdaneta Philippines Temple, the First Presidency also announced that the groundbreaking for this temple would be held 10 days after that one. Since a general completion estimate of 3-4 years has been given for the construction of this temple, I have felt a more specific but still general estimate of mid-2022 would be appropriate.

Sunday March 10-Tuesday March 12: Dedication of the Rome Italy Temple (162^nd operating temple; confirmed)

Note: The First Presidency announced the amended dedication dates for this temple on November 8, 2018. Given that this dedication will now be held over three days rather than the previously-announced 8-day period, there may be only 2-3 of our 15 apostles participating in this event. That said, it would not surprise me in any way if this dedication was either the start or conclusion of another leg of President Nelson’s ongoing Global Ministry Tour.

Saturday & Sunday April 6 & 7: 189^th General Conference

Note: Because 19 temples were announced in 2018, and because President Nelson has expressed his commitment to continuing to bring temples closer to the Saints around the world, I am sure we will see several new temples announced during this General Conference.

Sunday April 14: Dedication of the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple (163^rd operating temple; confirmed)

Note: In view of the facts that the dedication of this temple will occur after the April General Conference, and that following the April 2018 General Conference, President Nelson began his Global Ministry Tour, I could see President Nelson doing another leg of his tour in conjunction with this temple’s dedication, whether that tour starts or ends with this dedication, or whether a dedication is held sometime in the mid-point of that tour.

Sunday May 19: Dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple (164^th operating temple; confirmed)

Note: On November 14, 2018, the First Presidency announced the open house and dedication for this temple. This means that the more specific timing for all other temple events next year needed to be similarly adjusted. President Nelson could dedicate this temple himself, or begin delegating that responsibility to his counselors. If President Nelson presides at this event, it would not shock me to find out that this dedication might be part of another leg of his ongoing Global Ministry Tour.

Early-to-mid June: Dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple (165^th operating temple)

Early-to-mid August: Rededication of the Oakland California Temple

Mid-to-late August: Rededication of the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple

Early-to-mid September: Dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple (166^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late September: Rededication of the Memphis Tennessee Temple

Saturday & Sunday October 5 & 6: 189^th Semiannual General Conference:

Note: Depending on what is done by this time to clear the existing backlog of announced temples, it seems more likely than not that several new temples will be announced during this weekend.

Mid-October: Rededication of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple

Late October-early November: Dedication of the Lisbon Portugal Temple (167^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late November: Rededication of the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple

December: Rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple

Final note on 2019: Given what I have heard about 2019, it seems more likely than not that several temples will have a groundbreaking at some point during that year. As noted above, the groundbreakings have been scheduled for the Urdaneta Philippines and Bangkok Thailand Temples. I am also anticipating that a groundbreaking for the Pocatello Idaho Temple will be held in mid-2019. Additionally, based on what I know at the present time, I am keeping my eyes open for information on the Saratoga Springs Utah, Nairobi Kenya, Lima Peru Los Olivos, Harare Zimbabwe, Brasilia Brazil, and Greater Manila Philippines Temples, most (if not all) of which could have a groundbreaking by the end of 2019.

2020:

Mid-February: Dedication of the Arequipa Peru Temple (168^th operating temple)

Mid-March: Rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple

Saturday & Sunday April 4 & 5: 190^th Annual General Conference

Note: Barring anything unexpected, I would anticipate several new temples being announced during this weekend.

Mid-to-late April: Dedication of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple (169^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late May: Rededication of the Tokyo Japan Temple

Mid-August: Dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple (170^th operating temple)

Saturday & Sunday October 3 & 4: 190^th Semiannual General Conference

Note: Temple announcements are always possible, so it is not hard to believe that a few could be announced during this General Conference.

Mid-October: Rededication of the Mesa Arizona Temple

Mid-November: Dedication of the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple (171^st operating temple)

Note: At the groundbreaking for this temple (which occurred on November 8, 2018), Elder Neil L. Andersen, who presided at this event and gave his remarks in French, noted that construction of the temple was anticipated to take around two years. For that reason, I am moving my previous estimate for this temple’s dedication up to this point.

Mid-December: Rededication of the Washington DC Temple

Final note on 2020: Some of the announced temples that will have a groundbreaking between now (early November 2018) and the end of 2019 could potentially be dedicated during this year. And several other announced temples (I currently have 7 on my radar) could have a groundbreaking during 2020 as well.

2021:

Saturday & Sunday April 3 & 4: 191^st Annual General Conference

Note: Depending on what happens between now (early December 2018) and the dates for this General Conference, I could easily see several new temples announced.

Mid-to-late April: Rededication of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple

Early-to-mid June: Dedication of the Urdaneta Philippines Temple (172^nd operating temple)

Note: Until we have a more general estimate for this temple’s completion, a more specific one is being approximated here. It is also likely that some temples which are yet-to-have a groundbreaking will be dedicated before this one is, so the numbering is also approximated.

Saturday & Sunday October 2 & 3: 191^st Semiannual General Conference

Note: I am hoping that by the time this particular General Conference weekend rolls around, the temple construction program of the Church will have progressed to the point where some temples will continue to be announced every six months.

Final note on 2021: If, as anticipated, several more temples are announced in 2019 and 2020, and any which have not yet had a groundbreaking have that occur within that same time period, that in turn will multiply the number of known temple events which will likely occur in 2021 and the years beyond. As more is learned about future temple renovations, that will also have an impact on the number of future events.

2022:

Saturday & Sunday April 2 & 3: 192^nd Annual General Conference

Note: Since the face of the Church’s temple construction program will likely look entirely different by this time, I would anticipate the announcement of several new temples.

Mid-August: Dedication of the Bangkok Thailand Temple (173^rd operating temple)

Note: Because this temple is significantly larger than temples which have been built in recent years, delays in that construction process are more likely than not. It is also worth noting that the official number for this temple is almost certain to change as other temples have a groundbreaking and construction and are potentially completed before this one is.

Saturday & Sunday October 1 & 2: 192^nd Semiannual General Conference

Note:  As noted above (for the 2022 April General Conference), by this time, it is more likely than not that the face of the Church’s temple construction program will be looking entirely different. With that in mind, it seems more likely than not that other temples could be announced during this General Conference.

Final note: As noted a few different times here, within the four years or so between now and the end of 2022, the face of the Church’s temple construction program will likely look very different. We currently have a Church President who has clearly prioritized bringing the temples to the people, and the fact that he announced 19 new temples within his first year as such verifies that beyond doubt. I also am equally certain he will do all he can to clear the existing backlog of announced temples. With that in mind, there will likely be many more temple events to add to this list in the future. I am committed to bringing updates in that regard to you all as I receive them.

Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! Some additional Church news has been reported in recent days. Although this escaped my notice before now, it appears that yesterday, the Church updated its' statement on pageants, and the updates note officially which pageants will be discontinued and which will remain. So what has been decided in that regard? Let's talk about that.

The Nauvoo Pageant will continue with official support from Church headquarters. Following the completion of the renovation process for the Mesa Arizona Temple, the Mesa Pageant will continue under the direction of the North America Southwest Area Presidency. The British Pageant (which commemorates the arrival of the first missionaries to England in 1837) will now be held every 4 years (with the next one scheduled to be held in 2021)  under the direction of the Europe Area Presidency.

Meanwhile, the Castle Valley and Clarkston pageants are now discontinued, and, as previously announced, the Manti Pageant will end next year. while the Hill Cumorah Pageant will have its' final run in 2020. I hope this clarification and additional information is helpful to you all. There were a couple of additional Church news stories as well, so we will conclude by discussing those.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently returned from a visit to the Church's Caribbean Area, where he was able to reiterate to the Saints in that area some of the things President Nelson had said during his recent visit. Elder  Christofferson also talked about how the construction process for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple and the October announcement of a temple for San Juan Puerto Rico are a manifestation of the resilience whereby Church members in that area continue to recover from the aftermath and impact of recent hurricanes.

And finally, on the campus of Brigham Young University-Provo, Elder David A. Bednar was the featured speaker at the weekly devotional, and he focused his remarks on how to find happiness amidst troubled times. This was a timely message. It was reported on the news yesterday that a student at BYU-Provo had plummeted from one of the campus buildings.

It has since been determined that the cause of death was suicide. BYU President and area seventy Elder Kevin J. Worthen made reference to this tragedy in brief remarks at the beginning of the devotional, and indicated that counseling and other resources are available for any student who needs that in light of this tragic occurrence.

In all scenarios, it is comforting to know that the general Church leadership are well aware of what's going on in the Church and throughout the world, and are taking steps to ameliorate such situations as best they can. I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will keep doing my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I receive it.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments conform to the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

A General Apology and Reminder

Hello again, everyone! Within the last month or so, there has been somewhat of a decrease in terms of comments on recent posts. So, whether or not any of you feel that I need to, I wanted to post a general apology, reminder, and clarification on the subject of comments on this blog. Previous posts have seen good back-and-forth dialogue, between the readers of this blog and myself. I worry at times that some of you who have recently started reading this blog might misunderstand my motivations behind comments I add to those discussions.

In general, I am happy to let such dialogue continue, especially when wonderful insights are shared here. But at times, I do wonder if replies I have shared here are making me come across as a know-it-all who is more interested in asserting his own views than embracing corrections, clarifications, or any other input. I have never believed myself to know more about the subjects I cover and about the gospel than any or all of you do.

That said, I often come away from such conversations very inspired regarding the topics covered, and I hope the same is true for all of you. I made a resolve when my blog began to be more widely-read and recognized that I would do my best to reply to every comment by way of thanks for it or to acknowledge, inquire, or add further insights into comments which have been shared.

I also have worried more frequently of late that some of you may see such replies from me as an attempt on my part to end the dialogue on the topics covered in posts or comments published here. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am very much a people person, and hope that my comments here add insight, depth, or further context into what is posted or commented on.

While I recognize my own fallibility and imperfection, often, in relation to questions asked here, if I have one thing in my favor, it is that I know how to find necessary resources to provide the insights in my comments. And it happens more often than not that something said here does correct, clarify, or expand on what I have noted when putting together new posts. I greatly appreciate the chance to dialogue with all of you, and hope that the content which I post proves as interesting and illuminating as do the comments from you all.

If any of you feel that I have been abrupt, rude, discourteous, or disagreeable in my replies to your comments, I sincerely apologize. I am doing my level best to share accurate information in the things I post here, and because I am so far from perfect (which I freely acknowledge without hesitation), there have definitely been recent times where many of you will post such corrections, clarifications, or questions that successfully demonstrate errors I have made, and I am grateful for that too.

I would feel awful if I ever found out that any of my readers stopped visiting or commenting because of anything I said in response to their feedback. I hope that any of you will continue to feel free to contribute to the ongoing dialogue of anything discussed here. My hope in centering the focus of this blog around recently-reported Church news and temple developments was, is, and will continue to be to provide a safe place where such topics, along with accompanying comments from myself and each of you, can serve to uplift, encourage, and inspire us all, and allow a welcome reprieve from the craziness of the world today.

As that craziness continues and gets worse (which is a sign of the times that the Second Coming of the Savior is drawing ever closer), each of us will need to be extra inspired in our efforts to prepare for that, and to deal with the ramifications of a world which is rapidly changing and where political and public discourse becomes increasingly more uncivil. I have always believed we can have disagreements without becoming disagreeable, and I hope that that attitude has been reflected in both my posts and the comments I add to discussions here. As long as that continues to be the case for me and for each of you, then my efforts to stay on top of the latest developments will have paid off in the most important ways possible.

In addition to continuing to monitor Church news and temple developments, I am still very much committed to the projects I mentioned in a previous post, all of which I hope to take care of before the end of this year. I hope that many of you are looking forward to that upcoming content. I appreciate all of you and your ongoing efforts to add inspirational insights into topics covered here.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments conform to the established guidelines on the comment form. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Celebrates His 78th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back in the early morning hours of December 3 as I promised to be, with a post written in honor of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who is celebrating his 78th birthday today. I have previously referenced the fact that Elder Holland is one of my favorites among the current apostles. His General Conference talks always seem to especially be covering topics related to things I am going through personally during any given General Conference weekend.

As I have also mentioned, when he was a young man, Elder Holland, who was born and raised in St. George, was my dad's dad's home teaching companion. I have very vivid memories of my grandfather expressing his wonderment that a boy like that could grow up to be an apostle of the Lord. Many members of the Church may be prone to putting our apostles on pedestals, forgetting about the paths which have taken such men from the circumstances of their births to the point where the Lord sees fit to call them to be His special witnesses.

The difference is in the choices they made which enabled them to be ready, worthy, and able to accept such calls when they have come. But on another level, each of us can do likewise to ensure that we are where the Lord needs us to be and will be ready to do what He needs us to do in any circumstance in which we find ourselves.

I also have another indirect connection to Elder Holland. 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 Elder 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. And my dad also reconnected with him a few different times when he (my dad) worked for the Church in Salt Lake.

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 as a full-time missionary in the British Mission, during which time one of his two mission presidents was Marion D. Hanks, who at that time was serving as a member of the First Council of the Seventy. And one of Elder Holland's missionary companions, Quentin L. Cook, would later become a colleague in the apostleship.

Upon his return from his mission, he married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Terry, in 1963. They are the parents of a daughter and two sons.  Elder Holland attended BYU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in religious education. 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. While serving in that assignment in 1980, he led a search for someone to succeed the current BYU-Provo President, Dallin H. Oaks (who would also become an apostolic colleague in the future). He was surprised when President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was then serving as Second Counselor in the First Presidency, called him one day to note that he (Jeffrey R. Holland) would be the next president of BYU.

Elder Holland has served as a bishop, counselor in a stake presidency, and regional representative. Following the conclusion of his service as the president of BYU-Provo, he was sustained as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 1, 1989. 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 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,  had him join the other 14 apostles in their weekly meeting at the temple, and arranged a press conference to enable him to take questions from the media. That action was sustained by Church membership during the Solemn Assembly that was held less than three months later.

Elder Holland gave 3 talks prior to his apostolic call (one of which he gave in April 1983 as president of BYU during the Priesthood Session, with his son (a teacher at the time) also speaking during that session, and the other 2 while serving as a General Authority Seventy. And since his call to the apostleship, he has spoken 49 additional times, meaning he has given 52 addresses altogether in General Conference. To review any of these wonderful addresses, click here.

Some of my favorites among those 50 in recent years have been None Were With Him (from the Easter Sunday Morning Session of the April 2009 General Conference); Lord, I Believe (from the Sunday Afternoon Session of the April 2013 General Conference); and Songs Sung and Unsung (from the Saturday Afternoon Session of the April 2017 General Conference).

The last thing I want to mention about Elder Holland is that he is currently the second most-senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the fourth most senior of our 15 current apostles. He is also the fourth-oldest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and is the 7th oldest among all 15 apostles.

Although it is unlikely Elder Holland will ever read this personally, I am grateful for the chance I had to present this post in honor of his birthday today. I joyfully and whole-heartedly sustain each and every one of our 15 current apostles in their callings, and I look forward to seeing the way in which Elder Holland will continue his apostolic ministry in the future.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated,. on any post at any time, as long as such comments remain true to the established guidelines for this blog. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.