Concepcion Chile Temple Groundbreaking Date Announced/Progress Report on First Book/Reminder about Ensign article

I know most of you will probably be let down by the fact that I haven't posted that general update yet. I meant to do it this weekend, but other things got in the way. I had to post today to share some more exciting LDS Church Temple News. As reported by ldschurchtemples.com, the Church has scheduled the groundbreaking ceremony for the Concepcion Chile Temple to take place on Saturday October 17. This will be the third temple groundbreaking in 2015. I anticipate at least one or more temples will have their groundbreaking announced before the end of the year, whether they take place late this year or early next year. Construction on the temple is anticipated to take 2-2½ years, which means it will be completed either late in 2017 or early in 2018. How thrilling it is to see all these temple-related developments! I will keep my ears open for temple news and will share it with you as time and circumstances allow.

Here's a updated list of temple developments. I have included all updated dedication and construction news that I am aware of.

Temples Undergoing Renovation:
26. Mexico City Mexico Temple: Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday September 13, 2015.
86. Montreal Quebec Temple: Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday November 22, 2015.
91. Suva Fiji Temple:Scheduled to be rededicated Sunday February 21, 2016.
33. Freiberg Germany Temple: Anticipated to be completed in mid-2016.
8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Anticipated to be completed in late 2016.
41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Scheduled for renovation beginning September 7, 2015.

Under Construction:
147. Trujillo Peru Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday June 21, 2015.
148. Indianapolis Indiana Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday August 23, 2015.
149. Tijuana Mexico Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday December 13, 2015.
150. Provo City Center Temple: Scheduled to be dedicated Sunday March 20, 2016.
151. Rome Italy Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.
155. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.
156. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2016.
152. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-to-late 2016.
153. Sapporo Japan Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2016.
157. Paris France Temple: Projected to be completed in late 2016.
158. Meridian Idaho Temple:Projected to be completed in mid-2017.
159. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Projected to be completed in mid-2017.
154. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Projected to be completed in 2018.

Announced:
160. Cedar City Utah Temple: Local government approval phase; site plan presented at January 2015 meeting; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday August 8, 2015.
161. Concepcion Chile Temple: Approval phase; temple and site design plans complete; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday October 17, 2015.
168. Tucson Arizona Temple: Construction approval phase; general contractor selected; groundbreaking pending.
165. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple and site designs complete; groundbreaking pending.
162. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Planning and approval phase; land purchase finalized; groundbreaking pending.
169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Planning and approval phase; final piece of land for temple site acquired; groundbreaking pending.
164. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
167. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
170. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
163. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
166. Durban South Africa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
171. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
172. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
173. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

I will also announce an exciting new development in my personal life outside of the personal update: I have resumed work in earnest on my book. I have been adding scenes to previously written chapters, and doing a touch up here and and a touch up there, Once that's done, I will write scenes for the final part of the book. No word yet on when it will be ready to publish. It all depends on how swiftly I can finish it and how quickly Brandon Sanderson reviews it. Then before I submit it to a publishing company, I plan on enlisting the services of my mother to proofread it. I have tried to be conscientious about grammar and punctuation errors, but it will help to have Brandon and my mom review it for content needing to be changed and grammatical errors, since they aren't nearly as emotionally tied to the project as I am.

I also remind my readers of something else: my first published work will be an Ensign article that is scheduled to appear in the July 2015 edition, unless it gets bumped for something more important, like Elder Perry's funeral proceedings (which may be included in an insert rather than the magazine proper) or something else similar. It will appear in the Young Adult section. Be on the lookout for that. It will be good to get my name more widely known before publishing my first book.

As always, I will keep you updated on temple, writing, or publishing news. And I promise, I will very soon do the massive personal update I've been promising. You can count on that.

Two Major Addresses given recently by General Authorities/Sunday School General Presidency Reorganized

I am posting today for two good reasons. The first is to give a brief report on two major addresses given to two major governmental organizations, and the second is to report on (Friday) today's reorganization of the Sunday School General Presidency.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, during a Europe tour, addressed an All-Party Parliamentary Group in the United Kingdom's House of Lords on June 10 on the subject of how the Church's humanitarian aid can help in the midst of religious conflict. For a report on his address, please see this article. Yesterday,Elder Jörg Klebingat encouraged dialogue and deeper understanding among global faiths in an address to the Fifth Congress of Traditional and World Religions, which convened in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, June 11, 2015. For a report on his address, please see this article.

Mormon Newsroom reported today (Friday) that the Sunday School Presidency had been reorganized. Tad R. Callister remains Sunday School General President. His former second counselor, George D. Durrant, is now the first counselor, replacing John S. Tanner, who will start his new assignment as the new President of BYU–Hawaii on July 27. This made necessary the calling of a new Second Counselor. Brian K. Ashton will assume that assignment immediately following his return from being president of the Texas Houston South Mission. He becomes the youngest currently serving auxiliary leader in the Church. I knew that a reorganization of the Sunday School General Presidency would follow the announcement of soon-to-be President Tanner's new assignment. But I didn't expect it to happen this fast. It makes me wonder if perhaps a new apostle might be called soon. But I really don't anticipate that happening until the week before General Conference. Anyhow, I got off topic. This was exciting news to me, and I am happy to share it with my readers.

Barring any unexpected post to report on Church News, I fully anticipate that the next post will contain my long-promised massive life update. The longer time goes by, the more things happen that I need to report to you who read this blog. And the more things happen, the more daunting the update becomes. So I bump it in favor of the latest Church News. But I promise, it is coming soon. You have my word on that. Thanks, as always, for reading my posts.

Big Temple News

I know I said the next post would likely be the general update I've been promising for 3 months now, but some temple news crossed my radar that I just had to share. First, the Frankfurt Germany Temple will undergo a renovation starting on September 7. Additionally, the First Presidency announced the open house and rededication dates for the Suva Fiji Temple. The temple open house will only span a 12-day period from Monday January 30-Saturday February 6, 2015, excluding Sunday January 31. A cultural celebration will be held on Saturday February 20, and the temple will be dedicated the next day. Dedicatory services will only be broadcast within the temple district, which spans the small island nations of Fiji, Kiribati, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. I wasn't aware of this, but apparently those islands and the others immediately within that area comprise the region of what is called Melanesia. Who knew, right? Anyways, that's the newest exciting temple-related developments. I will post more about temples when news is available to me, and, in the meantime, my next post should be this weekend and contain the long-promised and hopefully long-awaited update on my life, unless any Church news catches my attention tomorrow. Thanks for your readership. I hope you all are still enjoying my posts. "Happiness to you in your life ahead!"