Lightning Strikes Bountiful Utah Temple's Angel Moroni

Hello, readers! Just posting to let you know that lightning today struck the Angel Moroni statue of the Bountiful Utah Temple of the Church.  It appears there are holes in part of the head and the back of the statue. No word yet about when the Church might replace it, but such replacements due to upheavals of nature are not uncommon, so it should happen shortly. For more details, please see this link. Thanks,

Updated Temple Progress Report

A little later than promised, here is an updated temple status report:

Temple Construction Progress (current as of 5/22/16)

Current Temple Status: 150 operating, 16 under construction (5 scheduled for dedication, 1 had groundbreaking several years ago and construction is pending), 11 announced (2 groundbreakings anticipated to be announced soon), 4 undergoing renovation (1 scheduled for rededication).

Dedication scheduled:

151. Sapporo Japan Temple: Furniture being delivered; preparing for open house; scheduled to be dedicated Sunday August 21, 2016.

152. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Interior work complete; furniture being placed; outdoor plaza progressing; scheduled to be dedicated Sunday September 18, 2016.

153. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Lampposts installed on the grounds; installing art glass; painting, and laying floor inside; scheduled to be dedicated Sunday October 16, 2016.

154. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Angel Moroni placed on April 25, 2016; steeple lighting tests underway; scheduled to be dedicated Sunday October 30, 2016.

155. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Exterior cladding nearing completion; concrete poured for monument sign; interior painting and flooring underway; scheduled to be dedicated Sunday November 20, 2016.

Under Construction:

156. Paris France Temple: Attachment of exterior stone cladding nearing completion; interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime in early 2017.

157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Stained glass windows installed; pouring parking lot curbing; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Steeple framework attached; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Exterior panels attached; completion anticipated sometime between late 2017 and early 2018.

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work underway including some material replacement and rework; completion anticipated sometime during early 2018.

161. Durban South Africa Temple: Ground broken on Saturday April 9, 2016; completion anticipated sometime during early 2018.

162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Second floor exterior walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during late 2018.

163. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Clearing, grading site; completion anticipated sometime during late 2018.

164. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Ground broken on Saturday December 5, 2015; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

165. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Ground broken on Saturday February 20, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between early-and-mid 2019.

168. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Full-scale construction pending due to government-imposed delays; completion date TBD (To be determined).

Rededication scheduled:

33. Freiberg Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; adding extension; steeple covered; scheduled to be rededicated Sunday September 4, 2016.

Undergoing Renovation:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; reroofing underway; rededication anticipated sometime between late 2016 and early 2017.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime during mid-2017.

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; construction trailers on site; rededication anticipated sometime during late 2017.

Announced:

166. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Construction preparation phase; plans approved by local government; groundbreaking date anticipated to be announced soon.

167. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; temple site rezoned; acquiring building permits; groundbreaking date anticipated to be announced soon.

169. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

170. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

173. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

174. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

175. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Key:

Bolded numbers and text denote temples whose number already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as dedication or groundbreaking dates.

Italicized numbers and text denote temples whose number may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose number may change based on the order in which their future groundbreakings are announced.

Multipurpose Church News post

This post will highlight some of the major news items related to Church growth. Hang on to your hats! This will be a wild ride!

First, the Church has further updated the dress and grooming standards for missionaries. In mosquito-infested area where the Zika virus may be contracted, sister missionaries are now being allowed to wear slacks instead of skirts. Contrary to popular interpretation, these changes will not affect the fact that sister missionaries still need to wear skirts and dresses to Church, the temple, and during seasons when mosquitoes are not out in the air. That information can be found by clicking on this link, which will also list Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer of the Seventy's assignment as Assistant Executive Director of the Church Missionary Department, which I did not know before.

Second, Matthew Martinich has posted a major update on stakes and districts that have been created or discontinued within the past month. You can find that post by clicking on this link. Among those created are the first stakes in Benin and the Czech Republic, and additional stakes created in Argentina, Arizona, Australia, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Tennessee, Utah. A district has been reinstated in Ukraine, and a stake has been discontinued in Idaho, while a district has been discontinued in Papua New Guinea.

Third, more temples have had a new president announced, and I have analyzed how recently each temple has had a change in presidents. I have drawn up an improved list of temples that have received a new president and temples that may yet have a new president announced this year. Here's the list:

Temples getting a new president in 2016:

1.      Nashville Tennessee

2.      Fort Collins Colorado

3.      Star Valley Wyoming

4.      Hartford Connecticut

5.      Philadelphia Pennsylvania

6.      Columbia River Washington

7.      Chicago Illinois

8.      Mexico City Mexico

9.      Hong Kong China

10.  London England

11.  Manhattan New York

12.  Medford Oregon

13.  Dallas Texas

14.  Birmingham Alabama

15.  Seattle Washington

16.  Hamilton New Zealand

17.  Cochabamba Bolivia

18.  Gilbert Arizona

19.  Anchorage Alaska

20.  Curitiba Brazil

21.  Kyiv Ukraine

22.  Panama City Panama

Temples that may still get a new president this year:

1.      Aba Nigeria

2.      Campinas Brazil

3.      Ciudad Juarez Mexico

4.      Columbus Ohio

5.      Copenhagen Denmark

6.      Detroit Michigan

7.      Frankfurt Germany

8.      Fresno California

9.      Guadalajara Mexico

10.  Halifax Nova Scotia

11.  Johannesburg South Africa

12.  Lima Peru

13.  Melbourne Australia

14.  Memphis Tennessee

15.  Merida Mexico

16.  Monterey Mexico

17.  Montreal Quebec

18.  Nauvoo Illinois

19.  Nukualofa Tonga

20.  Perth Australia

21.  Provo Utah

22.  Quetzaltenango Guatemala

23.  Raleigh North Carolina

24.  Reno Nevada

25.  Rexburg Idaho

26.  St. George Utah Temple

27.  St. Paul Minnesota

28.  Santiago Chile

29.  Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

30.  Sapporo Japan (will be dedicated on August 21)

31.  Seoul Korea

32.  Spokane Washington

33.  Tampico Mexico

34.  Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico Temple

35.  Twin Falls Idaho

36.  Winter Quarters Nebraska

Please let me know if I am in error on anything in this post. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to you all for your friendship and readership.