Important Temple Developments

Hello, all! Posting today with the latest temple news, and it is exciting! Apparently the government-imposed delays preventing the construction of the Fortaleza Brazil temple from going forward have been utterly eliminated. What that means is that full-scale construction is anticipated to start any day now. The temple is anticipated to be completed in 2019.

Additionally, the Church has apparently decided not to commence construction on the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple until after the conclusion of the Summer Olympic games. It makes sense that the Church wouldn't want to upstage the games. But I wouldn't be surprised if the groundbreaking date for that temple is announced soon and set for after the Olympics. I also anticipate perhaps two or three other groundbreakings will be announced before too long, but it's anyone's guess as to when that will happen. I am hoping that the Church will soon identify a site for those temples for whom a site exists. I have updated my personal temple progress report to reflect these developments. I will be sure to keep my eye on all temple-related news and events and post about them here as soon as I can. Thanks to you all for your readership and interest. You are the reason that I blog. And I promise, the personal update is coming...just as soon as there's no more Church news to report. This blog has become a place where I can share news about the Church I love, and it means everything in the world to me that you guys take time to read (and sometimes share) my posts. Best wishes to you all.

Mutipurpose Church News Post

This will be a multipurpose Church News Post.

First, mission boundaries will be realigned in Idaho. For details of what that will entail, please see this link.

Next, the Church News ran an article about Elder Massimo De Feo, who is the first General Authority Seventy from Italy. You can read that article at the link above.

Finally, more temples have had a new president named. Here's an updated list, Please note that there was one temple that I overlooked in drawing up a list of temples that might get a new president this year.

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

23.  Fresno California

24.  Memphis Tennessee

25.  Winter Quarters Nebraska

26.  Lima Peru

27.  Nauvoo Illinois

28.  Portland Oregon

29.  Merida Mexico

30.  Reno Nevada

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.      Guadalajara Mexico

9.      Halifax Nova Scotia

10.  Johannesburg South Africa

11.  Melbourne Australia

12.  Monterey Mexico

13.  Montreal Quebec

14.  Nukualofa Tonga

15.  Perth Australia

16.  Provo Utah

17.  Quetzaltenango Guatemala

18.  Raleigh North Carolina

19.  Rexburg Idaho

20.  St. George Utah Temple

21.  St. Paul Minnesota

22.  Santiago Chile

23.  Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

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

25.  Seoul Korea

26.  Spokane Washington

27.  Tampico Mexico

28.  Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico Temple

29.  Twin Falls Idaho

Changes in the way temples are listed

LDS Church Temples has changed the way temples are listed: for those that will be dedicated next year, a time of year is listed, while for all other temples, only a completion year is listed. Also, some temples originally listed as being complete in 2018 have now had added that they may be completed in 2019. The temples have accordingly been reordered. Here's what the current temple status looks like:

Temple Construction Progress (current as of 5/24/16)

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: Accepting free reservations for the public open house; 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 2018.

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

163. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Clearing, grading site; completion anticipated sometime during 2018-2019.

161. Durban South Africa Temple: Ground broken on Saturday April 9, 2016; completion anticipated sometime during 2018-2019.

164. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Ground broken on Saturday December 5, 2015; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

165. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Ground broken on Saturday February 20, 2016; completion anticipated sometime during 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.

Thoughts?