Another touching story from the Church News: Prayer, "guardian angel", protect a woman during airport shooting

In another touching story from the Church News, an LDS member from Fort Lauderdale related the account of how she was protected during the shooting at the Florida airport by prayer and the intervention of a "guardian angel" she said was sent there to save her life. Click here to read that remarkable story. Perhaps the most interesting part of this account is the fact that the woman's "guardian angel" doesn't view himself as a hero and says instead that he hopes he would have done the same thing for anyone else. But "hero" is a very appropriate designation for this remarkable man that sees himself as anything but. I loved reading about this, and it was my distinct honor to share it with you now. Thanks for your continued readership and support.

Another former General Authority Lost: Elder Lynn A. Sorensen Passes Away

Though I just found out about this a little while ago, I couldn't waste any time in reporting on it. The Church lost another great giant of the kingdom six days ago. Elder Lynn A. Sorensen, who served as a General Authority from 1987-1992, passed away on January 4. Called as a General Authority at the age of 67, he reached the age of 97 by the time of his death.This article details his service and stands as a tribute to his life. Funeral services will be held tomorrow. Click here to review his one conference talk, a masterful and inspirational address. It is a crazy time we live in, where so many of our leaders, current and former, are being called home. The Lord must need them. I hope this post, short though it is, serves as an adequate tribute to the life of a most remarkable man. Thanks for reading this. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.

Tucson Arizona Temple Advancements

Much progress has been reported in the construction of the Tucson Arizona Temple. This has rendered it necessary for me to include a full update to my temple construction progress report. As before, this is just a minor change, but I wanted to post it here from home so that I have access to it at work. Thanks for indulging me. Let me know if any of you have any feedback.

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/9/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 1 scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 10 announced. NOTE: There is a more than likely possibility for several announced temples to have a groundbreaking announced during 2017. Two are very close to that so far this year, and there may be many more before too much longer.

Dedication scheduled:

156. Paris France Temple: Exterior lighting system operating; interior work underway; scheduled to be dedicated on Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:

157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Patron plazas and water feature added to temple grounds; interior finish work underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Fencing progressing; entrance plaza created; landscaping areas defined; hanging drywall; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Trees on site for planting; patron plazas and water featured added; installing lamp posts and art glass windows; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Building the exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Attaching building wrap to exterior walls; adding landscaping structures; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Durban South Africa Temple: Pouring temple foundation; setting rebar for missionary housing walls; palm trees planted along entrance road; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Pouring walls for steeple base; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

165. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

166. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Second floor exterior walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation underway for temple and utility building; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Scheduled for rededication:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; finish work underway; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.

Undergoing Renovation:

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime between late 2017 and early 2018.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; some exterior stone removed; foundation exposed; old meetinghouse razed; rededication anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

Announced:

168. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; awaiting groundbreaking announcement.

169. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; official site announcement anticipated in early 2017, with the groundbreaking anticipated to take place shortly following the site announcement.

170.  Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Governmental approval phase; preliminary environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking pending.

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. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

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

175. Quito Ecuador 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 numbers 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 numbers may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval, and groundbreaking.

Red text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress report.