Latest Church Infographic on Temple Construction Progress/Sister Renlund Addresses Lawyers

In terms of the latest Church news and developments, two other interesting stories were recently posted on mormonnewsroom.org. The first is an infographic that focuses on the latest temple construction developments. Even though that infographic was only posted yesterday, given how things have progressed recently, it may already be slightly outdated on many informational points. That said, for what it's worth, you can look at the infographic here.

The other interesting development reported was that Sister Ruth Renlund, wife of Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a self-described "recovering lawyer" recently spoke to a group of lawyers. The lessons she learned during her years practing law are illustrative. Click here for more on that.

Thanks for continuing to read, and, if you feel so inclined, comment. I appreciate the feedback.

Important Church News Updates: New Media App/More Flexibility Announced for Missionaries' Daily Schedule

This will be an important Church News update for two reasons. First, the Church announced a new app that will help Church members to plan, teach, and share from Church-related media clips more easily. For details on that, click here. It will be exciting to see how that will be helpful to Church members going forward.

As if that news weren't wonderful enough, the Church announced today that the standard missionary schedule will now be more flexible going forward. These changes have been made with the approval of the 15 apostles that comprise the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. Schedules can now be customized by missionaries, in counsel with their mission presidents, in view of different factors relating to safety, local culture and customs, health considerations, productivity, and any other considerations. To read more about the changes, including direct quotes from  Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President, and Elder Brent H. Nielsen, who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Church Missionary Department (While the article is not specific or explicit on this point, it seems safe to say that all three of them are serving on the Missionary Executive Council. Let me know if you disagree.), click here. Again, this is meant to improve the health and productivity of missionaries worldwide.

I am excited about both of these developments. So I couldn't wait to share them with you. Please feel free to share any comments you might have on either development. I continue to welcome and greatly appreciate the feedback. Thanks for your attention.

Quick Additional Update on Temple Construction Progress

Once again, in the last 12 hours since my last posted update, there has been further progress reported on temple construction around the world. Though this update now is less massive in terms of what has been updated, it is still most significant. The update is posted below. Enjoy, and please feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks!

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/25/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 1 scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 groundbreaking scheduled; 1 scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 9 announced. NOTE: With one groundbreaking announced already this year, two more have the potential to be announced and scheduled very soon, and there may be several more groundbreakings than that in the year ahead.

Dedication scheduled:

156. Paris France Temple: Inscription gilded over baptistry; finish work underway on interior; dedication scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:

157. Tucson Arizona Temple: Exterior lighting tests underway; installation of interior art glass and millwork nearing completion; president’s home undergoing renovation; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

158. Meridian Idaho Temple: Interior painting and millwork underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

159. Cedar City Utah Temple: Installing art glass windows; hanging drywall on interior; 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 concrete block exterior walls; roughing in plumbing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Exterior cladding going up on north wall; framing the interior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Durban South Africa Temple: Applying waterproof mastic to temple foundation; setting concrete forms for missionary housing exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Exterior concrete walls completed; 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; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Groundbreaking Scheduled:

168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Preparing for groundbreaking; environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday March 4, 2017.

Rededication Scheduled:

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:

169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Erecting construction barrier; clearing and leveling site; awaiting groundbreaking announcement; groundbreaking anticipated in early 2017.

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

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: The LDS Church Temple website indicates that a potential site has been identified, though it has yet to be officially verified.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: As the above-mentioned website indicates for this temple, while no official temple site has been announced, there may be a possibility that a Church office building may be repurposed to function as a temple, meetinghouse, and office building under one roof, in a similar fashion to those temples in Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York. This is most likely to be confirmed sooner rather than later.

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.