BREAKING NEWS: Church Announces Extension of Light the World Campaign That Began Last Year

Hello again, everyone! The Church News recently released this article to announce an extension of the Light the World Christmas Initiative that the Church started last year. I hope that all of us will take the opportunity to take part in this initiative, whatever the extent of our involvement therewith might be. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Miscellaneous Church News

Hello again, everyone! As you know, most US employers are gracious enough to allow their employees a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving. Because Church employees are among those that have that happen, many articles that would have otherwise been published towards the end of any other work week are now available on the Church News website. With that in mind, here are some recently published items that I found fascinating and significant enough to pass along. Let's dive right in and talk about those articles.

In this article, I learned that Sister Harriet R. Uchtdorf, wife of President Uchtdorf, today received the German-American Friendship Award. In attendance at the presentation were President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, among other leaders of the Church. The award recognized Sister Uchtdorf for her efforts to build bridges, promote peace, and to be a good citizen of both the United States and Germany. It was awesome to read about that.

As reported here, the Harman Music Fund was established almost 20 years ago for the purpose of enabling senior missionary couples to teach the congregations they serve how to direct and play hymns for Church meetings. Prior to that time, senior missionaries would take on those roles, and then the congregations would have no one to succeed them in that assignment once their service period ended. I am glad someone recognized the need for that.

Church service efforts continue worldwide with volunteers who give time to the Mormon Helping Hands program, and volunteers in that group recently planted 4,000 trees in the Pacific Area of the Church, as recounted here. As one who served two years with the Welfare Services program of the Church, I am profoundly grateful to hear of the volunteers in this outreach efforts.

Other recent stories include temple-related developments. The second counselor of the Preston England Temple presidency was recently announced as the new president following the death of the previous one in the midst of his active service. Additionally, in conjunction with the dedication of the Meridian Idaho Temple on Sunday, the Church News released this article (with a copy of the dedicatory prayer and information about the new temple) this article about how the saints in Meridian Idaho are ready to go to work on the new temple.

As with everything else, I am keeping my eyes open for any and all Church- and temple-related news and developments, and I will be sure to pass along any additional developments in that regard. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you in everything you do.

Updated Estimates for Temple-related Events

Hello again, everyone! As promised, I evaluated the changes I could make to the estimated time-frames I had provided just 12 days ago, factoring in the recent progress (or the lack thereof) that has been noted on temples around the world. As always, they are subject to confirmation, denial, or change if and when future announcements come from the Brethren about the actual timeline. The updated estimates follow. That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless each one of you in everything you do.

Revised estimated time-frame for future temple-related events:

2017

Sunday December 10, 2017: Dedication of the Cedar City Utah Temple (159^th operating temple; already confirmed)

2018:

January: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Renovation Closure (already confirmed; exact date may not be as set in stone as I once believed)

February: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Renovation Closure (already confirmed; exact date may not be as set in stone as I once believed)

Sunday March 4: Washington DC Temple Renovation Closure (already confirmed)

April or May: Full-scale construction anticipated to begin on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple

May: Mesa Arizona Temple Renovation Closure (already confirmed; exact date not yet released)

Sunday May 20: Jordan River Utah Temple Rededication (already confirmed)

Sunday August 12 or 19: Frankfurt Germany Temple Rededication

Sunday September 16 or 23: Concepcion Chile Temple Dedication (160^th operating temple)

Sunday October 14 or 21: Kinshasa DR Congo Temple Dedication (161^st operating temple)

Sunday November 11 or 18: Barranquilla Colombia Temple Dedication (162^nd operating temple)

2019:

Mid-April: Memphis Tennessee Temple Rededication

Mid-to-late April: Rome Italy Temple Dedication (163^rd operating temple)

Early-to-mid May: Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Rededication

Mid-May: Asuncion Paraguay Temple Rededication

Late May-early June: Durban South Africa Temple Dedication (164^th operating temple)

Mid-June: Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple Dedication (165^th operating temple)

Early-to-mid August: Fortaleza Brazil Temple Dedication (166^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late August: Rio de Janeiro Temple Dedication (167^th operating temple)

Mid-September: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Rededication

Mid-October: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Rededication

Mid-to-late October: Lisbon Portugal Temple Dedication (168^th operating temple)

Mid-November: Arequipa Peru Temple Dedication (169^th operating temple)

Mid-December: Oakland California Temple Rededication

NOTE: The Church indicated when announcing the renovation of this temple that it would reopen in 2019. That said, it is an older temple, and as such, may take longer than anticipated. I could see it being rededicated in 2020, if the process is delayed for any reason.

2020:

Mid-to-late April: Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Dedication (170^th operating temple)

Mid-May: Tokyo Japan Temple Rededication

Early-to-mid September: Mesa Arizona Temple Rededication

Mid-November: Washington DC Temple Rededication

NOTE: If, as I expect, almost all of the temples that are currently announced have a groundbreaking in either 2018 or 2019, then it is more likely than not that many of them could be dedicated during 2020. For now, the only events that are anticipated to happen in 2020 are listed here. As the next two years unfold, I will be adding future events to this list.