List of Temples That Will Close for an Extended Period of Time in 2018

Hello again, everyone! As some of you may be aware, an earlier report on this blog provided confirmation of the extended closure of the Edmonton Alberta Temple later this year. Then late last week, as I intended to start my second series of posts on potential future temples, my research led me to several temples that would also have an extended closure period at various points during 2018.

Note that I am only including those temples that will be closed for five weeks or longer. While 3- or 4-week closures are somewhat uncommon and therefore significant, a period of 5+ weeks indicates major work is being done that cannot occur during typical maintenance closures, which are generally only 2-3 weeks in duration.

The complete list of those extended periods of closure follows below. 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 all in everything you do.

Edmonton Alberta Temple will close for 19 weeks (from Monday June 25-Monday November 5)

Salt Lake Temple will close for 5 weeks (from Monday July 2-Monday August 6)

Accra Ghana Temple will close for 11 weeks (from Monday July 23-Monday October 8)

St. Louis Missouri Temple will close for 10 weeks (from Monday July 30-Monday October 8)

Johannesburg South Africa Temple will close for 8 weeks (from Monday July 30-Monday September 24)

Bountiful Utah Temple will close for 6 weeks (from Monday August 6-Monday September 17)

Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Temple will close for 5 weeks (from Monday August 13-Monday September 17)

Seattle Washington Temple will close for roughly 12.5 weeks (from Sunday August 26-Thursday November 22)

Nauvoo Illinois Temple will close for 13 weeks (from Monday September 17-Monday December 17)

Aba Nigeria Temple will close for 10 weeks (from Monday October 22-Monday December 31)

Recife Brazil Temple will close for 12 weeks (from Monday September 3-Monday November 26)

San Antonio Texas Temple will close for 6 weeks (from Monday September 24-Monday November 5)

Billings Montana Temple will close for 10 weeks (from Monday November 5, 2018-Monday January 14, 2019)

Positing a Theory Regarding the Likely Groundbreaking Time-frame for the Bangkok Thailand Temple

Hello again, everyone! As I am currently working on a handful of projects for this blog (at least one of which I hope to be able to post later this evening), I have also, as time has allowed, looked into some other things I have been considering. One of those paid off in a big way yesterday. As some of you may be aware, once an artist's rendering and site information are released for a temple, a groundbreaking generally follows within the next few months.

As you may also recall, the artist's rendering and site location was released for the Bangkok Thailand Temple on March 19 of this year. This indicates to me that a groundbreaking is just a matter of time. With that in mind, I have looked into the history of the Church in Thailand. In doing so, I was reminded that then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated Thailand for the preaching of the gospel in November 1966. So that leads me to believe that the Church may hold the groundbreaking ceremony for that temple in November of this year. The exact date of Elder Hinckley's prayer of dedication was November 2, but I am sure that it could happen anytime during the month of November, if not sooner.

I would love to hear from any of you that might have thoughts on this theory. Whatever might occur in that regard, you can count on my posting about it here as soon as I can after learning of it. 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 all in everytihng you do.

BREAKING NEWS: Church Pulls All Remaining Missionaries Out of Nicaragua

Hello again, everyone! Less than an hour ago, KSL's website reported that the Church has, in further consideration of the political unrest in Nicaragua, pulled all remaining missionaries out of that nation. While one mission president (who has young children in his family) has been sent home, the other mission president and his wife will stay and oversee remaining ecclesiastical duties for Nicaragua.

The Church noted in Mormon Newsroom's official release on this subject that the Church continues to make the safety and well-being of its' missionaries and Saints worldwide a high priority, and that evaluations will be made on an ongoing basis as far as when and how soon missionaries might be able to return.

In the meantime, those missionaries that have been removed will either be sent home (for those nearing the end of their service periods) or reassigned to other Central or South American countries, North America, Africa, or elsewhere.

I appreciate this move on the part of Church leadership, to recognize a potentially dangerous situation and take steps to ensure that those who are giving of their time to share the gospel will be safe wherever they serve.

My heart also goes out to the Nicaraguan Saints, who rejoiced so greatly when a temple was announced for that nation two months ago. My hope is that all of us will unite in prayer for all those affected by the current political unrest in Nicaragua. I will continue to monitor the developments in this regard and will do my level best to pass those along as I receive word of them.

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 all in everything you do.