BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Dedication Dates Announced for Fortaleza Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! As recently as yesterday, I had posted Church and temple news and noted that the announcement of the open house and dedication dates for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple was anticipated any day now. I am pleased to pass along to you the official announcement from the Newsroom about that, along with the Church news article on that subject as well. As those articles explain, the open house is set to occur during a 4-week period spanning Saturday April 27-Saturday May 18, with the exception of the Sundays of April 28 and May 5 and 12. The end date of the open house will coincide with the day the youth devotional is held for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple.

In a somewhat unusual but not entirely unexpected move, the First Presidency has scheduled this temple's youth devotional for Saturday June 1, with the dedication to follow on Sunday June 2. I am calling that unusual because it is not often that the dedication of one temple has been set to precede the rededication of another which had its'  dedication previously set. If there has been any relation in the past between a temple dedication and a rededication, it is usually that the rededication of one temple precedes the dedication of a new temple that was previously set. But as I also mentioned above, it was not entirely unexpected.

Given what we knew about the status of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple as of yesterday, the release of the dedication information was simply a matter of time. I think that, as a result of the Fortaleza Temple's dedication being set for June 2, with the rededication of the Oakland California Temple being set for June 16, we can safely conclude that the latter event will likely be the last temple event held before the annual July recess is observed by the General Authorities, unless a temple groundbreaking is held during the final two weeks of that month.

As always, I do continue to monitor any and all temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I receive it. In the meantime, I also wanted to mention one additional item of Church news. The Church News has provided highlights of President Nelson's first year as Church President by sharing 61 unique photographs taken of him in 2018. The photographs show his personal warmth, his love for his Brethren in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, and several pictures highlighting significant moments from General Conference or his personal ministry to the one in the midst of his travels.

As the article also notes, he will reach the 1-year mark of his Church Presidency in just four days. I will be posting here on that day in honor of that milestone. If other Church or temple news crosses my radar between now and then, you can also count on my passing those along as well. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Church News and Temple Updates Noted

Hello again, everyone! Some additional Church news and temple developments have come to my attention in the last six hours or less, and the extensive nature of those merited a new post rather than additional comments on previously-posted content. Let's get right into those updates. First, the Church news.

Bruce C. Kusch, the president of LDS Business College, was the featured speaker at this week's devotional, sharing 4 invitations which, if taken, will enable us to endure to the end. And BYU-Idaho President Henry J. Eyring spoke to students on that campus about optimism, highlighting the fact that there is much more good going on worldwide than many news outlets lead us to believe. And another article has been written about a temple dedicated 20 years ago, this time in honor of the Anchorage Alaska Temple.Each of those articles is well worthy of your attention.

Now to the subject of temple updates. I have mentioned before that the Church is on track to have 200 operating temples by or before the bicentennial anniversary of the Church's reestablishment, and that has essentially been confirmed (albeit indirectly) by a recent article in the Church News. There are now 11.24 years between now and then, and 39 temples to complete and dedicate within that time, which could be done if 3.47 temples were dedicated per year between now and then.

3 temples have already had a dedication set for next year, and one other (in Fortaleza Brazil) will likely have a dedication announced very soon, and will more than likely be set to occur before the Brethren observe the annual July recess. And there are 3 (or 4) other temples anticipated to be dedicated as well by the end of this year.

We also are awaiting more information on the rededications for the Oklahoma City Oklahoma and Memphis Tennessee Temples, along with groundbreaking ceremonies for the Brasilia Brazil, Pocatello Idaho, and Saratoga Springs Utah Temples, and will bring word of those to you as I become aware of it.

In the meantime, there are also some status updates on temples which I wanted to pass along. At the Lisbon Portugal Temple site, the concrete slab has been poured for the monument sign, while a hard landscaping structure is being added on the north side of the temple. And while exterior lighting is still being installed and tested at the grounds of the Arequipa Peru Temple, fencing materials are going up around its' perimeter, and work is progressing at a steady rate on the temple's interior as well.

I also have one update to pass along about the Urdaneta Philippines Temple. It appears that the time for its' groundbreaking ceremony one week from today has been set to occur at 11:00 AM Urdaneta time. Since that city is 15 hours ahead of Utah time, the groundbreaking will be occurring at 8:00 PM MST on the previous evening. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments, and will pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of them.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Yet Another Revision to My List of Announced Temples

Hello again, everyone! Given the unexpected development which I cited a few hours ago pointing to the notion that the groundbreaking for the Brasilia Brazil Temple is more imminent than I thought less than 12 hours ago, I needed to make yet another revision to my list of announced temples. I again weighed what was known about each temple for which I felt comfortable offering a groundbreaking estimate against any unknown factors I couldn't account for. The result of that additional analysis is detailed in the latest version of that list below. As always, any new changes made since my last such update are highlighted in red text. So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will end here and now as I always do. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Note on announced temples: As noted previously, this section is split into two sub-categories. The first contains those for which there is sufficient information for me to estimate a rough window for a subsequent groundbreaking, which will, of course, be subject to alteration in the future as more information is available. The second section contains those temples which are ordered based on the information currently available, but for which more information will be needed before they can join the first list. And for that second list, I do not feel comfortable offering any groundbreaking estimate until more information is available. I reordered the list yet again on January 6-7, 2019.

Announced Temples (for which sufficient information has me confident enough to venture a general groundbreaking estimate):

174. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; construction fence erected around property; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2019.

175. Pocatello Idaho Temple: Government approval process; streets around temple site opened; groundbreaking anticipated in mid-2019.

176. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Government approval phase; probable site identified; awaiting official confirmation and artist’s rendering; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning and preliminary construction phase; awaiting official site announcement; President Nelson visited probable site on October 20, 2018; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

178. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; President Nelson visited potential site on April 17, 2018; groundbreaking anticipated in late 2019.

179. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; media event held June 14, 2017; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

180. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

181. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

182. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

183. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

184. Layton Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

185. Richmond Virginia Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

186. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; President Nelson toured potential locations on April 19, 2018; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2020.

187. Puebla Mexico Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020.

188. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020-early 2021.

189. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in ­late 2020-early 2021

Announced Temples (for which more information is needed before I provide an estimated groundbreaking time-frame):

190. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

191. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

192. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

193. Salvador Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

194. Yuba City, California Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

195. Praia Cape Verde Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

196. Yigo Guam Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

197. Lagos Nigeria Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

198. Davao Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

199. San Juan Puerto Rico Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

200. Russia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official location and site announcement.

201. Washington County Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city and site announcement.