Temple Updates Provided

Hello again, everyone! I am back, as promised, with the temple updates I previously referenced. While there have been no updates reported on almost all of the new temples under construction and those undergoing renovation, I do have one such update relating to the Mesa Arizona Temple. The latest information I have received in that regard is that the exterior walls are being refurbished, that  sections of the roof have been removed, that temporary windows have been installed, and that concrete has been poured over the underground water storage.

Aside from that, the other updates I have are the two other sections of my temple construction progress report, the first of which features those scheduled for a groundbreaking, and the second of which contains alterations I have made to the announced temples section of that report. Those sections follow below, in that order:

Groundbreaking scheduled:

174. Pocatello Idaho Temple: Plans submitted to the city and undergoing the plan review process to secure building permit; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday March 16, 2019; completion estimated sometime during mid-to-late 2022.

175. Yigo Guam Temple: Planning and approval phase; preparing for groundbreaking, which is scheduled for Saturday May 4, 2019; completion estimated sometime during early-to-mid 2021.

176. San Juan Puerto Rico Temple: Trujillo Alto Ward chapel closed on January 20, 2019 in preparation for demolition; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday May 4, 2019; completion estimated sometime during early-to-mid 2021.

Just another quick note about this first section: Although some of the sources I have available to me for temple information lists the Guam and Puerto Rico Temples in the reverse order, I have chosen to list them based on the time between the two. Yigo Guam is 14 hours ahead of San Juan Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, to put that comparison in better context for me personally, Yigo Guam is 17 hours ahead of Utah time, while San Juan Puerto Rico is just 3 hours ahead of Utah time. That said, the revised sections for announced temples follow below:

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

177. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Government approval phase; awaiting official site confirmation and release of artist’s rendering; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2019.

178. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Existing institute building and meetinghouse closed on January 27, 2019 in preparation for demolition; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2019.

179. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; property fence installed around temple site; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

180. 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.

181. 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.

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

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

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

185. Puebla Mexico Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

186. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

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

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

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

190. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just a couple more notes: I received information earlier today suggesting that the groundbreaking for the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple may not be the last one held during the first half of this year. That said, it may be a while before we find out which other temples could potentially also have a groundbreaking before the end of June, and perhaps an even longer period of time before we know how many temples total will have a groundbreaking by the end of 2019.

If that proves to be true, then 2019 will likely be a record-breaking year for the Church in terms of the number of temples which will have a groundbreaking occur and construction begin, which in turn will result in an increase in the number of temples dedicated in 2020 and the years beyond. I continue to keep my eyes open for information in this regard and will pass it along as I receive word of such developments.

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.

Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! This post will cover recent Church news developments which have come to my attention. I had intended to also share some updated temple information but will need to do that in a separate post later tonight. So for now, let's get right into the Church news stories which have been reported recently..

First, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently returned from an extended trip in the Europe Area, which included stops in the United Kingdom, France, and Austria.  As many of you may recall, the United Kingdom covers Great Britain, Ireland, and Scotland. And in my latest updated list of potential future temple locations, I had one listed for Scotland, and another listed for Austria.

My reason for mentioning this is that last year, apostles visited several cities before the April and October General Conferences which subsequently had temples announced during those conferences. With that in mind, it seems more likely than not that temples could be announced within the next 1-4 General Conferences for Edinburgh Scotland and Vienna Austria. I recognize that the Europe Area may have seen a certain degree of stagnant growth in recent years, but if nothing else, I could see smaller temples in both cities that could easily get quick approval and move on to the construction process.

Given the precedent we saw this month with the announcements of the Yigo Guam and San Juan Puerto Rico Temples, I think we may be seeing a greater number of smaller temples again, which would be a rapid way to increase the number of operating temples in a very short period of time, and to eliminate greater distances of travel for Saints around the world in a logical and very doable way.

The Church News also released a video entitled "Beauty for Ashes" to describe how members in the area of the Paradise Campfire have reached out to serve their needy neighbors, even in the aftermath of their own personal, familial, and congregational losses. And another article describes how the new curriculum has been helping families throughout the Church to become more unified through more extensive conversations about and study of the gospel.

In the latest edition of "This Week on Social", posts from Church President Russell M. Nelson, Elders Jeffrey R. Holland and Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Sisters Jean B. Bingham, Sharon Eubank (who serve as President and First Counselor respectively in the Relief Society General Presidency), and Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency were highlighted. Those messages, covering several important gospel topics, are well worthy of your review.

The Church News also continued another series of articles called "My Most Influential Teacher", and this week's iteration came from someone who was able to have her questions effectively answered by her youth Sunday School teacher. A few days ago, the Church News had also reported that a Brazilian missionary has passed away after collapsing during a soccer game. The young man had been serving since July 2017, and would have returned home in six more months.

Next, from the Newsroom website, we have a couple more new articles. One highlights how JustServe has helped provide 1 million meals to hungry children in various parts of the world. The other article comprises the latest edition of the Newsroom blog series "Latter-day Saints Around the World", with stories from the Philippines (focusing on Elder Holland's recent visit there), Yemen, Peru (from which two articles were featured), Panama, and Guatemala.

With that said, those were the Church news updates I wanted to share, so 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreakings Announced for Pocatello Idaho and Yigo Guam Temples

Hello again, everyone! I was just made aware of two more temple groundbreakings which were announced today for the Pocatello Idaho and Yigo Guam Temples. According to the news release, the Pocatello Idaho Temple will have its' groundbreaking on March 16, and the Yigo Guam Temple groundbreaking will follow on May 4, the same day as the previously-announced groundbreaking for the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple.

The Yigo groundbreaking will be presided over by Asia North Area President Yoon Hwan Choi. and while it has yet to be announced who might preside at the Pocatello groundbreaking, I would imagine that President Eyring, Elder Bednar, or Elder Andersen could do so, since each of them have ties to that state. I am not sure which of the current members of the Presidency of the Seventy have ties to Idaho, but another possibility is that any member of the Idaho Area Presidency could preside at this event. That would include Elders Wilford W. Andersen, S. Gifford Nielsen, and Brian K. Taylor.

I have no doubt whatsoever that we will see many more temples have a groundbreaking later this year. I would go into more detail on the construction plans, but wanted to get this posted right away, so that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. 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.