BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Dedication Announced for Durban South Africa Temple

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has announced the open house and dedication information for the Durban South Africa Temple. The open house will take place from Wednesday January 22-Saturday February 1, 2020, except for Sunday January 26. A youth devotional will be held with senior leaders the night of Saturday February 15, with the dedication of the temple following the next day in 3 sessions, which will only be broadcast to the units in the temple district. The fact that for two days in a row, we have had breaking temple news gives me hope that more such developments are on the horizon.

I should also probably mention that the last two days' developments mean I will likely be revisiting my estimates for known temple events in the future, given the new information I have received. It is also worth mentioning that there has not been confirmation on the Newsroom as of yet on the groundbreaking information for the Belem Brazil Temple.

But I antiicipate that occurring soon, and given that there are still almost-2 full weeks left in June that the Church could confirm that groundbreaking and perhaps announce 1 or 2 others which would then occur either in August as well, or perhaps in September.  I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will be doing my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of them, either through brand-new posts being published for breaking news developments, or through the comments on the threads of previously-published blog posts.

That does it for now. 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: Groundbreaking Set for the Belem Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! An unprecedented, surprising move has been reported through the unofficial site for some official information about the temples of the Church. The Brazil Area Presidency today announced that the groundbreaking for the Belem Brazil Temple will take place on Saturday August 17, and that Brazil Area President Marcos A. Aidukaitis will preside over that ceremony. At this point, there is no indication as to where the temple will be built, what its' design will be, or how long construction might take.

And it is somewhat irregular because usually groundbreaking announcements are made by the First Presidency, but I am assuming the Brazil Area Presidency received authorization from those Brethren to make this announcement, with more official details to follow in a news release perhaps later this week. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place on Saturday August 17. I will be sure to share more details about this as they are released.

In the meantime, 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: Oakland California Temple Rededication Inaugurates Changes in Format for Future Temple Dedications and Rededications

Hello again, everyone! The Oakland California Temple was rededicated today in 3 sessions, under the presiding direction of President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, who was accompanied by his wife, Kristen M. Oaks, and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was accompanied by his wife, Susan K. Bednar. Between the Church News and the official Newsroom subpage of the Church's website, 3 articles have been published to cover these events.

The Newsroom utilized a single article to cover both the youth devotional and the rededication, while the Church News covered the youth devotional and rededication through two separate articles. The biggest takeaway I got from these articles is this: the First Presidency recently determined to tweak the format of the youth devotionals and temple dedications or rededications. For those that are public events, it has been customary for the last several decades for the focus on the former cultural celebration and current youth devotionals the night before, and the temple dedications or rededications on the scheduled Sunday to feature participation almost exclusively from the visiting Church leaders overseeing these events.

But starting with the Oakland California Temple rededication and going forward, although several General Authorities and General Officers of the Church may still be present at these events, the Brethren have opted from now on to use a "divide and conquer" strategy on Saturday night, where the senior apostle who is presiding and his wife will address the youth devotional, which will feature addresses by several local members, including those who had a role in coordinating the temple open house and dedication or rededication, the youth, and others as the Brethren are inspired to ask them to participate.

Meanwhile, earlier on that same Saturday, the accompanying junior apostle and his wife will now host a panel discussion with youth where important issues relative to the questions or issues they are grappling with will be discussed, and solutions brainstormed. In conjunction with the dedication the following day, the presiding apostles and their wives will participate in the dedicatory services, but several lay members of the Church, including temple ordinance workers, youth, those involved with coordinating the temple's crowning events, and others, will be invited at the discretion of the presiding officials to speak during the dedicatory services.

These changes seem to show that the Brethren recognize not everyone who desires to do so may be able to attend the youth devotional and/or temple dedications.rededications, and also appears to be a way to acknowledge that hearing remarks from people either involved with making arrangements for the open house and dedicatory events or for whom these events may be personally significant will now have the chance to bless their fellow Saints by sharing their thoughts, feelings, and inspired messages with all who will be impacted by the opening or reopening of a temple following its' completion.

And these changes will also make such events far more significant to all who will participate in or know someone who participates therein that much more impactful. I know I have personally previously enjoyed reports of the insights shared by general Church leaders in attendance, but as soon as I read about these changes, I felt the Spirit confirm to me that they were in line with the Lord's will. This is yet another in the series of remarkable demonstrations that revelation continues in the Lord's Church today, and I was grateful to have been able to pass these breaking news developments along to you all here as I learned of them.

I remain as committed as I ever have been, if not more so, to bringing all other major Church news and temple updates 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 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.