Changes Made to Two Sections of My Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! Much sooner than I had anticipated, I am back to share two sections of my temple construction progress report which I have restructured today. The two sections show the now-12 temples for which I feel there is enough information to consider them as being in a "Groundbreaking anticipated" status, which includes my best estimates for a general period of time within which such groundbreakings could occur, and for which I have also included any relevant notes I have to corroborate such estimates. The second section shows the 17 remaining announced temples for which more information may be needed before I can offer a general estimate.

A couple more pertinent general notes here: Naturally, the timing within which any temple has a groundbreaking is subject to official confirmation from the Church, either through a formal announcement from the First Presidency, or through information provided by local and area leaders and members who are in a position to know more in such situations than those of us who are not as familiar with those areas. Also, because the timing of these events is up to the Lord as revealed through his chosen leaders, I will be just as happy if my thinking in this regard is proven to be justified when arrangements for the groundbreakings for any or all of these temples are announced as I will be if the Lord throws some surprises our way, which he often does.

Information from various sources available to me seems to imply there may be as many temple groundbreakings between now and the end of the year as there were during the first half of 2019 (the total in those six months was 8). I fully believe that the focus between early August and early October will be on clearing the queue as much as possible before the anticipated announcement of several new temples during the October General Conference. To what extent that might occur remains to be seen, but I had also  heard that President Nelson's intent is to keep the backlog of announced temples between 30-35.

So if, as I suspect, there will be 14-16 new temples announced in the upcoming October General Conference, if the Church breaks ground for 2 or 3 other temples in addition to the Belem Brazil Temple before the next General Conference, and if 4-6 other temples were to have a groundbreaking between then and the end of the year, then the announcement of 14-16 new temples would keep the backlog right around where President Nelson wants it to be, assuming I have done my math right. Either way, the last 1.5 years within which President Nelson has served as the Lord's prophet have seen somewhat unprecedented developments in relation to the announcement of new temples, and I have no doubt that will continue to be the case.

That said, the two reworked sections of my temple construction progress report follow below. In order to not disturb the flow of that information, I will end here as I always do: 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 feedback is in compliance 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.

Groundbreaking anticipated:

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

182. Richmond Virginia Temple: Preliminary plans submitted to local government on March 22, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

183. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Preliminary plans submitted to local government on May 7, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

184. 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.

185. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019.

186. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed on May 21, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019.

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

188. Layton Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location officially confirmed on July 15, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

189. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; site acquired (location not yet confirmed); groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

190. Puebla Mexico Temple: Planning and approval phase; site acquired (according to a Church member living in Mexico); awaiting official confirmation; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

191. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

192. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

Announced Temples (for which more information is needed before I provide a groundbreaking estimate):

193. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.

194. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site acquired; awaiting official confirmation.

195. Feather River California Temple: Planning and approval phase; potential site identified; awaiting official confirmation.

Note: A potential site has been identified (though not yet confirmed) for this temple.

196. Antofagasta Chile Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Note: A potential site has been identified (though not yet confirmed) for this temple.

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

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

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

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

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

202. Pago Pago American Samoa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

203. Okinawa City Okinawa (Japan) Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

204. Neiafu Tonga Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

205. Tooele Valley Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement

206. Moses Lake Washington Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

207. San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

208. Budapest Hungary Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

209. Russia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site) announcement.

Preliminary Full-Scale Efforts Underway for the 3 Temples Which Had a Groundbreaking on May 4

Hello again, everyone! At some point between the last time I checked for temple updates and now, newly-reported information indicates that preliminary full-scale work is now underway for the 3 temples which had a groundbreaking on May 4. At the sites of the Yigo Guam and San Juan Puerto Rico Temples, construction barriers have been put up according to new photographs submitted to the Church of Jesus Christ Temples website within the last couple of days. And a new photograph for the Praia Cabo Verde Temple, which was taken on July 1 of this year; shows that site grading and excavation is now underway for that temple.


At this point, it looks to me as though the Praia temple is currently ahead of the Yigo and San Juan temples in terms of the progress that has been made. But now that all three are out of the "Full-scale construction pending" status, hopefully further reports along the way will demonstrate whether or not the 3 temples in question will be completed in the same order in which their groundbreakings occurred (Yigo, Praia, and San Juan). Further, this means that the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple is the only one which now has full-scale construction pending.

It is my personal hope that soon confirmation will be provided on the Belem Brazil Temple groundbreaking arrangements, along with announcements about a few other groundbreaking ceremonies may be announced within the next month or two, for temples that will have a groundbreaking ni August, September, and October. For my part, I will continue to monitor all temple developments and will bring word of those to you all as I receive it, in addition to continuing to pass along any major Church news that crosses my radar as well.

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 feedback is in compliance 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.

The Announcement of the Layton Utah Temple Site Coincides With a Significant Anniversary

Hello again, everyone! By now, I'm sure many of you have seen the First Presidency's announcement confirming the location of the Layton Utah Temple site. This was a temple announcement I was not bargaining on occurring when it did, but I welcome the fact that the newest temple in Davis County Utah is now the fourth of the seven temples announced by President Nelson in his first General Conference as Church President to have information mentioned that gives some indication of when we can anticipate a groundbreaking.


Just by way of reminder, the other  are the Salta Argentina Temple, which had a site confirmed not long after its' announcement; the Bengaluru India Temple, for which Bishop Dean M. Davies, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, said in mid-May 2019 that more information (including a site announcement and design) were anticipated to be announced before the end of this year; and the Richmond Virginia Temple, for which the Church announced on March 22, 2019 that preliminary plans had been filed with the city.

That brings me to a couple of additional points: First, given this announcement, and some information that has (and by extension, has not) been made public about this temple, and others among those that are announced, I will likely have to again revisit two sections of my temple construction progress report, including the estimated timing for temples that may, given the information currently known, be considered in a "Groundbreaking anticipated" section and those "Announced" temples for which more information is needed before the timing of a groundbreaking can be offered.

The second is that this announced confirmation of the site and preliminary details for the design of the Layton Utah Temple is coinciding with a significant anniversary. As many of you likely recall, just over 4 years ago, President Boyd K. Packer, who at that time was President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and consequently the second most-senior apostle, became the second member of that Quorum to pass away that year. As a result of his passing, and the late May passing of Elder L. Tom Perry, who was the next most junior apostle, at the end of May, the passing of President Packer left President Russell M. Nelson as the second most senior apostle.

As a result, upon President Packer's passing, President Nelson became the de facto President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, overseeing the business of the Quorum in an informal role for the next 12 days. On Wednesday July 15, 2015, President Thomas S. Monson, who had begun that same year to scale back his participation in the administration of the Church, set apart President Nelson as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  And, as we know, President Nelson, being almost 3 years older than the one apostle senior to him, filled a role in supporting President Eyring and then-President Uchtdorf as President Monson continued to scale back his responsibilties before fully stepping back from any active role in Church administration in mid-May 2017.

Upon President Monson's passing away on the second day of 2018, President Nelson served as Acting Church President for the intervening 12 days before the apostles met 18 months ago yesterday to formally designate, ordain, and set apart President Nelson as President Monson's rightful prophetic successor. So the significance of the Layton Utah Temple site being confirmed on the 4th anniversary of the course of events set in motion by President Monson formally setting President Nelson apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is not lost on me personally. I apologize for that lengthy ramble, but thought that was worth a mention.

In the meantime, although I will hope to redo the two sections of my temple construction progress report to which I referred earlier on in this post, and to have those revisions posted here within the next 36-48 hours (but hopefully sooner, if all goes well), before publishing this post, I wanted to mention a few other Church News stories which have been reported, including one covering the site announcement for this temple, one introducing and providing a biographical sketch for new Sunday School General President Mark L. Pace (who, much to my surprise, does not seem to be any direct relative of emeritus General Authority Glenn L. Pace), and some fun facts about the formation of the Young Women's general auxiliary.

Regarding that last article, it mentions that the "fun facts" in question may not be familiar to some members of the Church. Those facts were, however, more than familiar to me, as a result of that sequence of events having been portrayed in a movie released by the Church in 1969, entitled "Pioneers in Petticoats". That particular short movie was part of a collection of other short films rereleased by the Church as a first-time collection in the 1980s or 1990s, and I am familiar with it because it was one of the many Church-released videos owned by my parents.

With all of that noted, all that remains is to reiterate that I continue to monitor any and all Church news stories and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such things. 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 feedback is in compliance 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.