Top Picks from List of Locations Which May Have a Temple Announced During the October 2019 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! Several days ago, I referenced the fact that I was working on thinning out my list of potential locations which could have a temple announced during the upcoming October General Conference to focus on the most likely picks from that list. Something told me to hold off on doing so, and in the interim, my attention was drawn to the video interview with President Nelson and Elder Cook where President Nelson indicated more temples were coming for remote areas of the world.  And based on my belief that 14-16 new temples will be announced, I offered additional thoughts regarding the general parameters I believed would come into play in the temples that will specifically be announced this go-round.

Working off of those parameters, I have thinned down my list as hoped to what I see as the top contenders for the top geographical areas in which I see a temple being announced. So I am posting again now to share that list of refined locations. I would like to reiterate a couple of things before sharing those refined picks. First of all, the following list will not be supplanting the more thorough list of locations I mentioned earlier. Within the last few General Conferences, even if I have had any of the right locations on my list, some of those locations for which temples were announced were not my top prioritized candidates for the corresponding goegraphical areas in which they were announced. So the more extensive list from July will remain my complete list of potential picks for October.

Additionally, since publishing that July list of locations, Mongolia has been transferred from the Asia Area to the Asia North Area of the Church. So that particular change impacted my assessment on the Asia and Asia North Areas in terms of the most likely candidates to get a temple in October. That said, the list follows below. In order to not disturb the flow thereof, 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 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.

Africa Southeast: Antananarivo Madagascar

Africa West: Freetown Sierra Leone and/or Kumasi Ghana or Monrovia Liberia

Asia: Jakarta Indonesia or Singapore

Asia North: Ulaanbaatar Mongolia

Brazil: Belo Horizonte or Florianopolis Brazil

Caribbean: Kingston Jamaica

Central America: Coban Guatemala

Europe: Edinburgh Scotland or Berlin Germany

Europe East: Vilnius Lithuania

Middle East/Africa North:

North America: Bentonville Arkansas or Missoula Montana

Pacific: Port Moresby Papua New Guinea

Philippines: Tacloban or Bacolod Philippines

South America Northwest: Santa Cruz Bolivia or Iquitos Peru

South America South: Bahia Blanca Argentina

Utah: Herriman or Heber City Utah

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Announced for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! Around an hour ago, the Church's official Newsroom announced that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple will take place on Saturday October 19, and that Elder Craig C. Christensen, the President of the Church's Utah Area, will preside over that ceremony. Based on the artistic rendering for that temple and its' anticipated size, I am estimating that construction may take between 3-4 years to complete. That said, I am hopeful that the Church is setting things in motion so that at least 1 other temple can have a groundbreaking before General Conference occurs one month from today. Time will tell.

In the meantime, you can depend on my reporting on this groundbreaking as such reports are made available, including specifics on the time for it. 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.

Changes Made to the Sequence and Estimates for Temples In a "Groundbreaking Anticipated" Status

Hello again, everyone! On this Labor Day in the United States, I have new information to share on temples for which a groundbreaking is anticipated within the next year or less. I will present that data in the format of my restructured "Groundbreaking anticipated" section of my temple construction progress report. The information, along with the appropriate adjustments too the relevant estimates, largely speaks for itself, but if any of you have any questions for me on my reasoning for these changes, feel free to let me know. Here are those updates:

Groundbreaking anticipated:

181. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; construction contract awarded; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

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

Note: On September 1, 2019, I was advised that concept plans for this temple were floating around social media. If those plans are verified, a groundbreaking could occur within this period of time.

183. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

Note: Based on what is and is not known presently about this temple, it seems probable that a groundbreaking for it could be fit in during this window, if all goes well.

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.

Note: Aside from the information noted above, in mid-November of last year, Elder Andersen visited with Zimbabwe’s Vice President, and indicated to him that the Church was hoping to begin construction on the Harare temple in late 2019. Therefore, barring anything unexpected, it seems more likely than not that a groundbreaking could occur at around this time.

185. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

186. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Preliminary plans submitted to local government on May 7, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

187. 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.

188. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

189. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed on May 21, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

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

191. Richmond Virginia Temple: Artist’s rendering and accompanying photographs released on August 28, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

192. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed;

groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

As always, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to pass along any and all such updates as I become aware of them. 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.