BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Ground Broken for the Mendoza Argentina Temple

NOTE: This post was originally published to this blog on December 16, 2020, at 6:28 PM MST, but the third-to-last and second-to-last paragraphs were added  above that last paragraph of this post on December 17, with the updated post published just before 4:00 PM the following day.

Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news has just been brought to my attention in these early evening hours of December 16. As confirmed by the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Mendoza Argentina Temple is set to occur tomorrow, Thursday December 17, at an undisclosed time. That temple's groundbreaking had been set to occur in November, but due to COVID-19 conditions in the Argentine province of Mendoza, that had to be delayed 2.5 weeks into mid-December.I am grateful to have been able to learn of and pass along this update. 

I had been reasonably certain that the Church would try to hold al the remaining temple groundbreakings for this year by no later than one week before Christmas Day (which would be Friday December 18), and it's nice to have that confirmed. With the groundbreaking queue cleared that much in advance of Christmas Day, I'm also certain that, at some point after Christmas and leading up to the new year, the standard announcements might be made of any changes to missions around the world and also relative to any groundbreaking ceremonies that might occur in January-March. 

You can count on my coverage of these developments as they occur. In the meantime, once sources are available confirming that the groundbreaking for this temple has actually occurred, they will be added to this post in some way, which will eliminate the need to cover that in a new post, or in the comment threads of this once that has occurred. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

Hello again, everyone! At some point this afternoon (December 17), an official report from the Newsroom was provided to confirm that the groundbreaking for this temple has indeed taken place. The Church has thus broken ground for 21 temples this year alone, which is an increase of 10 from the number for which ground was broken last year. 

The queue of temples for which a groundbreaking was set to occur this year has been completely cleared. so hopefully the Church will soon be able to announce other groundbreakings.And again, I am not entirely sure how soon construction might begin on any of the now-10 temples for which that process is currently pending, I am hopeful that at least a couple of these temples might have that occur. I will be most interested to see what happens with respect to temple construction to close out the year. 

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 NEWS: Further Adjustments Announced to More Fully Align Seminary and Institute with the "Come Follow Me" Curriculum

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, in March of last year, Church leaders announced that  the seminary curriculum schedule would be adjusted to align with "Come Follow Me" starting this year. Fast forward to today. The Church just announced a short while ago that additional adjustments are on the way for seminary students in 2021. Previously, the seminary study involved a 9-month schedule aligned with corresponding reading assignments for other Church Sunday School classes and home study schedulee, with students essentially being placed on the honor system to continue their personal study of the applicable book of scripture when school was not in session during the summer months.

In order to ensure greater accountability in personal study with the seminary curriculum, Church leaders today unveiled new requirements that are consistent with standards that existed when I was in seminary 16-19 years ago (Has it really been that long? Apparently so.) During the period of time when school is not in session, seminary students will be responsible for reading through the curriculum and essentially learning the lessons personally when they are not being taught in class (that had only been optional wihen last year's announcement was made.)

Additionally, a new reading requirement will go into effect, In order to obtain seminary credit for any given academic semester, students will need to read in the relevant book of scripture 75% of the days in each semester. With a school year in the United States lasting roughly 180 days, each semester is roughly 90 days, which means that, in order to obtain seminary credit for any 90-day semester, students in the United States will be required to read from the relevant book of scripture 67-68 of those days.

Despite the relatively minor adjustments made to the seminary curriculum and requirements, this is another example of the Church taking action to place more responsibility for spirtual growth and progression on the shoulders of seminary students in this particular case, which is similar to individual and familial responsibility that has been put into place in conjunction with the "Come Follow Me" curriculum. Any additional details on this development can be found in the official notice that was released in conunction with this announcment. I am grateful to have been able to learn of and pass along this news.

I continue to monitor all other Church news and temple developments, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they occur. 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.

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BREAKING NEWS: Taipei Taiwan Temple To Shift to Phase 3 of Reopening; Parents Can Now Manage an LDS Account for Their Children

Note: This post was originally published at 10:28 AM, with subsequent updates added at around 4:00 PM.

Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom and the Church News have noted that the Taipei Taiwan Temple will be the first to shift to phase 3 of reopening one week from today (Monday December 21). Phase .3 allows for limited proxy work and all living ordinances to be performed. The Asia North and Pacific Areas of the Church have seen specific success in controlling the conditions of the pandemic.

On that same date, the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple will shift from phase 1 to phase 2. Phase 2 allows all living ordinances to be performed, with priority given to temple sealings for those previously endowed, then to living ordinances for those preparing for a temple sealing who have not received those ordinances, then to all misionaries currently out in the field who were not able to receive those ordinances prior to commencing that service, then to those who are preparing to depart for the mission field, and finally, to any others who may need to receive their own ordinances for any other reason.

Additional information on this can be found in the Church News' new temple tracker, with further information available through the Newsroom's official update. Consistent with the practices observed by the Church since the pandemic led to the closure of all temples, the general leaders of the Church are making decisions regarind the phased reopening of each temple based on information received from congregational leaders, and area, mission, and temple presidencies, in addition to monitoring any local or regional pandemic restrictions that has impacted and may yet continue to impact the phased reopening of all temples.

With numerous former physicians, surgeons, and other medical professionals in the leadership ranks of the Church, and bearing in mind how many governmental leaders are being cavalier in terms of their lack of support for recommendations provided by competent medical professionals, it is heartening to see the way the Church has been able to keep their adustments consistent with what is safest for all members of the Church wherever they may live.

The Newsroom also covered an additional breaking development, announcing that parents now have the option to manage an official Church account for their children. Technically, each member of the Church with a valid membership record is capable of setting up and managing their own accounts. But any Church member under 18 needs parental permission to set up their individual accounts, so this step of allowing parents to manage their children's accounts through their own accounts eliminates problems that previously existed in that respect.

Additionally, over time, Church leaders have noted that many children and youth who had managed their own accounts from the time they were set up have experienced problems remembering their login information over time. Adding parentral controls for Church accounts for those under 18 eliminates that particular problem as well. In conunction with this change, the Church has added a more flexible way to recover an account, which had not been enabled before now. The Account Recovery feature will particularly help in view of the fact that only one Church account can be established per member (since member accounts are tied to a specific and unique membership record number).

I am grateful to have been able to learn about and pass along this report of these developments. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and will be sure to pass those along to you all here as I become aware of such reports. 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.