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Saturday, May 8, 2021

BREAKING NEWS: Elder Clark G. Gilbert To Serve as New Commissioner of Church Education

 Hello again, everyone! As some of you might be aware, when the Church announced changes in the Presidency of the Seventy that would be effective August 1, the first new member of that Presidency who was announced was Elder Paul V. Johnson, who currently serves as Commissioner of Church Education. Although it has been customary for a member of the Presidency of the Seventy to serve on the Church Board of Education (with Elder Robert/ C. Gay currently filling that assignment, and Elder Johnson likely to succeed him in doing so in August), generally, a call to the Presidency of the Seventy makes necessary a release from assignments like the Comissioner of Church Education.

So I had privately theorized that Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a new General Authority Seventy currently serving as president of BYU--Pathway Worldwide, might succeed Elder Johnson as the Comissioner of Church Education. A new biographical article on Elder Gilbert through the Church News confirms that theory: Elder Clark G. Gilbert will begin serving as the new Comissioner of Church Education, effective August 1. I imagine this in turn will necessitate a change in the presidency of BYU-Pathway Worldwide, but the Commissioner of Church Education usually plays a role in recommending a change in the presidency of any Church schools, so no doubt Elder Gilbert is qualified to know who his best successor may be.

I am grateful to have learned of this news and to be able to pass it along to you all. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof. 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.

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: August Groundbreaking Set for the Sallvador Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! A short while ago, the First Presidency announced that a groundbreaking ceremony will be held at some point in August for the Salvador Brazil Temple. Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella, President of the Brazil Area, will preside at the event. An artist's rendering hax been released for the temple, but no square footages and been provided. This temple was another oringally announced in October 2018 by President Nelson.

There are a total of 7 dedicated temples in Brazil, with the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple completed and awaiting ran announcement of revised opening dates.Additionally, the Salvador Brazil temple will join the temples in Belem and Brasilia as being under construction. The Church has also announced temples in Belo Horiznote and East Sao Paulo.

The scheduling for this temple's groundbreaking did catch me by surprise a little. The Church hass previously announcecd that the Deseret Peak Utah Temple will break ground sometime this month, with the Syracuse Utah and Tallahassee Florida Temples following in June. Last year, one temple groundbreaking was held in July. Setting thee groundbreaking for the Salvador Brazil Temple for August suggests that the Church may try to keep July open for aany others that could have a groundbreaking.

I will note that I allso anticiapte announcements relatively soon for the Pago Pago American Samoa and Neiafu Tonga Temples, and that I'm similarly watching for an update on the Lindon Utah and Bahia Blanca Argentina Temples, among others. There is a chance, however remote, that no groundbreakings will be held between those for the Syracuse and Tallahassee temples and the Salvador temple, but I see that scenario as vnlikely, based on information I currently hava available. Either way, I am grateful to have heard of this announcement today, and fo the chance to pass word thereof on it to you all here.

I continue to monitor all other Church News updates and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof. 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.

Monday, May 3, 2021

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: 4 Temples in Brazil Unpausing; 30 More Worldwide To Offer Proxy Ordinances

Hello again, everyone! As reported by the Church News and the Newsroom, and confirmed in the weekly temple status tracker, 4 temples in Brazil will unpause next week, at which time 30 others around the world will offer proxy ordinances. Let's break down the details: First, with local COVID-19 conditions sufficiently cleared for the time being, the Campinas, Fortaleza, Recife, and Sao Paulo Brazil temples will unpause and will resume phase 2 operations. Meanwhile, also due to local conditions, the Toronto Ontario Temple will take a step back, from phase 2-B operations to phase 2.

As previously announced last week, the Kansas City Missouri and London and Preston England Temples remain on track to shift to phase 3, offering all living ordinances and limited proxy work (including baptisms for the dead).  Meanwhile, the following 30 temples will move to phase 2-B next week (listed below by area, then alphabetically):

Caribbean: Port-au-Prince Haiti

Central America: Panama City Panama; Tegucigalpa Honduras

México: Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tampico, and Veracruz

North America Central: Nauvoo Illinois

North America Northeast: Indianapolis Indiana

North America Southeast: Atlanta Georgia, Birmingham Alabama, Columbia South Carolina, Louisville Kentucky, Raleigh North Carolina

North America Southwest: All 4 Texas Temples (Dallas, Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio); Oklahoma City Oklahoma

North America West: All 7 temples in California (Fresno, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Oakland, Redlands, Sacramento, San Diego)

Philippines: Cebu City

As of May 10, the Church's temple reopenings will stand as follows: 8 closed for major renovations; 1 (Kyiv Ukraine) which has still not opened in any phase since all temples were closed last year; 7 temples "paused" in their reopenings (1 in phase 1, 4 in phase 2, and 2 in phase 3); 4 in phase 1; 46 in phase 2; 75 in phase 2-B; and 27 in phase 3. Further information on these updates can be found in the links I shared at the beginning of this post.

I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will bring you all word of those as I become aware thereof. 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.