Hello again, everyone! Within the last few minutes, the Church News and the Newsroom have provided this week's updates on temple reopenings, as further corroborated by the Church News status tracker. I will get to those details shortly, but also wanted to note that there has also been an announcement made this morning that facilities on Temple Square are likewise preparing to reopen to the public. There's a lkot to break down here, so let's get right into all of that.
First, the temple reopenings. The changes announced this week will impact a total of 21 temples in the United States and Mexico. So for starters, 11 templs (7 in the United States and 4 others in Mexico) have transitioned to phase 3, allowing ordinances for the living in the previously-established priority order, in addition to allowing those in the affected temple districts to schedule proxy work.
The phase 3 reopenings are now in effect for the following temples (with United States locations listed first, followed by Mexico's): Baton Rouge Louisiana; Lubbock Texas; Ogden Utah; Oklahoma City Oklahoma; Reno Nevada; St. Louis Missouri and Winter Quarters Nebraska in the United States, and the Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tampico, and Veracruz Temples in Mexico.
Additionally, less than two weeks from now, the following temples will move to phase 2-B: In the United States: Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Florida; St. Paul Minnesota; Manhattan New York; and Detroit Michigan. In Mexico: Ciudad Juarez, Colonia Juarez Chihuahua, and Villahermosa Mexico. In Europe: Freiberg Germany. And in South America: Lima Peru.
Meanwhile, it has been announced that the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple has paused in its' reopening as the result of COVID-19 conditions and resulting restrictions. With today's announcement, 14 of the 60 total temples for which a phase 3 reopening was previously announced have officially moved to that phase, leaving the remaining 46 that are anticipated to reopen at some point.
With these announced changes, as of Monday June 14, the Church's temple reopening process will stand as follows: 8 temples are currently closed for renovation ( of those 8 has been given a phase 1 designation, while 5 others have been granted a designation of phase 2-B. That allows those living in the affected districts to schedule the authorized living or proxy work at the temple closest to the one to which they are currently assigned.
1 temple (Kyiv Ukraine) remains closed. 6 previously-reopened temples remain paused (3 had reached phase 3, 2 were in phase 2-B, and 1 had reached phase 1). As far as officially reopened temples, as of next Monday, there will be 2 remaining in phase 1; 30 in phase 2; 80 in phase 2-B; and the remaining 41 in phase 3. The information released today also notes that by the end of July, at least 139 of the Church's total 168 operating temples will be designated for proxy work.
That wraps up coverage of the temple reopenings. We now turn to the other breaking development, the reopening of several facilities on Temple Square to the public. The way that will work is by allowing limited in-person tours by small groups, with options for virtual tours online remaining available as well. The Conference Center will be the first to reopen, and that is set to occur on Monday. The fact that that facility is reopening for tours will not change the parameters announced yesterday for the October General Conference.
On July 8, the Assembly Hall and Tabernacle will reopen, as will the Family History and Church History Libraries. Then on August 2, the Beehive House and Church History Museum will reopen. Further specific details are available through the Newsroom and Church News releases, including information about the recommended health and safety protocols in play.
I am grateful to have been able to learn of these breaking news updates and to have passed them along to you all here. I continue to monitor all such developments (Church news and temple updates) and will be sure to pass those along as well when I come acorss them. I have also revised my predictions for the upcoming General Conference and hope to have those posted within the next 24 hours or less.
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.
