BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exterior Renderings Released for 4 US Temples

Hello again, everyone! We have breaking temple news this morning that I was not anticipating. In a stunning single announcement, the Church has officially released the exterior renderings for 4 US temples, as a clear sign of what the plans might be for the Church for the remainder of this year.  In addition to the Newsroom release, these updates were detailed by the Church News shortly after the Newsroom release was published.

The renderings in question are for the Yorba Linda California Temple (for which the location and preliminary information were announced in mid-July) the Grand Junction Colorado and Burley Idaho Temples (for which the site locations and preliminary details were confirmed in mid-to-late June), and the Elko Nevada Temple (for which the site location and preliminary details were confirmed in mid-June.

The Elko temple incorporates similar exterior design elements comparable to the Casper Wyoming and Helena Montana Temples, so I anticipate that it will also be built using modular components, and that construction on that temple will take 12-15 generally (around 13 specifically) once construction begins. The Grand Junction Coloard Temple is of a similar size and design to the Bentonville Arkansas Temple, so I assume that the construction period for the Grand Junction temple will be identical to Bentonville.

The Yorba Linda California Temple incorporates similar designs as temples of similar sizes (particularly it reminds me a lot of the McAllen Texas Temple), so given its' projected size of 30,000 square feet, I anticipate the construction time-frame will be similar to those temples. And at an anticipated 38,600 square feet, the Burley Idaho Temple appears to be similar to temples of around the same size and design.

Others more qualified than I am to do so are invited to provide additional context into the designs of the newest temples. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see what happens with US temple groundbreakings for the rest of this year. The order in which any of these temples could have groundbreakings may be hard to determine. There is also the fact that the details of each of these 4 temples have been announced gradually, unlike the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple, which had a name, location, details, and rendering released all at once.

If I had to venture a guess, Elko would probably be first, given the quick approvals obtained for the similarly-designed Casper and Helena Temples.  Willamette Valley Oregon could be next, followed by Grand Junction Colorado, Burley Idaho, and Yorba Linda California. And that's just US temples. We also have more than a few international ones that could very well be interspersed with each of the 5 US temples. 

I will be taking time this weekend to reevaulate my previously-offered thoughts about temples for which a groundbreaking is anticipated, and I also will hopefully have my updated predictions for General Conference posted early next week, if not sooner. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates 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. 

UPDATED: Pago Pago American Samoa Temple Groundbreaking Postponed

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, on July 27 (while I was hospitalized), the Church announced the original groundbreaking dates for the Neiafu Tonga Temple (Saturday September 11) and the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple (originally set for Saturday October 9). My reason for mentioning that announcement again today is due to an update provided by the Church.

I'm assuming that this is due to COVID-19, but regardless of the reason behind it, the Church announced this afternoon that the groundbreaking for the  Pago Pago American Samoa Temple has been rescheduled from October 9 to three weeks later (Saturday October 30). The Church has further specified that Elder K. Brent Nattress, First Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, will preside at the groundbreaking for American Samoa's first temple.

Even with the slight delay of 3 weeks, the Church will still have two more temple groundbreakings by the end of Ocltober of this year than they did at the same point last year., per information I have previously provided. I continue to monitor all subsequent temple updates and any other Church news developments and will bring word of those to you all here 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. 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Continues Phased Reopenings of Temples Around the World

Hello again, everyone! As I observed in one of my comments posted yesterday on the previous thread, information I found appears to indicate that resurgences of COVID-19 in Tokyo Japan (especially after the recently-concluded 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games), Hamilton New Zealand, Yigo Guam, and Quito Ecuador have led to some limits on gatherings in general, but on large gatherings in particular. 

Given the fact that the Church tries to encourage its' members and friends all over the world to be good global citizens, I'm reasonably certain that might lead to a slight delay in the next few months before any of those temples can have opening or reopening arrangements announced. With that in mind, I'm thinking that we might not see the number of temple dedications or rededications going up significantly until after next year's annual July recess for General Authorities has concluded.

I'd love to be proven wrong on that, but until further evidence suggests otherwise, I'm sure the Church will probably want to be safe rather than sorry. Having acknowledged that, it's also worth noting that, despite the COVID-19 variants in various parts of the world, the Church remains committed to a cautiously-coordinated and carefully-planned reopening of temples worldwide, and that has been again proven correct with the latest adjustments which have been aannounced in the last little while here.

As has been the case for the last 1.5 years or so in wihch the Church has announced weekly reopening updates. thoae latest adjustments have been detailed in the updated official Newsroom release, the customary Church News update, and the updated temple reopening status tracker. Having provided that overview, let's now look at the specific adjustments that have been noted today.

First up is an announcement that I was not necessarily expecting, but probably should have anticipated. Given COVID-19 conditions in Idaho, once the Pocatello Idaho Temple is dedicated, the Church will have it operating in phase 3 right from the start. That temple's dedication is set for the first Sunday of November, so following its' dedication, the temple will be able to start off in phase 3, offering all living ordinances in priority order, along with limited proxy work as scheduled. It has additionally been noted that the Curitiba Brazil Temple will transition to phase 3 as early as September 21 (next Tuesday). And as has been the case the last several weeks, it's again been noted that the Medford Oregon Temple will reopen in phase 3 at some point when it is safe to do so. The original plan was to reopen that temple in that phase by the end of last month, but, again, the Church has adjusted plans due to COVID-19 conditions and restrictions.

The Church News also again recapped the nine temples still in phase 1 or phase 2 (not yet allowing any proxy work), and again noted that the Tokyo Japan and Hong Kong China Temples, currently closed for renovation, have not yet been granted any phased reopening designations. With the updates announced today, by next Tuesday (September 21), the 168 operating temples of the Church will break down as follows: 8 closed for major renovations, all but 2 of which have been granted phase 3 designations for the members in their districts; 5 temples currently paused. of which 4 had reached phase 3, and the remaining 1 was in phase 2 at the time the pauses went into effect; just 2 temples will remain in phase 1, with 6 each in phases 2 and 2-B; with the remaining 141 temples of the Church now in phase 3, offering living ordinances in priority order and limited proxy work as scheduled.

If anyone anywhere has any questions about whether prophets and apostles are inspired for our day, they only need to look at the methodical week-by-week adjustments that have been made, and how that has been done by always keeping the well-being of Church members in mind. I am grateful to have been able to pass along these updates to you all.  I continue to also monitor all other Church news updates and reported developments and remain committed to bringing those to you all here 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.