POTENTIAL BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Could Several Temple Groundbreakings Occur Privately?

Hello again, everyone! Although we are still waiting on official announcements for quite a few temples, an article from a newspaper that has no ties to the Church has used the now-discouraged terminology of "Mormon" in the article title before sharing the correct name of the Church in the article. The article, published in September, related to the site location, rendering, and name being released for Oregon's newest temple, features the following intriguing sentence: "A private groundbreaking ceremony will be announced at a later time, according to communicatiodn director and temple media liaison Jeff Robinson." (bold text highlighted by me to undercore a point).

We have seen the Church being able to broadcast temple groundbreakings on the same day or within a week after a temple groundbreaking takes place. That has allowed a limited number of invited guests to attend each of the 11 groundbreakings held this year while allowing others to view the ceremonies after the fact. Each of those 11 groundbreakings were announced in advance for specific dates as well. And for each of those 11, coverage was made available a few hours after those events took place.

But temple groundbreakings, even with limited invitied guests, can be informally attended by those nearest to the temple who know when those groundbreakings take place. And given the fact that some parts of the US and elsewhere in the world are struggling with COVID-19 to a much higher degree than those in the "Mormon corridor", it did occur to me to wonder, as I've often mused in the past, whether it would be possible for the Church to hold private temple groundbreakings without an advanced announcement that would be followed by an official Church acknowledgement that it has taken place.

Given the fact that there will be 6 weeks between the October 30 groundbreaking for the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple and the December 11 groundbreaking for the Bacolod Philippines Temple, I'd be very shocked if no other temples had a groundbreaking in the 5 Saturdays between the two dates. Maybe I'm mistaken in all of this, and the Church might just opt to hold off on any other US temple groundbreakings until next year, but I'm hard-pressed to believe that.

For my part, I will be diligent in checking for any such acknowledgements, and I will be sure to provide anything that is reported in that respect here. Just wanted to mention the possibility, given the wording of the article. In the meantime, 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: Church Announces 2022 Schedule for Churchwide Events

Hello again, everyone! As reported by the Church News, the schedule for Churdwide events in 2022 has been officially confirmed. On Sunday January 9, the Church will host 6 devotionals for young adults. which will replace the customary Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults. A worldwide event of some kind will be held for youth at 4:00 PM MST on January 29. At 10:00 AM MST on February 19, the Church will hold a Friend-to-Friend event for Primary children. 

From March 3-5, RootsTech will hold its' 2022 Family History Conference, which likely means the Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction will occur on the first night (a Thursday). The April 2022 General Conference will occur on Saturday and Sunday April 2 and 3 in 5 general sessions. On April 15 and 16, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square will provide music for the Easter weekend. A worldwide devotional for young adults follows on May 15.

On June 8, the Church will host a Youth Music Festival at 6:00 PM MDT. On Sunday June 25, the Church will host a worldwide devotional focused on sharing the gospel. On July 16, another Friend-to-Friend broadcast will be held for Primary-aged children (which I believe marks the first time that the Church has held more than one Friend-to-Friend event per year).  At some point in mid-to-late July (on or around the 24th), the Tabernacle Choir will have its' annual Pioneer Day Concert.

On August 21, the Church will host the first-of-its'-kind worldwide event for parents, which will be followed on September 11 by a worldwide devotional for young adults. wThe October 2022 General Conference will take place on Saturday and Sunday October 1 and 2, followed by a third and final Friend-to-Friend event on November 4. Closing out the year will be the Sunday December 4 First Presidency's Christmas Devotional  and (I assuime) the Tabernacle Choir's 2022 Christmas Concert.

It's also worth a reminder that I've put together a 2022 schedule of various temple and apostolic milestones I anticipate highlighting here for the next calendar year. There will be a lot to look forward to, even without knowing what major announcements will be made next year, and I look forward to covering all of that as it is reported.

In the meantime, 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 Announces Latest Temple Reopenings

Hello again, everyone! With only one exception in recent weeks, Tuesday has been the designated day on which the Church has announced the latest temple reopening updates. Those releases have been shared in the Newsroom and through updates in the Church News (including the weekly status tracker). Barring anything unexpected (such as a major temple announcement unrelated to temple reopenings, or another week wherein the Church holds steady and does not announce any updates), the latest such information will be released in the next hour or so from the publication of this post.

This post will be updated with an analysis of that announcement if and when it comes. Note: The following few paragraphs between here and the closing text for the post were added once the Church's official announcement on temple reopenings was made. The Church reported this mornining that the Buenoos Aires Argentina Temple is transitiooning to phase 2 after the recent pause in its' reopening. 

Additionally, the Church noted this morning that, in view of its' dedication on Sunday, the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple will open in phase 3 as early as November 12. With the dedication of the Pocatello Idaho Temple set to occur on Sunday November 7, that temple will open in phase 3 as soon as November 16. And the Mesa Arizona Temple, which will be rededicated on Sunday December 12, will begin operating in phase 3 as early as December 21. Right now, the Saints in the Mesa Arizona Temple district have been able to reserve phase 3 appointments at the closest temples to Mesa which are also in phase 3.

Once all temples for which a phase 3 opening has been announced have officially transitioned to that phase, 92.3% of all temples (157 of the 170 total) will be in phsse 3. Additionally, when other temples transition to phase 2-B (which has previously been noted will occur ASAP), the total number of temples allowing proxy work by appointment will rise to 161 of the 170, or 94.2% of all temples.

The Church News also reiterated that the Medford Oregon Temple, originally projected to move into phase 3 at some point in August, remains in phase 2--B for the time being, and that no revised date has been set for that transition. 6 of the Church's temples remain in phases 1 or 2, while no phase designation has been given for the temples in Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan both of which are currently closed for renovation.

As a result of the latest adjustments, next Tuesday (November 9), the reopening of temples will stand as follows: 9 temples are closed for major renovations (all but 2 of which have been granted pahse 3 designations); 2 temples remain "paused" in their reopenings (both of which had reached phase 3 prior to their pauses); 2 other temples are in phase 1; with 4 each in phases 2 and 2-B; and the remaining 147 operating in phase 3.

I have noted this in the past, but feel a need to reiterate it again: I am grateful for the carefully-planned cautiously-coordinated reopening of temples around the world, and for the revelatory process that drives those announcements every week. Although no temples anywhere have reached phase 4 (a return to full normal operations), it is wonderful the Church has been prudent and wise in the announcements of changes each week.

As always, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and remain committed to bringing you all word of those updates as I become aware thereof. This Saturday (November 6), Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf will be celebrating his 81st birthday, with Elder Dale G. Renlund observing his 69th birthday exactly one week later. I will be presetting my next apstolic data update to publish here on Sunday November 14 (which will mark the final such update for this year).

I also continue to be hopeful that opening arrangements might soon be announced for the Yigo Guam and Quito Ecuador Temples, with reopening arrangements for the Tokyo Japan and Hamilton New Zealand Temples announced soon as well. And I continue to hope that the announcements of multiple temple groundbreakings will be made within the next couple of week for most (if not all) of the remaining temples that will have a groundbreaking this year, though there is also the prospect that the Church could report a groundbreaking has already occurred for some temples. So stay tuned for more on all of these developments as i find out about them and pass them along.

In the meantime, 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.