BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Renovation Work Completed on the Medford Oregon Temple; All US Temples Now Open for Living & Proxy Ordinances

Hello again, everyone! A short time ago, the Church News confirmed temple reopening updates. Right off the bat, it was announced that the process of "extended maintenance" or "renovation" has been completed for the Mdeford Oregon Temple, which will now move to phase 3 as early as next week. As a result of this adjustment, all 82 currently-operating temples in the United States will be in phase 3. For the Washington D.C. and Columbus Ohio Temples, their phase 3 status will allow the patrons served within those districts to schedule living and proxy ordinances at the nearest temple(s) to them.

Additionally, the Montreal Quebec Temple, recently closed down due to pandemic-related restrictions, is also reopening in phase 3. 167 of the Church's 170 temples (98.2%) are now in phase 3. And with two additional temples operating in phase 2-B, all but one of those 170 temples (for a total of 99.4%)  are now offering all living ordinances and at least proxy baptisms. As a result of these changes, 8 temples are currently under renovation (with all 8 of those granted phase 3 status) no temples are currently "paused" in their reopenings, and none are in phase 2. 1 temple (Suva Fiji) is in phase 1.

2 others (Barranquilla Colombia and Seoul Korea) are in phase 2-B, with the remaining 167 in phase 3 as noted above. The Church News update also acknowledges that, with so many temples operating in phase 3, and with the Church holding off for now on attempting to shift any temples to phase 4, reopening updates will be more sporadic and will be published only as needed going forward. The details shared in the Church News update are likewsie noted in the temple reopening status tracker and in the official release from the Newsroom.

Interestingly enough, the Newsroom incorrectly lists the Rio de Janeiro Brazil and Yigo Guam Temples as "Temples Undergoing Renovation",when both are new temples that have been completed and are awaiting their dedications, which have been scheduled. I suppose categorizing those as "Under Renovation" may be easier for the Newsroom staff than making that distinction that they are awaiting scheduled dedications. Just thought that was noteworthy.

I don't know at this point whether any other breaking news will be reported by the Church for the duration of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, but if and when those reports are shared, I will be sure to pass them along to you all here. I also monitor all temple construction updates and general Church news and will pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof.

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.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband Observes His 71st Birthday

Hello again, everyone! This post is written in honor of Elder Rasband, who today becomes the second current septuagenarian apostle. I am pleased to share a biographical overview of his life with you all on his special day. Ronald Anderson Rasband was born to Rulon Hawkins Rasband and Verda Anderson in Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 6, 1951. He served as a full-time missionary in the Eastern States Mission, which was headquartered in New York City and encompassed the whole New York Metro area, while also stretching into western New York and Pennsylvania. He met Melanie Twitchell in a class they both attended at BYU. At the time, both of them were dating other people, but they soon made arrangements to go on a date themselves, and once they started dating, that was it for both of them. They got engaged eight weeks later, were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1973, and went on to raise their five children.

Following their marriage, they continued their studies at the University of Utah. He later discontinued his college experience in order to begin his professional career in the Huntsman Container Company as a Sales Representative in 1976. Still in that employment 11 years later (in 1987), he was promoted to the position of president and chief operating officer of Huntsman Chemical Corporation, where he closely worked with Jon Huntsman Sr. and later served on the board of directors of that company. It was not until 1995 that, in tribute to his success as a businessman, he received an honorary degree in business and commerce from Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University).

As prestigious as his professional career might have been, his life, in similarity to those of his fellow apostles, has been characterized by a variety of assignments in the Church. Elder Rasband has served as a bishop, Temple Square missionary guide, member of the Church’s Sesquicentennial Committee, and, from 1996-1999, as president of the New York New York North Mission. On April 1, 2000, he was sustained as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Over the next 5 years, he served in the Europe North & Europe Central Areas from 2000-2003 (with both areas having since been consolidated). From 2003-2004, he presided over the Utah Salt Lake City Area. In August 2004, responsibility for oversight of the work of the Church in North America was transferred to the Presidency of the Sevent

He then served from 2004-2005 as Executive Director of the Temple Department. He was called to serve in the Presidency of the Seventy in August 2005, at which time he was assigned oversight for the North America Northwest and North America West Areas. Two years later, his assignment shifted to supervising the Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South Areas (from 2007-2009).

By August of 2008, he had become the second most senior member of the Presidency of the Seventy. The following April, as a result of Elder Neil L. Andersen's call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Rasband became the Senior President of the Seventy, and, as such, was given oversight for all areas in the United States and Canada.

He was still serving in that same assignment when, in October 2015, he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. With Elders Gary E. Stevenson and Dale G. Renlund called at the same time (something that had not happened since 1906), the number of those who had served as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reached a total of 100. He is currently the eighth in seniority among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the eleventh in overall apostolic seniority. He also ranks as the sixth oldest among the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve, and the ninth oldest among all 15 apostles.

As I’ve noted previously, I have an indirect personal connection to Elder Rasband. When my wife was initially involved in the institute program, Elder Rasband was one of her instructors. As a result of the three apostolic vacancies in 2015, my wife was one of many who felt Elder Rasband would be called to the apostleship to fill one of those, and she (and others who felt the same way) turned out to be right.

I will never forget praying in advance of the October 2015 General Conference for my own personal witness to know that whoever was called had indeed been chosen by the Lord. The moment President Eyring read the names of the three new apostles, I received the witness I had requested. That experience is one that has been repeated for every apostle called since I entered my adult years.For that reason, I gratefully sustain not just Elder Rasband, but also each of the other 14 apostles in their divinely-appointed roles.

Having served for nearly 21 years as a General Authority, Elder Rasband has had 19 opportunities to address us in General Conference: 1 as a General Authority Seventy, 5 more while in the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 13 since his call to the apostleship almost 5.5 years ago. Any of those addresses, covering a wide variety of topics, is well worthy of review. I am grateful for this opportunity I have had, in my own small way, to pay tribute to and reflect on Elder Rasband’s life in honor of his 71st birthday. I also continue to monitor all apostolic updates, general Church news, and any temple-related developments and will continue my coverage of all such updates as I become aware thereof.

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.

Temple Construction Progress Update for Early February 2022

Hello again, everyone! As I mentioned in a recent comment on this blog, the queue of temples under construction has seen a dramatic shift. That in turn has changed the estimates within which those temples are anticipated to be completed. The nature of the adjustments has required a complete overhaul to my temple construction progress report. Aside from the changes, which I hope are relatively self-explanatory, I wanted to note that, in view of the unpredictable nature of COVID-19, as of today, I have eliminated any specific estimates for temple dedications, rededications, or groundbreakings and have opted for more general estimates.

Hopefully the Church's temple construction will not be as delayed as I have outlined in this newest report. But I wanted to be safe instead of sorry. The Church is doing a great job of monitoring and adjusting to the varying factors relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, which I anticipate may be the case going forward. To the best of my ability, I remain committed to tracking all such developments and passing word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof.

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.