BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Location and Initial Details Confirmed for the Montpelier Idaho Temple

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the First Presidency announced the initial details for the Montpelier Idaho Temple, which was announced in General Conference less than 7 weeks ago. The temple will be built on the corner where Sixth North and Washington intersect. The site upon which the Church will build the 27,000 square-foot temple is 2.6 acres. 

Although no exterior rendering or groundbreaking date has been released yet, we do know, per a report from the Church Temples site, that the final residence was removed from the temple site late last month. In view of that, I anticipate that approvals are going to be fairly swift. I tried to ascertain if the Montpelier temple was going to be comparable in size to any current temple under construction, but was unsuccessful

I look forward to seeing how swiftly things happen with this temple. I also continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates and will bring you all word thereof as I become aware of those. 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 feedback offered is consistent with the established guidelines.

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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: 9 More Temples Will Transition to Phase 4

Hello again, everyone! The Church News shared yet another new report on temple reopenings this morning. The latest update indicates that 9 more temples of the Church will begin to transition to phase 4 (normal operations). Let's get into the details: 162 of the Church's 171 dedicated temples are operational. With 8 closed for major renovations, 1 other (the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple) has been dedicated and is anticipated to begin operations soon.

The 9 temples moving toward normal operations include: 4 in the United States (Boston Massachusetts, Hartford Connecticut, Louisville Kentucky, and Nashville Tennessee);  2 in Europe (Madrid Spain and Preston England) and 1 each in Canada (Montreal Quebec); Central America (San Salvador El Salvador); and Asia (Seoul Korea).

As a result of these details, the status of the Church's 171 temples stands as follows: 1 (Rio de Janeiro Brazil) will begin operations soon; 8 are closed for major renovations (with all 8 having been granted phase 3 status, allowing patrons in those districts to schedule phase 3 living and proxy work at the nearest temple); 1 (Kyiv Ukraine) has had operations paused/suspended in phase 3 out of an abundance of caution due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine; and 1 (Suva Fiji) remains in phase 1.

With no temples currently in phases 2 or 2-B, of the remaining temples, 26 are in phase 3 (those 26 do not include the 8 temples undergoing renovation, which are being separately categorized for the time being), and, with the changes announced today, the total number of temples now in phase 4 is 134. The Church News has also updated the temple reopening status tracker, which shows an area-by-area breakdown of temples worldwide.

Incidentally, on that status tracker, if you look at the Brazil Area specifically, there is an entry for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple. The text on that entry reads: "Dedicated May 8, 2022. Ordination work for patrons begins May 19, 2022." I assume that "Ordination work" was supposed to be "Ordinance work" because otherwise, it doesn't make much sense. But if the temple is officially open for ordinance work on May 19, I assume that it will be granted phase 4 status right away, since all other Brazilian temples are now in phase 4. 

Either way, the status of that temple is likely to be clarified by the Church News in the update next week. I will continue to monitor all updates from the Newsroom and the Church News, along with any updates on the status of temples in the construction queue (under construction, undergoing renovation, or those in various other phases) and pass those along to you all here 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 feedback offered is consistent with the established guidelines.  I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 

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: August Groundbreakings Set for Ephraim Utah and Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo Temples

Hello again, everyone! I have breaking temple news to report today. Two temples of the Church will have groundbreakings in August. This morning, the First Presidency announced the arrangements for such ceremonies for the Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ephraim Utah Temples. In conjunction with today's announcement, the general location, artist's rendering and details were announced for the Democratic Republic of the Congo's second temple.

Let's break down the details: The groundbreaking for the Lubumbashi DR Congo Temple will take place on Saturday August 20, 2022, under the direction of Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, the current First Counselor in the Africa Central Area presidency who, by the time of the groundbreaking, will transition to being the Area President. The temple will be built on a 2.57-acre site near the intersections of Av. Kashobwe, Av. Biyayi, and Av. Du Lac Kipopo. Plans call for a single-story temple of 19,300 square feet. Ancillary buildings (note the plural) of 31,000 square feet will house a distribution center for the Church and patron and missionary housing. We have another temple announced in April 2020 that has had official details confirmed.

In the meantime, as we know, the Ephraim Utah Temple was announcedin May of last year, with site identification following five months later (last October) and a rendering resed on March 4 of this year.

Ground will be broken for that temple on Saturday August 27. The First Presidency has asked Elder Walter F. González, the current Second Counselor in the Utah Area Presidency who will be released from that assignment on August 1 and will be released and granted emeritus status in October, to preside at that groundbreaking.

The fact that these two events are set for back-to-back weeks in mid-to-late August gives me hope that perhaps other temples might have their groundbreakings on the Saturdays of August 6 and 13.

I continue to monitor all such updates and will pass word of those along to you all here as I receive it. 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 feedback offered is consistent with the established guidelines.

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.