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Monday, January 22, 2024

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exterior Rendering Released for the La Paz Bolivia Temple

Hello again, everyone! The next major temple construction announcement was just made by the First Presidency: the exterior rendering has been released for the La Paz Bolivia Temple. The site announcement for that temple occurred on August 28 of last year. Interestingly enough, this rendering was released before the rendering for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple, for which a site was confirmed on November 28, 2022. That suggests to me that the La Paz temple might be more fast-tracked, and that a groundbreaking could be coming soon for that temple.

I was likewise intrigued that this was the only temple update we got today. I had been hoping for a potential announcement of the opening arrangements for the Casper Wyoming Temple, but that obviously didn't happen. I also was optimistic that the Church might set more temple groundbreakings, release other renderings, or share the initial details for announced temples. But I am grateful we at least got this announcement today.

Regarding the Casper Wyoming Temple, the open house will likely be shorter, and the dedication may be set sooner than would be the case for larger temples. So despite not hearing about opening arrangements for that temple this week, if opening arrangements are announced for that temple within the next 3-4 weeks, I could still see Casper having a dedication scheduled in June.

As far as future groundbreakings go, some have expressed surprise that no other groundbreakings have been scheduled yet. What I see the Church doing in delaying those announcements is to make sure that the approvals process isn't rushed. We have seen delays in construction of the Heber Valley Utah and Kaohsiung Taiwan Temples, so perhaps the Church is wanting to clear all obstacles to the construction of future temples before groundbreakings are announced. 

I still anticipate at least a few groundbreakings between now and the April 2024 General Conference weekend, but we'll see what happens there. I am likewise grateful the Church is approaching the release of exterior renderings and site locations more slowly for now, since that will likewise allow all obstacles to eventual construction to be cleared so work can begin properly on those temples promptly after groundbreakings.

So I for one am inclined to say that it's a wise move on the Church's part to take a more reserved approach to such announcements. I believe we will have many more surprise announcements in store in the coming weeks, and I can't wait to see that process unfold. Other than these notes, I will let today's rendering speak for itself, and will let others more qualified than I am make any comments they would care to offer about this exterior rendering.

I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per 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. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

BREAKING NEWS: New Leadership Assignments in the Presidency of the Seventy

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency announced this afternoon that Elder Carl B. Cook has officially succeeded Elder Patrick Kearon as Senior President of the Seventy, following Elder Kearon's call last month to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Further, to fill the existing vacancy in the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder Marcus B. Nash, a GA Seventy who had been serving as the Exectuvie Director of the Church's Missionary Department, will now serve in that Presidency.

The biographies of these men speak for themselves. While I was a little surprised that the Church appointed an American-born individual rather than an international GA Seventy to fill the vacancy caused by the call of Elder Kearon, as has been the case for years now, the moment I read about these changes, I knew they were in harmony with the Lord's will for the Church at this time. 

I should also note that I don't know who has succeeded Elder Nash as Exectuvie Director of the Church's Missionary Department, but I assume we will find out in the days ahead. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. 

All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per 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. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Coban Guatemala, Salta Argentina, and Taylorsville Utah Temples; Site Location and Preliminary Information Confirmed for the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple

Hello again, everyone! As I anticipated, the First Presidency announced the next major temple construction announcement a few minutes ago: the opening arrangements for the Coban GuatemalaSalta Argentina, and Taylorsville Utah temples and the site location and preliminary information for the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple. Let's get right into the details:

We start with the Coban Guatemala Temple, which will have a media day on Monday, April 22, 2024, which will be followed by VIP tours the next two days. The temple will open to the public between Thursday, April 25-Saturday, May 11, 2024. Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles will dedicate Guatemala's newest temple on Sunday, June 9, 2024, in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM Central Standard time.

Next, for the Salta Argentina Temple, a media day will be held on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, with VIP tours the next two days. The open house will be held between Friday, May 3-Saturday May 18, 2024. The temple will be dedicated by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM Argentina standard time.

Moving on to the Taylorsville Utah Temple, Media/VIP tours will occur from Tuesday, April 9-Friday, April 12, 2024. Public tours will follow between Saturday, April 13-Saturday, May 18, 2024. The temple will be dedicated by Elder Gerrit W. Gong, also a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on Sunday, June 2, 2024, in two sessions held at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM MDT

Each of these dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to those in each respective temple district. I was amazed that all three temple dedications will occur in June. I will be interested to see if they can also dedicate the Casper Wyoming Temple before the end of the first half of the year. But this means that June is stacking up to be a very busy month for temple dedications. It also means that the dedications of other temples might be able to occur sooner than I had projected. i will revise my thoughts on that based on today's announcements.

We conclude now with the information about the Cuernavaca Mexico Temple. A single-story edifice of 19,000 square feet will rise on a a 5.36-acre site southeast of the corner of Calle HernĂ¡n Cortes and Calle Santa Prisca in Colonia Vista Hermosa, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. That is now the second Mexico-city area temple announced by President Nelson in October 2022 that has had a site location and preliminary information confirmed.

In view of today's announcements, I have updated my documents showing current apostles' dedications and rededications and announced temples for which no official information has been confirmed yet. And I still wouldn't rule out a June dedication for Casper Wyoming either. Hopefully these latest announcements will lead to further shifts in the temple construction queue. And temple dedications may be accelerated even more than I previously thought. So it's back to the drawing board with the estimates I've offered.

But the only constant in life is change, so I am happy to revisit that based on these latest announcements. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now.  All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per 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. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.