BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Ground Broken for the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple

 Hello again, everyone! In the Newsroom today, it was reported that ground was broken for the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple this morning. This was a surprise, as this groundbreaking had not been announced in advance. The history of that temple is available via the links shared above.Elder Michael A. Dunn, First Counselor in the North America Southwest Area, presided over the ceremony, I gather it was not announced in advance because the approval of that temple had been fought at every governmental approval level and even litigated in the courts, although a recent court complaint about the approval for that temple was dismissed for what I understand was a lack of legal standing.

This groundbreaking marks the 16th such ceremony conducted this year. On Saturday (2 days from now) ground will be broken for the Fairbanks Alaska Temple. With those and the other two recently announced  groundbreakings for the Kumasi Ghana and Cape Town South Africa Temples, the 2025 groundbreaking total through late October now rises to 19 total before the end of October. I think it is highly likely that other temples will have groundbreakings confirmed soon, based on where some of them are in the current temple construction approval process.

The latest such updates will be available to view in my end-of-third-quarter 2025 temple construction overview which will be provided about 5 days from now. I am grateful to have learned about this latest temple update and for the opportunity to share that information with you all here. I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such 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. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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.

BREAKING NEWS: 12 New Hymns Released (Including One Penned by President Nelson)

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to report this morning that 12 new hymns have been released. The new releases include African American, Geerman, Korean, Tagolag, and Tongan pieces, in addition to one penned by our beloved prophet, Church President Russell M. Nelson. What are these hymns? I'm glad you asked. They are as follows: 

“Thou Gracious God, Whose Mercy Lends”, “Help Us Remember”, “How Did the Savior Minister”, “Jesus Is the Way”, “Can You Count the Stars in Heaven?”, "He Cares for Me”, “Our Prayer to Thee”, “Joseph Prayed in Faith”, “Stand by Me”, “This Day Is a Good Day, Lord”, “Go Tell It on the Mountain”, and “Little Baby in a Manger”.

I am familiar with "Thou Gracious God, Whose Mercy Lends", "Our Prayer to Thee", and "Go Tell It on the Mountain", but not the others. The number of released new hymns for  “Hymns—For Home and Church”  now totals 60, 

We don't yet know what the ratio of new hymns vs. the core collection will be, but we do know that Primary General President Susan H. Porter, Young Men General President Timothy L. Farnes, and Elder Matthew L. Carpenter an Asssistant ExecutiveDirector of the Church's Priesthood and Family Department, are all quoted in relation to the newest release of the new hymns,

We also know that Church members are being encouraged to learn and share the new hymns. I pray that we will all do so. I am also looking forward to the next release of new hymns, which should occur sometime in December or so. And the entirety of the new hymnbook will be available to use and share at home and during Church services as well. I am grateful to have been able to learn of this update not long after it happened.

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such 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. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreakings Announced for Kumasi Ghana and Cape Town South Africa Temples; Preliminary Information Released for the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple

Hello again, everyone! Today, the First Presidency announced two temple groundbreakings (for the Kumasi Ghana and Cape Town South Africa Temples) and the preliminary information for one other temple (Ulaanbaatar Mongolia). Let's get into all the relevant details:

We start in Kumasi Ghana. The temple bearing that name was announced in April 2021, with the site announcement following in May 2023, and an exterior rendering is yet to be released at a later date. As for the groundbreaking, it has been scheduled to occur under the direction of Elder Iaaac K. Morrison, Second Counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency, on Saturday, October 18, 2025.

Meanwhile, the Cape Town South Africa Temple, which was also announced in April 2021, and its' site location and exterior rendering were both released on December 7 of the same year. The groundbreaking for that temple is scheduled to occurt under the direction of Africa South Area President Elder Carlos A. Godoy on Saturday, October 25, 2025.

Today's groundbreaking announcements bring the total number of temple groundbreakings set thus far this year to 18, vs. the 14 we had last year. My mom is a South African native, so she's familiar with all three South Africa cities with temples: Johannesburg, Durban, and now Cape Town. She was very pleased to hear this news.

Having discussed the temple groundbreakings, let's break down the details for the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple: Mongolia's first temple (planned to be a one-story edifice of approximately 18,850 square feet will rise on a nearly 11 acre site located at Naadamchid Road, Khan Uul, 8 Khoroo in Mongolia. The project will also include a patron housing facility and a meetinghouse. The rendering speaks for itself but it reminds me a lot of other temples as well. Hopefully a groundbreaking will shortly follow.

I will just add that the site location confirmation and exterior rendering follow that temple's announcement in October 2023. And in view of today's announcement, 64 of the 114 announced templessI know of people with connnections to Mongolia, so I am happy for today's news on that temple. I had been hoping we would get groundbreakings, site confirmationse, and renderings, and the fact that they released information for 3 temples at the same time is exciting.

I am not sure when or how soon the next temple dedication might be announced. I do know there has been major movement in the temple construction queue over the weekend. This document shows where those estimates stood as of early Saturday, and this one details where those estimates and the queue stand now. I will continue to provide updates on the shifts in the construction queue as they occur. I am grateful for today's announcements, and I hope my analysis herein haas proven to be helpful and contextual.

I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such 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. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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.