Temple Construction Progress Report Update

Hello, all! As additional progress has been reported on several temples, it is once again necessary to post an update about those developments. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think. Thanks.

Temple Construction Progress Update (current as of 3/23/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 4 scheduled for dedication; 7 under construction; 3 more have construction pending, but all of them are anticipated to commence construction before (or at least by) the start of Summer 2017; 1 scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 2 renovations scheduled; 8 announced. NOTE: With two groundbreakings having already taken place this year, we could see several others before too much longer. For all of the announced temples that have not yet had a groundbreaking, I offer my best-guess estimate for when that might happen, to which I have recently made adjustments and corrections. One correction is noting that we might only see one other groundbreaking this year, though it seems that one is not as imminent as I originally was led to believe.

Dedication scheduled:

156. Paris France Temple: Plaza water features operational; accepting reservations for public open house (which will run from Saturday April 22-Saturday May 13 (excluding the Sundays of April 23 and 30 and May 7)); dedication scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.

157. Tucson Arizona Temple: Additional lighting tests underway; accepting reservations for public open house beginning Monday May 15, 2017; (which will run from Saturday June 3-Saturday June 24 (excluding the Sundays of June 4, 11, and 18)); dedication scheduled for Sunday August 13, 2017.

158. Meridian Idaho Temple: Monument sign installed; interior work progressing; dedication scheduled for Sunday November 19, 2017.

159. Cedar City Utah Temple: Installing glass; hanging drywall on interior; dedication scheduled for Sunday December 10, 2017.

Under Construction:

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime during early-to-mid 2018.

161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Making concrete pours for window openings and to seal tops of concrete block walls; completion anticipated sometime during early-to-mid 2018.

NOTE: For the two temples above, they seem to be interchangeable in terms of which one might potentially be completed and dedicated first. I am trying to keep an eye on any and all developments and will adjust their listings as necessary once more is known.

162.  Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Sheathing exterior walls with rigid foam insulation; steel framework for cupola installed; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Concepcion Chile Temple: Exterior cladding progressing on north wall; planting palm trees on west side; monument sign poured; waterproofing membrane attached to east wall; completion anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2018.

164. Durban South Africa Temple: Setting rebar and concrete forms for temple exterior walls; preparing to pour floor slab for missionary housing; completion anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2018.

NOTE: For the two temples above, they seem to be interchangeable in terms of which one might potentially be completed and dedicated first. I am trying to keep an eye on any and all developments and will adjust their listings as necessary once more is known.

165. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Erecting structural framing for temple tower; completion anticipated sometime during early-to-mid 2019.

167.  Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation completed for temple foundation; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2019.

Construction pending:

166. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; awaiting commencement of full-scale operations, which may occur in April or May 2017 (construction currently delayed by a very bad Canadian winter); completion anticipated sometime during early-to-mid 2019.

NOTE: Once construction commences, it is anticipated to last around 20 months (approximately 1.67 years.) It is a smaller edifice that is being built to at the moment serve just the one stake in Manitoba. So it might be completed sooner than that. It all depends on how soon construction will be able to start, and how quickly it progresses after that.

168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday March 4, 2017; awaiting commencement of full-scale operations (which is anticipated ASAP); completion anticipated sometime during mid-2019.

NOTE: Once construction commences, it is anticipated to last around 24 months (2 years) in view of it being the one and only building on the project.

169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday March 4, 2017; awaiting commencement of full-scale operations (which is anticipated ASAP); completion anticipated sometime during late 2019-early 2020.

NOTE: Once construction commences, it is anticipated to take roughly 28 months (2.25 years) to complete. This is because there are neighboring construction projects involved that will all be worked on simultaneously.

Rededication Scheduled:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; accepting reservations for public open house beginning Monday April 3, 2017; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.

Undergoing Renovation:

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to-mid 2018.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; building basement addition for new baptistry; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to mid-2018.

Renovation Scheduled:

13. Oakland California Temple: Scheduled to close for renovation in February 2018; rededication anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2019.

16. Washington D. C. Temple: Scheduled to close for renovation in March 2018; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to-mid 2020.

                                                                  

NOTE: In view of the fact that we have already had two temple groundbreaking events so far this year, it is entirely possible that we might see site announcements and groundbreakings for other temples in the near future. That said, it is interesting to consider that, while some of those groundbreakings might be more likely than others, ultimately, it is more difficult than I originally believed to try and pinpoint how soon those groundbreakings are likely to take place. Wanting to be as conservative in my estimates as I am able to be, I have adjusted some things. As always, I would be gratified to hear of such events happening much sooner than anyone expects. But for the moment, it seems wise to make some adjustments. Thanks.

Announced:

170. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; site announcement and groundbreaking anticipated sometime later this year.

NOTE: While the site announcement for this temple has been anticipated since the president of the Church’s Africa Southeast Area stated it would happen sometime this year, and while I would love to see a site announced just before, sometime during, or shortly after General Conference and to see a groundbreaking happen sometime between the dedication of the Paris France Temple and the rededication of the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, I am not as confident as I once was in predicting that it will happen within that time frame. I will be more conservative, therefore, and say that whenever we do have a site announcement, the groundbreaking could take place sometime between mid-and-late 2017.

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple site confirmed; groundbreaking not announced.

NOTE: On Sunday March 12, while presiding at a stake conference for the area in which the first Haitian temple will be built, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles officially announced and confirmed that, just as members in the area had speculated, the plot of land behind an existing meetinghouse on the Route de Freres (French for “The Route of Brothers”) had been purchased as the official site for the first Haitian temple. While such site announcements generally signal that a groundbreaking might shortly follow, there is reason to believe that it will take the Church at least a year to plan and design the edifice to conform to government regulations and to be acceptable to the locals. It therefore makes sense to adjust my estimate here and to say that a groundbreaking could happen by early-to-mid 2018.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: There is more than sufficient reason to believe the current speculation being perpetuated to the effect that, in the mold of the already-existing multi-purpose buildings that house not only an office building but a meetinghouse and a temple as well (they are now known as the Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York Temples), a similar renovation and rebuilding might happen to a Church-owned office building in Bangkok. If it happens that way, we could see construction there commence with a groundbreaking by early-to-mid 2018 as well.

173. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: This temple is the last of the four announced in 2016, and is unique already for two reasons: First, this temple will make Lima Peru the third city in the world to have a second temple announced. The other two are in Utah: South Jordan and Provo. Second the name for this second temple for the capital city of Peru is Los Olivos, and the fact that there is a Los Olivos district in Lima gives us some indication as to the general area in which this temple will be built. These facts are sufficient grounds to surmise that this temple is ahead of the others listed below that were announced first. Considering all of this leads me to conclude that we could see a groundbreaking held for this temple sometime during mid-2018, if not indeed before.

174. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: The growth in Cote d’Ivoire has really taken off in the last several years. It is interesting to note that, even though this first Ivory Coast temple has not yet had a site announcement or groundbreaking, the astonishing growth developments that are ongoing have led some to speculate that the Ivory Coast could have another temple or two announced at some point before the first one is completed. Time will tell. In the meantime, it seems more than likely that construction could commence on this first one with a groundbreaking ceremony held sometime during mid-to-late 2018.

175. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: Ecuador’s second temple is set to be built in that nation’s capital city. The new temple was announced around 33 years after the first Ecuadoran temple in Guayaquil. The time intervening between the announcement of that temple and when it was actually dedicated still stands as the longest such period in Church history. It is my personal hope that the second temple for this nation will not be subjected to so many delays. Given how much the Church has expanded throughout South America of late, I will venture my estimate that we could see a groundbreaking for this temple sometime during late 2018-early 2019.

176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: Because Brazil ranks as one of the very fastest growing nations in terms of the Church’s presence there, the announcement of the ninth temple in Brazil brings it closer than any other nation to the number of operating temples in Utah. (The December dedication already scheduled in Cedar City will bring the number of Utah temples to 17, which means that Brazil is more than halfway there. If there is any merit at all into what I have heard about possible future temple sites for Brazil, the number of Brazilian temples could increase by at least five within the next 15-20 years or so, and perhaps more than that may be under active consideration right now. Getting back to the Belem temple, construction might officially be underway there sometime during early-to-mid 2019, which would ensure that Brazil would continue to have at least two temples simultaneously under construction for the next two years

177. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: While it is true that this temple is technically ahead of those above by virtue of it being in the planning and approval phase, it has been almost 6.5 years since this temple was announced. That is a most significant delay. As noted above on the listing for the Quito Ecuador temple, the first Ecuadoran temple (built in the city of Guayquil) is remembered for being the temple that had the longest known interval in Church history between its announcement and its groundbreaking (a time period that spanned 14 years, 4 months, and 10 days, which rounded to the nearest hundredth of a year is 14.36. It is my sincere hope and belief that we will never again see such a lengthy period of time between any other site announcement and groundbreaking. All going well, I could definitely see a groundbreaking for the Urdaneta temple somewhere around mid-to-late 2019, if not before.

NOTE: Given how much progress we have seen with temples recently, it is not hard to believe that we will see many more temples announced in the near future. There have been reports of several cities that have already had a site purchased already. These four have been identified by name: Managua Nicaragua, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, Bentonville Arkansas, and Missoula Montana. If other potential temples have had a site purchased, they have yet to be identified as such. As the apostles travel, they sometimes have felt impressed to publicly propose a temple for the areas they visit. Such temples have been proposed in New Delhi India (in June 1992 by Elder Neal A. Maxwell; may not be likely due to the prevailing political and religious obstacles to such an edifice); Vilnius Lithuania (in May 1993 by Elder M. Russell Ballard); Nairobi Kenya (in February 1998 by President Gordon B. Hinckley; this temple might have an official announcement within the next year or so, as Kenya ranks as the 10^th of the top ten countries with the most Church members without a temple); Maracaibo Venezuela (in August 1999 by President Hinckley); Singapore (in January 2000 by President Hinckley); for the Southwest Salt Lake Valley (in October 2005 by President Hinckley; NOTE: While some contend that this temple announcement has already happened, verifiable sources widely available prove otherwise); Managua Nicaragua (in January 2012 by then-Elder Russell M. Nelson; the fact that it has not only been publicly proposed but has had a site purchased for it makes it very likely; it is also the 1^st of the top ten countries with the largest LDS presence without a temple); Missoula Montana (sometime in 2014 by Elder David A. Bednar; while the report of this proposal has yet to be verified, the fact that there has been a purchase of a temple site seems to indicate that it is a most imminent possibility); and for the Kasai Region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (in February 2016 by Elder Neil L. Andersen). I have heard many reports of several more temple sites being procured, but the nature of those reports are such that they have yet to be verified.

Key:

Bolded numbers and text denote temples whose numbers already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as dedication or groundbreaking dates.

Italicized numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval, and groundbreaking.

Red text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress report. 

Happy Birthday to the World's Most Wonderfu, Beautiful, and Amazing Wife

This post will be my tribute to my beloved eternal sweetheart, Amy as she will celebrate her birthday tomorrow. As many of you who know anything about our story already know, she not only was the primary caregiver to her mother for the final 20 years she lived, but after she had sufficiently recovered enough from her mom's passing, and since we had both been interested in each other for a while, she had waited as long as she could for me to approach her about the possibility of dating. When she was sure of my interest but couldn't wait any longer, she did some brilliant detective work to find me and sent me the letter that started our relationship. I had been praying for quite a while that the Lord would open a way for us to get to know one another better, but I told Him that I wasn't sure she would accept my invitation if I put myself out there and asked her on a date. I did promise that if He opened the way, I would take it from there. To my credit, while I hesitated to approach her before that time, once I knew her interest in me was genuine and that my health situation and physical disabilities wouldn't be the obstacles  to our relationship that I thought they would be, I didn't waste any time after that.

And we were absolutely and completely compatible. We couldn't have been better suited for each other.The year that we had known and worked with each other in the temple had helped us develop a strong friendship. As we got to know each other even better (though we knew the most important things already), falling in love was easy for both of us. And while there were obstacles that came up that would have prevented things from progressing if we had dwelt on them, we both felt right enough about things that after three weeks of dating (we had 14 dates during that three-week period), we got engaged on July 4.

More obstacles came our way as we prepared for marriage. While we had hoped to be married in October, we were able to make it happen on December 18, her parents' anniversary, and also the anniversary of the day on which I had received the Melchizedek Priesthood and been ordained an Elder. This was because we had found and adopted the words in Moroni 7:33 as the theme scripture for our relationship. The powerful promise that if we had faith in Jesus Christ, we would be able to do whatever He wanted us to do, gave us the courage to make things work no matter what.

And in spite of the fact that I became somewhat complacent in appropriately taking care of myself physically and spiritually, that we have both run into health issues that currently hinder our ability to function to the best of our ability, and numerous financial troubles, Amy has tenaciously stayed true to her view that I am capable of not only once again becoming the man she fell in love with, but more importantly, the man she deserves and that deserves her. She constantly and consistently demonstrates her love for me, and, as I have before mentioned, she seems to always see me from an eternal perspective, for what I am capable of becoming, not just under my own power and free will, but also as a result of being healed one day by the hands of the Savior Himself, which is a promise I have repeatedly had reiterated.

I do not know what more I can say of her that would not embarrass her. Even though I have not always been as quick as I should be to follow her wise counsel and advice, she never fails to give me another chance to do so. Her infinite patience is angelic. She is truly the best, most wonderful piece of my life that I didn't know I was missing until she came into it 7 years ago. And now, thanks to the miracle I reported in my last post, I will be able to give her the birthday celebrations she has deserved for as long as she has known and loved me.

I end this post with a simple declaration: My beloved eternal sweetheart, thank you for everything. I love you with all my heart, now and forever! Happy birthday, my wonderful, beautiful Amy!

We have been the recipients of yet another miracle

Hello, all! While I felt that the update on temple construction that I just did was the easiest to do and therefore became the first one for today, these next two posts are no less important. I wanted to note a miracle we had happen in our lives.

When I got up today after getting a much-needed long night of sleep and rest, I checked with my bank, as has been my habit, to see if anything had changed, but not expecting anything different from what I have seen every day since I lost my job. Much to my surprise and delight, our bank balance reflected a sizeable deposit from the Social Security Administration. It appears that something finally moved them to action. And when I checked my phone, I had a message from my SSA representative saying that she just needed confirmation of the date on which I last worked (which was February 20) and she could see about getting my full monthly SSI payments reinstated. I guess my efforts to get through to her finally paid off. And despite the fact that she should already have the information of my last day worked  and the date I was last paid (as I mentioned that repeatedly in almost month-long attempts to resolve this), it is a step in the right direction.

Thanks to each and every one of you who publicly and privately expressed your concerns and support, and who also offered many prayers in our behalf. This is what we have prayed and hoped for ever since my health nosedived over a month ago. And I am very hopeful that things will be resolved even further in the following month or so. We have been very blessed. And the timing of this blessing is more than perfect. For the first time in our 7 years of marriage, I can finally give my wife the birthday spoiling she has deserved every day since she first became interested in me over 7 years ago.

My birthday tribute to my wife will follow. Thanks to you all for your readership, interest, and support.