2017 News In Review

Hello again, everyone! I was just reminded that both the Church News and Mormon Newsroom have provided articles reviewing the news and developments relating to the Church and its leaders in the last week or so. Click here for the article from the Church News and here for the Mormon Newsroom article. There has been so much Church news this year, and so much good the Church has done.

We have seen extensive coverage of the ministry of our apostles (which has included coverage of the death of Elder Hales and President Monson stepping back from an active role in Church leadership, in addition to the apostles' increased presence on social media) developments in the Church's missionary program (with changes in mission rules about scheduling and attirees, missionary safety surveys, and the Church's expressed intention to decrease the number of missions and allow utilization of technology for missionaries in the remaining missions to find religiously-minded people) so much temple news (including 4 temples dedicated, 1 rededicated, 4 others closing for renovation, 3 temple groundbreakings, and 5 new temples announced for Brasilia Brazil, the greater Manila Philippines area, Nairobi Kenya, Pocatello Idaho, and Saratoga Spring Utah), the establishment of BYU-Pathway Worldwide, the consolidation of General Conference sessions, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing at both General Conferences, President Trump's inauguration, and Pioneer and Christmas Day Concerts, President Trump visiting Welfare Square and praising the Church leaders with whom he met for all the Church does to help its members.

There was also, of course, one negative development, in the excommunication of Elder James J. Hamula in August. But I find it hard to believe that will be the end of his experience as a Church member. In fact, I fervently hope that he has begun or will begin the process of preparing himself to have his blessings restored at the proper time.

And through the news, both good and bad, relating to the Church, I have had the honor of bringing such information to all of you as soon as I have been able to after I have received it. At a time when both my wife and I are having health issues that currently prevent us from living the fullest quality of life we can, the one constant I could count on has been that, whatever I have "sounded off" about, there are so many of you willing to not only read and comment on such subjects, but also to read my responses to such comments, which has, I hope, allowed the opening of a dialogue about important issues.

Some of my favorite posts have been those when I have been able to pass along the latest apostolic statistics, and also the many developments that are occurring on an almost daily basis for temples that are or may soon be under construction. And capping my favorite posts of the year have been the series that is still ongoing about future temple prospects I see in the near future for each of the Church's areas. The thoughtful feedback on all of it has been amazing to see.

What a year it has been for the Church, and for me personally as well. I will continue to do my best to bring you Church and temple-related news and updates as I find out about them. And while I fully intend to do a few more posts as I have time to do so prior to Christmas and, after that, before 2018 is rung in, I just want you all to know how much I have appreciated your readership, especially with all of these reported developments.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best for a happy, safe, and very Merry Christmas, and pray that the Lord will not only bless each one of you in everything you do, but that you and your families will be especially blessed during this Christmas season to remember that Christ is the reason for the season. This is my heartfelt prayer for each of you.

Updated Estimates for Future Temple-related Events

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again today and pass along my updated estimates for future temple-related events, which was necessary to do in view of the news I reported in my last blog post. The estimates follow below. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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.

Revised estimated time-frame for future temple-related events:

2018:

Sunday January 7: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Renovation Closure (confirmed)

Sunday January 28: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Renovation Closure (confirmed)

Monday February 19: Oakland California temple Renovation Closure (confirmed)

Sunday March 4: Washington DC Temple Renovation Closure (confirmed)

April or May: Full-scale construction anticipated to begin on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple

Sunday May 20: Jordan River Utah Temple Rededication/Mesa Arizona Temple Renovation Closure (both have been confirmed)

Sunday August 12 or 19: Frankfurt Germany Temple Rededication

Sunday October 21 or 28: Concepcion Chile Temple Dedication (160^th operating temple)

Sunday November 11 or 18: Barranquilla Colombia Temple Dedication (161^st operating temple)

Sunday December 9 or 16: Kinshasa DR Congo Temple Dedication (162^nd operating temple)

2019:

Mid-April: Memphis Tennessee Temple Rededication

Mid-to-late April: Rome Italy Temple Dedication (163^rd operating temple)

Early-to-mid May: Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Rededication

Mid-May: Asuncion Paraguay Temple Rededication

Late May-early June: Durban South Africa Temple Dedication (164^th operating temple)

Mid-June: Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple Dedication (165^th operating temple)

Early-to-mid August: Fortaleza Brazil Temple Dedication (166^th operating temple)

Early-to-mid September: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Rededication

Mid-to-late September: October: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Rededication

Mid-October: Lisbon Portugal Temple Dedication (167^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late October: Arequipa Peru Temple Dedication (168^th operating temple)

Mid-November: Oakland California Temple Rededication

Mid-December: Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple Dedication (169^th operating temple)

NOTE: There is a slight possibility that the dedications of the new temples in Arequipa Peru and Rio de Janeiro Brazil and the rededication of the Oakland California Temple could potentially be delayed until early 2020. As the next 18-21 months pass, the likelihood of that possibility will be easier to determine, and I will pass all of that along as I am able to do so.

2020:

Mid-to-late April: Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Dedication (170^th operating temple)

Mid-May: Tokyo Japan Temple Rededication

Early-to-mid September: Mesa Arizona Temple Rededication

Mid-November: Washington DC Temple Rededication

NOTE: I heard that 2018 and 2019 could be big years for temple groundbreakings. If that proves correct, then many other temples could also be dedicated during 2020 and 2021. As the next two years unfold, I will have a better idea of when such events may occur, and they can then be added to the other estimates above.

Completion Estimates Changed for Several Temples

Hello again, everyone! While I hope that any or all of you will continue to feel free to share your thoughts on the content I have posted in the last few days about current and potential future temples within the Pacific Area, I need to deviate from that series yet again to share some game-changing information about completion estimates for temples currently under construction.

What has changed is that the Rio de Janeiro Temple, once anticipated to potentially be dedicated not long after its counterpart, the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, since both the Lisbon Portugal and Arequipa Peru temples have made more consistent progress, Lisbon now takes the spot  once held by Rio, Arequipa takes Lisbon's previous place, and Rio has been moved to the bottom of the list of those currently under construction.

Additionally, while I was once confident that the completion and dedication of the Rome Italy Temple would not occur until the early months of 2019 (rather than before the end of 2018), and since I had to adjust things on my temple construction progress report anyways, I have now put both the Kinshasa and Rome Temples in a new section for temples that could be dedicated between late 2018 or early 2019. I have also put the Arequipa Peru and Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temples in their own section, since they both could be dedicated during late 2019-early 2020.

That said, I still believe with all my heart that the Kinshasa temple will be dedicated prior to the end of next year, and what I have heard, that it is likely that the Rome temple will not be dedicated until the early months of 2019. And given the substantial progress that the temples in Arequipa and, to a smaller degree, in Rio, have had reported, I feel confident that they will both likely be dedicated prior to the end of 2019.

In that regard, however, I am doing my best to keep my eyes open for information, and I will be sure to pass along any further progress and/or changes in completion estimates as I become aware of them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated (including and especially those I have done and will do in the series about current and future temple prospects on my list). Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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 Site Possibilities: Pacific Area, Part Six--Potential Future Temples in American Samoa and Tonga; Area Wrap-Up

Hello again, everyone! I am back yet again with my sixth and final post about the Pacific Area to share my rationale behind supporting the idea of temples for Pago Pago American Samoa and Neiafu Vava'u Tonga. So let's dive right in and discuss those prospects, for which I provide some context.

First, for Pago Pago,, that was a recently added location which I put on my list primarily for two reasons. The most important one is that American Samoa ranks as the 7th of the top ten nations in the world that have the strongest Church presence but have not yet received a temple. Additionally, the Saints in American Samoa currently travel to the temple in Apia, which is 76.2 miles away. While that is not an inordinate distance by any means, it makes sense toa me that a temple could (and probably will) be announced sooner rather than later for this nation.


As for Neiafu Vava'u, the Saints in that part of Tonga currently journey 189 miles to get to their assigned temple in Nuku'alofa. While that is slightly below the 200 mile goal set by President Monson, it is close enough to it to make the idea of a temple there supportable.

Additionally, a second temple in Tonga would serve, at minimum, serve the four stakes in Neiafu Vava'u, and likely some in the surrounding region. But the biggest reason I see for a potential second temple to serve the Tongan Saints, the strongest reason is that the current district serves the 21 stakes and 2 districts based in Tonga, which further break down into 136 wards and 32 branches, or a total of 170 congregations. That is a lot for a single temple district.

With that said, this concludes not only my posts about future temple prospects within the Pacific Area, but also my coverage of the area as a whole. So that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, especially to let me know about anything I missed or have not considered over these last six posts on this area. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in evevrything you do.

Temple Site Possibilities: Pacific Area, Part Five--Rationale Supporting the Idea of a Temple in Port Moresby Papua New Guine

Hello again, everyone! I am back yet again, with my rationale for supporting the idea of a temple in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea. Aside from being another location for which the Church has reportedly had land set aside for an announcement when it is warranted, I also wanted to note that New Guinea comes in as the second in the current top ten list of those countries with the strongest Church presence that do not have a temple.

Additionally, it would appear that a temple in that area would, at minimum, take away from the Suva Fiji district those 2 missions in New Guinea (the first of which was established in the Papua region), along with the 2 stakes and 12 districts of the Church in New Guinea, which make up 10 wards and 70 branches, or 80 congregations, along with the one district (made up of 5 branches) based in the Solomon Islands.

That in turn would leave the Suva Temple district with the 4 stakes and 3 districts in Fiji, the 2 stakes and 1 district in Kiribati, and the 1 stake and 3 districts based in Vanuatu. Some have advanced the idea of a temple for Kiribati, and I have it on my list for the distant future (since it qualifies based on its mileage from Suva, and also as the fifth of the same top ten nations with the strongest Church presence but without a temple), but I don't see that happening as soon as some might think. As my study of foture temple prospects continues to evolve, I will be sure to post any updates that would lead me to add it as a more imminent possibility.

So that is the summation of my reasoning behind the selection of Port Moresby Papua New Guinea on my list of future temples. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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.