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Monday, January 23, 2017

Latest Apostolic Age Averages

Hello, all. This will be a post to let you know the latest on the average ages of our apostles. As I have noted before, not all that much has changed in terms of the statistics associated with the tenure length of President Russell M. Nelson or his rank among the other nonagenarian apostles, where President Monson stands among the other 15 Church Presidents in terms of age and tenure length (though it is significant that he is nearing his 9-year mark as our current prophet), and where the other apostles are in terms of being close to nonagenarian status and also in terms of who is closest to the average ages of the three apostolic groups. That being said, tomorrow Elder D. Todd Christofferson will celebrate his 72nd birthday. It is exciting to see such milestones happen.

That said, let's throw out some numbers. As of yesterday (Sunday January 22), the average of the the members of the First Presidency reached 83.09 years. As an interesting side note, the current First Presidency will have been organized for 9 years on February 3, making it very possible that, barring anything unforeseen, and especially in light of the fact that President Monson's health may be improving, they could, if nothing changes for the next year, tie the record for the longest period in Church history without a change. That record was previously set by President Hinckley's presidency that included him, President Monson, and President Faust. So it could very well happen.

With that noted, all that's left is to report on the other two numbers. The average age of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reached 74.64 years, while the average of the 15 apostles overall came to 76.33 years.

Any comments continue to be welcome and appreciated on things I post about here. I hope that some of you might find this information useful. If these updates at any point become too tiresome, please let me know. I am just hoping that this information means as much to some of my readers as it does to me. Thanks for continuing to indulge my ramblings, such as they are.

Friday, January 20, 2017

Major Additional Changes to Temple Construction Progress Report

Just since my last posted temple construction progress report late last night (less than 24 hours ago), there have been several more milestones in that regard that have led me to revise it once again. I hope you will enjoy this additional report. Thanks for your continued readership. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/20/17)
Current Temple Status: 155 operating; scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 groundbreaking scheduled; scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 9 announced. NOTE: With one groundbreaking announced already this year, two more have the potential to be announced and scheduled very soon, and there may be several more groundbreakings than that in the year ahead.

Dedication scheduled:
156. Paris France Temple:  Gilding inscription over baptistry; finish work underway on interior; dedication scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:
157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Patron plazas and water feature added to temple grounds; interior finish work underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Art glass installation and landscaping continues; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Trees and landscaping rocks added to parking lot green spaces; exterior lighting tests underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.
161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Building the exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.
162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Attaching building wrap to exterior walls; adding landscaping structures; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.
163. Durban South Africa Temple: Temple foundation poured; setting concrete forms for missionary housing exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.
164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Pouring walls for steeple base; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.
165. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.
166. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Second floor exterior walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.
167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation underway for temple and utility building; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Groundbreaking Scheduled:
168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Preparing for groundbreaking; environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday March 4, 2017.

Rededication Scheduled:
8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; finish work underway; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.

Undergoing Renovation:
20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime between late 2017 and early 2018.
41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; some exterior stone removed; foundation exposed; old meetinghouse razed; rededication anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

Announced:
169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; awaiting groundbreaking announcement; groundbreaking anticipated in early 2017.
170. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; official site announcement anticipated in 2017, with the groundbreaking anticipated to take place shortly following the site announcement.
171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: The LDS Church Temple website indicates that a potential site has been identified, though it has yet to be officially verified.
172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: As the above-mentioned website indicates for this temple, while no official temple site has been announced, there may be a possibility that a Church office building may be repurposed to function as a temple, meetinghouse, and office building under one roof, in a similar fashion to those temples in Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York. This is most likely to be confirmed sooner rather than later.
173. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
174. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
175. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

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. 

Yet Another Temple Construction Progress Update

We have had a couple of major changes in the construction status (including progress towards construction commencement) for several temples. Additionally, as many of you are aware, we had the report of how the Rio de Janeiro Temple groundbreaking announcement was made to units that will be within the district of that temple just a short while ago. While the groundbreaking was listed on the construction status page of the LDS Church Temples website, obviously the information had to be confirmed before it could be officially added to the main page that discusses the latest news and events and to the official news page. That confirmation came today in the form of an announcement on the Mormon Newsroom. See that official announcement here.

According to the LDS Church Temples page on this temple, Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, president of the Church's Brazil Area, has been asked to preside at the groundbreaking. And it is a pretty safe bet that among the other Church leaders that will be in attendance will be his counselors in the area presidency, Elders Marcos A. Aidukaitis and W. Mark Bassett, and also Elder Larry Y. Wilson, the Executive Director of the Temple Department.

However, the one who will actually preside at the groundbreaking remains to be seen. Assignments to preside at groundbreaking ceremonies have been known to change. As a recent example, Elder Ulisses Soares was originally asked to preside at the most recent temple groundbreaking in Winnipeg Manitoba, but when he, for reasons yet unknown, wasn't able to be there, Elder Wilson was the one who officiated at that groundbreaking.

I remember very clearly also how someone else had originally been assigned to preside at the Tucson Arizona temple groundbreaking. It may have been Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who at the time the groundbreaking was announced was serving as Senior President of the Seventy. But it was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf who actually presided at that groundbreaking. And if it had been Elder Rasband originally assigned, his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the fact that he was easing into that new role would have necessitated that change.

Now the question remains, what will the temple look like, and how long might construction take? At various and sundry times and places, I have voiced my opinion that we might see the temples in Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro be finished around the same time. I will keep my eyes open for more news on this front, and I will post such up;dates as soon as I can after learning of them.

In the meantime, in addition to the verification of this scheduled groundbreaking, there have been several other temple construction progress developments that have given me reason to post again my updated report of that progress. Enjoy, and please feel free to leave comments for me. Your feedback is part of why I have been able to do all I have done in terms of these posts. I appreciate you all! Thanks!

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/19/17)
Current Temple Status: 155 operating; scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 groundbreaking scheduled; scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 9 announced. NOTE: With one groundbreaking announced already this year, two more have the potential to be announced and scheduled very soon, and there may be several more groundbreakings than that in the year ahead.

Dedication scheduled:
156. Paris France Temple:  Gilding inscription over baptistry; finish work underway on interior; dedication scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:
157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Patron plazas and water feature added to temple grounds; interior finish work underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Art glass installation and landscaping continues; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Pavers installed in parking lot and west patron plaza; trees and landscaping rocks added to parking lot green spaces; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.
161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Building the exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.
162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Attaching building wrap to exterior walls; adding landscaping structures; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.
163. Durban South Africa Temple: Temple foundation poured; setting concrete forms for missionary housing walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.
164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Pouring walls for steeple base; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.
165. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.
166. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Second floor exterior walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.
167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation underway for temple and utility building; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Groundbreaking Scheduled:
168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Preparing for groundbreaking; environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday March 4, 2017.

Rededication Scheduled:
8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; finish work underway; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.



Undergoing Renovation:
20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime between late 2017 and early 2018.
41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; some exterior stone removed; foundation exposed; old meetinghouse razed; rededication anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

Announced:
169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; awaiting groundbreaking announcement; groundbreaking anticipated in early 2017.
170. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; official site announcement anticipated in 2017, with the groundbreaking anticipated to take place shortly following the site announcement.
171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: The LDS Church Temple website indicates that a potential site has been announced and that the temple itself is currently being designed. This indicates that a site announcement is likely to happen sooner rather than later.
172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: As the above-mentioned website indicates for this temple, while no official temple site has been announced, there may be a possibility that a Church office building may be reconstructed into a multi-purpose edifice that may in part function as the temple. If that happens, it will be similar to the situation of the Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York temples. This indicates also that a site announcement is likely to happen sooner rather than later.
173. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
174. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
175. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

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. 

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Quick Temple Construction Progress Update

This post is to share temple construction developments. It will just be quickly posted so that I have it for later today at work if time allows me  to do more with it there. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. The updates at this point are minor. But things are moving along well.

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/17/17)
Current Temple Status: 155 operating; scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 groundbreaking scheduled; scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 9 announced. NOTE: With one groundbreaking announced already this year, two more have the potential to be announced and scheduled very soon, and there may be several more groundbreakings than that in the year ahead.

Dedication scheduled:
156. Paris France Temple:  Gilding inscription over baptistry; finish work underway on interior; dedication scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:
157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Patron plazas and water feature added to temple grounds; interior finish work underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Fencing progressing; entrance plaza created; landscaping areas defined; hanging drywall; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Pavers installed in parking lot and west patron plaza; trees and landscaping rocks added to parking lot green spaces; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.
160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.
161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Building the exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.
162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Attaching building wrap to exterior walls; adding landscaping structures; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.
163. Durban South Africa Temple: Pouring temple foundation; setting rebar for missionary housing walls; palm trees planted along entrance road; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.
164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Pouring walls for steeple base; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.
165. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.
166. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Second floor exterior walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.
167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation underway for temple and utility building; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Groundbreaking Scheduled:
168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Preparing for groundbreaking; environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday March 4, 2017.

Rededication Scheduled:
8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; finish work underway; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.



Undergoing Renovation:
20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime between late 2017 and early 2018.
41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; some exterior stone removed; foundation exposed; old meetinghouse razed; rededication anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

Announced:
169. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; awaiting groundbreaking announcement; groundbreaking anticipated in early 2017.
170. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; official site announcement anticipated in early 2017, with the groundbreaking anticipated to take place shortly following the site announcement.
171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: The LDS Church Temple website indicates that a potential site has been announced and that the temple itself is currently being designed. This indicates that a site announcement is likely to happen sooner rather than later.
172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: As the above-mentioned website indicates for this temple, while no official temple site has been announced, there may be a possibility that a Church office building may be reconstructed into a multi-purpose edifice that may in part function as the temple. If that happens, it will be similar to the situation of the Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York temples. This indicates also that a site announcement is likely to happen sooner rather than later.
173. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
174. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
175. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

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.

Monday, January 16, 2017

My New Work Responsibilities

Many of you have continued to express an interest in how I am doing with my new job. Aside from the environment and being in the minority (as it seems I am the only active Church member on the campaign), it has gone swimmingly. Most days, by the time 4 or 5 pm rolls around, all those who head up the campaign are gone for the day (including my project manager and his assistant and my team leader). Since I have been asked for and have given advice to others on the campaign in the absence of anyone higher up, I have frequently been worried that I might be overstepping my bounds. But I have been told that I am trusted to do whatever's needed and to give such advice when requested. And so far, it's been great. I have kind of slipped in to an informal role as the de facto TL for those hours when there is no one higher up there. And so far, there have been no problems in terms of the agent company's response to actions taken under my advice. It has been great to be trusted.

But above and beyond that, and even more amazing, is what happened on Friday when I came in after two days of not feeling well. The account manager (Trent) was talking to my TL (Natalie), and he said (as far as I can remember, this is an exact quote: "Since James is doing so awesome on this campaign, I want you to show him what you've been asked to do." This was cryptic but sounded promising, and I was flattered by the high praise and by the confidence they were displaying in my ability to take on new responsibilities.

So Natalie showed me what it was she had been doing as time allowed over the last couple of days that I had been sick. It involves calling those who have signed up within the last 24 hours for any of the training programs we offer, getting them started with the information they need, and scheduling their first appointment with their coach. It's not all that different from what I've been doing: it's just specific to those who have more recently enrolled in the program. Upon further inquiry, I was told that this would be what my job entailed day in and day out until either the list was sufficiently trimmed down enough for Natalie to resume taking care of it on her own as her circumstances allow or until the system issues we have been having are fixed to the point where the system does not keep calling people who have already been talked to and set up.

It also means that, since I will be devoting all the time I can to these new responsibilities while I am on the clock, there will be much less down time. This is because, for those newly enrolled in the process, the system doesn't call them automatically. My calls will all be manual for the foreseeable future.

So what does that mean in terms of my future ability to regularly check Church sites and this blog and do new posts? It means that less downtime while waiting for calls at work will cut my ability to do those things with any regularity while I'm on the clock. That's not a complaint. It has bothered me more than a little that I have just been getting paid to sit around and kill time in the best possible way while on the clock, even though that has been interspersed with semi-regular automatic calls made by the system. There will be much less free time. But it will be worth it.

As has been my usual response any time this job has led to more responsibilities, I am humbled and in some ways overwhelmed by the trust that has been placed in me by my supervisors. And it seems that every time I turn around, I am doing well enough on the job that they entrust me with more responsibility. Just last week, prior to the days I missed, we got me set up with my first work-related e-mail. And so the first expansion of my duties at that time involved me being able to send e-mail confirmation to the people I talked with regarding what we had talked about. Since I have been apparently doing well enough on the phones in general with that addition, on Friday, they gave me this additional expansion of my assignment.

And so, as overwhelming and daunting as it has been sometimes to consider how much I am trusted, and how highly I am regarded by those who have supervision over me, I move forward with perfect confidence that, even if I do have doubts periodically about my continuing ability to be worthy of the added responsibilities that have been entrusted to me, I can be secure in the knowledge that, as long as I do my best, it will be good enough.

Thanks for taking time to read and (if you feel so inclined) to comment on this post. Again, if I didn't have the assurance that the things I am posting are interesting and even in some ways beneficial to those who read them, I would not feel comfortable continuing to post as time and circumstances allow. Thank you all so much for your readership and support. You can depend on hearing from me regarding personal and Church developments on every front just as soon as I can make that happen. Thanks again.