Important Church News Updates: New Media App/More Flexibility Announced for Missionaries' Daily Schedule

This will be an important Church News update for two reasons. First, the Church announced a new app that will help Church members to plan, teach, and share from Church-related media clips more easily. For details on that, click here. It will be exciting to see how that will be helpful to Church members going forward.

As if that news weren't wonderful enough, the Church announced today that the standard missionary schedule will now be more flexible going forward. These changes have been made with the approval of the 15 apostles that comprise the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. Schedules can now be customized by missionaries, in counsel with their mission presidents, in view of different factors relating to safety, local culture and customs, health considerations, productivity, and any other considerations. To read more about the changes, including direct quotes from  Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President, and Elder Brent H. Nielsen, who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Church Missionary Department (While the article is not specific or explicit on this point, it seems safe to say that all three of them are serving on the Missionary Executive Council. Let me know if you disagree.), click here. Again, this is meant to improve the health and productivity of missionaries worldwide.

I am excited about both of these developments. So I couldn't wait to share them with you. Please feel free to share any comments you might have on either development. I continue to welcome and greatly appreciate the feedback. Thanks for your attention.

Quick Additional Update on Temple Construction Progress

Once again, in the last 12 hours since my last posted update, there has been further progress reported on temple construction around the world. Though this update now is less massive in terms of what has been updated, it is still most significant. The update is posted below. Enjoy, and please feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks!

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/25/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 1 scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 groundbreaking scheduled; 1 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: Inscription gilded over baptistry; finish work underway on interior; dedication scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:

157. Tucson Arizona Temple: Exterior lighting tests underway; installation of interior art glass and millwork nearing completion; president’s home undergoing renovation; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

158. Meridian Idaho Temple: Interior painting and millwork underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

159. Cedar City Utah Temple: Installing art glass windows; hanging drywall on interior; 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 concrete block exterior walls; roughing in plumbing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Exterior cladding going up on north wall; framing the interior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Durban South Africa Temple: Applying waterproof mastic to temple foundation; setting concrete forms for missionary housing exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Exterior concrete walls completed; 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; 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: Erecting construction barrier; clearing and leveling site; 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. 

Updated and Reworked Projection For the Timetable of Future Temple-related Announcements and Events

Hello. As promised below, here is the updated and reworked projection for the timetable which I feel is likely to prevail for future temple-related events. Hang on to your hats! This will be a wild ride!

Given the progress I reported in the blog post below, it has become necessary to revise my projections and predictions for when future temple-related events might be announced and scheduled. I am excited to be able to do this again, just three weeks after the last edition. In view of the fact that the newest temple construction progress report appears in the post below, this post will mainly serve as a summary of the changes I have felt are necessary.

The next temple-related event will be the announced groundbreaking in Rio de Janeiro Brazil on March 4. That groundbreaking will be done by Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, the most senior General Authority Seventy who has served for almost six years as president of the Church’s Brazil Area. So little is known as yet in terms of the design for the temple and how long construction might take. But I will venture a guess about that timetable below.

It is also more than likely that we will very shortly have an announcement of the groundbreaking for the Arequipa Peru temple. I could see that happening before the dedication of the Paris France Temple on May 20. Not sure what to make of the report that we might hear of a site announcement and groundbreaking for Harare Zimbabwe within the next short while. It may very well be that all that could also take place before the Paris France dedication. Stay tuned for more on that as I hear of it.

I have spoken before of how the construction commencement in Harare might prove to be historically significant for several reasons. I will not rehash that now, but I will post more information on this as I am able to.

In addition to the Paris France dedication on May 20, we also have the rededication on June 4 for the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple. It will be amazing to see those events happen. I am especially excited for the Paris temple dedication for the reasons I have before explained.

Because of the progress made in Tucson Arizona, it seems on track to be the next one scheduled for dedication. I could see such an announcement being made in the early months of this year, perhaps before the Paris dedication happens, with the Tucson dedication itself happening in early August.

As for the dedication date for the Meridian Idaho Temple is likely to be announced within the next 3 or 4 months, and the dedication itself will likely happen in late August or early September.

With the Cedar City Utah Temple, there is still reason to believe that the dedication could be announced within the next six months, if not sooner, and might take place in late August or early September as well.

I could also see the renovation of the Jordan River Utah Temple being completed around August, with the rededication being announced about a month later and scheduled for either late November or early December 2017. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if things speed up somehow and that rededication takes place around the events of the Meridian and Cedar City temples. Stay tuned for more on that as I learn of it.

I am still of the belief that the dedication in Kinshasa will precede the dedication in Rome. I wouldn’t be surprised if a dedication for Kinshasa was announced during the spring of 2018, with the actual dedication to follow, perhaps sometime in May or June.

In terms of the Frankfurt Germany Temple, I feel sure that that renovation will be completed within the same timeframe as that of the Kinshasa dedication. Rome might be the next one completed, but a dedication might not take place until August or September, after the annual July recess for General Authorities. That estimation is me speaking optimistically based on my observation of the completion progress in Rome.

Concepcion is still likely, in my opinion, to have a dedication announcement within the first half of 2018, with the dedication itself to follow sometime in either August or September, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it was to even precede Rome in that milestone.

In spite of the delays I always believed would prevail in the construction of the Durban South Africa Temple (this belief was fueled by the report my mother, a South African native, gave me regarding the prevailing work ethic of South Africans, especially those in the construction business), that construction still seems to be on schedule. I feel confident that the temple will be completed within a similar time frame to that which is almost certain for Concepcion and Rome, with an announcement for the dedication made within the first half of 2018, and the dedication actually scheduled for August or September as well.

The temple in Winnipeg has yet to progress beyond the groundbreaking. However, given its size (very small), it seems that construction might be completed by around August 2018, with the dedication taking place in either late November or else early December 2018. It wouldn’t surprise me if a similar timeline held true for the temple in Barranquilla Colombia, which is further along in terms of construction, but will be a much larger edifice.

In the meantime, for the first time in doing such predictions, I feel bold enough to project completion dates for the two temples anticipated to be completed sometime around 2019. Despite the five-year span between the groundbreaking and the actual commencement of construction in Fortaleza Brazil, that construction is progressing rapidly. I reiterate my feelings that construction will be completed there within the early months of 2019, with the actual dedication taking place in either April or perhaps possibly May.

The Lisbon Portugal Temple is at a point that solidifies my belief that a similar time frame may be very likely to prevail as that which I have proposed above for the Fortaleza temple. It would not surprise me if these two traded spots a couple of times in terms of future completion. But right now, it seems safe to say that.

While so little is currently know regarding the design, size or estimated construction timeframe for the Rio de Janeiro Temple, I would love to see it completed around the same time as the Fortaleza temple. If that happens, it would be the first time since 2000 that two Brazilian temples will be dedicated in such close proximity. (The Recife and Porto Alegre Brazil Temples were both dedicated in December of that year, on the 15^th and 17^th respectively.)

It is not unreasonable to believe that the temples in Arequipa Peru and Harare Zimbabwe might also be completed before the end of 2019. And depending on how many temples might additionally have a groundbreaking this year, the number to be completed might increase further.

As I have stated before, the Church is well on track to add 4 new operating temples by the end of 2017, and six more in 2018. Two temples may be rededicated this year, with the only other one currently undergoing renovation on track to be completed next year. In the meantime, there are many others that could potentially have renovations starting either this year or next year. There is not any solid way to tell which temples might be so renovated. But there are a number of our earlier temples that have never before had anything like that done that may be good candidates within the next couple of years. If any of you have any theories regarding this subject, please let me know. And it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if some of the more recent temples were also scheduled for renovation.

One thing is certain: With these events likely to happen at or around the times indicated here, it would almost completely reduce and eliminate any semblance of a backlog in temple progress, and increases the likelihood that many more temples could be announced within the next two years. The exact number of those announcements remains to be seen, though I have given my thoughts regarding the most likely and most imminent picks.

Future groundbreakings may be more unpredictable to anticipate than I originally thought. I look at the groundbreaking in Winnipeg, and it happened much faster than usual. And with the way things unfolded in Rio, any delays that existed were cleared up very quickly.

That said, given what I have observed, in addition to the already-scheduled groundbreaking in Rio and the possibility that we might soon hear of a groundbreaking in Arequipa and also of a site announcement and groundbreaking in Harare, I will say that I could see the next groundbreaking taking place for the first Haitian temple in Port-au-Prince. I have no reason to back this up. It’s just how I feel, and we could have the site announcement and the groundbreaking by or before the end of this year.

A groundbreaking for Bangkok could happen by the beginning of 2018. The same timetable could prevail for the Abidjan temple. Who knows how long the currently reported delays in Urdaneta might last. I might venture to say that the remaining temples (the three others announced last year) might well have a groundbreaking by or before 2019.

I’m also very sure that many more temples could be announced within the next couple of years and have construction started as the Lord permits. I am very much looking forward to future events.

I continue to very much appreciate the feedback I get on things I post about here. Any and all comments on this new post are welcome. I look forward to the ongoing discussion of this important subject. Thanks!

Massive Temple Construction Progress Update; Another Blog Post Coming Soon

Hello, all! When I took the opportunity just a few minutes ago to check the LDS Church Temples website for the second time in 12 hours or less, I was amazed at the reported progress for quite a few of the temples in terms of construction. This necessitates a newly posted edition of my report of that progress. It has never been so red, and I couldn't be more delighted! The biggest surprise?

Apparently, there is reason enough with the given information to assume that, after the dedication of the Paris France temple on May 20 and the rededication in Idaho Falls Idaho, the next one is now projected to be in Tucson Arizona, instead of in Meridian Idaho as many, including myself, had originally believed. However, there is nothing so constant as change, and these unexpected developments are most welcome to me.

I couldn't wait to share my newest report with you all. And the best part about this is that I will now have to revise and revisit once again my projections for when future temple-related events might happen. Such a revisit was necessary anyways, given the unexpected recent announcement of the groundbreaking date for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple. With my promise that such a post will be coming as soon as I can manage it, for now, here is the updated report of temple construction progress. Please enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think. I always welcome and appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/25/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 1 scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 groundbreaking scheduled; 1 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. Tucson Arizona Temple: Exterior lighting tests underway; installation of interior art glass and millwork nearing completion; president’s home undergoing renovation; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

158. Meridian Idaho Temple: Interior painting and millwork underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

159. Cedar City Utah Temple: Installing art glass windows; hanging drywall on interior; 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 concrete block exterior walls; roughing in plumbing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Framing the interior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Durban South Africa Temple: Applying waterproof mastic to temple foundation; setting concrete forms for missionary housing exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Exterior concrete walls completed; 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: Erecting construction barrier; clearing and leveling site; 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. 

Happy 72nd Birthday, Elder Christofferson!

While I have mentioned the upcoming birthdays of various apostles in many posts over the years, I believe that this may be the first time (or if not the first, one of the very few times) that I have done a birthday post for one particular apostle. Haven't done the research to back this up, but I still feel confident in stating that I haven't done it very often, if I have done it at all. If any of you feel like researching these blog archives to see if I have, you are welcome to.

But as to Elder Christofferson, I thought I would throw out some information that I enjoy in considering this milestone. Hopefully this post doesn't bore you because of these details, mostly trivial in nature.

Among other things, I know from study that Elder Christofferson is the 8th most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and among those Twelve, he stands as the 7th oldest. When considering the 15 apostles as a group, Elder Christofferson holds the distinction of being the 11th most senior (still pretty junior) and the 10th in terms of age. Since President Uchtdorf is the one that stands right in the middle in terms of age (being the 8th oldest), of the 7 youngest apostles, he stands at second oldest. (This may differ slightly from information previously reported. For that, I apologize. I will endeavor to correct that in future posts.)

Elder Christofferson's call to the apostleship was very unique. Among those who have been called to the apostleship in the past, his call is distinctly different for several reasons. First, he was one of the very few I know of (President Faust being another) who was called to the apostleship while serving as the second most senior member of the Presidency of the Seventy. Second, his call marked the first time of which I am aware that a former mission president (Elder Richard G. Scott) and one of the missionaries he served with (Elder Christofferson) had served together in the apostleship. That had to be more than a little intimidating for Elder Christofferson. That being said, while I'm sure Elder Scott may have recommended him, I have had my own witness that his call came from the Lord.

Third, he was the very first apostle called by 16th Church President Thomas S. Monson. Fourth, he was one of the few that served for just a year as the junior apostle before Elder Wirthlin's December 2008 death resulted in the call of Elder Neil L. Andersen as the new junior apostle. Speaking of Elder Andersen, that is the next interesting fact: Few people know or remember that Elder Christofferson and Elder Andersen were sustained to serve as General Authority Seventies on the same day. Since such calls are often presented alphabetically, technically, Elder Andersen was senior to Elder Christofferson in terms of their service as General Authority Seventies.

However, Elder Christofferson was made a member of the Presidency of the Seventy in 1998, just over five years after his call to the First Quorum of the Seventy, and he served for 10 years in the Presidency of the Seventy before his call to the apostleship. Elder Andersen, on the other hand, was called to the Presidency of the Seventy in 2005 (at the same time as his now-seatmate in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Elder Rasband), and though he (Elder Andersen) only had a four-year tenure in the Presidency of the Seventy, he did serve as the Senior President for just under four months as the Senior President.

It is interesting to consider the paths to apostleship that our different apostles have had. Both Elder Quentin L. Cook and now-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf were still among the junior half of the Presidency of the Seventy when their calls to the apostleship came in 2007 and 2004 respectively. It is interesting to note the time of year that the calls to the apostleship came. Of our 15 current apostles, 6 were called in April (President Nelson, Elder Oaks (though the latter wasn't ordained until May because of his judicial obligations), Elder Hales, President Eyring, Elder Christofferson, and Elder Andersen), 1 was called in June (Elder Holland), and 8 were called in October (President Monson, Elder Ballard, President Uchtdorf, Elder Bednar, Elder Cook, Elder Rasband, Elder Stevenson, and Elder Renlund).

But getting back to Elder Christofferson, while this birthday is not strictly a milestone one, I did want to write this birthday tribute. His has been a unique life, and his path to the apostleship has been likewise very unique. To read more about the life of this amazing apostle, click here (Wikipedia article), here (for his profile through LDS.org among all the Church leaders), here (for a special look into more highlights from his life), here (for some trivia about his life as published in the Deseret News for his birthday last year), here (for his profile on Mormon Newsroom), and here to review any of his conference addresses (1 given in response to his call as a General Authority, 5 as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and 18 in his almost 9 years as an apostle, for a total of 24.)

I hope that the information in this post has been informative and helpful to you all, and not in any way too much trivia. I do want to end with my testimony that Elder Christofferson's calls over the years have come from the Savior, and with my best wishes that he has had an amazing 72nd birthday. Thanks for reading this. Feel free to comment, if you feel so inspired.