Small But Significant Progress Reported on Temples Worldwide

Hello again, everyone! With the progress that has been made on temples around the world (which has been seen in small but very significant developments in various locations), I felt a need to devote a blog post to reporting on the latest news in that regard. Let's dive right in to what has changed since I last did a post on such progress (a couple of days ago).

First, I wanted to note that the Church now has 12.39 years within which to get 18 more temples announced, along with the 25 others currently in various stages, if, as I suspect will be the case, the Church has 200 temples by or before the 200th anniversary of its reestablishment. That bumps the average number of temples that would need to be dedicated per year to around 3.5. It should be easy to get that done. After all, as I have said, the Church will add two others within the next 27 days.

And in that regard, I wanted to again reiterate that the Meridian Idaho Temple has now completed its open house process. The cultural celebration will be held this Saturday, with President Uchtdorf presiding at that and at the dedicatory services the next day.

In the meantime, the Church is entering the final week of the Cedar City Utah Temple's open house. Following the conclusion of that (this Saturday), there will be a 3-week period of preparation (which will coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday and within which the First Presidency will hold their annual Christmas devotional), and the cultural celebration will be held on December 9, with the dedication occurring the next day. With that dedication being held for a temple in Utah, I am anticipating it will be widely-attended by Church leadership.

That said, the one notable update on temples currently under construction is that, at the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple site, rebar is being set for the upper center facade wall. And in terms of temples that are being renovated, the temple in Memphis has seen a completion of the removal of its exterior stone. In Oklahoma City, the process of dismantling the temple continues. I have not heard whether any progress has been made with the Asuncion Paraguay Temple since its closure over two weeks ago, nor have I heard whether or not its design will be similar in concept to what is being done with the other two temples. As soon as I have word on that, I will pass it along.

All of that aside, and while noting that there has not yet been any reported progress on the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple, and that, depending on what is determined later this month, we may know more about the exact site that will be used by the Church for the Pocatello Idaho Temple. there has been no other progress reported at this time. I will continue to keep an eye on such things and pass updates along as I make them.

That does it for this post. Any 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.

Two Districts Headquartered in Bo Sierra Leone Upgraded to Stakes; Likelihood Increases for a temple in Sierra Leone

Hello again, everyone! I am posting in the early hours of November 13 (on the same day Elder Renlund is celebrating his 65th birthday; stay tuned later today for a post on that subject) to report that two districts headquartered in the city of Bo in the African nation of Sierra Leone (both of which would have otherwise marked the 1st anniversary of their being established on the 27th of this month) were reportedly upgraded to stakes. Now, before any of you ask, I will not be providing information about the units involved. That is the specialty and privilege of others (such as Matthew Martinich on his excellent Church Growth Blog; I am sure he will be posting a thorough analysis of this later this week, if he has not already done so). What I did want to mention is that this significant development for the nation of Sierra Leone solidifies my opinion that we could see a temple announced there sooner rather than later; with this development alone, a temple in that nation makes sense. I have not forgotten my promise to continue my post series on this blog about the potential temple sites in the other geographical areas of the Church which I have not covered, and hopefully I will be able to get back to doing that later this week.

That does it for this post, Any 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.

Open House for the Meridian Idaho Temple Concludes Today/Other Notable Developments

Hello again, everyone! In dealing with my personal crises (as I mentioned in my last post), it slipped my mind that today was the last day for the Meridian Idaho Temple Open House. After tours conclude tonight, the temple will undergo an additional week of preparation prior to the cultural celebration one week from today, and the dedication the day after that. As previously mentioned, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf will be the one presiding at next week's events, and I imagine that Elder David A. Bednar, who is the apostle junior to President Uchtdorf and who, because of his ties to Idaho, presided at the groundbreaking, will be accompanying him. And I imagine that, at very least, Elder Ulisses Soares will be in attendance as well, as he presides over the business of the Church in the Idaho area, and that at least one representative from the Church's Temple Department will also be in attendance, along with perhaps a member of the Presiding Bishopric, as the Temple Department and the Presiding Bishopric both have different roles working with temples undergoing the construction process.

Additionally, I also wanted to note that the Cedar City Utah Temple is entering its final week of tours, which will end on the same day that the cultural celebration takes place in Meridian. A few weeks of preparation will follow, culminating in the cultural celebration (to be held on Saturday December 9) and the dedication the day after that. Utah temple dedications are always widely attended by Church leaders, and I anticipate that this dedication will be no different.

Next, I wanted to report that, if, as I suspect will be the case, the Church will have a minimum of 200 temples in operation by or before the 200th anniversary of the Church's reestablishment, 43 temples will additionally need to be dedicated within the next 12.40 years between today and Saturday April 6, 2030 (which would include 18 new temples that would need to be announced, in addition to being completed during that same amount of time). That works out to just under 3.5 temples per year between now and then.

So, how might that happen? As I have mentioned elsewhere, if the Church stays on track between now and then, there will be, of course, the 2 dedicated during the remainder of this year, 3 or 4 the next year, and 6 or 7 the year after that, And if, as I suspect, several other temples have a groundbreaking within the next two years, then the odds are very good that the Church will continue to complete an average of 3 or 4 temples per year.

Additionally, as I have also mentioned, Elder Larry Y. Wilson stated in late April of this year that the Church was actively considering the feasibility of 80 locations for a future announcement within the 15 years after that. If we assume that no other temples are announced before next General Conference, then the Church would only have 14 years to announce those 80, assuming Elder Wilson is taken at his word, and also understanding that while many (or even most) of these locations may indeed go on to an announcement, some will be replaced with more feasible locations (either one or many, as has been the case previously) and new locations will be added as well, some of which may go on to an announcement and be built while others are stalled in various stages.

So what does all of this mean? The Church will end this year having 159 temples in operation. By the end of 2018, that number will increase to either 162 (most likely) or possibly 163. In 2019, all going well, that number will jump to 169 by the of the year. By the time the Church marks its 190th birthday, there could be a minimum of 170 temples, leaving the Church to complete the remaining 30 in the next 10 years that follow, or just about 3 a year.

It will be interesting to see what happens in terms of that progress. And whatever might occur, you can depend on hearing the latest from me as soon as I can make that happen. That does it for this post. Any 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 all that you do.

Prayers Would Be Appreciated

Hello, everyone! I hope you will all indulge me for a moment as I do a personal post. As some of you may be aware, I have had life-long health challenges, one of which has been pretty severe and significant daily head and bodily pain. I last saw the doctor who monitors that part of my health on the third Friday of last month, and I am scheduled to meet with her again this next Friday. When I tried last month to get a prior authorization processed through my insurance, I was subjected to three weeks of having to live without that medication. There was an issue getting my doctor to complete the process necessary to get that approval. While all of that was very difficult to deal with, one thing it did accomplish was to help me figure out what I could cut out of my daily medication. After three weeks of trying to figure out how soon I would be able to get that medication, I got word from my insurance earlier today that the prior authorization has been denied. The good news is that, if I can get past the symptoms I've been dealing with from not having access to the medication, I could be considerably better off not having to take it. Now that we have word from my insurance that they will not be covering the medication, I assume that they will suggest alternatives that would cover my pain well enough without having to be on a medication that would create additional health challenges. In the coming week, I will need to talk to my doctor, most likely even before the visit Friday, and figure out what the plan will be going forward. If it would be all right for me to ask for it, prayers in my behalf would be appreciated that my doctor and I will be able to figure out the best plan going forward.

I am very much appreciative of the support I get from those who have read my posts here in the past. I am also humbled by the fact that the latest reports about the readership of this blog show that I have gained readers from various countries all around the world. It touches me that the things I have felt a need to "sound off" about, especially those related to the faith I have loved and to which I have been devoted for my entire life, are of interest to so many. In fact, it is because of the faith I have that I have been able to deal with the life-long health issues I have had. The Lord has blessed me abundantly, and my blogging to share information about the faith that has sustained me through so much is a very small way to thank the Man who has experienced vicariously all that I have gone through, am going through, or will ever have to deal with. I hope that this offering on my part, meager though it may be, is an acceptable portion of the infinite gratitude I feel, not just for His having suffered the severest degree of the tribulations I have experienced in the almost 31 years I have lived, but also for blessing me with such an enthusiasm for learning about and passing along the developments related to His Church and kingdom in these latter-days. I know that one day I will stand accountable before Him for the way I have borne such tribulations and have moved along His work, and I hope that in that day, He will find those offerings acceptable. If it can be so, it will all have been worth it.

Thank you again for indulging me in sharing these thoughts with you all, and for your ongoing interest and support. That does it for this post. Any 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 each one of you in all that you do.

Article About Probable Location for the Pocatello Idaho Temple/Further Changes Made to the Announced Temples Section of My Report

Hello again, everyone! Within the last few days, an Idaho news organization ran an article stating that, the Church could still opt to use any one of currently three sites that have been mentioned as potential locations for the Pocatello Idaho Temple, it appears that the location annexed into Pocatello City two days following the long-awaited announcement of that temple may be the best option. Of course, nothing is official until the Brethren make it so, but I thought that was worth mentioning. You can read more about that here. Because it is very likely that will be the location, and also because I needed to do so, I have again revisited the order in which I have listed announced temples on my temple construction progress report. A copy of those changes follows. That does it for this post. Any 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 each one of you in all that you do.

NOTE ON ANNOUNCED TEMPLES: While I once felt confident in projecting potential groundbreaking estimates for these announced temples, on October 28, 2017, I determined that it would be best to simplify this section by listing these temples in their announced order, with the exception of those that are farther along. Then on November 10, 2017, I took another look at new information on these temples and reordered them further. I will keep an eye out for any developments and reorder this list again as often as that becomes necessary going forward. Additionally, where I have felt it would be appropriate, I have provided notes about some of the factors that may affect how soon future groundbreakings will occur. Since we already know that 2018-2020 are going to be busy years for temple-related developments, it would not surprise me at all if, in view of Elder Wilson’s statement referenced above, we have at least ten more announced during that same time, nor would it surprise me if many of the temples in this section progress to a groundbreaking (and perhaps even a dedication) during that time as well. I am keeping an eye on all of this and will let you know once I find out more information.

Announced temples:

171. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning and preliminary construction phase; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: As previously noted, the contractor for this temple said that a year of preliminary work would be needed prior to this temple’s groundbreaking. If, as previously indicated, that year began in March 2017, this temple could easily have its groundbreaking in the early-to-middle part of next year.

172. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval; site inspected by Church engineers on June 21, 2017.

NOTE: This temple is this far up on the list because it has had a site identified and inspected. How soon a groundbreaking might happen is unclear. But since a site has been identified and inspected, it may be sooner rather than later.

173. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official name announcement.

NOTE: As with the Brasilia temple, this temple is in this position on this list because a site has been identified. An official name is anticipated to be announced for this temple at some point in the near future. How soon a groundbreaking might happen is anyone’s guess. But with a site identified already, it may be sooner rather than later/

174. Pocatello Idaho Temple: Planning and approval; probability increases for likely temple site; official confirmation is pending.

NOTE: On November 10, I received word of additional evidence that is indicative that the land annexed into Pocatello two days after its April 2017 announcement would indeed be the location for the temple.  I am keeping my eye on all of this and will continue to pass along any and all updates as I make them.

175. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: If, as some members have speculated, an existing Church office building is reconstructed into a multi-purpose building that will serve as not only an office building, but a chapel and the temple as well, and if that is confirmed, we could easily see a groundbreaking for this temple sooner rather than later.

176. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Awaiting government approval and official site announcement.

NOTE: This temple, announced in October 2010, has been subjected to numerous delays. While I hope to see a groundbreaking for it sooner rather than later, there could be more delays in store for this temple. That said, the reports I have received indicate that a site announcement and groundbreaking could occur in short order next year. If that does happen, we could see a groundbreaking sooner rather than later.

177. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

178. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: While the first Ecuadoran Temple had a 14-year waiting period between its announcement and its subsequent groundbreaking, this temple is not anticipated to take anywhere near that long between its 2016 announcement and whenever its groundbreaking occurs. As with everything else, I am keeping my eye out for devel

179. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: Shortly after this temple was announced (in April 2016), Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, who presides over the Church in the Africa Southeast Area, stated that a site announcement and groundbreaking would occur in short order during 2017. Since that time, no progress has been made in that regard. Hopefully that will change soon.

180. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

181. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement; media event held June 14, 2017.

NOTE: While the media event is a good initial step for providing information on this temple, in his remarks at this event, Elder Sitati (our native Kenyan GA Seventy, who also has a role as an Assistant Executive Director of the Temple Department (both of which make it understandable that the Church would ask him to represent them for the event), Elder Sitati indicated that it usually takes the Church 2-3 years after an announcement to locate a suitable site (whether owned by the Church or not) plan and conduct a groundbreaking, and start the construction progress. With that in mind, it may be 2019 or 2020 before the groundbreaking occurs for this temple. I hope we will not have to wait that long to have all of that happen for this temple, but time will tell.

182. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Planning and approval; awaiting official site announcement.

NOTE: Though Utah temples (particularly those in Utah County) have been known to have a site announcement, groundbreaking, and construction process much more quickly than temples elsewhere, until a site is announced, it has felt wise to have this temple at this spot on this list. As soon as anything changes in that regard, I will pass such news along.

ADDITIONAL GENERAL NOTE: As I have repeatedly emphasized, Elder Wilson stated in late April 2017 that the Church had a list of 80 potential temple sites that are under active consideration for a subsequent announcement during the 15 years following that statement.

Unless the First Presidency elects to do so between now and then, General Conference in April 2018 would be the next opportunity for such announcements. And though not all of the 80 currently on the list will go on to be announced within that time, and while others may be added to that list in the coming years, with 14 years remaining, if anywhere close to 80 temples are announced, that works out to around 6 new temples per year. I am keeping an eye on all of this, and will be sure to post any additional news once I hear of it.