How the Top Three Fastest Growing States Reflect Church Growth Prospects

Hello again, everyone! In this article featured on my favorite source for Utah news, I learned that Idaho, Nevada, and Utah currently rank respectively as the first, second and third fastest growing states in the US. Based on the research I have recently done, those same three states, along with Arizona, rank as the top four locations in the United States in terms of current and potential Church growth.

Since others are so much better than I am at detailing such growth occurring right now, and in venturing some thoughts about the potential for future growth, I will not be offering any opinions on those subjects. Rather, I wanted to note that, for my purposes, this news story and what I have discovered in studying the four states are more than enough reason for me to have potential new temples listed for Nevada and Arizona, and to have one possibility each for the three Utah areas of the Church.

As noted previously, with the announcement of the Pocatello Idaho Temple earlier this year, until that temple is builtuntil the Church makes a final determination of which stakes that new temple district will cover. Having already detailed the reasons behind why I feel that way about Arizona and Nevada, my discussion of the three Utah locations on my list will round out the series of posts on potential future prospects.

Stay tuned for that in the coming days. While I may or may not be successful in finishing that series of posts about temple prospects in each area of the Church prior to Christmas, I think I can safely promise to conclude the series before the end of 2017. Looking ahead, I only have 7 such areas to discuss, which will involve a detailed exploration of the 16 temple prospects I have for those 7. As I have thus far, I am looking forward to ongoing discussion of those prospects.

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.

An Additional Word Regarding Potential Future Temples in Texas & New Mexico

He llo again, everyone! While I had hoped to move on in my series of posts about potential future temples and talk next about the Pacific area (covering current temples and also those future possibilities I see), in addition to needing to settle the question of the most likely prospect for Nevada's third temple, I also wanted to give due consideration to the state of Texas, as possibilities for that state did yield quite a bit of discussion from all of you.

The way I see it, there are two possibilities mentioned extensively as being likely for Texas's fifth temple: Fort Worth and El Paso. Fort Worth, located 32.4 miles from its currently assigned temple in Dallas, has been mentioned to me by someone familiar with the Dallas district. In the meantime, the most compelling case for El Paso's chances of getting a temple is that the Saints in that city do have to cross the Mexican border to get to their assigned temple in Ciudad Juarez Mexico. That said, it is not an inordinate distance by any means, requiring a journey of only 7.1 miles. So about the only way a temple in El Paso would make sense is if President Trump is successful in building a wall along the Mexican border, which would prevent the El Paso Saints from accessing their assigned temple. It doesn't seem likely or feasible that this will happen.

There may be another option for a temple, which is unrelated to the discussion of future temples in Texas. When the discussion about El Paso's chances for a temple were mentioned, a comment mentioning Las Cruces New Mexico triggered my memory of how, when I had put together my initial list of 60 or so locations worldwide, someone had mentioned Las Cruces as a potential candidate for a temple. And the possibility intrigues me. The Saints in Las Cruces currently travel a distance of 224.5 miles to get to their assigned temple in Albuquerque. If a second temple for New Mexico is announced sometime soon, perhaps Las Cruces would be the most likely candidate for that honor.

These are just some additional thoughts that I wanted to put out there. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, especially any commentary on these thoughts. 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.

Feedback Requested--Most Likely Location for Nevada's Third Temple

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to revisit my thoughts on the most likely site for Nevada's next temple, and the hope is that I can, with your assistance, narrow the four possibilities I see for that honor down to the most likely prospect. The four final cities I have on my list right now are Elko, Ely, Fallon, and Henderson. Let me share my thoughts on the merits of each.

The saints in the two stakes the Church has established in Elko currently reside within the Salt Lake Temple district, and that makes their journey to their assigned temple a distance of 229.6 miles, which is above the goal set by President Monson. A temple in Elko would likely serve the Saints in that city and some surrounding regions and might cut down the number of stakes assigned to the Salt Lake temple.

The Saints in Ely travel a fair distance as well. Their assigned temple in Cedar City Utah has been built 201.1 miles from those Saints. Not too far above the 200 mile goal, but still enough of an inordinate distance to warrant a potential temple in Ely.

As for the Saints in Fallon, Nevada, with their assigned temple located in Reno, they have a journey of 62.9 miles to their currently assigned temple in Reno. Not too much of a distance, but the Church could easily build a temple there to save them and the Saints in the surrounding regions from making such a drive.

Rounding out the four is Henderson. The Saints there have the shortest journey of the four possibilities, as they have only 15.8 miles to drive to get to their assigned temple in the capital city. It has seemed to me from my research that the Las Vegas Temple district, which, as noted previously, covers 28 stakes in southern Nevada and two from northwestern Arizona, needs to be split somehow.

A second option to accomplish that would be to build a second temple elsewhere in the Las Vegas area, which is not out of the question since the Church has announced second temples for major cities such as Manila Philippines and Lima Peru. Another option I want to mention (which may or may not be likely) is for the Church to announce a temple for Nevada's capital, which is Carson City. There is one stake of the Church in that city, and that would break up the Reno district as well.

I had asked for additional feedback on this subject before, but after I adjusted my thoughts, I wanted to discuss these candidates in an entirely new post. So you can see that I have my own thoughts on this subject, but I wanted to give you all the opportunity to make any additional comments on these adjustments so that I can narrow these prospects down to the most likely candidate city for Nevada's third temple.

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.

Status Updates Provided For Two Temples

Hello again, everyone! While I have not forgotten my promise to try and finish the series of posts on current and future temple sites, I wanted to deviate from that subject to share some exciting developments regarding the construction progress that has recently been noted on the Concepcion Chile and Durban South Africa Temples. So let's dive right in and talk about the newest updates for both of these temples.

As many of you may remember, the Concepcion Chile Temple was at one point the second-to-last new temple anticipated to be completed in 2018. Based on the progress reported today, I can definitely see why it has been moved up in anticipation of being the first new temple dedicated during next year.

While the installation of millwork and hanging of light fixtures continues, the stone cladding of the exterior is being finalized, and curbing and parking is being poured on the temple grounds. I was pleased to find out about these developments, but, as I have previously noted, I am not seeing anything in this status update that would alter the completion estimate of late 2018 that I have previously provided.

Miracles have been known to happen, but unless something significantly changes, I don't think we will see this temple dedicated prior to the final quarter of 2018. That said, such a dedication could (and likely will) occur on one of the Sundays following the October 2018 General Conference. Since there are three such Sundays that will be left in that month, the dedication of this temple could easily occur on any one of the three. And if that happens, then the Church could easily have that dedication before the really rainy months that will occur as 2018 draws to a close.

Moving on now to the Durban South Africa Temple, there have been several new developments reported. Decking for the roof is being installed and waterproofed and the foundation of the temple is being backfilled. In the meantime, roof trusses are being set for the adjoining missionary housing facility.

While these reported developments for South Africa's second temple are tremendous, to be sure, I concur with the information others have provided about the potential time-frame for this temple's completion. Where it was thought for a while this year that this temple could be dedicated before the end of next year or in the early part of 2019, it makes more sense that the dedication of this temple will only occur at some point within the first six months of 2019. 

Additionally, most sources I have available for temple-related matters have indicated that the time-frames both the Kinshasa and Rome temple dedications would be in either late 2018 or early 2019, the progress of both seems to indicate that Kinshasa will be more likely completed on the earlier side of that estimate (prior to the end of 2018) and that Rome will likely be delayed in its dedication until the early part of the following year.

With that in mind, it appears that the Rome, Durban, and Port-au-Prince temple dedications and the rededications of the Memphis Tennessee, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, and Asuncion Paraguay temples are all anticipated to occur within the first 6-8 months of 2019.

If any of these temples experience delays in those processes, then that would push the probable completion of other temples (both new and those that have been scheduled to start renovation early next year) back a bit. I am keeping my eyes open for any new information on any of these temples and will do my level best to pass any needed changes along as I become aware of them.

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.

Minor Update Noted on Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Renovation Process

Hello again, everyone! While we have not in recent days seen a lot of progress reported on temples worldwide, there was one milestone of which I learned earlier today that I wanted to pass along. According to reports I have received, those working on the renovation process for the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple have completed the removal of the marble cladding on that temple's exterior. It is amazing to see how much that temple has progressed since its renovation closure started just over two months ago on October 14.

By contrast, the Asuncion Paraguay Temple renovation process began about two weeks after that, and there has not been any news of progress on that temple since its October 29 closure. In so saying that, I do not mean to imply that no progress has been made whatsoever. Rather, it means that if any progress has been made on that project, it has not been reported in the sources I turn to for such information.

That said, I was able to confirm that, unless something more official is released verifying that is not the case, it would appear that the exterior of the Asuncion Paraguay temple will be altered to match the new look of the Memphis Tennessee and Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temples, and that this has been and will be the same exterior look for all temples build between the late 1990s and the early 21st century under President Hinckley's smaller temple design.

Aside from these developments, there is nothing new to report. It may be that with the world observing Christmas and New Year's Day within the next two weeks, those working on such projects will have a holiday hiatus so they can be home with their families. But I am doing my best to keep myself (and, by extension, each of you) informed on the latest developments and I will be sure to pass along any developments as I become aware of them.

That said, it might not happen today, but at some point prior to Christmas Day in one week, I hope to have a few more posts up in my series that I have done about current temple districts and potential future ones within each of the Church's geographical areas. I have seven such areas left to cover: the Pacific, Philippines, South America Northwest, South America South, and the three areas in Utah (Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South).

When I began that series, I could not have envisioned the amount of interest and thoughtful and thorough commentary that has been taking place for those areas of the Church which I have already covered, and I hope it will continue, not just for those areas I have already covered, but for any and all of those areas that I have yet to cover.

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.

Minor Update Noted on the Fortaleza Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! I just noticed a few minutes ago that a change has been reported on the construction status of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple. While it is still noted that the cupola framework has been installed atop the temple, the additional update is that palm trees are being planted around the parking area of that temple. As I have previously stated, given the fact that full-scale work on this temple began just last year following an almost-5-year delay after its groundbreaking, this temple has made tremendous progress. If it stays on track, it's almost guaranteed that a dedication could follow in mid-to-late 2019. 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.

Summary of Sources Relating to the Church's decision to expand youth service opportunities in the temple

Hello again, everyone! Though I have already done a post covering the Church's announcement about how the youth would be given more opportunities to serve in the temple, today the Church News provided specifics, including links to the official letter and quotations from Church leaders regarding these changes.

You can click here to read the Church News article, here to access a copy of the letter read worldwide in Church services today, and here for an article from the Church's official website that shares more of an interview that was quoted in the first article I cited above in which Elder Quentin L. Cook, who chairs the Temple and Family History Executive Committee, along with the response of auxiliary leaders to these changes.

What a great opportunity the youth now have to expand the ways they serve in the temple. 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.

Temple Updates

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post right now to note a couple of developments, minor though they may be, relating to temples worldwide. First, I wanted to reiterate what I have previously stated: that whether or not the Church makes an official goal to do so, it is more likely than not that we could see a minimum of 200 temples in operation by or before the Church's bicentennial anniversary is marked on Saturday April 6, 2030.

Because there are currently 23 temples in various stages of construction, the Church would just need to dedicate each of those and announce, complete, and dedicate 18 others (for a total of 41) in the 12.3 years between now and then, which would be an average of 3.3 per year, or 10 every 3 years.

If the Church stays on track with its current temple projects, there will be 3 or 4 dedicated next year, 5-7 during 2019, and at least 1 (that we know of so far) during 2020. And if, as anticipated, several other temples have a groundbreaking in 2018 and 2019, then the Church could maintain (and perhaps even exceed) that average within 2020 and the 2 or 3 years following that.

In the meantime, after not seeing any progress reported on the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple for the last week or so, it has been reported today that the exterior walls are being plastered and that a moisture barrier had been attached to the roof eaves, which have recently completed the framing process.

Aside from these developments, there is nothing new to report in terms of temple construction progress. So 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.

Temple Site Possibilities: North America Southwest Area, Part Five--Area Wrap-Up and Potential Future Temples

Hello again, everyone! After devoting a good chunk of my day to posting the previous four parts of my analysis of current and potential future temples, I just wanted to post again briefly and wrap up this "series within the series" by discussing those potential future temple locations which I have on my personal list for this area.

Here are the possibilities I see, in order of likelihood within that area: Fort Worth Texas (which, as noted in Part Three of the series of posts I have done today on this area, is the most likely location for the next temple in Texas); Flagstaff Arizona (which, as mentioned in Part Two of this series, seems to be the most likely prospect for Arizona's next temple, and which would serve many of the Saints in that region of Arizona who, as noted, travel almost 120 miles to get to their currently assigned temple in Snowflake.

Finally, aside from the discussion about anything I have missed, the last few possibilities I see in terms of future temples for this area are three specific locations in Nevada, namely: Elko, Winnemucca, and Henderson.

A Henderson temple would help split the current Las Vegas temple district, just as Winnemucca would do for the current Reno temple district. As far as Elko, the interesting thing there is that the two stakes of the Church in that city fall under the Salt Lake temple district, which is currently a drive of 229.6 miles for the Saints in Elko.

Another city in Nevada which I will be watching (but which I do not presently have on my list) is Ely, which is assigned to the Cedar City Utah Temple district at the moment, and which makes it necessary for the Ely Saints to travel 201.1 miles to get to that temple. So I have the first three I mentioned among the list of potential prospects I have kept, and I will be keeping Ely in mind and watching for anything that might warrant my adding it to the official list. For now, it's among some other temples that are more distant possibilities than for the immediate future.

This concludes my coverage of the North America Southwest Area, and also the bulk of my coverage of the areas of the Church within the North American continent, with the exception of the three areas of the Church that cover Utah and small portions and fragments of surrounding regions. That also does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, especially those that would let me know if I have not considered something in the analysis I have provided here. 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: North America Southwest Area, Part Four--Other Operating Temples Within This Area

Hello again, everyone! I am back with a look at the final five temples which I have not covered yet in my discussion of those that are within the North America Southwest Area. Those five temples are those the Church identifies as Las Vegas and Reno Nevada, Albuquerque New Mexico, Monticello Utah, and Oklahoma City Oklahoma. Let's talk now about each of these temples.

First, a word about Nevada as a whole. There are 3 missions in the state, two in Las Vegas and the third in Reno. The Church in Nevada also has 42 stakes, which in turn break down into 310 wards and 27 branches, for a grand total of 337 congregations. If we divide those equally between the two temples, that means the average number of congregations for the  two is right between 168 and 169.

That said, let's talk briefly about the history of the two temples. The first will be marking the 28th anniversary of its dedication tomorrow, as it was dedicated between December 16-18, 1989. President Gordon B. Hinckley officiated at the dedication of that temple. Meanwhile, the second Nevada temple was dedicated in Reno on April 23, 2000, by President Thomas S. Monson, who was serving as First Counselor in the First Presidency to President Hinckley.

As far as their districts, that of the Las Vegas Nevada Temple is comprised of 28 stakes in southern Nevada and 2 others (the Kingman and Lake Havasu City stakes) from northwestern Arizona, which includes 7 stakes in Henderson. As the city of Henderson is 435.4 miles from Las Vegas, I feel certain that the Church will announce a temple in Henderson at some point. The only question is how soon that might happen. I welcome thoughts on that subject in the comments below.

In the meantime, the Reno Nevada temple district is comprised of those 9 stakes in western Nevada and 1 other (the Quincy stake) from northeastern California. One of those stakes, located in Winnemucca, is 166.1 miles from Reno. For that reason, I am thinking that a temple might be possible in that city as well.

We now move on to Albuquerque New Mexico. That temple was dedicated on March 5, 2000 by President Gordon B. Hinckley. Its current district takes in 14 stakes, 12 of which are in New Mexico, and the other 2 (Alamosa and Manassa) are found in the San Luis Valley in Colorado state. Again, not a substantially sized district.

Turning our attention now to the only Utah temple that falls within this area instead of one of the three areas with the Utah name, the Monticello Utah Temple was dedicated on July 26 and 27, 1998 (yet another temple dedicated during the traditional July recess for the General Authorities), by President Gordon B. Hinckley, who came back to rededicate that same temple on November 17, 2002 following the completion of its renovation process.

The stakes within this temple's district total 7, 4 of which are in Western Colorado, with the final 3 based in Southeastern Utah. Again, with so few stakes right now, that district is not likely to split any time soon.

And the last temple within this area that I want to discuss in this post is the one located in Oklahoma City Oklahoma, which closed in mid-October for extensive renovation. Originally dedicated on the second-to-last day of July by President James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, its exterior is being altered to match other temples originally dedicated between 1998 and 2002 or so that have undergone an overhaul of their exterior look. During the closure, patrons assigned to this temple are being rerouted to other operating temples near them, one of which is the Dallas Texas Temple. When the temple is rededicated in 2019 following the renovation's conclusion, it will continue to serve the 14 stakes within its boundaries, which currently include 8 stakes in Oklahoma, 4 others from Northwest Arkansas, and the Derby and Wichita Stakes from South Central Kansas.

That brings me to my next point. Since I have relatives on my dad's side of the family that live (or lived) in Oklahoma, I have often heard them reference not only Oklahoma City, but also Norman and Tulsa as well. Norman is exactly 20 miles from the capital Oklahoma City, and Tulsa is 106.5 miles away from Oklahoma City. I could therefore perhaps see a reason for a second temple in Oklahoma that would be built in Tulsa. But I do have one reason to suppose and believe that might be a more distant prospect than the near future.

That reason is because, as I mentioned in my post(s) about the prospects for temples in the North America Southeast Area, I believe that a temple will be announced to serve the Saints in Arkansas, and that it will be located in Bentonville. If that does happen, the three stakes in Arkansas that now fall under the Oklahoma City Oklahoma temple district will no longer be a part of that district, leaving it with 10 stakes. But if the Church sees that the Bentonville temple is not sufficient on its own to divide the Oklahoma City temple district, I could see the merits of the Church announcing a temple for the city of Tulsa.

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.