Temple Site Possibilities: South America South Area, Part Six--Potential Future Temples in Chile

Hello again, everyone! In continuing to discuss the potential future temples that could be built to help serve the Saints within the South America South Area, we now turn our attention to Chile. Until we see which of Chile's 77 stakes and 16 districts are going to be part of the Concepcion Chile Temple district, it will be difficult to tell if and how soon another temple might potentially be needed. That said, it would appear that the driving force behind the Concepcion Chile temple is the fact that the Concepcion Saints currently have a journey of 310.5 miles, which is over 100 miles further than President Monson's 200-mile goal.

That said, I do want to explore the likelihood of potential future Chilean locations I can see in which the Church could build other temples. The first is the city of Antofagasta. The Saints in that city currently travel 847.7 miles to the Santiago temple. And the Saints in Antofagasta are even further away from Concepcion, as the distance between the two is 1,156,2 miles. So a temple there makes sense.

There may also be a chance that the Church could opt to announce a temple for the Chilean city of Los Angeles. Saints in that city currently travel 319.4 miles to get to Santiago, and that distance will be cut down to 79 miles once the Concepcion temple is dedicated. While that dedication could very well push back the time-frame in which a temple could be built in Los Angeles Chile, it still seems potentially possible, if not immediately, then perhaps at some point.

But perhaps my favorite option for Chile's third temple is the city of Valpaiaiso, which has been on my list for a while now. While it is only 71.6 miles from the temple in Santiago, it will stay with that temple district once the temple in Concepcion is dedicated, since Concepcion is 375,8 miles from Valparaiso.

Again, in examining these options, we see that the Church has a few for potential future temples in Chile. 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 (which should come at some point tomorrow afternoon to wrap up my coverage of this area, 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: South America South Area, Part Five--How the Church Could Potentially Divide the Cordoba Argentina Temple District

Hello again, everyone! I am back in the early morning hours of the 26th to continue my coverage on potential future temples that could be built to help serve the Saints in the South America South Area. Having explored in my last post how the Church could potential divide the current Buenos Aires Argentina district we now turn our attention to how, when, and in what way the Church could potentially divide the district of the other Argentine temple, which is located in Cordoba. We have set the background for this topic in one of the previous posts about this area which discussed the current composition of that district. So let's discuss some possible ways that district could potentially be split.

The Saints from the Bell Ville stake currently travel 129.4 miles to worship at the temple in Cordoba. While that is 70.6 miles less than the 200-mile goal set by President Monson, if it would save the Bell Ville Saints a journey, it would make sense if they got their own temple, which could also potentially serve other stakes and districts in that region as well.

Another potential option that could work is the Argentine city of San Juan, which is 362.8 miles from Cordoba and would be a prime candidate based on the 200-mile goal. If a temple is built in Bell Ville, then San Juan would likely remain part of the Cordoba distrct, and vice versa, since the two are 475.9 miles apart.

The Church could also announce a temple for the San Luis area, as the Saints in that region have aa journey of 266.1 miles to the Cordoba. Since those Saints are even further away from Bell Ville (with a distance of 276.4 miles), they would likely remain with the Cordoba district until the time a temple is announced in San Juan, which would only be slightly closer than Cordoba (with that distance spanning 202.2 miles, which is still a little much).

The final option I'd like to present that could split the Cordoba temple district would be a potential temple in San Rafael. Since the Saints in that region travel more than twice the 200-mile goal set by President Monson (with the exact distance being 433.9 miles), a temple there might be useful to those Saints, 

If a temple is built in Bell Ville, the San Rafael Saints would likely still attend the temple in Cordoba, since Bell Ville and San Rafael are slightly farther apart (the exact distance between the two is 444.2 miles). But if either San Rafael or San Luis gets a temple, then the city that did not will likely be within that district, since the two are a distance of exactly 169 miles apart, which is considerably closer. That said, I would anticipate that both cities will be getting a temple at some point.

But these are just my thoughts on how the Cordoba Argentina Temple district could potentially be split. 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: South America South Area, Part Four--How the Church Could Potentially Divide the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple District

Hello again, everyone! Having discussed in the last post the specifics relating to the current temple districts within the South America South area, it is time now to turn our attention to the potential locations throughout this area for which I feel a future temple is an imminent possibility. I have found a few prospects that look very promising to me, and I will detail what they are and why I have them on my list over the next few posts.

First, if the Church decides to split the Buenos Aires Argentina district (and it would make a lot of sense to me that they likely will), I could see that happening in a few potential ways.

The most likely of those options, in my opinion, is one fhat I have had on my list for a while, after a comment on an initial version of that list alerted me to it. That is the city of Neuquen, which is located 724.5 miles from the temple in Buenos Aires. Since that is more than three times the distance of 200 miles within which President Monson has set a goal for each Church member, it certainly makes sense by that measure.

Since the Saints in the Bahia Blanca region currently have a journey of 406.2 miles to get to the Buenos Aires Argentina temple, that is just over twice the 200-mile distance within which President Monson has set a goal for every member to be. If the Church does build a temple. If and when the Church opts to build a temple in Neuquen, the Saints in Bahia Blanca would have a slightly shorter distance to travel, as the two are 331.8 miles apart.

Another potential candidate that would split this temple district is the city or Rosario, as the Saints in that city travel 485.2 miles to worship at the Buenos Aires temple. Again, that is more than twice the 200-mile goal of President Monson. A temple in Neuquen would be around 300 miles further away (the exact distance is 747.8 miles) A temple in Rosario, which is within the Santa Fe province, would likely also serve the Saints from the two stakes based in Santa Fe.

And a fourth potential candidate for how the Church could potentially split the Buenos Aires district is the city of Trelew which, because it is 861.7 miles from Buenos Aires, makes sense in terms of the distance factor. A temple in Neuquen  would cut that distance to 451.9 miles, The Saints in Trelew would have an even shorter journey if a temple was announced in Bahia Blanca, which is 446.3 miles away. That said, if a temple were to be built in Rosario, that wouldn't help cut the distance the Saints in Trelew have to travel, as Trelew is more than twice as far from Rosario as it is from Buenos Aires (the exact distance between the two is 916.4 miles).

Whatever the Church might opt to do to split the temple district, it just seems a matter of time before that does happen (if only based on the distance factor). So that does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, especially any feedback you might have on the prospects I have suggested herein. 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: South America South Area, Part Three--Temple History & Composition of Current Districts

Hello again, everyone! As we continue the discussion of the South America South Area, it is time now to turn our attention to the history of the six temples that serve the Saints in the 4 nations of which this area is comprised. We will approach that discussion in the same order in which we have discussed other aspects of this area in previous posts, so we will start with Argentina, move on to Chile, then discuss  Paraguay, and finish by covering Uruguay. Let's get right into all of that.

As mentioned in my previous posts, Argentina has two in operation. The first (built in the capital city of Buenos Aires) became the Church's 39th one dedicated in this dispensation. That dedication took place from January 17-19, 1986 with President Thomas S. Monson, who had been called just two months prior to that as the Second Counselor in the First Presidency to President Ezra Taft Benson.

Following a renovation process, President Monson, who had then become the President of the Church, assigned President Henry B. Eyring to represent him in rededicating the temple, and that occurred on September 9. 2012.

When the second Argentinian temple (built in the city of Cordoba) was dedicated, the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple district was left to serve 50 stakes and 14 districts from the regions of Eastern and Southern Argentina. There may or may not be a need to divide this district, and I will share my thoughts about if, when, and how that could occur in my next post about this area.

In the meantime, we move on to the Cordoba Argentina Temple, which was dedicated on May 17, 2015 by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, thereby becoming the 145th operating temple built in this dispensation. Its district is comprised of 22 stakes and 8 districts that are headquartered in the northern and western areas of Argentina. There may or may not be a good reason for this district to split. I will explore that more in my next post.

That brings us to Chile. The first temple built in that nation is located in the capital city of Santiago. When the dedicatory sessions for this temple were held (from September 15-17, 1983, with President Hinckley, the only fully functioning member of the First Presidency at that time, presiding), it became the Church's 24th operating temple. Following its renovation, President Hinckley returned to rededicate that temple on March 12, 2006.

For the moment, the Santiago Temple serves 77 stakes and 16 districts in Chile. But when the Concepcion Chile Temple is dedicated (which, as previously noted, is anticipated to occur during the 4th quarter of next year), the stakes that are closer to Concepcion will fall within that city's temple district.

We now come to a discussion about the Asuncion Paraguay Temple. When President Hinckley  presided at the dedication of this temple, which occurred on May 19, 2002, it became the 112th in operation for the Church. Since it is now closed for renovation, it is currently anticipated that a rededication will take place during early-to-mid 2019. After the temple reopens, it will continue to serve 11 stakes and 8 districts in Paraguay, along with 4 stakes and 6 districts from Northeastern Argentina and the Ponta Pora stake from Brazil West Central area.

Concluding our discussion of the current temples within this area, we turn now to the Montevideo Uruguay Temple, which became the 103rd operating temple of the Church when it was dedicated on March 18, 2001. That temple district serves the Saints from 18 stakes and 3 districts in Uruguay.

Having shared all of this, 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 (which should be posted shortly and will focus on potential future temples that could soon be announced to help serve the Saints in this area), 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: South America South Area, Part Two--Church Presence (including the number of units) within this area

Hello again, everyone! While I had intended, as promised in the last post, to devote this one to an overview of the current temples within this area (which, when I do get to that, will include a history of those 6 temples and an exploration of the size and composition of each district), I remembered that I had wanted to give additional background information about this area, particularly in regards to the number of Church units within each nation that is part of this area. So I will defer the post about the temple overview for now and first talk some more about pertinent information for each of these nations.

As I have previously observed, the Church has been very prosperous in South America, and the nations which comprise this area of the Church (which, again, are Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay) have seen a very significant amount of growth, particularly in recent years. So let's first take a look at where each of these nations is in terms of temples, missions, stakes, districts, and congregational totals (wards and branches).

Turning our attention first to Argentina, there are two temples in operation there (in Buenos Aires and Cordoba). I will be offering a look at the history and dedication of these temples in my next post. but for now, I wanted to note that 14 missions operate currently in Argentina. With the Church's announced intention to consolidate missions and utilize advances in technology to allow those serving in the missions that will remain after that to find religiously-minded people, I don't know how those changes might take effect in Argentina. It will be interesting to see what happens there.

In the meantime, I also wanted to note that the Church in Argentina has 76 stakes and 28 districts, which in turn are divided into 488 wards and 275 branches, for a total of 763 congregations in that nation. That total means that, between the two temples, each serves an average of 381-382 congregations, which is a lot for just two temples.

After addressing the history of temples in my next post, I will be talking specifics (likely in that same post) about the actual number of stakes and districts served by those two temples, and will move on in another post to discuss if, when, and in what city Argentina's third temple could potentially be built.

But for now, we move on to Chile. The Church there also has two temples, with one operating in Santiago, and a second currently under construction in Concepcion (which is anticipated to be the very first new temple dedicated next year). For now, that nation is served by the 10 missions currently operating. In terms of congregations, the Chilean Saints fall under 77 stakes and 16 districts, which are further subdivided into 433 wards and 168 branches. That is a total of 601 congregations in this nation, which means that, following the dedication of the Concepcion Chile temple, the two temples will serve an average right between 300 and 301 congregations each.

And again, I will be providing more information on the history of those temples, including the composition of the Santiago district and what the Concepcion district might take away from Santiago, along with if, when, and where I feel an additional Chilean temple (or two) may be built in the near future, in subsequent posts.

In the meantime, let's turn our attention to the Church's presence in Paraguay. The Saints there are served by a single temple in Asuncion. And, as we know, that temple closed for extensive renovation in late October this year. While confirmation on the extent of that renovation process is still pending (since no updates have been provided by any of the sources I have available for temple-related information), I do know that other temples that were originally dedicated during the late 1990s and early 2000s under President Hinckley's inspired impetus & smaller designs have been (or, in the case of the Memphis Tennessee and Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temples, will be) given a similar new exterior appearance. Unless the Church at any point confirms that that will not be the case for the Asuncion Temple, it seems to be a safe assumption.

With that said, let's talk now about the Church's presence in Paraguay. The Church has two operating missions, both headquartered in Asuncion, that serve the missionary needs in that nation. With 11 stakes and 9 districts that are further subdivided into 61 wards and 74 branches, the congregational total comes to 135. I don't have any idea if or when a second temple may be needed to split that district, but I am sure that the Church could opt to do so if the growth trends for this nation continue.

Rounding out our discussion of the Church's presence in this area, I wanted to share some specific data about Uruguay. In addition to being the location of the one temple in that nation, the Church's two missions in this nation are both headquartered in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. With the Church in Uruguay having 18 stakes and 3 districts, the congregations in Uruguay include 104 wards and 35 branches, for a grand total of 139.

This concludes my overview of the Church's presence within the four nations comprising this area, 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 (which should come shortly and will focus on the history of the six temples within this area, along with the composition of each of those current districts), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.