Reminder about Commenting Period for Temple Site Possibilities Post Series

Hello again, everyone! I just wanted to post a brief reminder for you all. While I met my set goal to have the series of posts covering the future temple possibilities within each of the Church's geographical areas before the end of 2017, my intent was never to wrap up the discussions about those posts before New Year''s Eve this year.

So if any of you have any comments on any of the coverage I did for any of the Church's 25 geographical areas, you can feel free to add them at any time convenient for you. My main desire was to open up conversations about such possibilities, in the hopes that doing so would enable me to make any adjustments, including changing, eliminating, or adding potential sites based on the feedback from you all.

And that process will be going forward on an ongoing basis until the final version of the total list is published on this blog just prior to General Conference (which is now just over 15 weeks away). So if any of you have any comments on any of those posts, I want to hear your thoughts on the information I have shared over the course of that post series.

I am particularly interested to know if I have overlooked any promising locations, if there are any I should remove from my list, or what your thoughts are on how soon we might see those temple sites announced that seem most imminent.

I also hope that none of you have been or will be offended in any way if, in the course of such discussions, I reiterate why I feel strongly about the locations currently on my list. In the discussions that have taken place thus far in that series, we have had good back and forth chats about the reasons and merits behind the sites on my list, as well as the reasons why some sites are on that list and others are not.

But there have also been several conversations where someone has brought up a site I had not considered, or had not seen as a strong or immediate possibility, and the results of my research regarding such locations have led to me either replacing others that are less likely or else adding such locations to the others I feel strongly about within that area.

So until the week or so before April General Conference (at which time I will need to finalize the list), any and all comments are, as alyways, welcome and appreciated. That does it for this post. 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.

More Specific Alterations Done for Future Temple Events between now and the end of 2020

Hello again, everyone! While I was pleased to pass along to you earlier today the changes that were made in the general completion estimates for temple-related events which are anticipated to occur between now and the end of 2020, I had also promised to try and determine more specific windows in which each of those events could potentially take place. I am pleased to bring you now the results of those adjustments I have made. They follow below. 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.

Revised estimated time-frame for future temple-related events:

2018:

Sunday January 7: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Renovation Closure (date has been confirmed)

Sunday January 28: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Renovation Closure (date has been confirmed)

Monday February 19: Oakland California temple Renovation Closure (date has been confirmed)

Sunday March 4: Washington DC Temple Renovation Closure (date has been confirmed)

April or May: Full-scale construction anticipated to begin on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple

Sunday March 11 or 18: Houston Texas Temple Rededication (private)

Sunday May 20: Jordan River Utah Temple Rededication/Mesa Arizona Temple Renovation Closure (both have been confirmed)

Sunday August 12 or 19: Concepcion Chile Temple Dedication (160^th operating temple)

Sunday September 16 or 23: Frankfurt Germany Temple Rededication

Sunday November 11 or 18: Barranquilla Colombia Temple Dedication (161^st operating temple)

Sunday December 9 or 16: Rome Italy Temple Dedication (162^nd operating temple)

2019:

Mid-February: Kinshasa DR Congo Temple Dedication (163^rd operating temple)

Mid-to-late April: Memphis Tennessee Temple Rededication

Late April-early May: Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Rededication

Mid-May: Asuncion Paraguay Temple Rededication

Late May-early June: Durban South Africa Temple Dedication (164^th operating temple)

Mid-June: Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple Dedication (165^th operating temple)

Early-to-mid August: Lisbon Portugal Dedication (166^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late August: Raleigh North Carolina Temple Rededication

Early-to-mid September: Fortaleza Brazil Temple Dedication (167^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late September: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Rededication

Mid-November: Arequipa Peru Temple Dedication (168^th operating temple)

Mid-December: Oakland California Temple Rededication

NOTE: While the Church did indicate that this temple is anticipated to be rededicated during 2019, it is one of the older ones, and, as such, if the renovation process is delayed for any reason whatsoever, it could be pushed back into 2020.

2020:

Mid-March: Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple Dedication (169^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late April: Tokyo Japan Temple Rededication

Mid-May: Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Dedication (170^th operating temple)

Early-to-mid September: Mesa Arizona Temple Rededication

Mid-November: Washington DC Temple Rededication

NOTE: I heard that 2018 and 2019 could be big years for temple groundbreakings. If that proves correct, then many other temples could also be dedicated during 2020 and 2021. As the next two years unfold, I will have a better idea of when such events may occur, and they can then be added to the other estimates above.

Adjustments Made to Several Estimated Time-frames for Future Temple-related Events

Hello again, everyone! As 2017 comes closer to its' conclusion, I have continued to check diligently for any Church news, particularly those relating to temple developments. About a week ago, I noted that several of the estimated time-frames for temple-related events had been slightly altered. So I made adjustments to my thoughts about the potential time-frames for such events.

Then today, in checking the sources I have for temple-related information, I was amazed to discover that several other adjustments had been made. Let's take a look at what those adjustments are and how that will impact the potential sequence of temple-related events between now and the early months of 2020.

Although there could be numerous ways to pass along these changes, I hope that the way I have opted to do them makes sense to all of you reading them. If any of you need clarification on anything you see in the list below, please let me know.

So let's get specific. First of all, the private rededication for the Houston Texas Temple that was (up until today) initially anticipated to occur in mid-2018, may now occur in early 2018, which would mean it will probably happen sometime between January and May.

Next, as previously reported, the Concepcion Chile Temple, which was anticipated at the beginning of this month to only have its' dedication occur in the final quarter of next year (sometime between the beginning of October and the end of December), has had an adjustment made to its' estimate which indicates it could be dedicated during the latter half of 2018 (which would expand the window for that completion to anytime between the beginning of July (or August, in view of July being the month in which our Church leaders have their annual recess) to the end of December.

As as noted previously, that is similar to the time-frame within which the rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple is anticipated to take place (mid-to-late 2018). One thing which I am in the process of evaluating is whether the dedication for the Concepcion Chile Temple or the rededication for the Frankfurt Germany Temple will occur first, and I will post more on that once I am able to make that determination.

Since the Barranquilla Colombia Temple's estimate has not changed, its' dedication is still anticipated to occur in late 2018. Here's where the changes come in. As recently as yesterday, I anticipated that the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple would be the last one dedicated during the final months of 2018 and that the Rome Italy Temple would have its dedication in the early months of the following year.

But today, new information I received points to the fact that, of the two, the Rome Italy Temple is now anticipated to be dedicated first, and that that could occur either near the end of 2018 or in the early months of the following year.

Meanwhile, the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple's estimated completion has officially been pushed back to early 2019. That switch truck me as a bit odd, since Rome has not seemed to progress as consistently as Kinshasa, but I trust there is a reason for the change.

The next big adjustment is that the Lisbon Portugal Temple, which appears to be progressing more consistently than the two temples of the Church under construction in Brazil (Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro), has now had its' completion estimate changed to mid-2019. As a result of that change, it is now anticipated that the Fortaleza Temple will be dedicated in mid-to-late 2019.

And the final adjustment that has been made is that, while the Arequipa Peru Temple is still anticipated to be dedicated in either late 2019 or early 2020, there is now reason to believe that the Rio de Janeiro Temple will not be dedicated until early 2020.

Of course, there are other factors to consider here, such as whether or not any of the temples that are or will be undergoing renovation will have a change in their estimates in the near future as well. I will be keeping an eye out for information on that, along with any additional updates to the estimates of those under construction, and will pass along any further updates ASAP after I hear of them.

And obviously, since these changes have so recently been reported, I have not yet had a chance to determine how to alter the more specific estimated time-frames which I have previously offered on this blog for temple events anticipated to occur between now and the end of 2020. I will be working on that as I am able to later on today, and will hope to have those updates posted on this blog before the end of today.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time and for wading through this lengthy update. 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.

CORRECTION: President Uchtdorf's Exact Age From My Last Update

Hello again, everyone! For those of you who didn't know, the updates I periodically provide on the latest apostolic statistics generally contains information from three separate documents, which I copy and paste into the new update. At times, however, the data provided has flaws, generally caused by my failure to double-check the accuracy of such figures before posting them. From time to time, after I have posted such updates, a comment from one of you who has read through the whole thing has alerted me to such errors, which I then strive to correct. It is rare indeed for me to catch my own mistakes in such posts, but it should happen more regularly.

My point in mentioning this is to correct one such error (a rather glaring one) from the information I posted last week. The error involved the long form age of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. What must have occurred is that I overlooked the fact that, on December 6, President Uchtdorf was 1 month removed from when he observed his 77th birthday. I updated the number of days in his age correctly, but forgot to change his month number from 0 to 1. So his full age as of Christmas Eve should have read 77 years, 1 month, and 18 days.

And that error must have escaped my notice in view of the illness with which I have been battling for the last several weeks. The good news is that, in preparation for New Year's Eve next Sunday, since I was in the process of updating the files from which I pull such data, I  was able to catch this error.

I hope that in the future, I will be able to remember to double-check such facts and figures before posting them here for your perusal. I also wanted to look ahead a bit to the two upcoming apostolic birthdays. As of today, Elder Christofferson's 73rd birthday is merely 27 days away. This means that Elder Rasband's 67th birthday, which is 13 days after that is now 40 days away.

While I do not yet know yet what my 2018 coverage on this blog will look like, one thing I do know is that I am committed to continue doing posts honoring our 14 current apostles on their birthdays (in addition to covering whomever the new apostle will be whenever his birthday occurs.

So stay tuned for those. In the meantime, 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.

Adjusted Estimated Date for the Concepcion Chile Temple Dedication

Hello again, everyone! As I mentioned I would do in my last post, in view of the altered time-frame within which the Concepcion Chile Temple might  be dedicated, I have been able to make a change for that event. I wanted to pass along the information that I feel that this event could happen on either Sunday September 16 or 23.

In sharing estimate alteration, I want one thing clearly understood: at the moment, it would appear that the time-frames for the rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple and the dedication of Chile's second temple could be considered interchangeable, and it has been a while since the status of the Frankfurt renovation process has been updated.

So while I have felt that the Frankfurt rededication could occur up to three or four weeks prior to the dedication of the Concepcion temple, if more progress is made on the latter while nothing changes in the status of the former, then the two may flip in their order. It is also a very real possibility that either or both events could be delayed further, which would likely push back the time-frame of events anticipated at some point after the two.

And I am still trying to gauge how realistic it might be to assert that either or both of the temples under construction in Kinshasa and Rome might be dedicated before the end of next year rather than the beginning of 2019. But I will be keeping my eyes open for any or all information in this regard and will post updates if and when I have 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Completion Estimate for Concepcion Chile Altered Slightly

Hello again, everyone! I am here with some breaking temple news. It was something that I probably should have noticed and of which I should have made mention in my previous post. For the last little while, I had been operating under the assertion that the dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple would likely be dedicated sometime during the final quarter of 2018.

But I was surprised and pleased, in looking at it more closely, to find that that estimate has been tweaked somewhat to now be during the "latter half" of 2018, meaning it could potentially be completed any time between July and December of next year.

Because this development is something I just barely noticed, I will be evaluating things and will make any adjustments to my estimates that may be needed as a result of this. I will say that, if both the dedication of the Concepcion Chile and the rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple occur in the earlier part of the final six months of next year, that opens the possibility that before the end of next year, in addition to the Kinshasa dedication, Rome could be completed and dedicated in late 2018 as well.

That said, I want to be very clear about one thing: I fully believe the word of those who have offered their opinions on my estimates when they say that the progress of the Rome temple is slow enough in coming that it is more likely that it will not be dedicated until early 2019. So I will be continuing to monitor all of these events and will pass along any updates to my thoughts in this regard as I make them going forward.

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 Noted

Hello again, everyone! I am back, as promised at the end of my last post, to pass along some updated information about temples. So let's get right into all of that. First of all, as of today, the Church now has 12.27 years between now and April 6, 2030, within which to dedicate the 23 temples in various stages and to announce and complete 18 others to give the Church the 200 operating temples by the time of its' bicentennial celebration. This also means that the number of temples the Church would need to complete within that time has increased very slightly, from 3.33 during each of those 12.27 years to 3.34. Not much of an increase, but I still thought it was worth mentioning.

The one other development which I wanted to note was yet another status update for the Barranquilla Colombia Temple, where decorative fencing continues to be installed, and where lamp posts, plants, and sod are also being put in on the temple grounds. This progress is a clear indicator of why this temple has been moved ahead of the one in Kinshasa, and based on the fact that its' status has been updated regularly, I am more confident than ever that this temple's dedication will likely take place on either Sunday November 11 or 18 of next year. If anything delays that process, I could see the dedication being pushed back into the following month, but it does appear at the moment that this temple is staying on track for a dedication sooner rather than later.

As with everything else, I am keeping my eyes open for developments of any kind in regards to temple progress, and I will be sure to pass along any additional updates 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.

Church News Updates

Hello again, everyone! While I continue to welcome and look forward to the comments from any of you regarding any posts in the series I completed early this morning regarding potential future temple locations in each of the Church's 25 geographical areas, and while I hope those conversations will continue into the new year, I wanted to report some Church news updates in this post, and will follow that up with another new post to pass along some updated information of which I became aware regarding temple progress.

So in this post, let's talk about the Church news. As many of you may recall, I did a post a while back to pass along important dates for Church events in 2018. We now know a little more in particular regarding the three Worldwide Devotionals for Young Adults that have been scheduled for next year.

While I have already noted on this blog that President Dieter F. and Sister Harriet R. Uchtdorf will be speaking at the one which is set to be held on January 14, until just recently, there was no word on who might be speaking at the other two devotionals next year.

But in digging a little deeper for information on that, I discovered that Elder Patrick Kearon of the Presidency of the Seventy will address the young adult devotional which is set for May 6, and that the speaker for the September 9th gathering will be Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

I found it interesting that Elder Cook will be the speaker for the last such devotional of 2018 because the date it will be held is the day after his 78th birthday, and the day when President Russell M. Nelson will be observing his 94th birthday. Hopefully those facts interest some of you as well.

Additionally, it is the time of year when BYU-Provo announces its Winter Semester Devotional and Forum speakers. The full schedule detailing who will be speaking and when can be found here. This winter, speakers will include six LDS leaders (two of which are seatmates in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), a data analyst, and an author. That was fun to read about, and I hope many of you will enjoy it as well.

Next, I wanted to note that Elder Neil L. Andersen and his wife Kathy were the featured speakers at a Christmas Day devotional for MTC missionaries worldwide, which originated from the Provo MTC. Their message to the missionaries was that, since those missionaries were away from their families on that day, each missionary listening to them speak could consider themselves part of the Andersen family for Christmas. They also shared some additional counsel for those preparing to serve all over the world, which you can read more about here.

And, in a somewhat negative Church news development, it has been reported that an LDS missionary has died in his sleep while serving in Nigeria. The elder from Ghana had struggled on and off for years with seizures, but was determined to be well enough to serve in the mission field. While it is tragic when such a death occurs, at least this faithful young elder died while doing what he loved. You can read the Church News coverage of this story here.

Thank you for sticking with me through this somewhat cumbersome news update. It likely would have been much shorter in its length if some of this news had not come to my attention while I was working on this post.

That does it for the moment. 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 in the next few minutes to pass along some temple updates), 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: Series Wrap-Up

Hello again, everyone! Having just done the final post covering the Utah South Area, I have been able to complete the series about such prospects that are likely in the near future, as promised, before the end of 2017. The opportunity to research and publish these posts has been one I will treasure always, and given its' success, will be repeated as I am able to make that happen following each General Conference.

That said, I did want to note that I hope this last post is not the end of any conversations about potential future temple locations. In fact, until General Conference next April (when the version of those temple prospects on my list are final), and until I need to start this series all over again following that conference, I am issuing a standing invitation (which I will be reiterating as I feel a need to do so) for any and all additional feedback that any of you would like to provide at any time on any post I have done or will do, whether directly related to the matter of future temple locations, or any other feedback you have for me, for that matter.

The subject of where potential future temples might be built in the near future is, as I have noted a few times on this blog, one that is very close to my heart. And it is obviously a popular one, as such posts continue to be among the most widely read with the most comments posted. So I thank you all for that.

As I conclude this series, I also wanted to reiterate what I have previously stated: While I do appreciate the thoughts you all have shared and might share in the future, if I have a strong reason to assert my own opinion instead of any alternatives presented by you in your comments, I will generally stick to those assertions and provide a reason why I have felt justified in so doing.

But I also want you to know that I respect any and all feedback from any one of you who wants to share your thoughts, ask for clarification on why I feel the way I do about such subjects,or correct inacurate information I have posted here, and I hope the same will be true of each of you in our back-and-forth feedback.

I hope this blog, for as long as I maintain it, will be a safe space where those who visit may feel free to comment, knowing their opinions will be respected by the rest of us, even if we disagree with such opinions for whatever our reasons might be.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated (on either this post or any I have previously done). 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: Utah South Area, Part Four--Temples in Washington and Weber Counties and Area Wrap-Up

Hello again, everyone! I am back with the fourth post I promised just a few moments ago, which will discuss the two temples in Washington and Weber Counties (St. George and Ogden respectively) and which will serve as the wrap-up for this area. Let's get right to it.

The St. George temple was the 1st one dedicated in this dispensation that is still operating today. That dedication occurred on January 1, 1877, which a private dedication done by Wilford Woodruff, Erastus Snow, and Brigham Young; a public one followed between April 6-8 of that same year, with Brigham Young presiding and his counselor in the First Presidency, Daniel H. Wells, reading the prayer at President Young's request. Following a renovation period, a rededication was held on November 11 & 12, 1975, with President Spencer W. Kimball presiding.

With the dedication of the Cedar City Utah Temple about 2.5 weeks ago, that left the St. George district to serve 33 stakes from Bloomington, Hurricane, Ivins, Kanab, La Verkin, Santa Clara, St. George, and Washington City, along with the Page Arizona and Mesquite Nevada stakes. This temple district may need to be split, but I am not sure how or when the Church might opt to do so.

That brings us to the Ogden Utah Temple, which became the Church's 14th one in operation when it was dedicated January 18-20, 1972 by President Joseph Fielding Smith.. As noted in an earlier post, the Ogden temple originally looked identical in design to the Provo Utah Temple.

But when the Ogden Temple closed for renovation, its' design was completely redone to match the evolving architecture of that city. As I previously noted, that redesign was quite divisive for a while, and may still be so for the immediate future. That rededication was held on September 21, 2014, with President Thomas S. Monson presiding.

The current district of the Ogden Temple is comprised of 57 stakes in northern Utah and 4 other additionally from southwestern Wyoming. There is a possibility that the stake could be split, and that a temple in Evanston Wyoming could do the trick, but I honestly don't know how immediate or feasible a temple might be to split this district.

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 I will put up in a few minutes as my wrap-up to this series), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.