1100th Blog Post: Temple Updates

Hello again, everyone! This will be my 1100th post on this blog, and I could not think of a better subject for this milestone than temple updates. I have found updated status reports for the Concepcion Chile Temple and also for the renovation process for the Raleigh North Carolina Temple. I have said before and will continue to say again that it is amazing to see how quickly things can change, even on a day-to-day basis, in terms of temple progress.

Before I get to those updates, I wanted to first pass along updates on where the Church stands in its' progress towards 200 operating temples. As I mentioned previously, the Church may be able to dedicate as many as four new temples during this year. Whether or not all of those four are dedicated, I have previously shared my thoughts that the Church could (and likely will) have 200 operating temples by or before its' bicentennial anniversary (which, as noted previously, will occur on Saturday April 6, 2030).

As of today, there are 12.14 years left before that date. So the Church would merely need to announce 18 new temples and complete the other 23 in various phases within that time. That means that with a total of 41 temples to be dedicated between now and the Church's bicentennial, as long as the Church completes roughly 3.38 temples per year, it could be done.

And since we have Elder Wilson's statement made in late April of last year that 80 potential locations are under active consideration for an official announcement within the 15 years that followed that statement, whether or not all of those locations make it to an official announcement within that time, it not only seems reasonable but also highly probable that 18 of those will surely be announced and that they, along with those 23 others, could easily be completed within that time.

With all of that noted, let's now turn our attention to the updates I referenced at the beginning of this post. First, for the Concepcion Chile Temple, reports show that landscaping is progressing, art glass is being installed, and the interior work on the temple is entering its' final stages.

Based on that progress, it seems entirely likely that the more-specific estimate I ventured for this temple's dedication (Sunday August 12 or 19) may be justified. I will post with further updates on those estimates or future announcements of such temple events as I become aware of them.

In the meantime, we now turn to the other item I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the progress made on the renovation process for the Raleigh North Carolina Temple. The latest updates I have been able to locate show that the interior has been fully dismantled, and that the removal of marble cladding around the temple's exterior is well underway.

I am grateful to have been able to pass these updates along to you all. I continue to keep my eyes open for further updates in such progress, and I will keep you all informed of the latest developments as I can.

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.

Tropical Storm Hits the Pacific Area: How Might That Affect Potential Future Temples There?

Hello again, everyone! As reported by this article, the South Pacific Islands have been devastated by a tropical cyclone (which is the same thing as a hurricane elsewhere). While we continue to pray for the safety of members and missionaries in that region, there is a very important question on my mind: How, if at all, might this storm's devastation impact both the renovation plans for the Hamilton New Zealand Temple and the timing of any new temples being announced within the Pacific Area of the Church? 

The article cited above seems to indicate that most of the devastation is in the nations of Samoa and Tonga, though there appears to have also been some degree of devastation in American Samoa as well. I could see the Church postponing the announcement of any new temples in the Pacific till the devastation clears, but since this may be the first time a natural disaster might potentially impact my thoughts on future temple possibilities in this region, I thought it would be worth asking.

And I thought that perhaps some of you may have been in a position at one point or another in your life experiences to witness firsthand how natural disasters have impacted currently operating or potential future temples. 

My initial research shows that only two temples (the original Nauvoo Temple and the original temple in Apia) were entirely destroyed by natural disasters, and both were the result of fire, the former being arson, and the latter occurring somehow in the midst of a renovation and expansion process.

We also know that the Houston Texas Temple was closed last year for a restoration process that evolved into a "renovation" of sorts. This letter from the First Presidency describes that process as "renovations and repairs", so I use the term renovation, although I have seen others use different terminology. 

My point in bringing up Houston is that this is the latest example of which I am aware where a natural disaster necessitated a short-term closure, but I doubt it is the only example of such a thing occurring.

And having recently (within the last 2 or 3 months) offered my opinion on potential future temple locations in all areas of the Church, the report of this natural disaster in the Pacific has me wondering whether any of the locations I previously mentioned might not get a temple in the near future in view of this tropical storm. Let me know your thoughts below. I look forward to the discussion and hope you all know that any and all comments are 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.

Open House Tickets Now Available for Jordan River Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now to share that open house tickets for the Jordan River Utah Temple, which closed for renovation almost two years ago (on February 15, 2016), are now available through an online reservation system, and they will continue to be made available through the duration of the open house, which is set to be held for a seven-week period between the Saturdays of March 17 and April 28.

Some of you may remember my mentioning in a previous post done on August 3 of last year, when the rededication for this temple was announced, that the Church indicated at that time that the open house tours would not run on March 18, 24, 25 and 31 or the Sundays of April 1, 8, 15, and 22.

New information received today in conjunction with the availability of the open house reservations indicates that, since the Church is no longer holding the Women's Session of General Conference on the Saturday before the other general sessions, open house reservations will be accepted on March 24, which would have otherwise been the day for that Women's Session. For any who want more information, reservations can be made here.

I also wanted to note that it seems very likely President Nelson will be the one to rededicate this temple, since it is the first major temple event of his administration. I am keeping my eyes open for information on all temple-related developments and will pass them along as I receive 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.

Slight Update Provided For the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! While Church and temple news has been somewhat slow this weekend (as the bulk of what I have shared in that regard came from reports and articles that were a few days old), I did find out earlier tonight that a slight update has been provided on the status of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple. While rebar has been completely set for its' steeple base, a dewatering system has been put into place. As I have previously noted, it is amazing to see how temples progress (and how they do not) on a day-to-day basis. I will continue to track these developments, and will pass along any updates in temple construction 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..

Latest Apostolic Statistics: Part Two--The Quorum of the Twelve and the 13 Apostles Overall, Nonagenarians, and Other Interesting Tidbits

Hello again, everyone! I am back, as promised a few moments ago, with the second half of my updated information about the apostles. Again, any who are not interested in this information can bypass this post. For those sticking with me, here is the remainder of the information I wanted to share today.

We now move on to talk about the specifics relating to the long form and decimal versions of the ages of our 13 current apostles, since the Church has yet to call someone to fill the apostolic vacancies occasioned by the October 1 death of Elder Robert D. Hales, the January 2 death of President Thomas S. Monson, and the subsequent reorganization of the First Presidency on January 14. So let’s next talk about the current ages of the First Presidency, and follow that up with an overview of the 10 apostles in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a discussion of the overall standings, and some information about current and future nonagenarian apostles. And again, all information shared here is current as of today.

As noted above, President Nelson is now 93 years, 5 months, and 2 days old, with a decimal age of 93.42 years. President Oaks is 85 years, 5 months, and 30 days old, with a decimal age of 85.50 years. President Eyring, the youngest of the three, is 84 years, 8 months, and 11 days old, putting his decimal age at 84.70 years. The three have a combined 263.62 years of life experience, 91 of which, as observed by President Nelson last month, has been spent by the three in the apostleship. Their average age stands at 87.87 years as of today, with President Nelson being older than that average, President Oaks closest to it, and President Eyring younger than that average.

                                                                                                                          

With the reorganization of the First Presidency (including Presidents Nelson and Oaks leaving the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and now-Elder Uchtdorf rejoining it), not only has the age dynamic changed within the Quorum, but Elder Uchtdorf rejoins the other two apostles who were also born in 1940.

As for their current ages, President Ballard has reached the age of 89 years, 4 months, and 3 days old (which is 89.35 decimal years) as of today. Elder Holland is currently 77 years, 2 months, and 8 days old, making his decimal age 77.19 years. Elder Uchtdorf is currently 77 years, 3 months, and 5 days old, with a decimal age of 77.27 years.

Elder Bednar’s age in long form has now reached 65 years, 7 months, and 27 days, which puts his decimal age at 65.66 years. Elder Cook, who is older than both Elders Uchtdorf and Holland, who are senior to him in the apostleship, has reached the age (in its’ long form) of 77 years, 5 months, and 3 days, which makes his decimal age 77.43 years. Since Elder Christofferson has observed his 73^rd birthday, his long form age is 73 years, 0 months, and 18 days, which means his decimal age is now 73.05 years. Meanwhile, Elder Andersen is now 66 years, 6 months, and 2 days old, which makes his decimal age 66.51 years.

We have now come to the three newest apostles, since it will likely not be until April that we hear who has been called to fill the vacancies in the apostleship. For the ages of those newest three (who observed their second year anniversary in the apostleship last October), we first have Elder Rasband, who, as noted in a previous post, observed his 67^th birthday just 5 day ago.

This means Elder Rasband is currently 67 years and 5 days old, making his decimal age 67.01 years. Elder Stevenson, who is currently our youngest apostle (though he may or may not still be such after the newest apostles are called), has a long form age of 62 years, 5 months, and 5 days old, which makes his decimal age 62.52 years. That brings us to Elder Renlund, the least senior but second youngest apostle, who is 65 years, 2 month, and 29 days old as of today, which means his decimal age is now 65.25 years.

This means that, with the reorganization of the First Presidency, the 10 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have a combined 721.24 years of life experience, making the average age of those apostles 72.12 years, with Elder Christofferson as the youngest of the older half of those 10, and Elder Rasband being the oldest of the youngest half.

This means that the 13 current apostles have a combined 984.86 years of life experience, and their average life length stands at 75.76 years, with Elders Holland and Christofferson being closest to that average: Elder Holland as the youngest of the oldest 7, and Elder Christofferson as the oldest of the youngest 6.

Turning our attention now to a discussion of our current and future apostolic nonagenarians. President Nelson, as noted above, is 93 years, 5 months, and 2 days old, making him the 7^th oldest apostle in Church history. He will only become the 6^th oldest apostle roughly 1.5 years from now.

President Monson’s passing on January 2 means he remains (for now) the 17^th of our 18 nonagenarian apostles. And President Ballard will join the list of apostolic nonagenarians on his 90^th birthday, which occurs on October 8 of this year, and that is 7 months and 27 days away as of today. The other 12 apostles will join the list at varying intervals, with Elder Stevenson, the current youngest apostle, set to do so 27 years, 5 months, and 26 days.

I thought it might be fun to share with you some new numbers I have run about other apostolic averages that I found interesting. The death of President Monson left the average age of our current apostles at the time of their first (which for 11 of them is their current) marriage at 23.14, with Elder Christofferson and President Ballard on the oldest and youngest side of that average. President Eyring was the oldest to get married at 29.2 years, and President Oaks was the youngest at the time of his marriage, since he was 19.9 years old.

That said, both Presidents Nelson and Oaks have had spouses pass away and have remarried, and their average ages at the time of their second marriage was 74.8 years, with President Oaks being slightly younger (68 at the time of his second marriage) and President Nelson being slightly older, since he was 81.6 years old at the time of his second marriage.

I find it interesting that our new First Presidency has had varying experiences with marriage, with Presidents Nelson and Oaks having remarried following the deaths of their spouses, and President Eyring having been the oldest of the current 13 apostles when he got married for the first time. If anyone has a unique understanding of the death of a spouse or being single at an older age, it is these three Brethren.

Until his passing, President Monson had been the youngest apostle called of the currently serving group, as he was 36.1 years old. His passing did not affect Elder Cook’s status as the oldest at the time of his call (being 67.1 years old), but it did leave President Oaks as the newest “youngest called”, as he was 51.7 years old at the time of his ordination.

This means that the current 13 apostles at the time of their calls as such now stands at 59.7 years, which is why I believe that our newly called apostles will be somewhere between their early-50s and mid-60s.

In the meantime, I also wanted to mention the average of the current First Presidency and leadership of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the time of their ordinations to their current positions. That includes Presidents Nelson, Oaks, Ballard, and Eyring, who are also the four oldest apostles. President Nelson is, of course, the oldest of those four and that President Eyring is the youngest, and I have already referenced the closeness in age of Presidents Oaks and Eyring. But I also find it worth mentioning that since the four ranged in age from President Nelson at 93.42 years old to President Eyring at 84.70 years old (with Presidents Oaks and Ballard at 85.5 and 89.35 years respectively, the average age of the four at the time they were set apart (and, in President Nelson’s case, ordained) on January 14 stood at 88.25 years old.  

I apologize that this update was so long, but that does it for this post, and concludes the miniseries covering this subject. 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.