Washington D. C. Temple Prepares to Close for Renovation

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, over a year ago (on February 23, 2017), the First Presidency announced the renovation closures for the Oakland California and Washington D. C. Temples. With the closure of the Oakland Temple having taken place on February 19, the closure of the temple named for the US capital city will occur this Sunday.

Since it is an older and comparatively larger temple, the renovation process is only anticipated to conclude during 2020, and it has been my long-held opinion that that temple will only be rededicated during the final quarter of 2020.

Of course, if the renovation proceeds more quickly than expected, that would, in turn, allow the dedication sooner than I anticipate, which would be wonderful. I will be sure to pass along any updates in terms of temple progress as soon as I can after learning 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.

Elder Renlund Dedicates Barbados for the Preaching of the Gospel During a Caribbean Area Review

Hello again, everyone! Elder Dale G. Renlund has a supervisory role over the Caribbean Area of the Church. The Church News has shared in this report that, as part of conducting the annual review for that area, Elder Renlund dedicated Barbados for the preaching of the gospel.

The island nation had been informally included in a dedicatory prayer in 1988, but the First Presidency felt that a dedicatory prayer specifically for that nation would be appropriate, and so they sent Elder Renlund to take care of that.

Aside from the above link to this article, I will not be attempting to provide any type of in-depth or extensive analysis on this exciting development. But it is almost certain that Matthew Martinich, a well-respect Church growth expert who has a blog devoted to that subject, will (if he has not done so already) post such an analysis in the coming days.

The article detailing this area review may or may not have mentioned this, but I am sure Elder Renlund's visit included a chance to visit the site of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple as well. Regarding that temple, I had reported the formal beginning of construction efforts there roughly one month after its' groundbreaking.

As I have also previously noted, construction of that temple was only anticipated to take around 12-18 months, and it is currently anticipated that that temple will be the third new one to be dedicated next year.

So we can see that the Church is progressing well in the Caribbean Area. I look forward to learning more, along with all of you, regarding how the dedication of Barbados affects the spreading of the gospel in that nation. And you can rest assured that whatever Church and temple news might come to my attention will be passed on to you all as soon as I can make that happen.

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.

Additional Temple Updates Provided

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to bring you some additional temple updates that have crossed my radar today. We start first with the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple, where roof shingling continues, the driveway and parking areas have been outlined, and where stone and tile work are underway inside the temple. Based on this update (and on the fact that this temple has progressed fairly consistently of late), it is easy to see why this temple's completion is anticipated in early 2019.

In the meantime, the one other update I wanted to pass along is regarding the status of the Rio de Janeiro Temple, where the walls of the steeple are being poured. I mentioned in an earlier post on this blog that I had found out that this temple was larger in size than was originally anticipated, which is why this temple has been shifted down to the bottom of the list and is only anticipated to be dedicated in early 2020.

And finally, now that March has officially begun, it is worth noting that, if all goes well, full-scale construction efforts for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple may begin within the next 1-3 months or so. It will be exciting to see how that occurs, and I am (as I always do) keeping an eye out for more information & updates on temples and will pass along such news as I become aware of it.

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: Open House and Dedication Dates Announced for Concepcion Chile and Barranquilla Colombia Temples

Hello again, everyone! Although I just barely posted updated thoughts about the time-frames for temple-related events, I knew they were subject to change. Regular readers and followers of this blog have no doubt seen the comment on the last post indicating that the open house and dedication dates have been announced for both the Concepcion Chile and Barranquilla Colombia Temples. Let's dive right into the details of that information.

First, I wanted to note that both dedications are set to occur a little later than I had been projecting. The Concepcion Chile Temple will host open house tours for exactly four weeks: between the Saturdays of September 15 and October 13, with no tours being conducted on the Sundays of September 16, 23, and 30 and October 7.

Here's the interesting thing about that: In lieu of a cultural celebration, the Church has announced that a devotional for the youth will be held on Saturday October 27. The temple will be dedicated in three sessions the following day, and will be broadcast to all congregations in Chile.

As for the Barranquilla Colombia Temple, the open house will run for three weeks: between the Saturdays of November 3-24, with no tours on the relevant Sundays, November 4, 11, and 18. Again, a youth devotional will be held in lieu of a cultural celebration, and that devotional will take place on Saturday December 8, with the dedication in three sessions following the next day, which will be broadcast to all Colombian Church members.

It is wonderful to have heard of this announcement, and I am grateful to have been able to pass this information along to you all. You can find more information about this on the official news release from Mormon Newsroom.

I did want to note one additional thing: In the estimated time-frames for future temple events that I adjusted and published earlier today, I had again referenced the news article from the Italian newspaper that featured an interview with those working on the Rome Italy Temple. That article had stated that the Church might be dedicating that temple prior to the end of this year.

So I can see two options: Either the Church is keeping November open in case the dedication could be held in the middle of that month, or else the completion of that temple will only occur in early 2019. I am keeping my eyes open for any information that would point to either option and will pass that along once I find out about it.

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.

Updated Completion Estimates for Future Temple-related Events

Hello again, everyone! I am back as promised, with the updated completion estimates I have put together for future temple events. I have based these revisions on a number of factors, but primarily on the climates of the cities in which these temples are being constructed or renovated and the progress (or lack thereof) for each of them. Those estimates follow below.

So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will close now as I always do. 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.

Future estimates for known temple-related events

2018:

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

Sunday April 22: Houston Texas Temple Rededication (private; date has been confirmed; President M. Russell Ballard will preside at this event)

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

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

July: Hamilton New Zealand Temple Renovation Closure (official closure date confirmation is pending)

Sunday September 16 or 23: Concepcion Chile Temple Dedication (160^th operating temple)

Sunday October 14 or 21: Barranquilla Colombia Temple Dedication (161^st operating temple)

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

Note: An article published in an Italian newspaper featured interviews with construction workers. As part of that interview, one worker noted that the Church would likely dedicate this temple before the end of 2018. While the general consensus seems to be that this could occur in October, in view of the progress (and at times the lack thereof) in terms of this temple’s construction, it has seemed wise to be more conservative in my estimates. If I see a need to revise this estimate again, I will do so.

2019:

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

Mid-March: Memphis Tennessee Temple Rededication

Mid-to-late April: Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple Rededication

Early-to-mid May: Fortaleza Brazil Temple Dedication (164^th operating temple)

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

Mid-June: Frankfurt Germany Temple Rededication

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

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

Mid-September: Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Rededication

Mid-to-late October: Asuncion Paraguay Temple Rededication

Mid-November: Durban South Africa Temple Dedication (167^th operating temple)

Mid-December: Oakland California Temple Rededication

Note: This temple closed for renovation on February 19, 2018 and the renovation process was officially underway as of February 28, 2018. When its’ closure was announced by the First Presidency, the announcement indicated that this temple would be rededicated in 2019. That said, it is an older temple, and if anything delays or prolongs that process, another adjustment to this estimate would be necessary.

                       

2020:

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

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

Mid-May: Tokyo Japan Temple Rededication

Early-to-mid June Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Dedication (170^th operating temple)

Note: Full-scale construction efforts on this temple have been anticipated to begin since its’ groundbreaking in December 2016, and, as noted above, that could occur in April or May 2018. Once those efforts are fully underway, we will know more regarding how (if at all) the 20-month estimate originally given for this temple might be affected, and any subsequent adjustments that may be needed will be made.

Mid-August: Mesa Arizona Temple Rededicatiom

Mid-November: Washington DC Temple Rededication

2021:

Mid-to-late April: Hamilton New Zealand Temple Rededication

Final Note: I heard that 2018 and 2019 could be big years for temple groundbreakings. If that proves correct, then many other new temples could also be dedicated during 2020 and 2021. It also seems safe to assume that other temple renovations will be announced, which will in turn necessitate subsequent rededications. As the next two years unfold, I will have a better idea of when such events may occur, and they will then be added to the other estimates above.