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Sunday, March 4, 2018

Miscellaneous Church and Temple News

Hello again, everyone! In view of my personal need to slow down in the last few days and recuperate from illness, there have been a number of Church and temple news stories that I have not passed along on this blog. It is time to remedy that right now. So let's get right into it.

First of all, with today being March 4, 2018, I can now confirm that the Washington D. C. Temple has officially closed for its' renovation process, which is anticipated to last about two years. When announcing this closure a year ago, the First Presidency indicated that it would reopen in 2020.

With that said, it is a comparatively larger temple, so I have set my general estimate for the completion of that process for this temple as mid-to-late 2020. The purpose of the renovation is to upgrade and update electrical and mechanical systems and refresh the furnishings.

Second, a general note for you all regarding the full temple construction progress report I am keeping and have frequently updated as I find out more information. As I considered how best to track the information on that report, it made more sense to me to eliminate the notes under the status of each temple, since I generally post separate updates on time-frames for such events. So I have simplified that report quite a bit.

Next, we move on to several excellent Church news stories from Mormon Newsroom which are well worth mentioning. In this blog post, the Church mentions the publication of a unique volume containing a number of talks given specifically by the women of the Church. That volume will be available in full PDF version on the Church's website later this year.

I read some articles after the announcement of the new First Presidency that were less than complimentary about how President Nelson handled the question put to him about the place of women in the Church, and hopefully this volume helps to show how highly the counsel provided by the women of the Church is valued among the leading Brethren.

We next move on to news releases highlighting the ministry of our apostles. This article shares how Elder Andersen ministered to the Saints and friends of other faiths in Mexico following an earthquake in that region. And Elder Stevenson was asked to represent the First Presidency in ministering to Church members and friends of other faiths who were impacted by the horrific school shooting in Florida.

In connection with the Church's disaster relief efforts, members of the Presiding Bishopric (who, among other responsibilities, oversee the Church's Welfare efforts and disaster cleanup) have been busy as well. Bishop Dean M. Davies, who serves as First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. had a "homecoming" of sorts when he was asked to minister to the people of Puerto Rico recently; he had been a mission president in San Juan prior to his full-time Church service. This report shares more about his recent visit there.

Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse, meanwhile, has given two significant addresses to vastly different groups. He spoke at a religious symposium in response to an invitation to explain to those gathered there how the Church's welfare and humanitarian programs work to help provide for the poor and needy, both inside and outside of the Church.

And more recently, Bishop Causse spoke at a Church history symposium on Mormon economic history. During his remarks, he particularly focused on how the Church's finances are handled, and highlighted principles of welfare and self-reliance that how the Church cares for the poor and needy, both inside and outside of the Church.

The final thing I wanted to mention is that the Church held its'  annual RootsTech gathering within this last week or so. Among the featured speakers were President and Sister Oaks, who gave the keynote address highlighting their own experiences with family history.

In a leadership session for Church leaders and for those called as Temple and Family History Consultants, Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Dale G. Renlund, who (unless I am mistaken) serve on the Church's Temple and Family History Executive Council provided key counsel regarding the many efforts the Church is making to help people find their roots and to take names to the temple.

I apologize for the length of this post, but these stories needed to be covered. 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.

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Worldwide Youth Devotional Featuring President & Sister Nelson Announced

Hello again, everyone! As many of you may recall, a Face-to-Face Event for the youth of the Church featuring President & Sister Nelson had originally been set to occur on February 3, 2018, when President Monson would have celebrated a decade of service as Church president. Following President Monson's passing, President Nelson announced that would be postponed and rescheduled for a later date. Today, I learned that that event, which will be instead a worldwide youth devotional, has been set for June 3, 2018. You can find more information on that here.

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.

Friday, March 2, 2018

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.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

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.