Updated List of Temples Which May Be Renovated in the Near Future

Hello again, everyone! Given the fact that the renovation closure for two temples has been announced within the last 7-10 days or so, and that there are many other temples which seem likely to have a renovation done in the near future, I thought I would provide an updated copy of the list I have assembled of temples which seem most likely to be renovated in the near future.

By this time last year, the First Presidency had announced several temples would close for renovation in 2018 (with some of those announcements even being made during 2017), so I would anticipate that more temple renovations are bound to be set for the near future, whether for temples on this list or others I have not considered. The updated list follows below. So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will end here and now as I always do:

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Preliminary Note: The list below is based on previous statements by apostles and the Executive Directors of the Church’s Temple Department to the effect that temples need to be renovated roughly every 30-40 years or so to keep them seismically and systemically up-to-date.

Temples which may be renovated in the near-future:

1.      Logan Utah (dedicated in 1884; first rededicated in 1979)

2.      Manti Utah (dedicated in 1888; first rededicated in 1985)

3.      Salt Lake (dedicated in 1893; is anticipated to close for its’ first major renovation in the near future)

4.      Cardston Alberta (dedicated in 1923; addition only rededicated in 1962; fully rededicated in 1991)

5.      Bern Switzerland (dedicated in 1955; first rededicated in 1992)

6.      Los Angeles California (dedicated in 1956)

7.      London England (dedicated in 1958; first rededicated in 1992)

8.      Provo Utah (dedicated in 1972)

9.      Seattle Washington (dedicated in 1980)

10.  Sydney Australia (dedicated in 1984; addition only rededicated in 1991)

11.  Manila Philippines (dedicated in 1984)

12.  Dallas Texas (dedicated in 1984; addition only rededicated in 1989)

13.  Taipei Taiwan (dedicated in 1984)

14.  Guatemala City Guatemala (dedicated in 1984)

15.  Stockholm Sweden (dedicated in 1985)

16.  Chicago Illinois (dedicated in 1985; addition only rededicated in 1989)

17.  Johannesburg South Africa (dedicated in 1985; renovation might be delayed until after the Durban South Africa Temple is dedicated in mid-to-late 2019)

18.  Seoul Korea (dedicated in 1985)

19.  Lima Peru (dedicated in 1986)

20.  Denver Colorado (dedicated in 1986)

21.  Portland Oregon (dedicated in 1989)

22.  Las Vegas Nevada (dedicated in 1989)

23.  Toronto Ontario (dedicated in 1990)

Smaller temples built during the Hinckley-era boom (which may be redesigned):

1.      Spokane Washington

2.      Columbus Ohio

3.      Bismarck North Dakota

4.      Columbia South Carolina

5.      Detroit Michigan

6.      Halifax Nova Scotia

7.      Regina Saskatchewan

8.      Edmonton Alberta

9.      St. Paul Minnesota

10.  Kona Hawaii

11.  Ciudad Juarez Mexico

12.  Hermosillo Sonora Mexico

13.  Oaxaca Mexico

14.  Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico

15.  Louisville Kentucky

16.  Palmyra New York

17.  Fresno California

18.  Medford Oregon

19.  Reno Nevada

20.  Tampico Mexico

21.  Nashville Tennessee

22.  Villahermosa Mexico

23.  San Jose Costa Rica

24.  Fukuoka Japan

25.  Adelaide Australia

26.  Melbourne Australia

27.  Merida Mexico

28.  Veracruz Mexico

29.  Birmingham Alabama

30.  Porto Alegre Brazil

31.  Montevideo Uruguay

32.  Guadalajara Mexico

33.  Perth Australia

34.  The Hague Netherlands

35.  Brisbane Australia

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Hong Kong China Temple to Close for Renovation in July; Other Temple Updates Provided

Hello again, everyone! I have some breaking temple news to report. A short while ago, the First Presidency released this announcement to note that the Hong Kong China Temple will close for extensive renovation on July 8 of this year. It appears that further details on this renovation will be announced as plans are made. Given that this temple is medium-sized, and of a special design which came to President Hinckley by revelation as something that had never been done before, I would anticipate that this process will take between 2-4 years to complete.

The temple, originally dedicated in 1996, became the 48th in operation for the Church, and the last one announced before President Hinckley formally announced his smaller temple building plan that would more than double that number over a period of just 2-3 years. I imagine that the intent is to perform seismic and systemic updates, refresh furnishings and other interior decor, and fixing any exterior issues. So that is another temple closure set to occur later this year.

In the meantime, as I mentioned in the comments of my most recent post before this one, the open house for the Rome Italy Temple is now officially underway as of yesterday. Additionally, yet another update has been provided for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple. That report notes that the spire has been attached to the temple, and that stone cladding continues. It strikes me as an interesting coincidence that, following the rescheduling of that temple's dedication, progress on its' construction has picked up quite a bit lately.

There have not been any other changes reported in relation to the status of that temple's construction since my last update (which was also provided in the comments of a recent post), nor on any other temples under construction, undergoing renovation, or any announced temples. But I will continue to monitor all such developments, along with the latest Church news, and bring you word of those things here (through either new posts or comments on existing posts) as I receive word of them.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Current Apostolic Statistics: Part Two—Updated Ages, Averages & Apostolic Nonagenarians

Hello again, everyone! I am back again now with the second part of this apostolic update, in which we will move on to talk specifics regarding the long-form and decimal ages of our current apostles, which will also include updated information on the average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the 15 apostles as a group, and current and future nonagenarians.

So let’s get right into all of that. Again, all data is current as of today (Sunday January 27, 2019). Since my last update, Elder Gong has celebrated his 65^th birthday (which occurred one week after my last update) and Elder Christofferson has marked his 74^th (which, as noted previously, happened 3 days ago). Elder Rasband’s 68^th birthday will occur 10 days from now, and the next apostolic birthday (President Henry B. Eyring’s 86^th) will not occur until the last day in May. By that time, two more of these updates will have been posted on this blog, and another such update will follow 2 days after President Eyring’s birthday.

With that noted, we now move on to some exact figures about the ages (and average ages) of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and all 15 apostles as a group. In the Church’s leading Quorum, President Nelson is, as noted towards the end of my previous post, 94 years, 4 months, and 18 days old, which results in a decimal age of 94.38 years. His First Counselor, President Oaks, is now 86 years, 5 months, and 15 days old, or 86.46 years. President Eyring is now 85 years, 7 months, and 27 days old, which is 85.66 in decimal years.

 

The First Presidency thus now has a combined 266.5 years of life experience, which results in an average age for each man of 88.83 years. President Nelson remains 5.55 years older than that average, with President Oaks closest to it (as he remains 2.37 years younger than that average), which means that President Eyring remains 3.17 years below it. Unless there is something of which we are not aware in relation to the health of any of these Brethren, they will continue to set new records for the oldest-serving First Presidency in Church history for the foreseeable future.

Next, let’s turn our attention to the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Ballard’s long-form age now sits at 90 years, 3 months, and 19 days, or 90.30 years. Elder Holland now has a long-form age of 78 years 1 months, and 24 days, with a resulting 78.15 decimal years. Elder Uchtdorf (who is a mere 27 days older than his senior apostolic seatmate) age now stands at 78 years, 2 month, and 21 days old, which works out to 78.22 years.

Elder Bednar has now reached the full age of 66 years, 7 months, and 12 days, which works out to 66.62 decimal years. Elder Cook, the last and oldest of the 3 apostles born in 1940, has a long-form 78 years, 4 months, and 19 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 78.39 years. Elder Christofferson, whose birthday was, as previously noted, just 3 days ago, has now reached the age of 74 years and 3 days old, making his decimal age 74.01 years.

Elder Andersen, who will be marking a decade in the apostleship this April, is now 67 years, 5 months, and 18 days, and his decimal age is 67.47 years. Elder Rasband, who will be observing his birthday in 10 days, as I previously mentioned, is now 67 years, 11 months, and 21 days, or 67.97 years. Elder Stevenson, at exactly 4.5 years younger than Elder Rasband (as both were born on the 6^th), has a long-form age of 63 years, 5 months, and 21 days old, or 63.48 in decimal years.

We move on now the final 3 apostles. Elder Renlund has now reached the exact age of 66 years, 2 months, and 14 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 66.21 years. Elder Gong, the one other apostle who has had his birthday since my last update, has a long-form age of 65 years, 1 month, and 4 days, which works out to 65.09 in decimal years. As for Elder Soares, he is now 60 years, 3 months, and 25 days old, which is a resulting 60.32 decimal years.

           

With those numbers in mind, the 12 Quorum members now have a cumulative 856.24 years of life experience, which is a resulting average of 71.35 years per member. Elders Christofferson and Rasband are respectively above and below that average, with the former now being 2.66 years older, and the latter remaining 3.38 years younger. Based on the information I provided earlier about the members of the First Presidency, the entire body of apostles now have a combined 1,122.74 years of life experience, which is an average of 74.85 years. Elder Holland is older than that average by 3.3 years, while Elder Christofferson remains 0.84 years younger.

           

We now move on to the nonagenarians. President Nelson remains the seventh oldest apostle in Church history, and is set to move up to the seventh spot on July 5 of next year. In the meantime, President Ballard’s next nonagenarian milestone will not be observed until after my next update. The exact date on which that will occur is Wednesday February 20, 2019. For the other apostles, President Oaks will join that list 3 years, 6 months, and 15 days from today, while Elder Soares will do so in 29 years, 8 months, and 5 days, with the other apostles doing so at other various intervals, which will be detailed more fully as they approach.

I hope that many of you found this information to be interesting, informative, and accurate. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.

Current Apostolic Statistics: Part One—Updated Data for President Oaks, President Nelson, and Longest-Serving Apostolic Groups

Hello again, everyone! While I continue to welcome comments on any previous posts (particularly any feedback any of you have on my April 2019 General Conference predictions or the latest posts on other subjects), it is time once again to bring you all updated information on the latest apostolic statistics. This data will again be published in two posts. While I hope most of you will find this information interesting and enlightening, there may be some of you who are not interested in the data I will present. Consequently, I will not in any way be offended or bothered if any of you skip over this post and the next one.

The last time I provided such an update was 6 weeks ago, on Sunday December 16. Given that today is Sunday January 27, this will be my first such update for this year. Just a quick side-note here: Sharing these updates every 6 weeks has become somewhat of a tradition on this blog, one which I hope to continue for the foreseeable future. With that in mind, I will plan to post my next update relating to this data on Sunday March 10. As usual, all data is current as of today. That said, there have been some very significant changes relating to such information since my last such update, so let’s get right into all of that.

We will first look at President Dallin H. Oaks’ tenure as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, then turn our attention to where Church President Russell M. Nelson stands among the 16 previous Church Presidents in terms of his age and tenure length. That will be followed by some observations about the tenure lengths of our current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and all currently-living ordained apostles as a group. The more specific data about upcoming apostolic birthdays, the long-form and decimal ages of our 15 current apostles, and details about nonagenarians will then follow in a second post.

President Oaks has now served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for a period of 1 year and 13 days, and he has not moved up among the other Quorum Presidents since my last update. As noted previously, he will only be observing his next milestone on that list in April 2019. To put that into perspective in terms of these updates, if I continue to provide them every six weeks, there will be one more update of this kind before that milestone is reached. He will then observe two additional milestones two days apart in July, followed by one each in November and December of next year. More specific details on those milestones will be forthcoming closer to the time.

 

As mentioned previously, the length of President Oaks’ service will depend not only on his health and life length, but, of course, the health and life length of President Nelson will factor into that as well. Insofar as I am aware, not one of our 15 current apostles is having any health-related issues at the present time. That said, the health of our apostles is something else I am monitoring, and I will be sure to bring updates about that to you all as I become aware of them.

Shifting our focus now to President Nelson, since he was ordained and set apart as Church President on the same day he set apart President Oaks as Quorum President, his tenure has spanned 1 year and 13 days as well. He is also now 94 years, 4 months, and 18 days old. He will observe both his second tenure-length and his first age-length milestone two days apart in July of 2019, with subsequent milestones more spread out in the years following that. And again, I will be detailing those more specifically closer to the time when they will be reached.

In the meantime, as also noted previously, the current First Presidency will only be joining the list of longest continuously serving First Presidencies in Church history on Saturday April 20, 2024, so I will be outlining their future milestones on that list closer to the time.  As for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the current members will mark 3 years together on March 31, 2021, at which point they will join the list of the longest-serving Quorums of the Twelve Apostles in Church history. I will likewise be providing updates on those future milestones closer to that time.

Interestingly enough, less than two months prior to that, the 15 apostles will make the list of the longest-serving such group (the exact date is February 8, 2021). With that said, I want to conclude this portion of the update. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time.

If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post (which will be the second half of this update that published here within the next few minutes), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: St. George Utah Temple to Close in November

Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news was reported earlier this morning, but due to some ongoing health issues, I was not able to report it before now. The First Presidency has announced that the St. George Utah Temple will be closing for extensive renovations on November 4 of this year. These will mostly be seismic and systemic updates, with exterior and interior refreshments being planned. The renovation process is anticipated to conclude for that temple at some point in 2022, and, based on the fact that this is an older temple, I am estimating that process will take almost a full three years to complete, which puts that general estimate at mid-to-late 2022.

The St. George Temple, as I have mentioned previously, holds a place close to my heart. St. George is where my dad grew up, and both his parents and my parents were married there. There was a short period of time in my years growing up where I said that when I got married, I would want it to be in that temple as well, but that was before I had the opportunity to serve at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple, which truly became "my temple" when I met the woman I would later marry there.

The Church News has also produced this article about the anticipated process. I would just add that the St. George Utah Temple was originally privately dedicated in January 1877 by Wilford Woodruff, Erastus Snow, and Brigham Young, then publicly dedicated in April of that same year by Daniel H. Wells, who was a counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency by that time. The temple was subsequently rededicated in November 1975 by Spencer W. Kimball following its' first renovation.

Because it has been previously renovated, I am not ruling out the prospect that this temple could be completed sooner than I have estimated here. But I know that for older temples, even those previously renovated, new processes have almost always taken longer than anticipated, so I have felt it best to be more conservative in my estimates in this regard.

I am also anticipating that this is only the first temple renovation we will hear about this year, and that some of the temples closing for renovation later this year may have that scheduled to occur prior to the closure of the St. George Temple. This whole scenario will be something to watch for sure, and I will bring you word of any developments I hear of ASAP.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one oof you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.