Temple Updates Provided/Some Additional Thoughts on Temple Construction

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to bring you all a couple of temple updates which have crossed my radar recently. I wanted to first mention that, AFAIK, there is no word yet on who will preside at the Rome Italy Temple dedication. I could see President Nelson doing so (whether or not attendance at the dedication is rotated among the apostles), perhaps as part of another leg of his Global Ministry Tour.

With that said, it appears that the work of painting and refreshing the buildings at the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple site has concluded, and now, all buildings (especially the temple) are being made ready for the public open house. As I noted elsewhere recently, that open house will begin on the last day of the dedicatory services for the Rome Italy Temple (Tuesday March 12) and will continue for 18 days following that (concluding on the second-to-last day of March).

In the meantime, the other major temple update I have is for the Frankfurt Germany Temple. It has been a while since we saw an update reported on that temple, so it is good to finally get one today. Latest information indicates that an accessibility ramp is being built, while work continues on installing irrigation lines and planting trees and shrubs on the temple grounds. It will be interesting to see what happens with the scheduling, course, and timing of temple events held during mid-to-late 2019.

Right now, during the four months or so between the beginning of July and the end of October or so, the Durban South Africa and Lisbon Portugal Temples are anticipated to be dedicated, and rededications are anticipated to be held for the Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples (which, given recent precedent, may be one-session private events), while a public open house and dedication are anticipated to be announced at some point for the Frankfurt Germany Temple (and I also anticipate that Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, our native German apostle, will be sent to preside at that rededication whenever it occurs).

Each of those events may well be interchangeable in terms of the specific timing within which they might occur. Not long after these temples are dedicated or rededicated, the dedication of the Arequipa Peru Temple is also anticipated to occur before the end of this year. And the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple might possibly be dedicated by the end of this year, or in the early part of next year, with the same being true for the rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple.

Either way, just in terms of dedications or rededications, the rest of this year will be exciting. And if, as I have conjectured in my previous post, groundbreakings are held for a minimum of 5-7 other temples before the end of this year, then the Church will indeed be well on track with temple construction to a degree that several more temples could (and likely will) be announced in both April and October of this year and at least the next couple of years as well.

It will be interesting to see what happens for the Church's temple construction program within the remaining 10 months or so of 2019, and whatever might occur in that regard, I will be sure to bring you all word of those developments (along with any major Church news) as I become aware 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.

Revised Groundbreaking Anticipated and Announced Sections of My Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! In the early morning hours of this Sunday February 17, 2019, having provided background in the last post on the revisions I have made to the "Groundbreaking anticipated" and "Announced" sections of my temple construction progress report, it is now time for me to actually share those two sections in question. As I mentioned just a few moments ago, there are 16 temples about which I now feel I have enough information to venture a groundbreaking estimate before the end of next year.

The remaining 8 may be more spread out, with the last of that group possibly having a groundbreaking within the first half of 2022, and depending on what we learn within the next little while about the future of the temple-building program of the Church, there could even be a few temples announced between now and then that could go on to a groundbreaking before the last of those temples (which I currently believe will be the one in Russia) has its' groundbreaking. It would be awesome if all of the currently announced temples have a groundbreaking prior to that period of time, but it will be interesting to see what happens between now and then.

Given the fact that 6 temples in total will have had their groundbreakings by the time May 4 ends here in Utah, and given all that I have heard about President Nelson's plans so far, it would not shock me if any or all of these temples were to have a groundbreaking sooner than indicated below. The Lord and His prophet have surprised me previously, and will likely continue to do so. With that said, the two new sections, in the order mentioned at the beginning of this post, are featured below.

In order to not 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.

Groundbreaking anticipated:

178. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple: Government approval phase; awaiting official site confirmation and release of artist’s rendering; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2019.

179. Brasilia Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; property fence installed around temple site; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

180. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Existing institute building and meetinghouse closed on January 27, 2019 in preparation for demolition; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

181. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name announcement; groundbreaking could occur late 2019.

182. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; President Nelson visited potential site on April 17, 2018; groundbreaking anticipated in late 2019.

183. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; media event held June 14, 2017; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

184. Layton Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

185. Puebla Mexico Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

186. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

187. Richmond Virginia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

188. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

Note: In mid-February 2019, the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site noted that, while official confirmation of the location is pending, a site has been acquired by the Church for this temple, which makes it likely that a groundbreaking could occur within the next year or less, if not much sooner than that.

189. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

190. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

191. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; announced April 1, 2018; awaiting official site announcement; President Nelson toured potential locations on April 19, 2018; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2020.

192. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2020.

193. Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020.

Announced Temples (for which sufficient information has me confident enough to venture a general groundbreaking estimate):

194. Salvador Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2020-early 2021.

195. Lagos Nigeria Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2021.

196. Davao Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2021.

197. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2021.

198. Washington County Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site) announcement; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2021.

199. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2021.

200. Yuba City, California Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2021-early 2022.

201. Russia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city and site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2022.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Land Acquired for Quito Ecuador Temple/General Observations About Announced Temples

Hello again, everyone! I have breaking temple news to report, which I will get to in just a minute, but first, I wanted to pass along a personal update: I have taken time today to once again reevaluate the layout of this blog, and decided to tweak a few settings, which included doing some degree of optimization for those who read my blog on mobile devices. My hope in making these adjustments is to make the blog more user-friendly, with a goal to (hopefully) increase the revenue I get from running the ads on this blog. To achieve that end, I would appreciate hearing from any of you about whether these changes made a difference in the look and feel of your experiences as readers of this blog

One last note before I detail the news I have: I have conclusively verified that the Rome Italy Temple open house has officially ended. I say that because it is now roughly 7:20 AM Rome Italy time. That said, the update I have was unexpected but certainly welcome: Information found on the Quito Ecuador Temple page earlier today indicates that a site has been procured by the Church for that temple.

Until the First Presidency confirms that the site in question will be used for that temple, this is unofficial information. But it means that the Quito Ecuador Temple could be closer to a groundbreaking than I thought as recently as 8 days ago, when I last posted adjustments to my estimates for future temple groundbreakings. As a result, I have expanded my list of temples which seem to be in a "Groundbreaking anticipated" status.

That process involved weighing what I knew (including whether any of them had a potential or definitive site identified and anything I have heard from local members or other sources who are familiar with the situation of these temples) against what is unknown (based on how soon there might be a site identified or confirmed, and on any surprising developments which are possible to occur), and adapted my list accordingly.

One other note: with 4 additional groundbreaking ceremonies set to occur by the end of the first Saturday in May local time, there are only 24 temples remaining for which a groundbreaking has not been announced. With that in mind, the "Groundbreaking anticipated" section of my report now includes 16 announced temples, for all of which I am predicting a groundbreaking between now and the end of next year. And that leaves only 8 more temples for which I need more information before projecting a closer estimate for a groundbreaking ceremony.

If I am anywhere near correct in my theories as presented in both sections, then it appears likely that all temples which were announced by the end of 2018 could have a groundbreaking ceremony set to occur within the next 3.5 years, if not sooner. With that and all that has been said about President Nelson's temple-building intentions in mind, I have no doubt that, however long it takes to clear the current queue of announced temples, many others will have been announced.

And due to what I know now, I am more convinced than ever that President Nelson will almost certainly detail his plans and announce several new temples next April. But I am additionally and entirely sure that President Nelson will keep announcing new temples in General Conference for the foreseeable future, with each year marking an increased total number of temples announced than the year before. I have personally felt that the number of temples that will be announced this year could even be double or triple the 19 total we saw announced last year (which would be somewhere between 38 and 57 total for 2019).

But if Elder Cook's recent statement to the effect that a ten-fold increase in the number of temples is the approximate endgame is anywhere near correct, then it may be anyone's guess how many temples will be announced this year and in the years to come. Either way, if the revisions I have made prove to be anywhere close to what will actually occur, then the next 3.5 years and the years following that could be twice or 3 times more full of temple developments than we saw during the Hinckley-boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

I had originally planned to end this post with the updates I have made to the two relevant and recently-reorganized sections of my temple construction progress report, but since I wanted to provide further insight and commentary on that, I will do it in a new post in just a few minutes. So 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.

Updated List of Potential Changes in Church Leadership & 2018 Year-End Statistics for the April 2019 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! I continue to work as I can on the edits to my list of prospective temple locations that may be announced during the April 2019 General Conference. In the meantime, I wanted to post again now to pass along updates I have made to the potential changes in Church leadership and my reworked  guesstimates for the 2018 Year-End Church statistics, which will be published on the Church's website immediately after the Saturday Afternoon Session of General Conference.

Those updates follow below. So as to not 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.

Predictions for Changes in Church Leadership

Presidency of the Seventy: Any changes effective August 1 sustained in advance.[i] Result:

General Authority Seventies: New General Authorities sustained from among the Area Seventies or the Church at large (including any current mission or temple president)[ii]; Elder Steven E. Snow released as Church Historian and Recorder, with a new Church Historian and Recorder called from among the current or newly-called General Authority Seventies[iii]. Result:

Area Seventies: Some area seventies released, others called[iv]. The following area seventies may be released for the following reasons: Called as mission presidents: Aley K. Auna, Walter Chatora, J. Kevin Ence, Jose L. Isaguierre,  Bryan R. Larsen, W. Jean-Pierre Lono, Khumbulani Mdletshe, Hoi Seng Leonard Woo Longest-tenured: Kevin J Worthen (sustained in April 2010; is serving as BYU-Provo President; if he is released, he may be sustained as General Authority Seventy) Result:

Sunday School General Presidency: Tad R. Callister, Devin G. Durrant, and Brian K. Ashton released, new Sunday School General Presidency called[v]. Result:

Additional note: Reid L. Neilson, who has been serving as Church historian and recorder and is not a General Authority, will likely be released from that assignment, since he has been called as a mission president as well. As far as I know, he was never sustained in that position, so his release may or may not be presented.

2018 Statistical Report (corrected figures in parentheses)[vi]

Stakes	3,383
Missions	407
Districts	550
Wards & Branches	30,710
Total Church Membership	16,385,309
Increase in Children of Record	104,150
Converts Baptized	228,987
Full-Time Missionaries	64,543
Church Service Missionaries	30,339
Temples Dedicated during 2018 (Concepcion Chile, Barranquilla Colombia)	2
Temples Rededicated during 2018 (Houston Texas, Jordan River Utah)	2
Temples in Operation by the end of 2018	161

---

[i]Last April, two immediate changes (as a result of two members of the Presidency of the Seventy having been called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) were presented for sustaining vote, along with an advanced sustaining of 3 other changes that would go into effect on August 1 of last year. If any changes are planned for August 1 of this year, those will be sustained in advance as well. While such changes might be hard to anticipate, the only one for which I see a need in the near future is the release of Elder L. Whitney Clayton, who currently serves as Senior President of the Seventy, and he may retain that assignment until August of next year, since he is likely to be granted emeritus status in October 2020, by which time he will be 70.

[ii]It is traditional for new General Authority Seventies to be sustained each April, so I would anticipate that occurring for this General Conference.

[iii]Elder Steven E. Snow, who has served as Church Historian and Recorder since 2012, will be 70 in November 2019, so the Church will likely sustain a current or new General Authority in that assignment to succeed him.

[iv] Although there have been exceptions in recent years, April General Conference has generally seen a large number of area seventies called, and a few released, especially if any of the new General Authorities are currently serving as area seventies. I am anticipating the same will be true for this General Conference.

[v]Brothers Callister and Durrant have served together in the Sunday School General Presidency since April 2014, and Brother Ashton joined this presidency in June 2015. For the most part within the last couple of decades, the Church has generally released each general auxiliary presidency 5 years after they were sustained, I would anticipate that a new presidency will be called, which may be comprised of either or both of the current counselors, members of the current Sunday School General Board, members of the current Young Men General Presidency or General Board, area seventies, or the Church at large.

[vi]As per the tradition established in the April 2018 General Conference, the Statistical Report will not be read out loud during the Saturday Afternoon Session, but will instead be published on the Church website directly after that session.

BREAKING NEWS: Changes In Communication Between Missionaries and Their Families

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency today announced adjustments to the protocol whereby missionaries can contact their family members. Previously, missionaries could only speak directly to their families via phone or video chat on Mothers' Day and Christmas Day. The announcement notes that missionaries will now be permitted to have such contact opportunities with their families once weekly on their preparation day. This adjustment will allow families to have a more active part in the details (including successes and challenges) of their missionaries' labor.

Also released on the Newsroom was the official notice from the Missionary Department. While missionaries are the ones that should initiate these additional contact opportunities, the families of missionaries can reach out to their elders and sisters directly as needed with the approval of the mission president. The Church News featured an article on this development, which included several quotes relating to the change from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who chairs the Missionary Executive Council.

And Church members responded to these adjustments on Twitter. Some who had served missions in the past noted that they wished this had been an option while they were serving, while others said they were glad this adjustment wasn't made during their service, since it might have been more of a distraction for them from their labor.

But the announcement clarifies that with this change, missionaries should be considerate of their companions, and that family members should be considerate of their missionary's time. All indications point to the idea that this adjustment will enable families to have more of an active role and impact in the lives of their missionaries serving around the world.

It is awesome for me to see the way the Church has been balancing announcements about the missionary program with temple-related news and announcements and coverage of the ongoing ministry of our apostles. And it is amazing to realize that having a very healthy and vigorous Church President representing the Lord in conveying His will to the Church has enabled these changes to occur at a much larger scale than we have seen within the last 15 months versus what we saw in the 3-5 years prior to 2018.

I do continue to monitor all such developments, and will bring word of those to you all here as I receive word of them, either through new posts (for breaking or more significant developments like this one) or through comments on existing posts on this blog. 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.

List of Temples Which May Get a New President During 2019

Hello again, everyone! On this Valentines' Day, I wanted to post now my recently-completed list for this blog, which I have been working on for the last few days. The list contains those temples for which I see sufficient reason to believe a new president will be announced at some point during this year. The 2019 list includes 4 new temples which are anticipated to be dedicated within the next 12-15 months (either before the end of this year or at some point next year), along with 63 currently-operating temples for which the presidents have served a minimum of 3 years (with a few that have been serving longer than that.)

The 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.

The first presidents will likely be announced for the following new temples:

1.      Arequipa Peru

2.      Rio de Janeiro Brazil

3.      Winnipeg Manitoba

4.      Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire

List of currently-operating temples which may be getting a new president in 2019:

1.      Aba Nigeria

2.      Anchorage Alaska

3.      Birmingham Alabama

4.      Campinas Brazil

5.      Chicago Illinois

6.      Ciudad Juarez Mexico

7.      Cochabamba Bolivia

8.      Columbia River Washington

9.      Columbus Ohio

10.  Copenhagen Denmark

11.  Curitiba Brazil

12.  Dallas Texas

13.  Detroit Michigan

14.  Fort Collins Colorado

15.  Fresno California

16.  Gilbert Arizona

17.  Guadalajara Mexico

18.  Halifax Nova Scotia

19.  Hamilton New Zealand (Note: It is possible that the Church could hold off on calling a new president for this temple until its’ rededication is held in 2021)

20.  Hartford Connecticut

21.  Hong Kong China (Note: It is possible that the Church could hold off on calling a new president for this temple until its’ rededication in 2021 or 2022)

22.  Idaho Falls Idaho (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)

23.  Johannesburg South Africa

24.  Jordan River Utah (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)

25.  Kyiv Ukraine

26.  Lima Peru

27.  London England

28.  Manhattan New York

29.  Medford Oregon

30.  Melbourne Australia

31.  Memphis Tennessee (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)

32.  Mexico City Mexico

33.  Monterrey Mexico

34.  Montreal Quebec

35.  Merida Mexico

36.  Nashville Tennessee

37.  Nauvoo Illinois

38.  Nuku’alofa Tonga

39.  Oklahoma City Oklahoma (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)

40.  Orlando Florida

41.  Panama City Panama

42.  Perth Australia

43.  Philadelphia Pennsylvania

44.  Portland Oregon

45.  Provo Utah

46.  Raleigh North Carolina (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)

47.  Reno Nevada

48.  Rexburg Idaho

49.  Santiago Chile

50.  Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

51.  Sapporo Japan

52.  Seattle Washington

53.  Seoul Korea

54.  Spokane Washington

55.  St. George Utah (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)

56.  St. Paul Minnesota

57.  Star Valley Wyoming

58.  Tampico Mexico

59.  Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico

60.  Twin Falls Idaho

61.  Veracruz Mexico

62.  Washington D.C. (Note: Since the current president of this temple had his service interrupted by its’ renovation, the Church could hold off another year or two on replacing him.)

63.  Winter Quarters Nebraska

Temples Which Will Close for an Extended Period of Time During 2019

Hello again, everyone! I just did some research on the subject of temples which have closed/will close at some point in 2019 for an extended period of time, and I wanted to present the results of that research here. The list of temples and the relevant periods and lengths of time for those closures follows below. So as to not 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.

Temples which will close for an extended period of time (rather than a renovation) in 2019:

Calgary Alberta: Tuesday April 16-Monday November 4 (roughly 29 weeks)

Los Angeles California: Tuesday June 25-Monday September 30 (roughly 14 weeks)

Manhattan New York: Tuesday July 23-Monday October 28 (roughly 14 weeks)

Denver Colorado: Tuesday July 2-Monday September 23 (roughly 12 weeks)

Chicago Illinois: Sunday June 23-Monday September 2 (roughly 10 weeks)

Aba Nigeria: Monday August 26-Monday November 4 (10 weeks)

Accra Ghana: Monday September 2-Thursday October 31 (8.5 weeks)

Panama City Panama: Monday, February 18, 2019-Monday, April 15, 2019 (roughly 8 weeks)

Provo Utah: Monday July 1-Monday August 12 (6 weeks)

San Diego California: Monday September 30-Monday November 11 (6 weeks)

Cochabamba Bolivia: Tuesday April 9-Monday May 20 (roughly 6 weeks)

Columbia South Carolina: Tuesday September 10-Monday October 21 (roughly 6 weeks)

Dallas Texas: Tuesday October 1-Monday November 11 (roughly 6 weeks)

London England: Tuesday August 6-Monday September 16 (roughly 6 weeks)

Medford Oregon: Tuesday July 23-Monday September 2 (roughly 6 weeks)

Taipei Taiwan: Tuesday September 17-Monday October 28 (roughly 6 weeks)

Albuquerque New Mexico: Tuesday October 1-Monday November 4 (roughly 5 weeks)

Las Vegas Nevada: Monday July 8-Monday August 5 (4 weeks)

Seattle Washington: Monday February 11-Monday March 11 (4 weeks)

Bismarck North Dakota: Tuesday August 20-Monday September 16 (roughly 4 weeks)

Porto Alegre Brazil: Tuesday July 2-Monday July 29 (roughly 4 weeks)

St. Louis Missouri: Tuesday, November 5, 2019-Monday, December 2, 2019 (roughly 4 weeks)

Sydney Australia: Tuesday, November 5, 2019-Monday, December 2, 2019 (roughly 4 weeks)

Trujillo Peru: Tuesday, September 17, 2019-Monday, October 14, 2019 (roughly 4 weeks)

Veracruz Mexico: Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - Monday, October 14, 2019 (roughly 4 weeks)

Updated Specific Estimates for Known Temple Events in the Near Future

Hello again, everyone! I have completed the process of updating my specific estimates for known temple events in the near future, so I wanted to post them here. They follow below. So as to not 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.

Specific Estimates for Known Temple Events in the Near Future

2019:

Sunday March 10-Tuesday March 12: Dedication of the Rome Italy Temple (162^nd operating temple; confirmed)

Note: The First Presidency announced the amended dedication dates for this temple on November 8, 2018. Given that this dedication will now be held over three days rather than the previously-announced 8-day period, there may be only 2-3 of our 15 apostles participating in this event. That said, it would not surprise me in any way if this dedication was either the start or conclusion of another leg of President Nelson’s ongoing Global Ministry Tour.

Saturday March 16: Groundbreaking for the Pocatello Idaho Temple (confirmed)

Note: On February 1, 2019, the First Presidency announced the groundbreaking information for this temple. Given that it will be similar in size to The Gila Valley Arizona temple, I am venturing a general completion estimate of mid-to-late 2022. As more is known about that process, I will make any necessary alterations to that estimate as they are needed.

Saturday & Sunday April 6 & 7: 189^th General Conference

Note: Because 19 temples were announced in 2018 (which may have been President Nelson’s way of starting slowly), and because one of his major focuses during his first year as Church President has been highlighting the importance of temples, I’m sure we will see several new temples announced during this General Conference.

Sunday April 14: Dedication of the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple (163^rd operating temple; confirmed)

Note: In view of the facts that the dedication of this temple will occur after the April General Conference, and that following the April 2018 General Conference, President Nelson began his Global Ministry Tour, I could see President Nelson doing another leg of his tour in conjunction with this temple’s dedication, whether that tour starts or ends with this dedication, or whether this dedication is held sometime in the mid-point of that tour.

Saturday May 4: Groundbreakings for the Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, and San Juan Puerto Rico Temples

Note: On January 12, 2019, the First Presidency released the artist’s rendering for the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple. Five days later (on January 17), the groundbreaking for this temple was announced to occur on this day in May. Elder Walter F. Gonzalez, president of the Church’s Caribbean Area, will preside at that ceremony. Then on February 1, 2019, the First Presidency released the artist’s rendering for the Yigo Guam Temple and announced that its’ groundbreaking ceremony would also occur on May 4. On February 8, 2019, the artist’s rendering for the Praia Cabo Verde Temple was released, and its’ groundbreaking was set to occur on May 4 as well. The time in Guam is ahead of that in Cabo Verde, which is ahead of the time in Puerto Rico, so I am listing them in that order. Since the construction for each of those temples is anticipated to take 2 years, I am estimating that all of them will be dedicated in early-to-mid 2021.

Sunday May 5: Private rededication of the Memphis Tennessee Temple (confirmed)

Note: On January 16, 2019, the First Presidency announced the private rededication of this temple would take place in a single session on this date, that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland would preside at the rededication, and that no open house or youth devotional would be held prior to this event.

Sunday May 19: Private rededication of the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple (confirmed)

Note: On January 16, 2019, the private rededication for the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple was also announced. President Henry B. Eyring will preside at the single-session rededication, which will not be preceded by an open house or youth devotional.

Sunday June 2: Dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple (165^th operating temple; confirmed)

Note: On January 10, 2018, the First Presidency announced this temple’s dedication. In an unusual (but not unexpected) move, that dedication has been scheduled to occur two weeks prior to the rededication of the Oakland California Temple. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a dedication has been set to occur prior to a rededication which has previously been announced. Usually, a temple’s rededication has been set to occur prior to a previously-announced temple dedication. As noted on other temples, President Nelson could preside at this event himself, or he could delegate one of his counselors or a senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to do so.

Sunday June 16: Rededication of the Oakland California Temple (confirmed)

Note: This temple’s rededication was announced on December 18, 2018. As noted above, the dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, announced almost a month later, has been set to occur before this temple’s rededication.

Monday July 8: Hong Kong China Temple Renovation Closure

Note: On January 30, 2019, the First Presidency announced the renovation closure for this temple, with the plans to be detailed more fully at a later time. I am anticipating that that process will take between 2-4 years.

August: Private rededications for the Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples

Note: Given the unexpected announcement of the private rededications for the Memphis Tennessee and Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temples (and the fact that both will be operating again before the General Authorities take their annual July recess), it is not hard to believe that both of these temples, which each seem to have their renovation processes on track, could have a rededication within the month following that recess. I am also anticipating that both rededications will be one-session private ceremonies presided over by any of the seven most senior apostles (Presidents Nelson, Oaks, Eyring, Ballard, or Elders Holland, Uchtdorf, or Bednar, all of whom have had experience in that regard).

Sunday September 1: Dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple (165^th operating temple; confirmed)

Note: On November 14, 2018, the First Presidency announced the open house and dedication information for this temple. Then, on January 18, 2019, the dedication was pushed back to this date in view of all that still needed to be done on the construction process.

Mid-to-late September: Dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple (166^th operating temple)

Note: If the construction of the Durban South Africa Temple continues on schedule, then it is not hard to believe that a dedication for it could occur before General Conference. In fact, if the construction process continues uninterrupted, then this temple’s dedication could occur sooner than suggested here.

Saturday & Sunday October 5 & 6: 189^th Semiannual General Conference:

Note: Depending on what is done by this time to clear the existing backlog of announced temples, it seems more likely than not that several new temples will be announced during this weekend.

Mid-October: Dedication of the Lisbon Portugal Temple (167^th operating temple)

Late October-early November: Rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple

Monday November 4: St. George Utah Temple Renovation Closure (confirmed)

Note: This temple’s renovation was announced on January 25, 2019. Given the fact that seismic and systemic updates are anticipated to occur, I have set a preliminary general completion estimate of mid-to-late 2022.

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

Note: The Arequipa temple has progressed swiftly. With that, and the recent shift of the time-frame for this event in mind, I have little to no doubt that we could see this dedication at this time.

December: Rededication of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple

Note: Though I had thought this temple would only be rededicated in early 2020, enough updates have been provided on it recently to leave me confident that this temple will be able to easily be rededicated before the end of this year, and that is even more true based on the fact that a new temple president has been called for this temple. Whether or not the dedication is public or private may remain to be seen.                   

Final note on 2019: Given what I have heard about 2019, it seems more likely than not that several temples will have a groundbreaking at some point during that year. As noted above, the groundbreakings have been confirmed for the Pocatello Idaho, Yigo Guam, and San Juan Puerto Rico Temples. I am also anticipating that a groundbreaking for the Saratoga Springs Utah, Lima Peru Los Olivos, and Brasilia Brazil Temples will be held in mid-2019. Additionally, based on what I know at the present time, I am keeping my eyes open for information on the Nairobi Kenya, Harare Zimbabwe, and Greater Manila Philippines Temples, most (if not all) of which could have a groundbreaking by the end of 2019. But given the fact that we unexpectedly saw a groundbreaking set for the San Juan and Yigo Temples, then that opens the prospect that perhaps other temples announced by President Nelson in 2018 could also have a groundbreaking if their smaller sizes can expedite the approval process.

2020:

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

Saturday & Sunday April 4 & 5: 190^th Annual General Conference

Note: Barring anything unexpected, I would anticipate several new temples being announced during this weekend.

Mid-to-late April: Rededication of the Tokyo Japan Temple

June or early-to-mid August: Dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple (170^th operating temple)

Saturday & Sunday October 3 & 4: 190^th Semiannual General Conference

Note: Temple announcements are always possible, so it is not hard to believe that a few could be announced during this General Conference.

Mid-October: Rededication of the Mesa Arizona Temple

Mid-November: Dedication of the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple (171^st operating temple)

Note: At the groundbreaking for this temple (which occurred on November 8, 2018), Elder Neil L. Andersen, who presided at this event and gave his remarks in French, noted that construction of the temple was anticipated to take around two years. For that reason, I am moving my previous estimate for this temple’s dedication up to this point.

Mid-December: Rededication of the Washington DC Temple

Final note on 2020: Some of the announced temples that will have a groundbreaking between now and the end of 2019 could potentially be dedicated during this year. And several other announced temples (I currently have 7 on my radar) could have a groundbreaking during 2020 as well.

2021:

Saturday & Sunday April 3 & 4: 191^st Annual General Conference

Note: Depending on what happens between now (early December 2018) and the dates for this General Conference, I could easily see several new temples announced.

Mid-March: Dedication of the Yigo Guam Temple (172^nd operating temple

Mid-to-late April: Dedication of the Praia Cabo Verde Temple (173^rd operating temple)

Late April-early May: Dedication of the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple (174^th operating temple)

Mid-to-late May: Rededication of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple

June: Dedication of the Urdaneta Philippines Temple (175^th operating temple)

Saturday & Sunday October 2 & 3: 191^st Semiannual General Conference

Note: I am hoping that by the time this particular General Conference weekend rolls around, the temple construction program of the Church will have progressed to the point where some temples will continue to be announced every six months.

Mid-November: Rededication of the Hong Kong China Temple

Note: This is just a projected estimate, based on what is currently known. As more information is revealed, this estimate could be pushed forward or back as needed.

Mid-December: Rededication of the St. George Utah Temple

Note: What I shared above about the probable timing of the rededication for the Hong Kong China Temple also applies here: As more information is made available, and as the renovation process proceeds, I will be sure to make any adjustments to this estimate that might be needed.

Final note on 2021: If, as anticipated, several more temples are announced in 2019 and 2020, and any which have not yet had a groundbreaking have that occur within that same time period, that in turn will multiply the number of known temple events which will likely occur in 2021 and the years beyond. As more is learned about future temple renovations, that will also have an impact on the number of future events.

2022:

Saturday & Sunday April 2 & 3: 192^nd Annual General Conference

Note: Since the face of the Church’s temple construction program will likely look entirely different by this time, I would anticipate the announcement of several new temples.

Mid-August: Dedication of the Pocatello Idaho Temple (176^th operating temple)

Saturday & Sunday October 1 & 2: 192^nd Semiannual General Conference

Note:  As noted above (for the 2022 April General Conference), by this time, it is more likely than not that the face of the Church’s temple construction program will be looking entirely different. With that in mind, it seems more likely than not that other temples could be announced during this General Conference.

Mid-November: Dedication of the Bangkok Thailand Temple (175^th operating temple)

Note: Because this temple is significantly larger than temples which have been built in recent years, delays in that construction process are more likely than not. It is also worth noting that the official number for this temple is almost certain to change as other temples have a groundbreaking and construction and are potentially completed before this one is.

Final note: As noted a few different times here, within the 3.9 years or so between now and the end of 2022, the face of the Church’s temple construction program will likely look very different. We currently have a Church President who has clearly prioritized bringing the temples to the people, and the fact that he announced 19 new temples within his first year as such verifies that beyond doubt. I also am equally certain he will do all he can to clear the existing backlog of announced temples. With that in mind, there will likely be many more temple events to add to this list in the future. I am committed to bringing updates in that regard to you all as I receive them.