BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Groundbreaking Held for Pocatello Idaho Temple

Hello again, everyone! I am pleased to be able to bring you news that the groundbreaking for the Pocatello Idaho Temple took place this morning as planned. Elder Wilford W. Andersen, who serves as president of the Church's Idaho & North America Central Areas, presided at this groundbreaking, accompanied by his counselors, Elders S. Gifford Nielsen and Brian K. Taylor. The size of this temple has been compared in size to some other temples, including the Meridian Idaho Temple that was dedicated roughly 16 months ago.

Construction of this temple is anticipated to take between 2-3 years to complete. Having noted that, I wanted to pass along some other temple information as well. A few of the sources I have available for some of the things I have passed along on this blog have revisited their thoughts about the time-frames for the completion of each of the three temples that are now considered to be in a "Construction pending" status. Particularly, those sources list the completion estimates for both the Pocatello Idaho and Urdaneta Philippines Temples somewhere between late 2021 and early 2022, while pushing the estimated completion for the Bangkok Thailand Temple to sometime in 2022.

I mention these changes because, depending on other tidbits I can glean elsewhere, I may need to thoroughly revisit my recently-offered altered observations about the more specific time-frames for the completion of each of these temples. Stay tuned for more on that as I figure it all out. In the meantime, I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those you to all as I become aware of such updates.

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.

BREAKING NEWS: Church (and World) Invited to Celebrate President Nelson's 95th Birthday

Hello again, everyone! The Church's Newsroom shared this report earlier today noting that members of the Church (and friends of other faiths) worldwide are being invited to a celebration which will be held in honor of President Nelson's 95th birthday this year. 5-year milestone celebrations have traditionally been held for presidents of the Church for a while now. President Hinckley had a 90th birthday celebration, and also a 95th, and President Monson had one in honor of his 85th birthday in 2012.

This celebration will be historically significant for another reason, as this is the first time in Church history that the first major milestone birthday celebrated by a Church President since his ordination will be a 95th birthday. We have seen the first such celebrations for other Church Presidents occur at the 80th, 85th, or 90th, but never the 95th as that first birthday. I hope the wording of that last sentence makes sense to you all.

As has been somewhat traditional as well, the celebration will be held on Friday September 6, before President Nelson's actual birthday (which he will observe the following Monday). The special guests and other particulars and details about the celebration will be announced as those arrangements are made. And the news release in question features a quote from President Nelson's right-hand man, President Oaks.

I had thought that the Church would be having such a celebration for President Nelson in this milestone year, and it is wonderful to have that confirmed. I will be sure to do my level best to bring you all word of any additional details I hear on this, as well as any and all Church news and temple developments, ASAP after I receive word of such things.

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.

Additional Temple Updates Reported

Hello again, everyone! A number of new temple developments have been reported within the last 12 hours or less. So let's get right into talking about those. First, the last time we had an update on the Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire Temple was almost four months ago, on November 17, 2018, at which time we learned that construction poles were being installed. Today, a new report shows that the construction barrier has been erected around the temple site, which is a major step setting the stage for the construction of the temple to officially begin.

We turn now to a couple of the temples that have a groundbreaking scheduled. At the Pocatello Idaho Temple site, a groundbreaking tent has been set up in preparation for the groundbreaking ceremony, which, as we know, is scheduled to occur this upcoming Saturday March 16 at 11:00 AM.

Barring anything unexpected occurring, I would anticipate that construction will be able to begin for that temple within the week following the groundbreaking ceremony. In the meantime, surplus items from the Yigo Guam chapel are being sold today and tomorrow in order to clear that chapel out before it is demolished.

And I have one other update to report by way of progress on the Raleigh North Carolina Temple renovation process. That temple's latest status update still notes that stone cladding has been completed, but also provides new updates indicating that decorative fencing has been delivered, and that landscaping is underway.

Given the fact that 1 new temple will be dedicated and 1 temple currently undergoing renovation will be rededicated in June, I stand by my earlier offered assessment that the rededication of the Raleigh Temple will likely be announced within the next month or two, but set to occur at some point in August, following the conclusion of the annual July recess for the General Authorities.

Additionally, I should note that, because of the many unexpected temple-related announcements we have seen within the last several months, I am anticipating a few more of those in the not-too-distant future. I do continue to monitor any and all Church news in addition to all temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I receive it.

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.

Personal Update/Additional Church News and Temple Developments Reported

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to provide a brief personal update, along with sharing some additional Church news and some temple developments which have crossed my radar recently. First, the personal update. At a doctor's appointment towards the end of last month, my wife, my doctor, and I determined that I have received the maximum benefit I am going to get from the pain medication I have been on for over a decade. I am in the process of tapering off of that medication.

In the meantime, I am also in the process of making a switch with the medication I have been on for anxiety and depression, which has presented an additional challenge for me. But I also had a consult with another of my doctors yesterday, and we determined to go ahead with a procedure I have needed but have been avoiding. I have tentatively planned to have that same-day procedure done in mid-April. So my physical and mental health have been challenged recently with all of that going on.

And for that reason, I wanted to again throw out an apology to any of you (especially first-time or recently-returning readers) if what I have said or the way I have said it has come across as abrupt, rude, or with a seeming lack of compassion, tact, understanding, or courtesy. It will be rough going for me for a while with that going on, but my blogging has provided a source of release for the many stresses I am currently under, and my enthusiasm for reporting the subject matter I have continued to cover on this blog is as strong as it ever has been.

Having indulged that personal moment, I'd like to move on to cover recent temple updates and Church news that has been reported. Today marks both the final day for the Rome Italy Temple dedication, and the first day of public tours for the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple. I have mentioned before my theory that President Nelson could (and likely will) head out on another leg of his Global Ministry Tour within the week following General Conference next month, and that this temple dedication could mark either the start, mid-point, or conclusion of that tour.

In the meantime, a report has come in demonstrating that demolition is underway on the Trujillo Alto Ward chapel, as the Church prepares the ground on which it stands for a new meetinghouse that will be adjacent to the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple, which is 1 of the 3 temples set to have a groundbreaking on Saturday May 4. It is wonderful to see the day-to-day milestones of temple construction progress which have been occurring of late.

Turning in conclusion to Church news items, more articles and coverage have been provided for the Rome Italy Temple, including more videos, a copy of the dedicatory prayer, and some additional context into the circumstances leading up to the Rome Italy Temple dedication which has been held over the last 4-5 days. The Church has released a look at the Kinshasa temple in pictures, biographies of more newly-called mission presidents, and some suggestions from the Sunday School General Presidency about how to effectively teach from General Conference messages (which is the prescribed curriculum for Priesthood and Relief Society on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month). Catch those articles via the Church News website.

And more coverage of the Rome Italy Temple, the Kinshasa open house, and other developments can be found on the Church's official Newsroom, which includes the release of a new video featuring the apostles in reverse seniority order reading portions of the Living Christ. As most of you may recall, that document was released by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve in 2000, in honor of the birth of the Savior "two millenia ago".

The most significant thing about that (aside from prophets, seers, and revelators quoting such scripture as if it were their own words) was that only 5 of the apostles who originally signed that joint apostolic testimony are still living. In the almost-2-decades that have passed between then and now, the apostolic Quorums have seen a 66.667% turnover. I am not sure how that compares in terms of other 20-year periods, but it is significant enough a circumstance to bear mentioning here.

I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments, and will do my level best to keep bringing word of such things to you as I become aware of it. 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.

Additional News Reported Relating to the Rome Italy Temple Dedication

Hello again, everyone! Some additional news has been reported from Rome Italy as the dedication of that temple continues. All living apostles gathered in Rome for the dedicatory events gathered for a set of historic photographs. Two of those photos show the entire First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, one in their white temple suits, and the other in their "street clothes". As some of you may be aware, it has been a tradition of sorts for the Church to feature new separate photographs for the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles anytime there is a change in either of those leading Quorums of the Church. But this is the first time in around 2 decades or so where a photo was taken with all of the apostles together.

There is even more significance in this development, however. For the first time of which I am aware, a group photograph was also taken featuring almost all of the wives of the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The only one missing from that photo was Sister Kathleen J. Eyring, wife of President Henry B. Eyring. As President Eyring mentioned in his address during the last General Conference, his wife is dealing with some significant health issues incident to her age, so she has not been actively able to accompany him to such occasions and assignments for the last several years.

But there is even more significance involved in these developments: In this article from the Church News, a quote from President Nelson emphasizes that the Lord inspired him to gather all of his apostolic colleagues in Rome for this dedication, and he apparently met with each of them individually to extend that invitation personally. It is very wonderful to know that we have a prophet who is not hesitant at all to highlight exactly how much of his actions and decisions have been inspired by the Lord.

As BYU students were told in 1980 by then-Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, one of Fourteen Fundamentals relating to following the prophet is that the prophet does not need to say "thus saith the Lord" to give us modern scripture or instructions that the Lord has inspired him to give. But we have a prophet who is absolutely fearless in declaring how much of what he does in his ministry has been directed by the Lord.

All of the articles I have cited so far are well worthy of your time. But in addition to that, President Nelson's wife, Sister Wendy W. Nelson, took time while in Rome with her husband to share her testimony and firsthand witness of the foreordination and divinely-inspired calling of her husband as the Prophet of the Lord and President of the Church. One thing she mentioned is that her husband's practice of writing down many instructions from the Lord has accelerated and not slowed at all in the last year. She also again referred to his willingness to be innovative, and to do things differently, in view of the ultimate goal is making the Church run more effectively in every way.

And so history continues to be made in Rome, most notably because today marked the first time in around a decade or so that a temple dedication has been scheduled to be longer than a single day. Dedicatory services will have wrapped up by this time tomorrow in Utah time. And more reports will be provided about this temple's dedication within the next 36 hours or so. I will monitor such developments and pass word of them along to you all as I receive it.

In the meantime, I wanted to pass along a couple more new temple updates before I conclude here. First, with the time in Kinshasa now being just after 8:30 PM, the Church has wrapped up VIP/Media tours for the first temple in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In around 12-13 hours, that temple will be open to the public for an 18-day period, until March 30, with the exclusion of the relevant Sundays. As previously mentioned, that temple will be dedicated the Sunday following General Conference, and I anticipate that event could somehow coincide with another leg of President Nelson's ongoing Global Ministry Tour.

Another update has been reported relating to the Durban South Africa Temple, where efforts are underway to clad the baptismal font in marble, and where ceiling and tiling work continues. On the grounds of the temple, walkways are being poured, and the walls of the water feature are being prepared for their installation. Meanwhile, at the Raleigh North Carolina Temple, stone cladding has been completed.

I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments, and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. 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.