Temple Updates Noted

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now to share some temple updates, many of which are long overdue. First, as of today, there are 10.99 years between now and the bicentennial anniversary of the restoration of the Church (which will, as previously noted, be observed on Saturday April 6, 2030). For the Church to have a minium of 200 temples operating by that time, 38 of those currently under construction or announced will need to be dedicated within that time, which could be accomplished as long as the Church completes roughly 3.44 temples per year.

Given that the dedication of the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple is set to be dedicated this weekend (with no indication yet as to who might be presiding thereover), and that 3 more temples will be dedicated over the course of the next 5.25 months or so, that average will likely have gone down quite a bit between now and the next General Conference. And the remainder of this year promises to be full of other temple-related events.

With that noted, let's move on to discuss some updates on temple construction. At the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple, palm trees are being planted, while irrigation lines are being laid for the flowerbeds, and curbing and walkways are also being poured. In the meantime, the Arequipa Peru Temple is anticipated to be the next new temple to have a dedication scheduled, and it has been reported that temporary glass and the south momument sign have both been installed, that sod has been laid, and that flowers, bushes, and trees have been planted.

At the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple, cladding is going up around the steeple pedestal. And an update on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple notes that structural steel framing is underway. while wood framing continues for the meetinghouse. And moving on to temples which had a groundbreaking earlier this year, at the Pocatello Idaho Temple site, excavation is underway on the foundation, while the process of connecting to utilities continues. Meanwhile, footing and foundation work is underway at the Urdaneta Philippines Temple site.

And it has also been reported that the demolition process for the Trujillo Alto Ward chapel has been completed. As a result, the site of the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple has been cleared for its; groundbreaking. We move on now to temples undergiong renovation. The one-week open house for the Memphis Tennessee Temple begins this Saturday. And at the Frankfurt Germany Temple grounds, trees and shrubs are being planted, while a staircase is being poured to the temple entrance.

Progress has likewise been noted on both the Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples. Regarding the former, hard landscaping elements continue to be installed, which includes planter boxes and walkways. And in relation to the latter, new information indicates that the monument sign has been completed, that lamp-posts are being installed, and that the work of cladding the exterior walls in nearing completion.

As previously noted, I have also put the Salt Lake Temple down on my report as a temple for which a renovation announcement has been scheduled. I have additionally taken time between the conclusion of General Conference and now to revisit my thoughts about temples which I consider to be in a "Groundbreaking anticipated" status, and have added the 8 new temples to the "Announced" section of my temple construction progress report. There were numerous changes involved in that process, so I will conclude this post by publishing the updated version of those two sections.

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:

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

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

182. Richmond Virginia Temple: Preliminary plans submitted to local government; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

Note: On March 27, 2019, new information on this temple indicated that plans had been submitted, but also the location where the plans will be utilized, which appears to be the location held in reserve for that prospect around 3-4 years before the temple was announced. If the First Presidency confirms this information, it is not hard to believe that a groundbreaking could be held at around the time indicated.

183. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site confirmation; groundbreaking could occur in mid-to-late 2019.

Note: The Church of Jesus Christ Temples site noted in mid-February 2019 that a site had been procured for this temple. But during President Nelson’s visit to Nairobi in April 2018, a public affairs representative had noted that this temple would be smaller, and that a dedication for it was anticipated to occur sometime in 2021. So it seems reasonable to assume that a groundbreaking could occur within the next 12 months, but hopefully sooner, if all goes well.

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

185. 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.

Note: Although the site visited by President Nelson in April 2018 has not been confirmed as the official location for the temple, Elder Andersen, in a November meeting with Zimbabwe’s Vice President, noted that the Church hoped to break ground for that temple in the late months of 2019. So I have no doubt that will be able to occur.

186. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019.

Note: The site has already been confirmed for this temple.

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

Note: A potential site has already been identified (though not yet confirmed) for this temple.

188. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.

Note: The site has already been confirmed for this temple.

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

Note: A Church member living in Mexico reports that the area presidency is scouting that city for temple locations, and that construction could begin in the early months of 2020.

190. Managua Nicaragua Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

Note: The Church has held land in reserve for a temple site for several years. If that property is confirmed as the temple site, a groundbreaking could easily occur at around this time.

191. Auckland New Zealand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site confirmation; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020.

Note: I found out several years ago that the Church had held land in reserve for a temple in this city for a while now (with that fact confirmed by a Church member living in that area), so I hope that means a site confirmation will occur sooner rather than later.

192. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

Note: Although there has not been an official site confirmed for this temple yet, President Nelson seems to be working on the queue of announced temples from both ends thereof. With that in mind, although I hope this temple’s groundbreaking will occur before then, if it doesn’t, I could see it occurring at around this time.

193. Yuba City, California Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020.

Note: A potential site has been identified (though not yet confirmed) for this temple.

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

Note: A potential site has been identified (though not yet confirmed) for this temple.

195. 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-2020

Announced Temples (for which more information is needed before I provide a groundbreaking estimate):

196. Washington County Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site) announcement.

197. Salvador Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

198. Lagos Nigeria Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

199. Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

200. Davao Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

201. Pago Pago American Samoa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

202. Okinawa City Okinawa (Japan) Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

203. Neiafu Tonga Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

204. Tooele Valley Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement

205. Moses Lake Washington Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

206. San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

207. Antofagasta Chile Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

208. Budapest Hungary Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

209. Russia Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official city (and site) announcement.

Personal Update

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to share a brief personal update. Not sure whetner I mentioned this or not, but in late February, I determined in consultation with my wife and one of my doctors that I had gotten the maximum benefit I could get out of the main pain medication I have been on for the last decade. We therefore have been instructed to have me transition off of the medication in question, and I am about half-way through that process, which has been a bit of a struggle.

In the interim, we received more information about a minor procedure I need to have at some point, and based on what was learned in that respect, the same-day procedure is anticipated to involve 1-2 weeks of at-home recuperation.  And as a result of the nature of the procedure, we have been advised to have me halt my efforts to further transition off of the pain medication until after the at-home recovery process is complete.

Additionally, both my wife and myself continue to deal with health-related challenges and other difficult circumstances, but hopefully things are progressing in the right direction in many respects. In moments when we have struggled, the Lord has reminded us in choice and significant ways that He has not forgotten us, and has made up the difference for things we feel we lack.

And for me personally, immersing myself in the process of continuing to track the latest Church news and temple developments and report on those things here has been an important and vital part of helping me deal with the associated stress relating to these ongoing difficulties. I appreciate the wide-spread intrest in things I have found to "sound off" about here, and hope that my analysis on such developments has proven and will yet prove helpful to all who read 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 oen of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

BREAKING NEWS: Transcripts Available for April 2019 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! For a majority of the last two decades or so, transcripts of General Conference talks have generally been made availble the Thursday following each General Conference weekend. In recent years, that has been able to occur a day or two earlier. I wanted to briefly post to report that the transcripts of the talks given during the April 2019 General Conference are now available.

One common element in the first 3 General Conferences over which President Nelson has presided (which have been anything but common, normal, or status-quo) is his invitation during each of his concluding remarks is the invitation to regularly study the talks for the next six months. So I hope all of us (including and especially myself) will take the time to do so. We have been told that the talks given in General Conference constitute scripture and the literal word and will of the Lord for us every six months, and we'd be well advised to treat them as such.

I appreciate the speed at which such transcripts can be made available in our day. 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.

First Presidency Announces Several Additional New Temple Presidents

Hello again, everyone! Four days ago, the Church News shared an article announcing the calls of 8 new presidents and matrons for temples in various areas of the world. Of those eight, three are former area seventies, one is currently a counselor in the presidency of the same temple for which he will assume oversight in November, and one other has previously served in the presidency of the temple for which he will assume oversight,

One of the temples for which a new president was announced this go-round was not on my list and came as a complete surprise to me, since it appears that the current president of that temple (Tegucigalpa Honduras) has only served in that capacity for a year. As mentioned previously, in recent years, the general length of service for a new temple president has been around 3 years.

It used to be (particularly in the earlier days of Church history) that temple presidents served for an indefinite period at the discretion of the First Presidency, and there have also been cases in the past where current or former general authorities (including apostles and prophets) have served in temple presidencies. Getting back to this year, so far, 17 new temple presidents have been called, and that has occurred a few days earlier than in 2017, when 16 new temple presidents became the first group to be announced that year.

The announcement thus far of 17 temple presidents leaves me with 4 new temples on my list which may be completed within the next year (including and especially the Arequipa Peru Temple, which is now anticipated to be dedicated prior to the dedication of the Durban South Africa Temple, for which its' first president was announced las year). Almost all of thoe 4 are more likely than not to have their first presidents called in order to enable them to attend the necessary training before their service as such begins.

There are also a remaining 48 currenlty-operating temples (including some currently undergoing renovation) for which a new president may yet be called, unless there are any other surprise announcements for which I am unable to account, due to not being privy to any special information regarding newly-called temple presidents. Assuming all of these temples see a new president called, the total number of new temple presidents beginning service this year will be around 69.

As an additional note, those 69 temples constitute roughly 40% of the total number of temples that will be operating next year (which will be 171 in total once the Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire Temple is dedicated). With all of that noted, I wanted to share an updated copy of my compiled list of temples that have gotten or may yet get a new president in 2019. That updated list follows below. In order to not disrupt 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.

New presidents have been called for the following temples:

1.      Copenhagen Denmark

2.      Manila Philippines (not anticipated; current president has only served for two years)

3.      Tampico Mexico

4.      Philadelphia Pennsylvania

5.      Spokane Washington

6.      Manhattan New York

7.      Columbia River Washington

8.      St. Paul Minnesota

9.      Jordan River Utah

10.  Medford Oregon

11.  Rexburg Idaho

12.  Provo Utah

13.  London England

14.  Tegucigalpa Honduras (not anticipated; current president has only served for one year)

15.  Johannesburg South Africa

16.  Fort Collins Colorado

17.  Panama City Panama

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.      Columbus Ohio

9.      Curitiba Brazil

10.  Dallas Texas

11.  Detroit Michigan

12.  Fresno California

13.  Gilbert Arizona

14.  Guadalajara Mexico

15.  Halifax Nova Scotia

16.  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)

17.  Hartford Connecticut

18.  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)

19.  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.)

20.  Kyiv Ukraine

21.  Lima Peru

22.  Melbourne Australia

23.  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.)

24.  Mexico City Mexico

25.  Monterrey Mexico

26.  Montreal Quebec

27.  Merida Mexico

28.  Nashville Tennessee

29.  Nauvoo Illinois

30.  Nuku’alofa Tonga

31.  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.)

32.  Orlando Florida

33.  Perth Australia

34.  Portland Oregon

35.  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.)

36.  Reno Nevada

37.  Santiago Chile

38.  Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

39.  Sapporo Japan

40.  Seattle Washington

41.  Seoul Korea

42.  St. George Utah (Note: Since this temple is scheduled to close for renovation later this year, the Church could hold off on calling a new president until the renovation is complete)

43.  Star Valley Wyoming

44.  Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico

45.  Twin Falls Idaho

46.  Veracruz Mexico

47.  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.)

48.  Winter Quarters Nebraska

Miscellaneous Updated Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! While I continue to work on updates to several of my files which needed to be made due to what transpired over General Conference weekend (much of which I will subsequently be sharing here), I wanted to post some updated data about our apostles which I thought some of you might find interesting.  Firstly, I wanted to note that tomorrow, President Dallin H. Oaks will be marking his first 2019 tenure milestone as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The length of his tenure as such will then be equal to that of Franklin D. Richards, which will, in view of President Oaks being alive while Franklin D. Richards is no longer living or serving as such, mean President Oaks will then be the 24th longest-serving Quorum President in Church history. Given his relatively good health, he will likely continue to serve as Qorum President for the foreseeable future, barring anything unexpected occurring.

His next two tenure milestones will be observed two days apart in July (on July 7 and 9). President Oaks will observe two other tenure milestones this year, one each in November and December, which I will detail more specifically closer to the time.  Quite coincidentally, the two aforementioned milestones President Oaks will observe in July will be the third and fourth apostolic milestones observed during that month.

This is because President Nelson will have observed two milestones as Church President which are likewise just two days apart. President Nelson's first (and only) 2019 tenure milestone will be observed on July 3, followed by the observance of his first (and only) 2019 age-related milestone relating to his place among his 16 predecessors as President of the Church on July 5, which will also coincide with his first and only nonagenarian milestone  which will be observed this year. Those will also be detailed more fully closer to the time.

And in the meantime, it is also worth noting that President Ballard will observe 3 other nonagenarian milestones this year as well, with one each coming up in May, June, and July, which I will also be detailing closer to the time. Additionally, the next apostolic birthday will be observed in May as well, with President Eyring set to observe is 86th birthday on the last day of that month.

With that noted, I wanted to share two documents I have updated recently in conjunction with General Conference. The first one shows the lenghts of talks given during this last General Conference from longest to shortest by each of our apostles. Interestingly enough, while there has sometimes been a 24-hour delay between the time General Conference concludes and whenever videos of all addresses are made available, this go-round, that was done relatively more quickly. So here is that list:

April 2019 General Conference—Lengths of Talks Given by First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

19:05—President Henry B. Eyring (SAM)

17:50—President Russell M. Nelson (SUM)

17:29—Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

16:27—Elder David A. Bednar

15:58—Elders Jeffrey R. Holland & Ronald A. Rasband

15:27—President Dallin H. Oaks (SUA)

15:23—Elder Quentin L. Cook

15:21—Elder Gary E. Stevenson

15:19—Elder Gerrit W. Gong

15:16—Elder D. Todd Christofferson

15:15—Elder Neil L. Andersen

15:11—Elder Ulisses Soares

15:10—Elder Dale G. Renlund

14:57—President Russell M. Nelson (SPH)

14:28—President M. Russell Ballard

12:57—President Henry B. Eyring (SPH)

11:44—President Dallin H. Oaks (SPH)

10:44—President Dallin H. Oaks (SAA; Sustaining of Church Officers)

6:40—President Russell M. Nelson (SUA)

I also wanted to provide an update on the total number of talks each of our apostles have given in General Conference, and a new total of all addresses given by apostles. This information includes, where applicable, how many addresses were given by each apostle before his call to the apostleship.

While updating this information following the most recent conference, I realized some of the data as shared previously waa in error,. By that I mean that I discovered through research that, for some of these men, one or two talks they have given were not included in their entries from the speaker index on the General Conference main page. As a result, I have corrected those items. Here is that list:

Number of General Conference talks given by our current apostles

President Henry B. Eyring—98=93+5 given prior to his apostolic call

President Russell M. Nelson—82

President M. Russell Ballard—78=70+8 given prior to his apostolic call

President Dallin H. Oaks—77=76+1 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf—70=68+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland—53=50+3 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder David A. Bednar—30

Elder D. Todd Christofferson—29=23+6 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Quentin L. Cook—26=24+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Neil L. Andersen—26=21+5 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Ronald A. Rasband—14=8+6 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Gary E. Stevenson—11=8+3 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Dale G. Renlund—10=8+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Ulisses Soares—8=3+5 given prior to his apostolic call

Elder Gerrit W. Gong—5=3+2 given prior to his apostolic call

Total: 618=568+50 given prior to their apostolic calls

I continue to work on updating various other files, information, and data following General Conference, and I will bring you that updated information as I complete such processes. I will also continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will bring you word of those changes as well ASAP after I learn about 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. 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.