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2019:
Saturday May 4:
Groundbreakings for the Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, and San Juan Puerto Rico
Temples
Note: In mid-January the First
Presidency released the artist’s rendering for the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple,
and announced the groundbreaking for that temple less than a week later. Elder
Walter F. Gonzalez, president of the Church's Caribbean Area, will preside at
that ceremony. In early-to-mid February, the artist’s renderings for the Yigo
Guam and Praia Cabo Verde Temples were also released, with their
groundbreakings set to occur on May 4 as well. Elders Yoon Hwan Choi (the
president of the Asia North Area) and Paul V. Johnson, (the president of the
Europe Area) will preside at the groundbreakings in Yigo and Praia respectively.
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, and that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland would preside at the
rededication. Although it was originally announced that no open house tours
would be offered, on February 28, 2019, the First Presidency subsequently announced
that a one-week open house would be held for this temple in mid-April.
Saturday May 11:
Groundbreaking for the Quito Ecuador Temple (confirmed)
Note: The First Presidency released the artist’s
rendering and announced the groundbreaking arrangements for this temple on
March 7, 2019. Elder Enrique R. Falabella, president of the South America
Northwest Area, will preside at this event. Construction on this temple is
anticipated to take between 2-3 years.
Thursday May
16-Saturday May 25: President Nelson Pacific Ministry Tour
Note: On April 10, 2019, the Church announced that
President Russell M. Nelson and his wife Wendy W. Nelson, accompanied by Elder
Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Susan L.
Gong, would be doing a ministry tour in the Pacific (which will be the next leg
of the prophet’s ongoing Global Ministry Tour). Since that tour includes stops
in areas where temples are either operating (Kona Hawaii, Apia Samoa, Sydney
Australia, Suva Fiji, Nuku’alofa Tonga, and Papeete Tahiti) or where temples
have been announced (Auckland New Zealand), it seems appropriate to include
this trip among the list of known temple events, since part of the time will
surely be used to scout out temple locations in Auckland New Zealand, Pago Pago
American Samoa, and Neiafu Tonga.
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, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, will
preside at the single-session rededication. On February 28, 2019, in
conjunction with the aforementioned announcement of the one-week open house for
the Memphis Tennessee Temple, an identical arrangement was set (with slightly
different timing) for this temple.
Sunday June 2:
Dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple (165th operating temple;
confirmed)
Note: On January 10, 2019, 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. President Nelson could
personally preside at this dedication, or he could delegate that to either of
his counselors or a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. While it used
to be customary for only the most senior apostles to preside at a temple
dedication or rededication, in April, junior apostle Elder Dale G. Renlund
presided at the dedication of the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo
Temple. With that in mind, Elder David A. Bednar (who broke ground for this
temple) or Elder Ulisses Soares (our native Brazilian apostle) could preside at
this dedication.
Saturday June 8:
Groundbreaking for the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple
Note: On March 7, 2019, the groundbreaking for
this temple was also announced. Since this temple is also being built within
the South America Northwest Area, Elder Falabella will preside over this as
well. And based on the fact that the design of this temple reminds me of the
Mesa Arizona Temple, I am anticipating a 3-4 year construction period for that
process.
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
around 3 years, so I have set a preliminary estimate of mid-to-late 2022.
Sunday September 1:
Dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple (165th operating
temple; confirmed)
Note: On November 14, 2018, the First Presidency
announced the open house and dedication information for this temple (with the
latter originally set for mid-May). Then, on January 18, 2019, the dedication
was pushed back to this date in view of delays in the construction process. It
is possible that President Nelson could preside at this temple’s dedication,
and that perhaps that would be done as part of a Global Ministry Tour, but time
will tell whether he dedicates this temple, or delegates that task to either of
his counselors, or any of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Insofar as I am aware, none of the current apostles have a personal connection
to Haiti, so any of them could preside.
Friday September
6: President Nelson’s 95th Birthday Celebration
Note: On March 14, 2019, the Church announced this
milestone celebration for President Nelson, which will occur 3 days before his
actual 95th birthday. In view of the fact that President Nelson has
announced 27 temples since his prophetic administration began, it seems
appropriate to mention this milestone birthday
among other events on this timeline.
Sunday September
15: Dedication of the Lisbon Portugal Temple (166th operating
temple; confirmed)
Note: On March 4, 2019, the First Presidency
announced the open house and dedication information for this temple. What I
noted above in terms of who might preside at this event (and under what circumstances
that might occur) applies to this event as well.
Saturday &
Sunday October 5 & 6: 189th Semiannual General Conference:
Note: Given that there have been 27 new temples
announced during the first 3 General Conferences of President Nelson’s
prophetic administration, I believe he will continue to announce temples every
six months in General Conference, and may also announce some in between each
April, October, and subsequent April.
Mid-to-late
October: Dedication of the Arequipa Peru Temple (167th operating
temple)
Note: The Arequipa
Peru Temple has been ahead of schedule for a while now, and a Church member
living in Peru spotted the cornerstone engraving, which reads: “Erected 2019”.
With that in mind, I feel reasonably confident that this temple will be
dedicated at around this time.
Sunday October 20: Rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple (confirmed)
Note: New information received on February 22,
2019 indicated that the Frankfurt Germany Temple was anticipated to be
dedicated in October. Then, on March 5, 2019, the First Presidency officially
announced that this temple would be rededicated on this date. I am anticipating
that the First Presidency will ask Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, our native German
apostle who is also the third most-senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles and the sixth most senior apostle overall, to represent them in
rededicating this temple, both because it would be personal for him and because
he has had experience dedicating other temples during his near-decade of
service in the First Presidency.
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.
Early-to-mid
November: Private rededication for the Raleigh North Carolina Temple
Note: On May 2, 2019, many of the sources I
utilize for temple information noted that this temple’s renovation was only
likely to be completed in late 2019. As a consequence, I adjusted my estimate
to this point.
Mid-to-late November: Rededication of the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple
Note: On May 2, 2019, many of the sources I
utilize for temple information noted that this temple’s renovation was only
likely to be completed in late 2019. As a consequence, I adjusted my estimate
to this point.
December: Rededication
of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple
Note: Although information about the progress on
this temple’s renovation is scarce, given the need to adjust my estimate for
the Durban South Africa Temple, I have moved this temple’s rededication up to
this point. If I find out anything that leads me to revise that thinking, I
will adjust this estimate again.
Sunday December
29: Salt Lake Temple Renovation Closure (confirmed)
Note: On April 19, 2019, President Nelson
announced renovation plans for this temple. Based on those plans, the temple is
scheduled to close on this date and is anticipated to be rededicated in 2024. I
will be offering my estimate for this temple’s rededication later on in this
document.
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. With groundbreakings held so far for the Urdaneta
Philippines, Bangkok Thailand, and Pocatello Idaho Temples, groundbreakings have
also been confirmed for the Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, San Juan Puerto Rico,
Quito Ecuador, and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples. I am also anticipating that groundbreakings
may be held for the Brasilia Brazil, Richmond Virginia, Saratoga Springs Utah, Greater
Manila Philippines, and Harare Zimbabwe Temples, most (if not all) of which
could have a groundbreaking this year. But in view of the unexpected
announcement of the groundbreakings for 3 of the temples President Nelson
announced last year, we could also see other temples have a groundbreaking by
that time as well.
