BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Feather River California Temple Location; Renderings Released

Hello again, everyone! The last few days have been remarkable ones for temple developments. Today was no different. Earlier this morning, the Newsroom reported the release of renderings and preliminary plans for the Feather River California Temple. The temple, which will be built in Yuba City California at 1470 Butte House Road, will be just over 38.000 square feet, and preliminary plans include a new meetinghouse and distribution center next to the temple, with an existing meetinghouse by the temple site being razed as part of this project.

This temple is another scenario like we saw yesterday, with the Church still working with city leaders on designs and specific concept plans, and constrcution to begin as soon as approval can be granted by city leaders and the various departments. So again we see that President Nelson is very serious about bringing the temples to the people, and is taking action to the fullest degree he can to move temples swiftly from being announced to under construction. The Feather River California Temple will be the fifth temple originally announced in October 2018 to have construction begin, whenever that occurs.

And if I may do so, I'd like to just comment on the Church's strategy here: It is obvious in places like Mexico or the United States where the value of temples to a community are clearly understood that some temples can and will be fast-tracked in those locations. Other temples in locations outside the United States may take slightly longer than that to get started, but from what I can ascertain, President Nelson's strategy will be three-fold. By that I mean he continues to be focused on announcing temples, many of which can be fast-tracked to have construction begin within the next 0.5-2 years, focusing on announcing several smaller ones for remote areas (many of which may also similarly be fast-tracked), and also on doing what he can to clear the queue of all temples announced before he became Church President, of which there are only 4 left (Harare Zimbabwe, Nairobi Kenya, Brasilia Brazil, and the temple for the Greater Manila area, for which an official name announcement is still pending.

With how methodical President Nelson has been over the last couple of months (by which I am referring to the many temple-related announcements he has made), it is clear that 2020 and the years beyond that will be filled with many temple events. And if several of the Nelsonian-era temples are similarly fast-tracked, we may be well past the days when more than 5-6 years pass before Nelson-era announced temples are able to have a groundbreaking occur. I would similarly anticipate that the next year and beyond will be filled with several temple groundbreakings, which in turn will multiply the number of temples dedicated each year, and that, as the queue is cleared between each April, October, and subsequent April, more room will be created for additional temples to be announced.

I will double-check this later today, but I believe this brings the total number of temples for which a groundbreaking can be safely anticipated to 12 or so. As always, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be doing my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of such developments. That does it for now. 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 TEMPLE NEWS: Tooele Valley Utah Temple to Be Built in Erda

Hello again, everyone! Less than 24 hours after providing a report on the groundbreaking arrangements for the Puebla Mexico Temple, there has been more breaking temple news. Earlier today, the First Presidency announced the location for the Tooele Valley Utah Temple. It will be built in the city of Erda, northwest of the intersection of Erda Way and Highway 36 in that city. The 3-story 70,000 square foot edifice will see an adjacent meetinghouse built with it, which will be about 20,000 square feet. It has also been noted that the detailed designs for the temple are still in development, and that project leaders are working with city officals on those preliminary plans, with the necessary documents to be filed in the coming months in order to enable construction to begin soon.

So I have a few thoughts on this announcement. First, with this temple just barely having been announced 5 months ago during the April General Conference, the city government must have fast-tracked approval for the details for the temple, even if the specific designs are yet-to-be approved. Second, today's announcement is in line with the statement made by Elder Larry Y. Wilson, who had been serving as the Executive Director of the Temple Department at the time that he noted earlier this year that the Church was hoping to begin and complete construction on the Tooele Valley Utah Temple before the Salt Lake Temple reopens from its' renovation process in 2024.

Third, depending on how fast the Church can gain approval on the specific plans, this temple could very well be another that has a groundbreaking within less than a year of its' announcement (so we can probably look for that to happen in early-to-mid 2020, if all goes well). Fourth, it is significant that, at a time when information about the newest Utah temples has been released in basically the same chronological order in which they were announced, we have word on this Tooele Valley Utah Temple before anything has happened in that respect for the temple which will be built in Washington County Utah, which was announced last October.

And finally, this means that, less than 16 hours after I posted updated thoughts about the timing within which future temple groundbreakings could be anticipated to occur, there will need to be some degree of revisiting those thoughts yet again. In light of that, I will at some point have to post revised thoughts yet again in that respect. Rather than devoting a new blog post to those changes right after I make them, I will defer detailing those newest updates until I share my third-quarter 2019 comparative and contrastive look at temple construction progress which will have been made between July 1 and September 30. The specific timing of that set of posts will be determined closer to the time.

In the interim, I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such updates. That does it for now. 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. 

Updates Made to "Groundbreaking Anticipated" Section of Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! I am back, as promised, with the updates I have made to the "Groundbreaking Anticipated" section of my temple construction progress report.  Performing these updates involved shifting some estimates forward or backward, based on what is known and unknown about the timing within which the next temples might have a groundbreaking. As always, I will be just as happy about any temple groundbreakings being set to occur at any time as I will be if my analysis on the likely time-frame within which such groundbreakings might occur proves to be correct in any or every respect. And I will be sure to provide any future updates to that estimate that may be needed as I learn more about the imminence of their future timing.

The updated estimates follow below. In order to not disturb the flow of that information, I will end here as I always do: That does it for now. 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: 

183. Nairobi Kenya Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; construction contract awarded; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019. 

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

Note: On September 1, 2019, I was advised that the concept plans for this temple were floating around social media. If those plans are verified, a groundbreaking could occur within this period of time. 

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: Aside from the information noted above, in mid-November of last year, Elder Andersen visited with Zimbabwe’s Vice President, and indicated to him that the Church was hoping to begin construction on the Harare temple in late 2019. Therefore, barring anything unexpected, it seems more likely than not that a groundbreaking could occur at around this time. 

186. Bengaluru India Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020. 

187. Greater Manila Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official name announcement; groundbreaking could occur in late 2019-early 2020.  

Note: Based on what is and is not known presently about this temple, it seems probable that a groundbreaking for it could be fit in during this window, if all goes well. 

188. Auckland New Zealand Temrple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed on May 21, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020. 

189. Layton Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location officially confirmed on July 15, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in early 2020. 

190. Salta Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed; groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020. 

191. Mendoza Argentina Temple: Planning and approval phase; site location confirmed;  

groundbreaking could occur in early-to-mid 2020. 

192. Richmond Virginia Temple: Artist’s rendering and accompanying photographs released on August 28, 2019; groundbreaking could occur in mid-2020.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Confirms Puebla Mexico Temple Groundbreaking

Hello again, everyone! Breaking temple news was just reported, as the First Presidency has confirmed the arrangements for the Puebla Mexico Temple groundbreaking, including a release of the artist's rendering. Contrary to what I had theorized, that groundbreaking will be held on Saturday November 30. Mexico Area President Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela will preside over the groundbreaking for this temple. Based on what I can gather from the artist's rendering, the temple will take between 3-4 years to complete. As I previously noted, this will be the fourth temple announced in October 2018 to have a groundbreaking ceremony this year. And I would imagine the exterior and interior look of this temple pays homage to Mexican architectural trends, especially around the area where the temple will be built.

The one thing I don't yet know is whether any other temple groundbreakings will be held between now and that of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple (which will take place on Saturday October 19) and this announced groundbreaking for the Puebla Mexico Temple, or whether any groundbreakings will be subsequently held after that of the Puebla temple before the end of this year. I hope we will find out either way, as there are at least 3 other temples that could soon have a groundbreaking.

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

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

Hello again, everyone! I am back again now with the second part of this apostolic statistical update, in which we will move on to talk specifics regarding the long-form and decimal ages of our current apostles, which will also include updated information on the average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the 15 apostles as a group, and current and future nonagenarians. So let’s get right into all of that. Again, all data is current as of today (Sunday September 22). There have been five apostolic birthdays since my last such update: Elder Stevenson’s 64th on August 6 followed 3 days later by Elder Andersen’s 68th, which in turn was followed 3 days later by President Oaks’ 87th birthday. Then, earlier this month, Elder Cook observed his 79th birthday one day prior to the 95th birthday of our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson.


And given the planned timing for my next update (which I will be publishing here on Sunday November 10), by that time, 3 other apostles will be observing their birthdays as follows: Elder Ulisses Soares, our youngest currently-serving apostle, will celebrate his 61st birthday on Wednesday October 2, which will be followed 6 days later (Tuesday October 8) by the 91st birthday of President M. Russell Ballard. Then, 4 days prior to my next planned update (on Wednesday November 6), Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf will be observing his 79th birthday. And one week later (three days after my next planned update), Elder Dale G. Renlund will celebrate his 67th birthday). 

Having noted that, we now move on to some exact figures about the ages and average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and all 15 apostles as a group. In the Church’s leading Quorum, President Nelson is, as noted towards the end of my previous post, 95 years, 0 months, and 13 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 95.03 years. First Counselor President Oaks is now 87 years, 1 month, and 10 days old, or 87.11 years. President Eyring, as the junior member of the First Presidency, is now 86 years, 3 months, and 22 days old, which is 86.31 in decimal years.  The First Presidency thus now has a combined 268.45 years of life experience, which results in an average age for each man of 89.48 years.

President Nelson remains 5.55 years older than that average, with President Oaks closest to it (he remains 2.37 years younger than that average), which means that President Eyring, at 0.8 years younger than President Oaks, continues to be 3.17 years below it. Unless there is something of which we are not aware in relation to the health of any of these Brethren, they will continue to set new records for the oldest-serving First Presidency in Church history for the foreseeable future, and are bound to join (and even move up quite a bit on) the list of the longest-serving First Presidencies, as I mentioned towards the end of my previous post.

Next, let’s turn our attention to the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Ballard’s long-form age now sits at 90 years, 11 months, and 14 days, or 90.96 years. Elder Holland now has a long-form age of 78 years, 9 months, and 19 day, with a resulting 78.80 decimal years. Elder Uchtdorf (who is just 4 weeks older than his senior current apostolic seatmate) is now 78 years, 10 months, and 16 days old, which works out to 78.88 years. Elder Bednar has now reached the full age of 67 years, 3 months, and 7 days, which works out to 67.27 decimal years.

Leading off the second third of that Quorum is Elder Cook, who is also the oldest but least senior of the 3 apostles born in 1940. His long-form age is 79 years, 0 months, and 14 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 79.04 years. Elder Christofferson has now reached the age of 74 years, 7 months and 29 days, making his decimal age 74.66 years. Elder Andersen is now 68 years, 1 month, and 13 days old, and his decimal age is 68.12 years. And, as of today, Elder Rasband is 68 years, 7 months, and 15 days old, or 68.62 decimal years.

As for the final third of the Quorum, Elder Stevenson, who is 4.5 years to the day younger than Elder Rasband, has a long-form age of 64 years, 1 month, and 16 days, with a decimal age of 64.13 years. Elder Renlund, the last apostle called during the prophetic administration of President Thomas S. Monson, is now 66 years, 10 months, and 9 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 66.86 years. As for our newest apostles, Elder Gong’s long-form age is 65 years, 8 moths, and 30 days old, which works out to 65.75 decimal years. As for Elder Soares, he is now 60 years, 11 months, and 20 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 60.97 years.

Based on those numbers, the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles now have a combined 864.06 years of life experience, which results in an average of 72.01 years per member. Elders Christofferson and Rasband remain respectively above and below that average. Elder Christofferson is once again 2.65 years older than it, while Elder Rasband is now 3.39 years below it. With the information I presented earlier about the First Presidency, the 15 apostles as a group now have a combined 1,132.51 years of life experience, which is an average of 75.5 years. As noted previously, Elder Holland remains 3.3 years older than that average, while Elder Christofferson remains 0.84 years younger than that average. 

We now move on to the apostolic nonagenarians. As I mentioned in a previous post, President Nelson remains the 6th spot on that list, passing Ezra Taft Benson in early July, and he will not move up thereon again until late August of next year.  In the meantime, President Ballard remains the 14th oldest apostle in Church history. President Ballard will move up two more spots on that list before President Nelson moves up to his next spot. In the meantime, among the other apostles, President Oaks will join the nonagenarian list in 2 years, 10 months, and 21 days, while Elder Soares will do so in 29 years and 10 days, with the other apostles doing so at various intervals, which will be detailed more fully as they approach.

I hope that many of you found this information to be interesting, informative, and accurate. That does it for now. 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.