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Monday, January 20, 2020

REVISITED: Updated Sections of My Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! Given the recent developments I have reported on both the Bengaluru India and second Manila Philippines Temples, I thought it would be wise to again revise and update a few sections of my temple construction progress report. Althoough those sections are largely self-explanatory, and prioritized between what I know and all that is currently not known about several announced temples, I did want to offer a standard disclaimer: Until officially confirmed or corrected by the Church through the proper channels, the information in that document is only based on my personal analysis, and should thus be taken with a grain of salt, as it is always subject to change if and when more information may come to light. Aside from that disclaimer, I hope that many of you might find my updated thoughts on this subject illuminating, such as they are. I continue to monitor all temple developments, in addition to all  Church news reports, and will endeavor to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of them. In the meantime, 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.

Friday, January 17, 2020

First Presidency Announces Adjustments to Temple Ceremonial Clothing

Hello again, everyone! Although this is not necessarily breaking news (since it was first reported a couple of hours ago), I wanted to share here some news affecting temple worship for members of the Church. The First Presdiency today announced some minor adjustments to the clothing worn by members of the Church during the endowment ceremony. An official letter from the First Presidency announcing these adjustments is accompanied by a list of common questions Church members may have, which are largely self-explanatory. As I read about these changes, I saw them as yet another way that our Church leaders, under the direction of President Nelson, are making to reduce and simplify things for members of the Church. And I love that the statement made it clear that the adjustments to the temple clothing do not change the sanctity of the work done, and that they were also clear, as was the case when the scriptures were updated a few years ago, that buying the new version is not necessary until the currently-used material needs to be replaced. I am grateful to have been able to read about this development, and to pass it along to you all here.

I continue to monitor all Church news reports and temple updates, and will endeavor to keep passing word of those along to you all as I become aware of such things. 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.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Announces Location, Releases Rendering for the Bengaluru India Temple

Hello again, everyone! I have breaking temple news to report from the Church this evening. In the last half hour or less, the rendering and location has been released for the Bengaluru India Temple. According to that news release, the temple is planned to be roughly 38.670 square feet in area, and it will be located at 2-B, Garudachar Palya, Mahadevapura, Bengaluru, Karnataka, in India, sitting.on a 1.62-acre site.  An existing chapel and Church offices on the site will be razed to make room for the temple, which will have an adjacent two-level meetinghouse, a distribution center, patron housing, and Church offices. In the coming months, Church leaderss will work with the city through the approvals process. Housing for the temple president, temple and service missionaries, and the mission president will also be built.  This temple is still very much in the design and planning phase. In coming months, the Church will be working with city leaders to get more detailed plans approved, and once that approval is granted, the Church can then look at a groundbreaking. But hopefully, that process won't take too terribly long. As some of you might recall, President Nelson only intended to announce six temples during his first General Conference, but the night before conference weekend began, the Lord told him: "Announce a temple in India." This now makes the third of those seven temples then announced to have preliminary information released.

There are now 6 temples in my "Groundbreaking Anticipated" section of my temple construction progress report, leaving 6 that have had initial details confirmed, and 7 others for which more official details are pending, in addition to the remaining 16 temples on which we are waiting for initial or more official details. I fully anticipate that a huge set of a temple announcements, including on the open house and dedicaiton of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple, in addition to news of at least 2-3 temple groundbreakings that are almost certain to be held prior to the April General Conference.

I continue to monitor all such developments and will pass word of those along to you all here as I become aware of such things.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.

Friday, January 10, 2020

First Blog Post of 2020: Updated List of Temples Which May Be Renovated in the Near Future

Hello again, everyone! Much sooner than I had anticipated, I am pleased to bring you now my first blog post of this new year, 2020. Before I get to my main reason for posting now, I wanted to just offer a brief reminder: Although I cannot anticipate evyerthing thatt will wind up being covered on this blog during the course of this year, I do have a fair few known blog projects which I am planning on publishing here as scheduled on the dates indicated. Those posts will, of course, be in addition to covering all major (and especially breaking news) developments reported via the Church News, the Church Temples site and the official Church website (which includes those from the Newsroom thereof. Having shared that information, we now move on to the main reason for this post: I have completed my reanalysis of the temples which are most likely to be renovated in the near future. That list, as previously mentioned, has been further annotated and adjusted based on new information that included those temples which had closed for an extended period last year, and those that will do so at any point during this year.  The one thing I would add is that, as noted on the list itself, the timing of temple renovations is and ever will be in the hands of the Lord, as He conveys that direction to His prophet. I am also not entirely sure how (if at all) the closure of larger temples (those in Hong Kong China, St. George Utah, and now Salt Lake) or the planned closures (in the cases of the Logan Utah and Manti Utah Temples) might possibly impact the timing of any of the temples on the list I have put together.

That said, because it seems likely that around 19 temples could potentially have groundbreakings within the next 12-18 months (just from what we know so far), I am satisfied that, in considering the Church's 2020 budget, the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes set aside more than sufficent for all existing current and anticipated future projects. And if we see President Nelson continuing to announce temples every six months, and making announcements on other temples this year (which I have no doubt will be the case), we may be in for another windfall of temple announcements on a variety of fronts. For my part, I remain committed to continuing to bring you updates on every facet of the developments which have characterized the tone of this blog for the last 3-4 years. In the meantime, as I begin another year of covering such things, I'd be remiss if I failed to thank you all for your continued interest, for your onoging support, and for the privilege of your time. That does it for now. Any and alll 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. 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.

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Final Temple Construction Progress Updates for 2019

Hello again, everyone! With the final hours of 2019 drawing to a close here in Utah, I'd be remiss indeeed if I did not take this opportunity to provide a look back at temple construction progress that has been made throughout 2019. And with my now being able to share specific links to particular reports, there is far less actual information for me to share in this post itself.  So, without further ado, I present the first report of 2019, the one from April 1, 2019, what that progress looked like half-way through 2019, how things looked as the fourth quarter began, and where that progress is now that 2019 is coming to a close. Based on all the progress that has been made this year alone (as evidenced by these reports), I have every reason to hope for similarly-outstanding progress, perhaps to another significantly-unprecedented degree, in 2020. I will continue to monitor all such developments as they occur and bring you word of those ASAP after I learn of them. 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.