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Wednesday, February 26, 2020

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Brasilia Brazil Temple Rendering Released

Hello again, everyone! Courtesy of a comment from Eric S., a long-time reader of this blog who also comments fairly regularly, I am pleased to note that the Church has released the rendering for the Brasilia Brazil Temple. The official announcement sharing this information notes that project leaders will begin working with government officials in that city in the coming months to obtain the necessary approvals. But I am confident enough in the information from the release in question to venture an estimate that the groundbreaking for this temple will take place during the mid-to-latter part of this year, and based on a cursory analysis of the rendering, I'd venture a guess that construction on this temple might take anywhere from 2.5-3.5 years to complete, which would enable it to be dedicated in 2023 or 2024. This leaves just two of the temples originally announced by President Monson which have not yet had any official information announced, and I have no doubt that will change in the future. I am cautiously optimistic that, aside from today's announcement, and the anticipated announcement tomorrow of the open house and rededication information for the Washington D.C. Temple, that there could be at least 3 other major temple-related announcements made between now and the weekend of the April 2020 General Conference.

And in reference to that conference, a couple other notes: First, discussion has recently occurred on the threads of posts on the Church Growth Blog about whether the coronavirus outbreak that is currently devastating the world will impact either or both the April 2020 General Conference plans and the Summer 2020 Olympic games that will be held in Tokyo Japan. Unless I am very much mistaken about the information that was provided on both subjects through the KSL newscasts this evening, both events are, as of right now, anticipated to be held as scheduled. Time could change either or both, but that's where things stand in that regard at this moment, based on information reported by KSL earlier today. I continue to work as I can on my adjustments to my April 2020 General Conference predictions, in addition to monitoring all Church news updates and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such things.

And since it was due to the aforementioned comment on a previous post that I found out the information about the Brasilia Brazil Temple rendering, if any of you know of anything I may have missed, please do let me and the rest of my readers know via your comments on posts such as this one. That does it for now. Any and all comment 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, February 19, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: Church Handbook Released; New Church Wi-fi Netowrk Specifics Announced

Hello again, everyone! As I mentioned in a comment earlier today, the Newsroom released new information about the one-volume new handbook for Church members, which included an official letter from the First Presidency that provided details about the changes, along with a list of FAQs. The Church News provided additional context and further resources. I took some time earlier today to review much of the new handbook, and it is well worthy of your time and attention. If that were the only development for which I was posting now to reiterate its' significance, that would be reason enough for a new post here, but in the hours since the new handbook was released, another Church nrws article announced that the Church will also be implementing a new wifi network. The previous network name "LDSAccess", will be retired in response to President Nelson's reemphasis on the correct name of the Church. Meetinghouse networks can now be accessed under the name "Liahona", which comes from the Book of Mormon tool given to Lehi's family that gave them direction from the Lord as they gave heed to it.

This change is appropriate in my mind because worship in Church meetinghouses should rightly be focused on the way in which such instruction guides us in our daily walks of life during the week. Although the "LDSAccess" network will be available for usage in meetinghouses through April 15 of this year, Church leaders and members are being encouraged to immediately begin using the "Liahona" wifi network instead. I am grateful that, whenever there has been any doubt about whether or not a change should be made to Churchwide names or resources, there has always been a preference towards making such changes. Eliminating the wifi network with "LDS" in the name appears to be a commonsense move. And I am grateful to see the many ways media outlets and other organizations have made themselves compliant with President Nelson's efforts to ensure the correct name of the Church is more commonly utilized.

I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to bring word of those 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.

Sunday, February 16, 2020

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Statistics

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to take the chance now to provide the latest apostolic statistics. I have come to the conclusion that the best way to do so is to provide shareable links to those updates, so that anyone with those links can read them in their current forms. And that will also eliminate the need to publish two posts for this update. The updated data comprises two parts, the first and the second. The information largely speaks for itself. One other unrelated thought: given the time difference between Utah and Durban South Africa, it is now 7:25 PM Durban time on this February 16, 2020, so the last of the 3 dedicatory sessions for the temple in that city has almost certainly wrapped up, or will do so very soon. I will, of course, pass along subsequent reports on that event, along with any additional Church news or temple developments, 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.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Artist's Rendering Released for the Alabang Philippines Temple

Hello again, everyone! Two big days of temple developments in a row have occurred. Just yesterday, the open house and dedication information were announced for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple. Then this morning, the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site reported the release of the artist's rendering for the Alabang Philippines Temple. I could not find that confirmed anywhere in new content posted on the Church's official Headquarters Newsroom or the Philippines edition thereof. But a little more digging on my part led me to realize that an earlier release from the Philippines Newsroom had been updated to show the rendering for that temple in question.
The really confusing thing is that, while the rendering was included in that article at some point earlier today, there was nothing on that Philippines Newsroom release to indicate that the rendering had been added thereunto today. Above and beyond that, however, after my analysis of the Alabang Philippines Temple rendering, I believe some elements thereof are reminiscent of the temples in Port-au-Prince Haiti and Kinshasa DR Congo, but I will defer to the analysis of others on the degree to which that is the case.

In the meantime, I have recently offered updates on my more specific estimates for known temple events in the near future, and I don't see this new information altering the estimate I have most-recently offered for the Alabang Philippines Temple. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive 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.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Dedication Dates Announced for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple

Hello again, everyone! Roughly two hours ago, the First Presidency announced the open house and dedication arrangements for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple. The timing on both is far earlier than I had suggested in it would be, which I am not at all surprised by. Open house tours will run from Friday April 17 through Saturday May 2, excluding the relevant Sundays of April 19 and 26. The youth devotional will follow the open house after a two-week final preparation period. All youth in the temple district are invited to attend. The temple will be dedicated on Saturday May 17 in three sessions at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM Rio de Janeiro time, which is 5:00 AM, 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM Utah time. The biggest question mark is who might preside at this temple's dedication. Given the fact that Elder Ulisses Soares actually served as a full-time missionary in Rio de Janeiro, dedicating that temple would be even more personal for him than the opportunity he had to dedicate the Fortaleza Brazil Temple on June 2 of last year. It is also possible that any senior apostle could be sent to do so, with Elder Soares accompanying that more senior apostle, or that any of the apostles who have not yet presided at a temple dedication (which may be down to Elders Stevenson and Gong by that time) could do so.

But given President Nelson's statement that he was more pleased by the fact that Elder Soares had the chance to dedicate the Fortaleza Brazil Temple than he would have been if he had that opportunity himself, my gut feeling is that Elder Soares will be the go-to apostle for any major Church matters arising throughout Latin America, or at least Central America and Brazil. Above and beyond that, however, the fact that this temple will be dedicated far earlier than I anticipated means that could be the case for other temple events this year, particularly the open house and rededication of the Washington D.C. Teeredmple, which I may consequently move up.

And the official announcement also suggests that, if the Rio temple dedication and Tokyo temple rededication are both held earlier than I anticipated and projected, the odds are very good that that will also possibly be the case for the Tokyo Japan and Mesa Arizona Temple rededications, and the dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. I will be reevaluating that later today, and have any updates posted within the next couple of days. I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and will be sure to pass along 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.