BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exterior Rendering Released and Groundbreaking Date Announced for the Orem Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! Less than 24 hours after the release of the rendering and site information for the Mendoza Argentina Temple, more breaking temple news has been shared. In n totally unexpected development as far as the timing of both the announcement and the event itself are concerned, an exterior rendering has been released and a groundbreaking date announced for the temple in my current city of residence, Orem Utah. The rendering shows the 70,000-foot 3-story temple with a tall single-spire design.

Although many of the community leaders here told the Church they'd prefer an angel Moroni on the temple, with the Church acknowledging that not all temples being built have that statue, it appears that this temple will not have one either. The groundbreaking has been set to occur on Saturday September 5, 3 weeks after the groundbreaking for the Salta Argentina Temple. Elder Craig C. Chirstensen, who will continue as Utah Area President following the other changes in area leadership becoming effective on August 1. Attendance at the temple site will be by invitation only. It appears that, given current COVID-19 restrictions here in northern Utah County, the groundbreaking will be a private event, not broadcast by the internet to Church buildings or being featured on social media or anywhere else, though I imagine that a video of the proceedings in their entirety will be available in due course.

Having noted all of that, a couple of additional comments from me here: I said earlier that the timing of the Orem Utah Temple groundbreaking announcement and scheduling was unexpected. I said that because for a while now, it appeared that the next Utah temples to have a groundbreaking would be the Tooele Valley, Washington County, and Taylorsville Utah Temples.

Clearly I was mistaken in that respect, but I'm not necessarily surprised about that, as I have been mistaken about plenty of things in the recent past. That will continue to be the case. But I am hopeful that the Church might soon announce groundbreakings for at least two of those 3 other temples in the next short while.

There is also one other thing that surprises me with respect to the timing of this announcement and the scheduling of this event itself. That surprise comes by way of the text under the headline of the Newsroom announcement. The text in question reads as follows: "Orem Utah Temple designated as the Church's 190th temple worldwide." So, first of all, the announced timing of the groundbreaking for this temple would make it currently and tentatively numbered the 186th temple of the Church.

The size of the temple, which is comparable to that of the Layton, Tooele Valley, and Washington County Temples, suggests that construction could take between 2-3 years, which means it would wrap up at some point in late 2023-early 2024 or so. Above and beyond those observastions, however, insofar as I am aware, the Church is not in the habit of giving a temple a designated number before construction begins, or even generally until construction wraps up. That suggests to me that the Orem Utah Temple will be built on a very definitive schedule, one that may see other temples with groundbreakings yet-to-be-announced have a construction process that will be swifter than what is going to be done for the Orem Utah Temple.

That idea is not necessarily a shocker, since we know that plans currently call for the Tooele Valley Utah Temple to be built on an accelerated schedule to help with temple activity while the iconic Salt Lake Temple remains closed until 2024 for renovation. As I said, the shocking part to me is that the Church has given this temple a designated number which does not, at the present time, appear to be accurate. I am hopeful that that means that the Church is working on the factors that have delayed the construction for the Puebla Mexico and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples, in addition to factors that will allow other temples that may have a groundbreaking either just before or just after that of this temple to move ahead of it in the construction queue. I will also note here that I had been hoping that a groundbreaking announcement for one or more of the Utah temples would be coming down the pike, but again, the fact that it is Orem first and in early September is surprising to me.

One thing is very clear to me: there are going to be unprecedented developments in terms of temple construction in the days ahead. That has been true thus far this year, and it will be even more true going forward. For my part, I continue to monitor any and all such developments and will bring word of those 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Exterior Rendering Released for the Mendoza Argentina Temple

Note: This post was originally published to this blog at 10:41 AM, and was updated between 4:20 and 5:20 PM.

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency today released the exterior rendering for the Mendoza Argentina Temple. The Church also specified the site location. When originally reading this announcement, it appeared to me as though the confirmed location was different from the one that had been speculated. But as a result of a more careful reading of the release, the site location was confirmed for the speculated spot, which will be between Calle Dr. Pose and Calle Dr. Coni E, along Avenida Champagnat. The temple appears to be a single-story edifice. It will be around 21,000 square feet, and accompanied by an adjacent meetinghouse. At present, a groundbreaking date has not yet been established, with project leaders working through the approvals process in the coming months. But it could be possible that this temple might have a groundbreaking before the end of this year. The announcement of the rendering and site information for the Mendoza Argentina Temple comes just 18 days after the early Jun announcement of the site location, rendering, and groundbreaking for the Salta Argentina Temple. And it is the latest in an unprecedented period of announced temple developments. If, as anticipated, this temple has a groundbreaking later this year, it will mark the first time ever that two new temples will be under construction at the same time in Argentina. And a groundbreaking for this temple will also mark the first time since 2018 that more than two temples are under construction in South America. I do not include Brazil in that definition, since Brazil comprises a separate area of the Church. This announcement also comes in the midst of unprecedented temple developments being reported throughout Latin America (which, by definition, includes Brazil and Mexico, in addition to the rest of Central and South America). As I observed in reply to a comment made by longtime reader Eric S. this morning about this announcement, just when I think I have the likely sequence of temple events for the next 12-18 months sorted out, an announcement like this changes the game again. Based on these most recent announcements, I have adjusted a few of my files again. I will include links to each of those files, along with brief explanations of what the files are, along with any needed additional context.

First, I have updated certain sections of my temple construction progress report. Some iinformation about the numbering used may be helpful. Firstly, with the groundbreakings having been held earlier this year for the Richmond Virginia, Layton Utah, Alabang Philippines, and Auckland New Zealand Temples, those temples are ahead of any temple in this first document. Based on current projections, the Richomond Virginia Temple will either be the last dedicated in 2022 or one of the first to be dedicated in 2023, with the dedication for Layton happening next. Barring any massive delays, Auckland New Zealand may be the next to be completed. I'd anticipate the Feather River California, Alabang Philippines, and Salta Argentina Temples to be completed next, though the three may change places with each other. I'd next conjecture that the Bangkok Thailand Temple would be dedicated, unless full-scale efforts soon begin on either or both the Puebla Mexico and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples, for which the compleion is hard to gauge while full-scale efforts are pending. With that in mind, hopefully the numbering for the temples in the first couple of sections of the first document makes more sense.

And of course, it goes without saying that the timing of completion of temples which are now or will soon be under construction is up to the Lord, so any thoughts offered in the remainder of that first document are no more and no less than my own personal observations and theories, based on what is currently known or unknown about those temples, and all such information is subject to change as more information comes to light.

BREAKING NEWS: All Stake Conferences Cancelled Through November 1, 2020

Hello again, everyone! One of the key duities of menmbers of the Quorum of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and particularly for the most senior apostles not in the First Presidency is to set the schedule Churchwide for stake conferences. As shared earlier tonight through LDS Living, a letter from M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Church has canceled all stake conferences through November 1 of this year, with the situation to be reevaluated closer to that date. The letter also indicates that, as needed, the business which would ordinarily be conducted in stake conference can be handled through technological methods, and that, in some cases, when an exception is granted by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,a stake confeerence can go forward if proper precautions are taken. I am grateful for the ongoing attention from all living apostles in the Church towards adapting in the midst of ever-changing situations due to COVID-19. I am similarly grateful to have reported this week on the hospitalization of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my best to bring you all 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Admitted to the Hospital

Hello again, everyone! I am still working on fleshing out my previous brief post about the rescheduling of the rededication for the Washington D.C. Temple, but additional breaking news has been shared by the Church. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is the youngest of the 3 apostles born in 1940, has been admitted to the hospital. Doctors tested Elder Holland for COVID-19, with a negative result. Other tests are being run at the present time. As I have previously mentioned, my family has a double connection to Elder Holland. My dad's dad was his home teaching companion at the time young Jeff was a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. And my mom worked for Elder Holland during his tenure as Commissioner of Church Education, during which time she was one of many freelance proofreaders assigned to work on Church materials.

The strange thing is that Elder Holland is younger than Presidents Nelson, Oaks, Ballard, and Eyring, as well as being younger than Elders Cook and Uchtdorf, so for him to be dealing with some unknown something that is taking a while to figure out is somewhat unusual. From the wording of the news release, it is unclear whether he is still hospitalized. But hopefully whatever's going on with him will be figured out soon. At this point in time, Elder Holland's condition is surely a worry for all, particularly his fellow apostles, and specifically President Nelson, who has been the longtime apostolic physician who has always been concerned about the health of his Brethren. So I'm sure any prayers we can send heavenward for Elder Holland would be the best way we can help in this situation. For myself, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will pass word of those along to you all as I learn about 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Washington D.C. Temple Reopening Dates Postponed

Hello again, everyone! As many of you might recall, on February 27, 2020, the First Presidency originally announced that the open house for the Washington D.C. Temple would take place from September 24-October 31, with a youth devotional and rededication following on December 12 and 13, respectively. Then today, in an amendemnt to that announcement, it was noted that the open house and rededication for the Washington D.C. Temple are postponed until large public gatherings are deemed safe. This mirrors the previous postponement of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple open house and dedication. As I noted previously, the Church's hope was to rededicate this temple before the end of 2020. so as not to interfere with the events surrounding next year's planned inauguration for the US President (which is set to be held on January 20, 2021, as mandated by the US Constitution). But with the reopening of the DC Temple anticipated to generate widespread interest, the Church continues in its' efforts to ensure that, as an entity, they are good global citizens. So the precaution of postponement seems very appropos at this time. Based on this development, I don't see any scenario in which the rededication for this temple, the rededication for the Mesa Arizona Temple, or the dedication of the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple will be able to be held before the end of this year. Instead, I anticipate that all of these events will be pushed into 2021. And it could be that the rededication of the Mesa Arizona Temple will be the first of those 3 events to be scheduled for after the first of the year. Although a delay for this event may be unsettling to some, I consider it a wise and prudent move on the Church's part. And as I said previously, smaller temples like Winnipeg, Yigo, Praia, and San Juan likely have a better chance of being completed and dedicated on the anticipated time-frames, while larger temples that will attract more interest may see the timing of their openings adjusted in response to COVID-19.

That being said, I do not see it as accidental but providential that, before COVID-19 shut things down, the prophet of the Church was inspired to take all living apostles will him to Rome for the dedication of Italy's first temple, and that most of the duties of dedicating or rededicating temples have been delegated to his fellow apostles. If a queue of new temples or temples being renovated does build up, the apostles can be sent by ones, twos, or threes to take care of any backlog. And in the interim, I don't anticipate COVID-19 having an impact on the Church's plans to break ground for a total of 18 temples this year. If anything, the timing for those groundbreakings and the conditions under which they are held, how many are in attendance, how the groundbreaking proceedings are dissemanated to the public, and so on. It seems to me that President Nelson, as a former practicing physician, is the best possible individual to be the prophet of the Church at the time of a global pandemic. An article from the Church News has provided additional context and information on this development.

I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring you all word of those 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.