BREAKING NEWS: Transcripts of General Conference Now Available

Hello again, everyone! This is just a quick note to confirm that the transcripts of talks given during last weekend's General Conference are now available. President Nelson has invited us to regularly review those addresses for the next six months, so I'd urge all mty readers to follow and take advantage of that invitation.

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: Temple Reopenings To Continue Throughout October

 Hello again, everyone! A shot time ago, the Church released its' weekly update on temple reopenings. Aside from the main Church News report, updates have also been relfected in the temple reopening status tracker and were documented in the updated Newsroom release.  Let's get into the details. Two temples, which had previously paused their reopening due to COVID-19 conditions, regulations, and restrictions, have reopened in phase 3: Duban South Africa and Papeete Tahiti.

Additionally, several weeks ago, the Church announced that, following the dedication of the Pocatello Idaho Temple (which is set to occur on Saturday November 7), that temple will open in phase 3 right off the bat. The Church also announced this morning that the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, which is scheduled to be dedicated on October 31 (with that announcement coming after the information about Pocatello's opening was announced) will also start operations in phase 3.

The Medford Oregon Temple, which had originally been projected to move to phase 3 in August,  has not yet transitioned to that phase, and no new updates are available on when that might occur.  The Church also has 7 temples remaining in phases 1 or 2 (neither of which opens those temples for proxy work), among which 2 temples are closed for renovations.

It may also be of interest to some of you that, with the recent renovation closure of the Manti Utah Temple going into effect over General Conference weekend, the Church has given that temple a phase 3 designation so that patrons within that temple district can schedule living and proxy ordinances at the temples nearest to them. 

The latest announcements leaves the reopening status of temples worldwide as follows: 9 closed for renovation (all but 2 of which of those districts have been granted phase 3 designations); with 3 more each either paused (2 in phase 3 and 1 in phase 2) or in phases 1 & 2; 4 temples operating in phase 2-B (allowing all living ordinances in priority order in addition to limited poxy baptisms by appointmen); and the remaining 146 are in phase 3.

The Church continues to monitor conditions and restrictions relating to COVID-19 and to adjust temple reopening plans accordingly in a cautious and carefully-coordinated manner, which continues to be wonderful to observe. I testify The inspired nature of thsese reopening announcements week-to-week have been both humbling and gratifying to see. I testify that the Lord, though inspiration and providing good information to our apostles in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, is directly effecting the miraculous circumstances under which each week's announcements are made.

On my end, I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and remain committed to bringing word of those to you all as I become aware thereof. 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: President Nelson Announces 13 New Temples As the October 2021 General Conference Concludes

Hello again, everyone! As the concluding moments of General Conference neared its' President Russell M. Nelson announced 13 new temples of the Church. Given this developing news, I am going to publish an initial version of this post, then update it as I can carry out that analysis thereof. I anticipate that most of these temples will be on the smaller side, to fill existing gaps. I am grateful that, on my own list, I had the following locations exactly correct: Tacloban City Philippines, Monrovia Liberia; Antananarivo Madagascar; Culiacan Mexico; La Paz Bolivia; Fort Worth Texas; Rexburg North Idaho; and Heber Valley Utah.

Meanwhile, I had the following general locations correct, but the specific city was not what I listed: Kaohsiung, Taiwan (I had predicted Taichung); Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo (I had Mbuji-Mayi on my list, which could be the next one for that nation); Vitoria Brazil (I had prioitized other prospects); Santiago West Chile (I had prioritized Osorno and Vina del Mar); and Cody Wyoming (I had again prioritized Evanston).

It might take me a few days into this week before I can even post a preliiminary analysis of my General Conference predictions. For now, though, the other major development was the prophet announcing that, once the Orem Utah Temple is in operation, the Provo Utah Temple will be closed for an extensive reconstructive process. So that's a breaking news update I wasn't anticipating, though I am not as surprised by another double-digit number of new temples being announced. 

With these 13 announced temples, the total number of temples throughout the world in any phase has now risen to 265. It's also worth noting, I think, that the temples announced for Libeia and Madagascar will kick both of those nations off of the list of the top ten nations with the stongest Church presence without a temple. Liberia and Madagascar had been second and third on that list respectively.

I'd probably defer to Matthew Matinich at the Church Growth Blog for any information on how the latest temples on the list haing temples announced has changed that top ten list. In any case, I am impressed by the announcement of 13 new temples today. Hopefully a lot of those temples will be smaller and more easily approved. And the more I think about that, the moe it occurs to me that maybe President Nelson doesn't need to spell out the specifics of his temple construction plans, since his fellow apostles have been open on that subject.

I am grateful to have learned about this development and to pass it along to you all here. I continue to monitor ongoing Church News and temple construction updates and will bring you all word of those as I become aware thereof. 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.

First Day of General Conference Constitutes Some Surprising Developments

 Hello again, everyone! After trying to wrap my head around some of the nuances that occurred during the three Saturday Sessions of General Conference. In the first session, I correctly predicted that Presdient Nelson would open the first session, which would be closed with an address from President Oaks. I also correctly pinpointed the 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve, though I had them in the wrong order. In the afternoon session, I correctly predicted 3 apostles that would speak (though I had added a fourth that didn't), and that President Eyring would lead the sustaining vote.

And I was correct as well that President Ballard would be the member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaking in the Saturday Evening Session, and that President Henry B. Eyring spoke during that session. But I was incorrect about the other First Presidency members also speaking to close out that session. I was also not anticipating the high number of general officers, including more specifically the significantly-higher number of female speakers.. Additionally, I did not anticipate that so many GA Seventies, including one member of the Presidency of the Seventy, would also speak.

So, at the outset, it looks like I owe someone here an apology. In a previous thread, when I published my speaking order predictions, someone (wish I could recall who it was) mentioned a theory that the entire First Presidency would not speak to conclude the Saturday Evening Session. Although it seems unimportant right now, I apparently dismissed the idea because there wasn't any kind of precedent for such a prediction, and because it was not clear whether the entire First Presidency speaking during that session was more traditional than a doctrinally-based requirement. Since it has been noted by a previous apostle 

So here we are, about 9 hours from when the encore "Music & the Spoken Word" episode will immediately precede the Sunday Morning Session. Each counselor in the First Presidency has spoken once, but that's only if President Eyring presenting changes in Church leadership for a sustaining vote is not considered. President Nelson is going into the final two sessions of this General Conference with just his opening address, and it's not very clear at the moment whether either or both counselors will be giving one more address each.

But when I thought about this further, my mind was drawn to a statement made years ago by Elder Bruce R. McConkie, who was quoted in Doctrines of the Restoration as follows: "The proper course for all of us is to stay in the mainstream of the Church. This is the Lord’s Church, and it is led by the spirit of inspiration, and the practice of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scripture”  

In view of the statement, if the practice of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scriptures, then it waws clearly more tradition than official doctrine or policy that the entire First Presidency speaks in an evening meeting. What that mean for the concluding sessions of General Conference is that with 5 apostles left to speak, it seems likely that the Sunday Morning Session will see remarks from 3 apostles, since that has been standard, and that the 2 apsotles remaining will do so in the Sunday Afternoon Session.

But as a ChurchBeat email noted, with 8 addresses of a normal length occuring in the first 3 sessions, 8 speakers might also be featured in each of the Sunday Sessions. Whatever happens in the remaining 2 sessions, that will probably illustrate what we can expect from those sessions.going forward While it's possible that the speaker parameters could be changed conference-to-conference, that won't necessarily be taken as rote,. Hopefully there is enough consistency in the rotations to draw some conclusions. 

In any case, this conference has already blown the possiblities clearly out of the water, so I'm not sure what to expect or hope for. But whever happens, you can count on my analysis thereof ASAP. I fully anticipate that President Nelson will announce new temples tomorrow. What will be interesting to see is if he speaks in both sessions, whether either or both of his counselors will do so, and anything else that might point to new patterns and rotational traditions.

I remain committed to bringing you all word of those developments as they occur.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.

Honoring Elder Ulisses Soares on His 63rd Birthday

Hello again, everyone! With the first session of the October 2021 General Conference a little over an hour from now, I am pleased to bring you all a post honoring Elder Ulisses Soares, who is celebrating his 62nd birthday today. Unless I am mistaken on this, it has been several years since any General Conference has coincided with an apostle’s birthday. And among the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Soares is the only one who has not spoken in the first session since the April 2019 General Conference. If, as I have predicted, Elder Soares does wind up speaking in the Saturday Morning Session of General Conference, he would be the first apostle in a while (if not the first one ever) to have the opportunity to address the General Conference audience on his birthday.

As I've mentioned previously, Elder Soares has a most unique life story and background, and I am grateful to share some thoughts about him with you all today. He was born on this day in 1958 in São Paulo Brazil to Apparecido Soares and Mercedes Carecho Soares. He has European and Amerindian ancestry. When an aunt joined the Church, that was how the Soares' family first learned of the gospel. His parents, after being taught by the missionaries, were baptized when young Ulisses was five years old.;

Regarding his experience with worshipping in the Church during his growing-up years, his small branch would meet in a tiny rental place that was located above a bakery. He served a full-time mission in Rio de Janeiro, Upon his return, he connected with;Rosana Fernandes Morgado, who had served in the same mission at around the same time, but whom he had not met until after they both had returned. The two were married in the Sao Paulo Temple, and together they raised three children

His academic experience involved studying at the;;Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, from which, in 1985, he received a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting. He then continued his studies at the;National Institute of Postgraduate Study, where he earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration. He spent his professional career working for several multinational companies (one of which was Pirelli Tire Company) as an accountant and an auditor. Donald L. Clark, who at that time was serving as director of temporal affairs for the Church in Brazil, convinced him to take a job with the Church as a senior auditor.

When Brother Clark was asked to serve as a mission president, Brother Soares took over for him as director of temporal affairs. He went on to fill a special assignment for the Church's Presiding Bishopric. Within the Church, Elder Soares has served as an elder's quorum president, counselor in a bishopric, stake high councilman, and as a regional welfare agent.

When the;São Paulo Brazil Cotia Stake was created in 1995, Elder Soares was called as the first president thereof. 5 years later, he served a three-year term as president of the Porto Portugal Mission. Less than two years after his return (during the April 2005 General Conference), he was called as a General Authority Seventy.

As a General Authority Seventy, he served as First Counselor in the Brazil South Area.from 2005-2007, as First Counselor in the Brazil Area from 2007-2009, and as President of that area from 2009-2011. He served from August 2011-January 2013 as First Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency, at which point he was called to serve in the Presidency of the Seventy, with responsibility for the North America Southeast Area; Then, in November 2015, Elder Soares was reassigned to oversee the Idaho and North America Central Areas of the Church. He still had oversight of both of those areas in 2018.

On March 31, 2018, Elder Soares was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he was ordained an apostle on Thursday April 5, 2018. He thus became both the first Latter-day Saint apostle from Brazil and the first one from Latin America. Elder Soares has had many opportunities to grow into his new assignment. In the last 1.5 decades in which has has served as a general authority, he has given a total of;12 General Conference addresses, with the first 2 given as a General Authority Seventy, 3 more as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 7 given since his 2018 call to the apostleship. He will, of course, be speaking to us again in General Conference either later today, or at some point tomorrow,, which will mark his eighth address as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and his eleventh overall.

At this point, I wanted to mention one additional thing: Both the Deseret News and the Church News published articles about the recently-released biography of President Dallin H. Oaks. One of the elements featured in those articles about President Oaks’ biography detailed the conditions under which President Nelson called Presidents Oaks and Eyring as his counselors: Those callings were only made after President Nelson had personally met individually with each of his other 12 apostles. President Nelson requested these interviews with each of his fellow apostles with a desire to have his Brethren’s best thoughts about which two of them should serve as his counselors and who should be called to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

While we don’t know specifically how Presidents Oaks and Eyring were selected, iit seems to be a safe conclusion that most of the apostles felt those two should be his counselors. And with that being the apparent outcome there, I am reasonably certain that a high percentage of those 12 apostles recommended that Elders Gong and Soares be called to fill the resulting vacancies in the apostleship.

In any case, if nothing else, we know that the Lord inspired the calls of Elders Gong and Soares. I gratefully and wholeheartedly sustain all 15 “special witnesses of Christ” in their divinely-inspired and doctrinally-supported roles prophets, seers, and revelators in their roles and responsibilities as special witnesses of Christ, and am grateful to have been able to provide this birthday tribute to him today. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring you all word of the major developments as I learn thereof, particularly those that will occur during this weekend of the October 2021 General Coferece.

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.

UPDATED: Predictions for the October 2021 General Conference (Final Version)

Hello again, everyone! Given the fact that first session of General Conference is now only 12 hours away, I am back to post the final version of my General Conference predictions. First up, as always, is the potential speaker lineup. As I've previously mentioned, if the Church has 2 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak during each of the two sessions on Sunday, that will allow for around 4-5 additional speakers aside from the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Aposttles.

Next up are my predictions for changes in general Church leadership. (including 6 current GA Seventies, with the possibility that 1 other who is under 70 but in ill health, might also be released and granted emeritus status. There is also a possibility, in my mind, that the Church could call current BYU-Provo President Kevin J Worthen to finish his term as president thereof with the additional role as  a GA  Seventy. The acknowledgement of the previously-announced releases for area seventies will likely be followed by a sustaining vote for a few new area seventies.

And the third and final part of my predictions shows a revised list of locations in which new temples could be announced. In the updates to that list, I have taken some of the feedback I had received under advisement. In particular, I used a comment made by Steven Cuff to guide my research into those prospects. So if any temples not on the previous list is now featured on this one, that is because I discovered strong reasons to add those locations to the list.

I still believe that a double-digit number of temples will be announced, and that the number will likely be between 12 on the low end and 20 on the high end (which averages out to 16 additional temples this time around). That will be especially trrue if many of those tempjles are on the smaller end of the scale as is the case with Helena Montana, Casper Wyoming, and Elko Nevada. 

Having seen the succesful ways that the temples with modular components worked in the US, that will also be true of the temple in Torreon Mexico. So if those smaller temples with modular components are used around the wrld, that will cut cost and the amount of time needed to build them, which could then allow crews to quickly move on to the next project.

I have also been thinking ni preparation for this General Conference that , in view of the fact that Saturday Evening Sessions going forward will not be directed to any particular group, whatever does wind up happening this time around might give uw a better idea of how that change impacted the number of speakers and anyt noticeable rotations.

I am very much looking forward to this General Conference weekend, and I also look forward to bringing you all word of the latest developments, especially in terms of breaking news, throughout the General Conference weekend as those developments are reported. If nothing else, we know President Nelson will likely announce more new temples, most likely doing so during his address to conclude the General Conference.

)I am hopeful (but not necessarily convinced] that perhaps his concluding remarks might be slightly longer, and that that would give him a chance to explain his temple construction plan, but I also have thought that would be possible in the lead-up to the last 3-4 General Conferences. I was also considering whether there would be any other announcements.or major developments.

If that is the case, I don't know what might be left that needs to bie changed or corrected. I wouldn't be surprised at some point if the Church took a look at the current organization of areas and made some changes there, but the question would be, why would those changes be necessary? It's possible that we could perhaps get updates on the new Church hymnbook and children's song book, and there may be other things in the Churc that are more tradition than doctrine. 

It would also, in my opinion, be good to see the poetntial canonization of either the Family Proclamation and/or The Living Christ. especially since a majority of the apostles serrving at the time both documents were released. But there is also less of a need to canonize something as scripture given that basicallym anything the apostles and prophets say publicly in their assignments as such is defined by the Lord as scripture.

I will be sure to cover anything that comes up in that respect throhgout this weekend. 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.

2100th Blog Post: CORRECTION: New Area Seventies Sustained; Others Released

Hello again, everyone! You may recall that in a new post published yesterday, I mentioned that the leadership session for General Conference included some changes for the area seventies of the Church. The link I shared in that post has since been taken down, which means it might only be during General Conference weekend itself that we hear anything about what was said during the leadership training sessions.

In the interim, the Newsroom has provided a new article about the changes in area seventies. Part of that article clarified that the previously-announced releases were ratified in that session. So those for whom a release was granted received a vote of gratitude for their service. As far as the new area seventies are concerned, in what I believe is a first for the Church, the new area seventies have beeen designated to replace a couple of those previously called. 

Elder Charden Ndinga will replace Elder Gaëtan Kelounou. As near as I can figure out, Elder Kelounou, called as an area seventy just six months ago, was released from that assignment to assume oversight for the Republic of the Congo Brazaville Mission. Elder Pedro E. Hernández has been called to serve in the Seventh Quorum of the Seventy, replacing Elder Guillermo I. Guardia, who has served since April 2017. Not sure why Elder Guardia will be replaced by Elder Hernandez, as I wasn't able to find anything on that.

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With all of that in mind, I also continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will do my best to bring word of those to you as I become aware thereof. 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.

Review of Temple Construction Progress During the Third Quarter of 2021

Hello again, everyone! As the last day of September 2021 winds towards its' conclusion, not only has the commenting period for my October 2021 General Conference predictions ended, but additionally, as September concludes, it is time to take a look back at the temple construction progress that has occurred from the beginning of the year until today.  So we have the three reports showing where things stood at the beginning of this year, in the days just prior to the April 2021 General Conference, at the halfway point of this year, and how things look as we near the October 2021 General Conference weekend.

As I've mentioned in the past, I anticipate that between the Church's capacity to use modular components on smaller temples (a process which could potentially expand to larger temples) and precast concrete panels on other temples, that might accelerate the process whereby most temples are able to be constructed in the future.  With that in mind, I believe that we will see most temples moved from the status of just being announced to being under construction within roughly 2-3 years of their announcements.

And if that can happen, that in turn will clear up the queue for more new temples to be announced. So I anticipate that, given all that has been done to clear the queue since the April 2021 General Conference, we are more likely than not to see President Nelson announce another double-digit number of temples this weekend. While there could be 20 or more that are announced, it's also possible that the number of temples announced this weekend could be any other double-digit number between 10 and 20.

Whatever might happen this weekend, I will do my level best to cover those developments here ASAP after any such announcements are made.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: October 2021 General Conference Leadership Meetings Includes Releases and Sustainings of Area Seventies

 Hello again, everyone! I mentioned earlier this week that I wasn't sure whether or not the Church would hold leadership training sessions, but this afternoon, a news release being prepared with content that will be shared has conclusively verified that the leadership training is occurring today and tomorrow. Among the other highlights that will be shared, the Newsroom release as it currently exists showed that President Nelson focused his remarks on the life experiences of Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the restoration can help general and area leaders in our day to fill their assignments more effectively.

The Newsroom releasse will also share information about counsel given by Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring, First and Second Counselors in the First Presidency, and from Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, during this morning's leadership meetings. The offered counsel in and of itself is breaking news, but the news release as it currently stands also referenced the releases and sustainings affecting area seventies I found it interesting that both releases and sustainings occurred. and I'm intrigued to see what that means.

In the meantime, I will plan on adding more information to this post as the Newsroom release is updated accordingly. 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: Phased Process of Reopening Templex Continues Into October

Note This post was published at around 10:30 AM ias originally scheduled, with further analysisa and context added thereunto between 12;00-1:45 PM.

Hello again, everyone! The final Tuesday before General Conference has rolled around, as a result of which the latest information about temple reopenings has been released by the Church. Since there is just over a week of September left, the latest update shares some details about reopenings that are planned through the rest of September and into October. The updates are, as always, detailed in the updated Newsroom release, and through the Church News, with the latter also linking to the area-by-area temple reopening status tracker.

I will have a more complete analysis on the latest announced adjustments at some point later today. (Note: I was able to post content on the announced change as indicated at the top of this post, so the content between this paragraph and the traditional closing of my post was added at around that time.) I am back to provide additional analysis on the latest temple reopening updates provided by the Church earlier today.

This morning, the Church announced that the Arequipa Peru and Bogota Colombia Temples will shift from phase2 to phase 2-B as early as next Tuesday. Additionally, today's update was the first to mention anything about the status of the Manti Utah Temple, which, as we know, is scheduled to close for its' formal renovation at some point on or around Friday October 1. 

That temple, becoming the ninth in the current queue of those undergoing renovations, will retain its' phase 3 designation, which will allow those served by that temple district to schedule living and proxy work at the closest temples to Manti. As we know, the adjusted plans for that temple renovation will cut the amount of work needing to be done, and will also cut the time needed to do it. The temple is anticipated to conclude its' renovation within 18-24 months of its' closure. 

With that in mind, the renovation of that temple could wrap up in either April or October 2023, with the temple reopening events being held a couple of months after that. As we also know, the Columbus Ohio and Hong Kong China Temples are anticipated to wrap up their renovations at some point next year. The renovation process for the St. George Utah Temple is now anticipated to wrap up at some point in 2023, perhaps within a similar window as is expected for the temple in Manti.

We also know that, before the announcement of changed plans for the Salt Lake Temple, the first full-scale multi-year renovation of that temple was originally anticipated to be complete at some point in 2024. With official Church resources noting that the additional work on the Salt Lake Temple, which was not part of the original plan, now being included, the Church has only acknowledged that the additional work will extend the length of time for that prospect. As a result, I have adjusted my general estimate for that temple's completion to sometime during late 2024-early 2025.

Additionally, the Church has confirmed that plans are well underway for the renovation process of the Logan Utah Temple. Depending on when those plans are announced, that could be another temple completed in 2023 or 2024. It will be interesting to see what happens in terms of those historic temple renovations.

Returning now to the latest temple reopening announcements from today (sorry about my unintended detour), the Church also noted again today that the Medford Oregon Temple, which had been originally planned to transition to phase 3 operations in August of this year, will still do so this year on a yet-to-be-determined date. The Church also again shared the list of 10 temples not yet open for any proxy work, which again included 2 in the renovation queue.

So, as of next Tuesday October 5), the current status of temple reopenings in the Church will stand as follows: 9 remain closed for major renovations (2 of which have dedications scheduled, with 2 more anticipated to have reopening arrangements announced in the relatively near term; in addition to which, 7 of those 9 have been granted phase 3 designations). 3 temples have paused in their reopening process due to factors relating to COVID-19 (2 of those 3 had been in phase 3 at the time the pause became necessary, while the other temple was in phase 2 when its reopening was paused).

And for the final four phases, there will be 3 in phase 1, 4 in phase 2, 5 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 144 temples of the Church are in phase 3. The Church continues a cautiously-coordinated plan, with a long-term view of the process that will, in due course, result in all temples of the Church being open for normal operations. 

COVID-19 is the huge variable here, and for that reason, I'm grateful to know that, as plans for the latest temple reopening announcements are made each week, the Brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who have roles in supervising each of the 22 Church areas with the assistance of members of the Presidency of the Seventy, are regularly meeting with area leaders virtually to determine the best courses of action for temples worldwide. on a week-to-week basis.

My hope is that, as each of the Church's temples eventually resume normal operations, that the members of the Church around the world will not forget what it was like to not have access thereunto during the COVID-19 pandemic. I similarly hope as well that the closure of all temples and the subsequent reopening adjustments will also fill those of us living very close to a temple with more gratitude for that blessing, and will instill in each of us a greater appreciation for the plight of those who do not currently live anywhere near a temple.

On Sunday of this week, my ward's Elders' Quorum discussed President Eyring's talk from the Saturday Morning Session of the April 2021 General Conference.

In the course of that lesson, I felt impressed to share the experience my mom, her siblings, and her parents had in having to sell off nearly everything they owned just to enable them to make the journey from South Africa to the temple in England (which was the closest one at that time). I then made the observation that, while all the temples of the Church had closed for a time, all members of the Church had likely understood what not being able to go to a nearby temple is like. And it's something that I hope none of us take for granted going forward. 

With that in mind, I'm grateful to have been able to learn about these latest updates and to pass them along to you all here. While I don't know if any breaking news (whether that is related to temples or not) might be reported before General Conference weekend, I remain committed to bringing those updates to you as I become aware thereof. I am also monitoring all other Church News reports and temple construction updates and will likewise pass those along as I find myself able to do so. 

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.