BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Announces Latest Temple Reopenings

Hello again, everyone! With only one exception in recent weeks, Tuesday has been the designated day on which the Church has announced the latest temple reopening updates. Those releases have been shared in the Newsroom and through updates in the Church News (including the weekly status tracker). Barring anything unexpected (such as a major temple announcement unrelated to temple reopenings, or another week wherein the Church holds steady and does not announce any updates), the latest such information will be released in the next hour or so from the publication of this post.

This post will be updated with an analysis of that announcement if and when it comes. Note: The following few paragraphs between here and the closing text for the post were added once the Church's official announcement on temple reopenings was made. The Church reported this mornining that the Buenoos Aires Argentina Temple is transitiooning to phase 2 after the recent pause in its' reopening. 

Additionally, the Church noted this morning that, in view of its' dedication on Sunday, the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple will open in phase 3 as early as November 12. With the dedication of the Pocatello Idaho Temple set to occur on Sunday November 7, that temple will open in phase 3 as soon as November 16. And the Mesa Arizona Temple, which will be rededicated on Sunday December 12, will begin operating in phase 3 as early as December 21. Right now, the Saints in the Mesa Arizona Temple district have been able to reserve phase 3 appointments at the closest temples to Mesa which are also in phase 3.

Once all temples for which a phase 3 opening has been announced have officially transitioned to that phase, 92.3% of all temples (157 of the 170 total) will be in phsse 3. Additionally, when other temples transition to phase 2-B (which has previously been noted will occur ASAP), the total number of temples allowing proxy work by appointment will rise to 161 of the 170, or 94.2% of all temples.

The Church News also reiterated that the Medford Oregon Temple, originally projected to move into phase 3 at some point in August, remains in phase 2--B for the time being, and that no revised date has been set for that transition. 6 of the Church's temples remain in phases 1 or 2, while no phase designation has been given for the temples in Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan both of which are currently closed for renovation.

As a result of the latest adjustments, next Tuesday (November 9), the reopening of temples will stand as follows: 9 temples are closed for major renovations (all but 2 of which have been granted pahse 3 designations); 2 temples remain "paused" in their reopenings (both of which had reached phase 3 prior to their pauses); 2 other temples are in phase 1; with 4 each in phases 2 and 2-B; and the remaining 147 operating in phase 3.

I have noted this in the past, but feel a need to reiterate it again: I am grateful for the carefully-planned cautiously-coordinated reopening of temples around the world, and for the revelatory process that drives those announcements every week. Although no temples anywhere have reached phase 4 (a return to full normal operations), it is wonderful the Church has been prudent and wise in the announcements of changes each week.

As always, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and remain committed to bringing you all word of those updates as I become aware thereof. This Saturday (November 6), Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf will be celebrating his 81st birthday, with Elder Dale G. Renlund observing his 69th birthday exactly one week later. I will be presetting my next apstolic data update to publish here on Sunday November 14 (which will mark the final such update for this year).

I also continue to be hopeful that opening arrangements might soon be announced for the Yigo Guam and Quito Ecuador Temples, with reopening arrangements for the Tokyo Japan and Hamilton New Zealand Temples announced soon as well. And I continue to hope that the announcements of multiple temple groundbreakings will be made within the next couple of week for most (if not all) of the remaining temples that will have a groundbreaking this year, though there is also the prospect that the Church could report a groundbreaking has already occurred for some temples. So stay tuned for more on all of these developments as i find out about them and pass them along.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: First Temple Dedication in Over a Year Includes Slight Change to Dedicatory Procedures

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the latest edition of "In Case You Missed It" was published by the Church News. 5 of the top 9 developments reported were about the ministry of the apostles. The last of those 5 updates detailed the real reason (rather than the previously-conjectured one) that the Church held the temple dedication youth devotional one week ago today.

The Church had previously announced that the temple dedication would occur in four general sessions held today at 8:00 and 10:00 AM and at 12:00 and 2:00 PM, with the option to hold a fifth at 4:00 PM if that is needed.

As we also know, under normal arrangements, the Church would include the sealing of the cornerstone as part of the first dedicatory session. But with the dedicatory sessions for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple being held within two-hour intervals today, in order to allow more speakers to offer remarks during the first dedicatory session, Elder Gong officiated at the cornerstone ceremony yesterday evening.

So, while COVID-19 may impact the timing of temple dedications, particularly having a youth devotional the week before the dedication will allow the cornerstone ceremony to occur the day before the dedication, and the Church could allow one or two additional dedicatory sessions to encourage smaller groups in attendance at each session.

I am grateful to have learned about these updates and to pass them along to you all here. I'm hopeful we could see temple reopenings announced for the Tokyo Japan and Hamilton New Zealand Temples soon, in addition to opening arrangements soon for the Yigo Guam and Quito Ecuador Temples, and that between now and the only currently-scheduled groundbreaking (in mid-December for the Bacolod Philippines) there could be at least a few other groundbreakings held, whether or not they are announced in advance.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Quetzeltenango Guatemala Temple Transitions to Phase 3; Nearly 93% of All Temples Now Offering Proxy Ordinances

 Hello again, everyone! This morning, the Church News has reported that the Quetzeltenango Guatemala Temple is the latest to transition to phase 3, offering all living and proxy ordinances in priority order, with appropriate protocols and procedures in place to keep all Church members safe. With this latest development, the Church has almost 93% of its' 168 temples open in phase 3. 

With this weekend marking the dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, and next weekend marking the dedication of the Pocatello Idaho Temple, the Church will then have 170 operating temples by mid-November, 158 of which will be open in phase 3, as a result of which the percentage of temples open in phase 3 by mid-November will then remain steady at 93%.

The Church also noted that the Medford Oregon Temple, which had been projected to move into phase 3 in August of this year, has not yet moved into that phase, but will do so at a later time when COVID-19 conditiions allow that to occur. Aside from these updates, there have not been any other changes reported. so the latest data, which is also featured in the temple reopening status tracker and in the Church's official Newsroom release, now shows the status of temple reopenings as follows: 

9 remain closed for major renovations,, all but 2 of which (Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan) have been granted phase 3 designation, which allows the members residing in those other 6 temple districts to schedule living and proxy ordinances at the temples cloesest to them that are also in phase 3); 3 remain paused in their reopenings (with 2 that were in phase 3 and 1 that was in phase 2 at the time their pauses went into effect); just 2 remain in phase 1; 3 in phase 2; 4 in phase 2-B; and the remaining 147 in phase 3.

I continue to find it very humbling to witness the inspired and careful way the Brethren have directed the weekly efforts to reopen temples around the world. Modern technology has allowed the apostles to more frequently check in with the area presidencies for the areas in which they each have oversight, and since those conversations are able to carry on weekly, no matter where any of them are geographically, the Church has been very smart in evaluating and assessing things and responding accordingly.

I also keep going back to what President Nelson described as he came to the painful decision that all temples should be closed for the time being. He noted that he agonized over what he would say to them and that he was "going to see them soon"(which to me does not sound like he's talking about when his ministry as prophet ends and he is called home to help direct the work from the other side of the veil). I can understand his feelings on some level: it's a huge, unprecedented thing for the Church to have closed all temples worldwide for a significant duration of time. 

At the same time, unprecedented times (during a global pandemic of a highly-transmissible disease) call for unprecedented measures, and I for one do not find it accidental in any respect that the Church is dealing with the effects of a global pandemic at a time when the prophet representing the Lord to the Church is a former medical physician and surgeon. I think on that level, President Nelson's fellow prophets would be very understanding of what had to be done. I also think that their biggest question for him would be: "Did you do what the Lord instructed you to do on the matter?" And when he answered in the affirmative, that would be the only thing they'd be concerned about.

It's something I've thought about a lot and wanted to put into words now. It's natural that unprecedented times requiring unprecedented measures would cause worry for the Lord's prophet, but my personal opinion is that he didn't need to worry on that count. As I've previously mentioned, two weeks ago today, no temple reopening updates were provided. With such updates provided anew the last couple of weeks, I think that most weeks will see updates on that going forward, especially as COVID-19 becomes less of an issue worldwide, but that there could be a few weeks where no updates are announced as things hold steady.

It's also worth noting that  I anticipate that the Church could potentially begin to transition temples to phase 4 either just prior to Christmas 2021 and New Years' Day 2022 or as 2022 progresses. I will be sure to monitor all of that and bring you word of those developments as I become aware thereof. I'd be remiss if I also didn't note that it seems more likely than not that opening arrangements for the Yigo Guam and Quito Ecuador temples could be coming down the pike within the next week or two, as could the reopening arrangements for the Tokyo Japan and Hamilton New Zealand Temples.

Right now, the Church only has 2 temples currently scheduled for a groundbreaking: Pago Pago American Samoa (on Saturday October 30), and Bacolod Philippines (on Saturday December 11). Right now, no other temple groundbreakings have been scheduled. I have been hoping that for some temples, it might be psosible to hold a private groundbreaking for the temple before publicly releasing the video and photographs verifying that those groundbreakings took place on those dates.

Either way, I am anticipating that a maximum of 9 temples within the United States will have groundbreakings occur soon (whether or not they are announced in advance), along with a maximum of 8 other temples outside the United States. And if at least 10 of those 17 are able to have a groundbreaking by the end of this year, temple groundbreakings in 2021 will exceed the 21 that occurred last year.

I will monitor all of those updates and will do my best to bring you word of any developments as I become aware thereof.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.

UPDATED: Temple Construction Progress Report

Hello again, everyone! Throughout this week, there have been periodic changes in the number, ordering, or time-frames for the completion of new temples under construction. As a result of the changes made in the last couple of days, I have prepared an updated copy of my temple construction progress report. I am pleased to be able to share that with you.

On my end, I also continue to minotor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will be happy to pass those along to you all as I receive such updates. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS': First Presidency Releases Official Information about the Ephraim Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! On this Friday, we have some more breaking temple news. The site location has been confirmed and the preliminary details released for the Ephraim Utah Temple. Plans call for a three-story temple of roughly 39,000 square feet. The temple will rise on a 9.16 acre site located at the intersection of 400 East and 200 North. Although no groundbreaking date has been announced, it's good to see the Church taking this next step on Ephraim.

Regarding temple groundbreakings, information I have informally receieved indicates that as many as 17 temples could have groundbreakings occur within the next 6 months I know of at least four (Farmington New Mexico, Willamette Valley Oregon, Elko Nevada, and Grand Junction Colorado) that could have groundbreakings set to occur by the end of this month or early next month.

For my part, I continue to monitor all of this and will be sure to bring you word of updates as I become aware thereof. 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.

BREAKING NEWS: Spontaneous Fire Erupts at Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Hello again, everyone! At the top of the 10:00 PM KSL newscast, a breaking news update was shared regarding a fire that erupted today at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The KSL news story shared an official Churh statement on the fire was provided by long-time Church spokesperson Brother Eric Hawkins:

"At around 7 this evening, a fire started on the second-floor roof of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The most likely cause of the fire is from combustible construction materials that ignited on their own.We are grateful for the quick response of emergency personnel, who were able to extinguish the fire and are on site conducting their investigation. We are also grateful that no one was injured in this incident and that property damage is minimal and the building will be operational tomorrow." Just wanted to pass that along here. I continue to monitor any and all Church News updates and reported temple developments and remain committed to bringing word of those to you all as I become aware thereof.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Leaders Worldwide Will Be Able to Electronically Sign and Print Temple Recommends through LCR

 Hello again, everyonne! As some of you might be aware, I have been checking periodically to see whether the PDF version of the Novembeer 2021 Liahona has been made available. Although the PDF availability is still pending,I was able to glean from portions of the magazine what has changed for the conference issue of the Liahona. Based on what I found there, although the shortened length of time for talks given by the apostles will mean the text of those talks no longer will cover the standard 3-5 pages in most cases, I was not prepared for some other surprises. 

With the summary of conference talks given by the First Presidency and a few members of the Quorum of the Twelve, along with some of the female officers of the Church, the combined data provided on that summary page, when taken together, shows that some of the talks given by members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles actually only spanned 2 pages, as did a fair few other talks by general leaders.

It appears that the Church was able to do that through a slight adjusted sizing of the conference isssue by contrast with the other 10 issues of the Liahona. And that means that in October, the sustainings portion might only take one page, while for April, a colum of one other page will show the auditing department report. If the General Conference Liahona does indeed have 128 pages every time going forward, then doing a slightly taller edition of the Liahona would help facilitate that.

The HTML version of the magazine being available now would be sufficient grounds on its' own to warrant a breaking news report here, but when you add to that the fact that another major development has been reported in that conference edition of the Liahona magazine, The reported update notes that ward and stake leaders now have the option to electroically fill and then e-sign Church members' temple recommends through their administrative capacities available to those individuals in the LCR (Leader and Clerk Resources). 

The fact that this option was not available before now seems to suggest thaT President Nelson may be in a better position that makes him willing to more fully embrace and encourage technology for the worldwide Church than it may have to do with the fact that his predecessors never considered that update, or may not nhave found it feasible. By contrast to his two immediate predecessors, our current prophet, who brings all the precision and problem-solving skills he finessed and all the inspiration he has honed to bear on his role as the only man authorized to receive revelation for the entire Church, is making common-sense adjustments that might have never occurred to his predecessors because they never thought to ask those questions in a way that would enable them to receive the revelation the same way President Nelson has done.

I will continue to monitor what happens and will share more complete information when the PDF of the magazine becomes available. Above and beyond that, however, I am keeping my eyes open for official announcements relating to temples. I remain committed to bringing you those updates as I become aware thereof. 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. 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Upgrades Manila Philippines Temple to Phase 3,; 95% of Temples Now Open for Proxy Wrk

Hello again, everyone! On the literal heels of th is morning's announcement about the Farmington temple's exterior rendering, and following a one-week hiatus on temple reopening adjustments, the Church announced that the Manila Philippines Temple, which, if my memory serves me correctly, had previously transitioned to phase 3 before those arrangements were paused, will once again open for phase 3 ordinances. 

This means that husband-to-wife sealings, endowments for the living, and all proxy work (including baptims for the dead will be able to be scheduled in that temple. But above and beyond that, the fact that Manila will be returning to phase 3 means that 95% of all currently-operating temples (including 7 of the 9 temples currently closed for renovations) will be open in phase 3. 

The changes reported in the Church News article to which I linked at the beginning of this post are further confirmed by the updated Newsroom release and in the temple reopening status tracker. As a result of this latest update, the reopening of the first temple in the Philippines of the Church remain closed for renovation (although 7 of those temple districts have been granted phase 3 designations); 3 other temples remain paused (with 2 of those 3 being in phase 3, and the other 1 temple in phase 2 at the time those reopenings were paused); with 3 more apiece in phases 1 and 2. 5 additional temples are in phase 2-B (baptistry open for proxy work with living ordiances available in priority order., which means the remaining 146 temples aow in phase 3. 

I have mentioned this a few times in the recent past, but the COVID-19 pandemic has provided the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles assigned to each of the Church's 22 areas worldwide a chance to virtually and regularly taouch bases with and ascertain infrmation from each area presidency, which in turn informs the apostles of any new updates of which they need to be made aware, especially if those updates pertain to the ongoing and in-flux temple reopenings week-to week.

The process of reopening temples has been inspiring to see, and I look forward to seeing what happens in that respect throughout the remainder of this year. In the meantime, with the Church releasing the exterior rendering for the Farmington New Mexico Temple, the approvals process for that has moved to the next phase, so hopefully between the latest updates on all new US temples, the Church could then plan on breaking ground for each of the now-14 temples for which sites have been confirmed and exterior renderings released. 

There is also the possibility that the Church could potentially hold some of those groundbreakings without publicly announcing when they will take place. And if that is the case for more than a few of those 14 temples, it's also possible that other temples for which official information is still pending could also have a groundbreaking without drawing attention to that occurring until after the fact.

Whether or not any or all of those temples have groundbreakings announced before thy occur,, even though the Church has not yet scheduled any temple groundbreakings, unless and until we have proof to the contrary, I still fully believe that this year, the Church will both meet and exceed the total number of temple groundbreakings which took place last year (21).

I am monitoring any such updates, and will bring you all word thereof here as I become aware of such updates on my end. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Rendering Released for Farmington New Mexico Temple

Hello aagain, everyone! As some of you might recall, the site location for the Farmington New MexicoTemple on June 23, Although the exterior renderings have since been releaased for Grand Junction Colorado and Burley Idaho, Farmington has not yet had a rendering released up to this point. The wait on that temple's rendering  is now over, in view of this mroning's announcement relative to that announcement. 

Although this temple is roughly the same sizes as the Grand Junction Colorado Temple, the design reminds me very much of a scaled-up version of the renderungs for Elko Nevada, Casper Wyoming, and Helena Montana, which suggests to me that the modular design of smaller temples of a similar size could als use the modular design.

I am grateful to have heard this news and been able to pass that along to you all here. I continue to monitor temple milestonesi and other reported developments, and will be sure to pass that information along 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

Initial Predictions for the April 2022 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! Given the fact that no breaking Church news or temple deelopments have been shared thus far this week.I was able to spend a good chunk of time yesterday getting the initial version of my predictions for the April 2022 General Conference. Those predictions include 3 separate segments: the potential speaker lineup, a list of changes in general Church leadership (which also includes my estimates for the numbers that may be featured in the 2021 Statistical Report, and my preliminary list of locations in which a temple seems most likely to be announced.

A bit of context might be helpful. On the speaker lineup, I have used a similar (if not identical) template for each featured speaker. In view of the fact that so many GA Seventies spoke during the October 2021 General Conference, it appears more likely than not that the April 2022 General Conference will follow a similar format, but with Presidents Oaks and Eyring switching speaker slots this time around. 

It seems likely that 3 apostles each will speak Saturday Morning,Saturday Afternoon, and Sunday Morning, with 2 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaking in the final session, and the one remaining apostle will speak Saturday Evening. 

It also seems likely to me that, with the Church having shortened the amount of time alloted for the Sustaining of Church Officers, and for the duration of all talkgs given by our apostles, that there will be ample room for one member of the Presidency of the Seventy (Kearon), one Presiding Bishopric member (Causse), and 5 General Officers of the Church.

Additionally, in view of the fact that 15 current GA Seventies spoke earlier this month, the adjusted talk lengths for all apostles will leave room for about that same number of GA Seventies. There is only one current GA Seventy (Elder Adeyinka A. Ojediran) who was sustained in April 2020 but has not yet spoken in General Conference, All GA Seventies called in April of this year spoke for the first time in General Conference earlier this month.

As a result, in addition to Elder Ojediran, my predictions for other GA Seventy speakers does not take Elder Baxter into consideration, since he is still reportedly on medical leave. But the next name on that list of when each current GA Seventy last spoke to us is Elder Randy D. Funk, who gave his first address as a GA Seventy during the Priesthood Session in October 2013. 

I went down through the list, and with the way the speaker predictions apeear to be set up going forward, I was able to plan out a scenario that would see every GA Seventy listed between Elder Funk and Elder Hugo Montoya (who gave his first address during the Saturday Afternoon Session of the October 2015 General Conference).

The only notes I have on the changes in general Church leadership are that new GA Seventies are likely to be sustained, with area seventy releases and sustainings conducted in advance, and the release of the Relief Society General Presidency and the calling of new leaders for that organization. The numbers showing up in my projected version of the data likely to be included in the 2021 Statistical Report for the Church are based on both estimates and somewhat elaborate algorithms that are hard to explain.

And with the final document showing the list of locations in which a temple seems most likely to be announced, I eliminated all candidates that had been announced in October. I will be looking to add any locations to the list based on research verifying those choices, or based on any recommendations from you, my readers, who would like to submit feedback for consideration here. With those explanations handled, I am pleased to declare the commenting period for these predictions is now open.

The commenting period will remain in effect until 10:00 PM on Friday April 1, which will then give me a few hours to make any adjustments before General Conference weekend gets underway with the first session on Saturday April 2 at 10:00 AM. I look forward to any feedback any of you might offer on what I've put together. I also continue to monitor all major Church news and temple developments and will bring you all word here of the latest as I can once I become aware of that information.

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.