At cumorah.com, we have recently upgraded our website, but there have been some issues with a few of the resources working properly. See below for the October and November monthly newsletters - I cannot post them on the site at the moment. These will be posted on the website once we are able to correct this issue.
October 2021: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pgISohXXyLZ4ZIwJD9dRgnjYuHKb6iZt/view?usp=sharing.
November 2021: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-p6puUaPrfEl9b2kJM8UvWnuTm3MhNom/view?usp=sharing.
69 comments:
Thanks for sharing those; I enjoy reading the newsletters. One error that was in the October newsletter and which has been perpetuated elsewhere is listing Gurugram (aka Gurgaon) as newly reached. There has been a home group there under the auspices of the Dwarka Ward since at least 2010 or 2011, though I cannot state for sure that it has operated continuously since then.
Unknown - Yes, I figured this may be the case. However, there is no way for me to know how long a member group has operated once I discover its existence. Some of the locations recently opened to the Church in the newsletters may have opened that very month, whereas others may have had a member group for months or years. These are reported based on when I find out about them.
Recently I thought it would be interesting to map where current senior leadership (defined as the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, Presiding Bishopric, Presidency of the Seventy, Sunday School, RS, YM, YW, and Primary General Presidencies, and Area Presidencies), are from. Choosing where someone is from when they have different countries they were born in, raised in, or spent their adult life in can be tricky, but in general I focused on where they spent the majority of their adult life (ie Elder Uchtdorf counts as German even though born in the now-Czech Republic), although for some with backgrounds as highly mobile executives who lived all over the globe I assigned them to where they were raised. As such, you may find a few counts you disagree with.
To view it, you can go to https://mapchart.net/world.html and then click the "Save - Upload Map Configuration" button near the bottom right. Then choose the button in the middle, "Upload Map Configuration" and upload the text file that I have saved here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dWt0lN4QVmr_FEt8ovqrSaX0x5otj7xm/view?usp=sharing
Also, based on the number of senior leadership positions and number of nominal members in each country, here is how much various countries over/underperform on that map. I of course realize the Lord doesn't call people based on demographics -- he looks not on the countenance, but the heart, which makes this exercise a somewhat silly numbers game. Even so, I think it is interesting for a few practical reasons -- a country needs an "excess" of spiritually mature members, so to speak, in order to be able to fill global leadership roles while still having enough to fill crucial local leadership roles, which is one reason why it isn't really a linear function of the number of members, or even the number of active members. With that caveat, here are the numbers:
us +10
japan +2
uruguay +2
germany +3 (This is really remarkable, based on their numbers you would expect one quarter of a person)
hong kong +2
puerto rico +2
uae +1 (even more remarkable in the sense that their numbers suggest 1/80 of a person, but it is kind of a special circumstance for that area)
mexico -5
brazil -2
philippines -5
chile -2
ecuador -1
bolivia -1
nigeria -1
honduras -1
peru -1
Who are you counting as UAE? I would have just counted all general authorities.
President Uchtdorf was resident in Germany from age 5, and before that he was mainly in Poland, but I think even then it was technically Germany.
See this not just counting all general authorities I think is messing with the count for Congo.
Also who is the Dutch person you are counting? I can not think of any Dutch general authority except Jacob de Jager and he is dead.
A Mandarin Branch named the Pioneer Branch was evidently organized last month. I am wondering where it is located.
It’s in the Orange California Stake and they meet at the building in Tustin, CA.
Likely Elder Hans T. Boom
Likely Elder Jeffrey H. Singer of the Seventh Quorum of Seventy. Although he’s American (born in Idaho), it appears he has spent most of the 21st century working with/in the UAE and surrounding countries. However, his LinkedIn profile indicates that as of April and August 2021, he’s in Utah working for his own global management group and as a professional in residence at Utah Valley University, so I wonder if he’ll be reassigned to the Twelfth Quorum. Of Seventy, if he hasn’t already.
"1 December 2021 - Africa News Release - Thank You For The Temple You Are About To Build Church Leaders of the Africa West Area visit with His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II"
https://news-africa.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/asantehene-king-will-help-get-kumasi-temple-started
Actually, Brandon, the above comment and breakdown in question applies only to General Authority Seventies of the Church, so I did some digging, and found out that although he was born in the United States, Elder Larry S. Kacher, First Counselor in the Africa West Area, was serving as an area seventy in the UAE at the time of his call. Since that was his nation of residence, Elder Kacher is the one to whom the previous comment referred:
https://www.google.com/search?q=which+general+authority+seventy+is+from+the+united+arab+emirates%3F&rlz=1CABBMB_enUS976&oq=which+general+authority+seventy+is+from+the+united+arab+emirates%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57.17793j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Interestingly enough, Elder Kacher is one of the 8 GA Seventies who will turn 70 in 2022. Here is an overview I put together of each of those individuals, and the current assignments they hold:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R0XG0t36oR2MTm4lt4cR2XptiEN4Z-pYPF06kiVzMao/edit?usp=sharing
Hope this information is helpful to all who read it.
And speaking of Elder Kacher, he was featured in the latest update from the Church Temples site. Asrecently paid a visit with other Church leaders from Ghana to the king of the nation of Ghana. During that meeting, the king was presented a copy of his family history and also a photograph that apparently shows the exterior rendering for the Kumasi Ghana Temple. The King expressed gratitude for both gifts, saying it was important to him to know his family history, and thanking the Church for planning to build a beautiful temple in Kumasi:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/kumasi-ghana-temple/news/
Now, I want to be very clear that the Church has not yet publicly released that rendering, or any information about the site location. But since the rendering was presented to His Majesty the King of Ghana, my assumption is that it will likely be publicly released at some point this week. And if that turns out to be the case, then the Kumasi Ghana Temple might also have a groundbreaking set soon. My thanks once again to you all.
That rendering given to the King appears to be indistinguishable in every respect from the rendering of the Abidjan temple, including the exact cloud pattern. Seems like its a placeholder until they finalize plans for the new Ghana temple.
I thought so too
According to Rick's website, only 5 temples before 1985 have yet to be renovated and rededicated.
I enjoyed the information about Elder Kacher's visit with King Oseo Tutu II of the Ashanti people of Ghana. An earlier visit with the king and the leadership of the Africa West Area was reported in October 2015. The king's leadership over the Ashanti people and his feelings of support for record preservation and strong families were reported at that time.
Although the Ashanti make up 70% of the nation of Ghana are are considered its most powerful tribal group, it is not correct to refer to their king as the king of the nation of Ghana. Ghana is a functioning republic since 1957 and under its current constitution since 1992.
Hey, Chris and Michael, are you basing your theories about thr Kumasi temple rendering being a placeholder on the fact that the Church has done something like that before? Is there a source that verifies that has occurred in the past? I didn't see anything in that article that indicated it was a placeholder. If that is the actual rendering (of which I have no doubt on my end), then the similarity to Abidjan's exterior appears to be deliberate, since that standard exterior design would allow unique interiors and furnishings on the interior.
The Church may use that same exterior design for other West Africa Temples of the same size. I also feel that in 2023, 2024 or 2025 could seen redesigns and expansions for both the Aba and Accra Temples,
Further, it would, IMHO opinion, be detremental for the Church to offer a placeholder rnndering to the highest-ranking leader of any narion, and doing so would cast doubts on the Church's credibility and transparency. I'd think the Church would avoid that prospect at all costs. Until an official Church-supported source verifies that was a placeholder, I'm going to assume it's the real thing. No offense intended here, Michael and Cheis, and I hope none is taken.
James, in regards to the Kumasi Ghana Temple, considering that the Church has discontinued the incorporation of angel statues on temples, and the image being exactly the same as the Abidjan Temple, the picture presented was possibly a presented just for the photograph, while the official rendering was probably revealed to him with cameras off in the event that design plans could change pending outcome of local leadership.
Unknown, you, Chris, and Michael are free to maintain your own opinions on this issue. The wording of the news release, including photographs and captions thereof, have led me to conclude that it is the actual rendering for the Kumasi temple, which the exact words of the release and photo captions appear to support. Others can second-guess the Church on this, but I'm not comfortable supporting such practices. Until something different is announced, we're all entitled to our own opinions. I'll likely get some criticism for the tone and substance of this comment, but I'd hope that I have the right to agree to disagree. Hopefully most commenters here know how much I do respect opinions that I may not share.
Regarding the rendering of the temple in the photo op, Michael is correct that it clearly is the exact same rendering as the Abidjan Ivory Coast temple rendering. That said, I agree with James that it would be strange to give a picture of a different temple than the one they were there to talk about. I think the most likely explanation is that they are using the same rendering because the temples will be identical. Time will tell. (I am a different "Unknown" than the Unknown who already commented on the topic of the possible Kumasi temple rendering).
Perhaps the two temples will be identical, but it is strange that they would use the exact same rendering, since the Tarawa and Port Vila Temples are practically the same, but have 2 distinct renderings displaying a portion of the temple sites. Of course we will have to see when the official rendering is released. If it is a placeholder, it would be interesting to know the purpose for it.
In response ro rhe firsr "Unknown" under my comment, rhanks for your expressed support on my opinion. To the "Unknown" just above my new comment here, it's common for temples in a similar area or of the same size to have identical exteriors. We've seen that done for Yigo, Praia, and San Juan, a couple of "sister" temples here in Utah, and the Elko, Casper, and Helena Temples. I believe the Abidjan and Kumasi renderings are sisters to Port-au-Prince, but I could be misraken on that. Also, just to clarify, I hope it's understood that in my last comment, when I said I didn't personally want to second-guess the Church, I wasn't implying tat anyone who disagrees with me is second-guessing the Lord. Jusr wanted to clarify that.
"Sites, renderings released for Cape Town South Africa, Querétaro Mexico temples"
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2021-12-07/cape-town-south-africa-queretaro-mexico-temple-sites-renderings-235068
The new Pioneer Mandarin speaking branch is in Tustin in Orange County, California.
Is that including Provo? What are the other 4/5?
The pre-creation rendering of the Detroit Temple that was published had a driveway right by the entrance that never existed and way too many trees in the background.
I think Daniel's comment is in reference to Rick's Chronological Temple List:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/temples/chronology/
If you click on the + to have the list show re-dedications (this also shows which temples are currently being renovated), the only temples prior to 1985 which do not add an extra line or two are #10, Los Angeles (dedicated in 1956); #19, Seattle (dedicated in 1980); #29, Manila (1984); #31, Taipei (1984); and #32, Guatemala City (1984). Provo is not in that list because it has a line that says "scheduled for renovation."
7 of the 11 temples dedicated between 1985 and 1989 have also not had major renovations requiring re-dedication.
That's just what I thought, thank you...
I don't remember the exact year, but sometime after 2001, the LA temple closed to redo the progression style endowment and did some other renovations, but they used members only, therefore no rededication took place afterwards. I'm not sure what all was updated or if that helped push out the need for a major renovation.
In the past, when discussing plans for upcoming temples with local political leaders, Church representatives have indeed presented renderings or pictures of temples other than the one in question to said local leaders.
Usually, the purpose is to give the local politicians or leaders a general idea of the size and overall design of the upcoming temple by showing them similar temples that have been built or planned in other areas.
I don't immediately have a link, but I have read of this practice in previous Church News articles.
They did renovations in the Provo Temple over a 15 year period in Provo, first the escalators went, then they did such things as replace the old fluorescent tube pods on the ordinance levels with rounded dome type lights with a more pleasing design, then gold highlights throughout over several closure periods, and a big mural in the chapel with lights cast onto it.
They also redid the baptistry confirmation rooms, replaced chandeliers in the celestial and sealing rooms, and added other lighting. There were also carpet color changes (blue on the second level gave way to very light gold), and some painting (inside the area the celestial room chandelier hung from), new granite flooring on the entry level, etc.
Johnathan Reese Whiting: you make a good point. I seem to now recall that happening i the past. But unless I'm mistaken, in such cases, rhe exact wording of the information on that indicated it wasn't the actual rendering but a "representation." That is not the case for the Kumasi Ghana Temple. The news release says verbatim: "The purpose of the meeting with the Asantehene was to strengthen the relationship of the Church with His Royal Majesty, to address the Church’s commitment in assisting with the digitization of records and archives, and to share the news of an upcoming temple to be built in Kumasi."
Further, according ro the following direct quote from Elder Kacher: "another purpose for our visit is to make known the construction for a very beautiful edifice that will occur here, the Kumasi Ghana temple. We make this promise: the construction of the temple will be a great blessing to Kumasi. It will bless the lives of many, many people.”
And the caption of the fourth photo reads: "A gift for His Majesty announcing the building of a temple in Kumasi Ghana on 26 November 2021." Not a single reference to that being a representation or sample. Definitive language. Exact words matter. The Lord put His proverbial exclamation point on this, and I'm not inclined to change that to a question mark. But if anyone feels differently on this, that is theie right. If that turns out to not be the rendering, I'm perfectly willing to come back and admit I got it wrong. I'm no stranger to the act of eating crow from time to time.
First ever YSA ward in Tonga created https://www.ldsliving.com/first-ever-ysa-ward-in-tonga-created/s/10273
Reported the spam comment immediately above this to his provider, Wordpress
Any thoughts on which temples will begin construction next year? Considering 34 new temples were announced this year (the most in any year), I don't think it would be too far-fetched to see 30+ groundbreakings as there are 50 announced temples yet to begin construction with 18 sites already announced.
Unknown, there are a total of 19 temples for which groundbreakings could be held in the first 8 months of next year, along with up to 10 others that could also see that occur if official details are confirmed. The 19 are: Bahia Blacna Atgentina, Elko Nevafa, Farmington New Mexico, Lindon Utah, Grand Junction Colorado, Burley Idaho, Yorba Linda California, Wllamette Valley Oregon, Belo Horizonte Brazil, Greater Guatemala City Guatemala, Smithfield Utah, Cali Colombia, Torreon Mexico, Ephraim Utah, Cape Town South Africa, Queretaro Mexico, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, Port Vila Vsnuatu, and Tarawa Kiribati.
Additionally, if more official information is confirmed on any of the following 10 temples, they could join the queue of 19: Rexburg North Idaho, Fort Worth Texas, Cody Wyoming, Heber Valley Utah, Kumasi Ghana, Managua Nicaragua, Lagos Nigeria, Kaohsiung Taiwan, Dubai United Arab Emirates, and Sao Paulo East Brazil.
I'd be happy to address any questions anyone has about why any of these temples made eirher list. My thanks once again to you all.
Know the father of the person who will be the big boss on the Lindon Temple and he says they are projecting a spring start. Rick had aa shot where they were getting core samples there a few months back for planning purposes. DeWitt Construction got the contract.
Besides those with sites already announced, I think the most likely to begin construction are Dubai, BahÃa Blanca, Managua, and Lagos.
@twinnumerouno
I appreciate you enumerating the older temples that haven't had a rededication yet.
Side Note: I'm wondering if (based on announcements over the last few years) with the 1978-1989 temples, whether they're waiting to renovate or majorly expand some of them until they've built or announced a second or third temple in those cities (such as Peru, Guatemala City, São Paolo, & Santiago).
I'll be interested to see if that ends up being the case.
For Rexburg, the Church gave the Hegsteds (former land owners) until July to be out. Nothing has been submitted development-wise yet. If Rexburg breaks ground next year, it will be late in the year.
I created a fun little poll to pick your favorite temple designs that were released during 2021. Although there were only 12 groundbreakings, there were 25 temple renderings released to the public. So hopefully that means most of these locations will have groundbreakings during 2022.
http://www.thisweekinmormons.com/2021/12/vote-now-for-the-2021-this-week-in-mormons-temple-awards/
Did any 2021 announced temples see groundbreaking this year? I believe at least one did. If that is the case than we could see some temples announced and have a ground breaking in 2022.
On the other hand Paris Temple did not have a groundbreaking. That was a rare case, but it could play out in a case or two moving forward.
Shanghai for example may never have a groundbreaking. The sane may be the case for the Russia Temple.
Every temple announced by President Monson has now had a groundbreaking, right?
JPL, the Helena groundbreaking was held June of this year. Casper's was in October. I'm pretty sure those are the only temples announced this year that have had a groundbreaking. I feel like we will see numerous announcements of groundbreakings in early 2022. I'm looking forward to seeing renderings for the 6 remaining international temples announced in April.
John, yes Helena and Casper were both announced in 2021 and have started construction.
Also, with Nairobi's groundbreaking, every temple announced by President Monson has had a groundbreaking now. It was exciting to mark that milestone.
The design of the Kumasi Temple isn't important. It could look like Abidjan or the original Provo -- it doesn't matter. The point the church was trying to make is a temple WIll BE BUILT in Kumasi and will bless the area. Quibbling over whether the design is or isn't the authorized rendering for Kumasi just invites the spirit of contention, and surely that doesn't please the Lord.
New mission to be created in Rwanda next year.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/rwanda-kigali-mission
I am thinking the Kigali mission will cover all of Rwanda and Burundi and part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This will put DR Congo in the group that also includes Germany, the US, France (but I think not mainland France), Canada, Kenya, and South Africa as multi-mission countries with parts of the country overes by missions in other countries.
I am not sure where the Alpine German mission is headquartered so 8ts inclusion is tentative.
Parts of Maine and Minnesota are in Canadian missions. Yukon is in the Alaska mission. Guadeloupe is in the Barbados mission, and French Guiana is in the Teinidad mission, two examples of integral oarts of France being in foreign missions. In Kenya Mumbasa is in the Tanzania mission, and one border town is in the Uganda mission. In South Africa part of the country is in the Botswana mission.
I believe those are the only cases at present. All other cases involve extra countries taked onto a mission vases in another country.
The Alpine German-Speaking Mission is headquartered in Munich. Lommelstraße 8 is the address of the mission home! Had a great time serving there.
Gnesileah, I think the conversation over the Kumasi temple was perfectly acceptable, and in no way inappropriate. No one insulted anyone, each person involved was clear that it was their opinion and that they could be wrong, no one tried to browbeat anyone else into submission, and everyone behaved civilly. Disagreement is not the same as contention, and it is fine if people want to discuss even trivial matters such as that.
I appreciate your well-intended comment. Quibbling on its' own may not actually invite contention as long as those involved in the dialogue are committed to disagree without becoming disagreeable. On my end, the fact that I've not been able to sway anyone from the notion that it may not be the actual rendering doesn't matter to me nearly as much as the fact that I appreciate and respect all who have commented on this matter. I love the fact that we can engage in exchanges of ideas on such subjects. I bear no ill will towards anyone who has weighed in here, including you, Gnesileah. Thanks.
Love it
One other thing: I count 15 new temples (including Rip and Winnipeg) and at least 3-4 temples undergoing renovation that include the Angel Moroni, which suggests that it's not being totally discontinued Church-wide. So I stand by my assertion that the rendering with the Angel Moroni is the real deal, unless and until the Church indicates anything different.
That was my observation. I see an exact design. However many of the current temples have similar design but with slight changes to either have its own identity or reflect the local culture or local architecture.
I've been calling the design that is being used for many recent temples, the "plus' design. Just now while reading these comments I realized there's a kind of Navajo design element in the graduated blocks that make up the temples' architecture, especially seen from a birdseye view. So now I'm calling it the 'Navajo Plus' design. Would love to include an example from an actually Navajo rug. Are links allowed? https://static.vecteezy.com/system/resources/previews/000/090/235/original/native-american-pattern-free-vector.jpg
I count at least 21 temples using this same basic design in the last 2 years, and I haven't looked up every single temple. Looks to me like it has been created with modular construction in mind. Bentonville, Moses Lake, Pittsburg, Tallahasee, Grand Junction, Farmington are some of the US temples using this design. There are several international temples with the same basic design.
Of the 83 temples announced by President Nelson, only 6 have angel Moroni statues, all of which were announced in 2018, which means plans were likely already in development prior to President Monson's death. Several temples announced by President Monson originally had angel Moroni statues: Brasilia Brazil, Harare Zimbabwe, Bangkok Thailand (official rendering was released in 2018 showing angel Moroni, modified in 2019), and possibly others.
When discussing with the Lindon city council, it was asked why the temple did not feature angel Moroni, to which the representative from the temple department said "it is a change in focus".
There has not been an official statement from the church declaring the practice of placing angel Moroni on temples discontinued, but it does seem like that is where we are headed, especially since all the renderings released this year (including Provo) do not feature angel Moroni.
It does make sense, however, that the temple rendering presented in the news release about the Kumasi temple would be the actual rendering, but if so, it is odd that church has not released the official rendering by now. Maybe they are still modifiying some parts of the image ie. the temple's surrounding features.
Unknown, the City Council here in Orem had a similar conversation with Church representatives. Most of the Council felt they'd like an angel Moroni statue atop the temple, but said they'd respect and support the Church if the inspiration cam that the statue should not be used. And although a majority of temples, especially the lateest in the US, do not include the statue, there are some nations outside the United States where the angel Moroni is still a recognizable iconic idntifier of a temple vs. a chapel. If I may ask, where did you get the information that the Brasilia Brazil and Harare Zimbabwe Temples originally included the angel Moroni in their designs? I was aware that Bangkok had that originally with plans changing later, but did not hear a similar report on Brasilia and Harare, so I thought I'd ask about that.
I do think that the angel Moroni will continue to be placed atop some temples, but I'd anticipate that as the exception rather than a general rule. Thanks again to all of you who have dialogued about this subject in these threads.
I expect the angel Moroni will be removed from multiple temples that currently have that statue.
I could not find the link for BrasÃlia, but I remember seeing an image shared by Brian Olson that included a statue in the design.
Here is the link for Harare's preliminary design:
Harare:
https://www.scottallreddesign.com/harare-zimbabwe-temple-site
Definitely a possibility. Temples originally built without statues would be the most likely for this to occur.
I think in some cultures statues are a symbol to worship. So it may make sense to avoid statues on temples there. Also how much does an angel Moroni statue cost. If we save money on eliminating a certain number of statues, we could build another temple.
I don't know if it's just my perception, but for me BrasÃlia's temple seems to be a little lower than the other one-story temples... Perhaps a slightly slimmer steple would be more elegant
Pittsburgh is a beautiful city and I look forward to going to that temple, and a baseball game.
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