Sunday, September 1, 2019

New Temple Predictions - September 2019 Edition

I have updated my temple prediction map in preparation for General Conference in October. Data used to identify likely locations for future temples include the number of stakes and districts, the number of wards and branches, age of the oldest stake, trends in church growth, distance to the nearest temple, number of endowment sessions scheduled at the nearest temple, and member and missionary reports regarding member activity, temple attendance, and convert retention. Given President Nelson's comments in a media conference a couple days ago, there will be new temples announced this October. The Church announced 19 new temples during 2018 and eight new temples in April 2019.

In March 2019, I added a new classification for less likely potential new temples to be announced (i.e. locations with few stakes and distant from the nearest temple). I have added this new category given the recent trend for the Church announcing more temples in locations with fewer stakes. Thus, there has been an emphasis on the construction of new temples in more remote locations with comparatively few members to improve accessibility to the temple. Locations I added to the map back in March in this category include:
  • Rosario, Argentina
  • Flagstaff, Arizona 
  • Londrina, Brazil
  • Natal, Brazil
  • Santa Maria, Brazil
  • Sao Jose, Brazil
  • Teresina, Brazil
  • Osorno, Chile
  • Vina del Mar, Chile
  • Cali, Colombia
  • Grand Junction, Colorado 
  • Santiago, Dominican Republic
  • Coban, Guatemala
  • Des Moines, Iowa
  • Wichita, Kansas
  • Augusta, Maine 
  • Aguascalientes, Mexico
  • Cancun, Mexico
  • Chihuahua, Mexico
  • Culiacan, Mexico
  • Torreon, Mexico
  • Farmington, New Mexico 
  • Enugu, Nigeria
  • Piura, Peru
  • Glasgow, Scotland
  • Rapid City, South Dakota 
  • Austin, Texas
  • El Paso, Texas 
  • Longview, Texas
  • McAllen, Texas
  • Tacuarembo, Uruguay
  • Charleston, West Virginia
  • Milwaukee, Wisconsin 
  • Casper, Wyoming
I have added the following 58 locations to the less likely list of temples that may be announced:
  • Fairbanks, Alaska 
  • Juneau, Alaska
  • Tirana, Albania 
  • Neuquen, Argentina
  • Trelew, Argentina
  • Hobart, Australia
  • Tarija, Bolivia
  • Campo Grande, Brazil
  • Cuiaba, Brazil
  • Foz do IguaƧu, Brazil
  • Maceio, Brazil 
  • Pelotas, Brazil
  • Rio Branco, Brazil
  • Sao Paulo Guarulhos, Brazil
  • Sorocaba, Brazil 
  • Vitoria, Brazil
  • Punta Arenas, Chile
  • San Luis Valley, Colorado 
  • Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
  • Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire
  • Machala, Ecuador
  • Quevedo, Ecuador
  • Ra'atea, Tahiti, French Polynesia 
  • Kahului, Hawaii
  • Jakarta, Indonesia
  • Dublin, Ireland
  • New Delhi, India
  • Kingston, Jamaica 
  • Sendai, Japan
  • Busan, Korea
  • La Paz, Mexico 
  • Beira, Mozambique
  • Maputo, Mozambique
  • Elko, Nevada (previously on Likely Potential New Temples list)
  • Christchurch, New Zealand 
  • Abuja, Nigeria
  • Calabar, Nigeria
  • Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • Cleveland, Ohio (previously on Likely Potential New Temples list)
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
  • Cusco, Peru
  • Huancayo, Peru
  • Pisco, Peru
  • Puno, Peru
  • Tacna, Peru
  • Iloilo City, Philippines
  • Puerto Princesa, Philippines
  • Savaii, Samoa
  • Barcelona, Spain
  • Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain
  • Kaohsiung, Taiwan 
  • Knoxville, Tennessee
  • Lome, Togo
  • Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
  • Delta, Utah
  • Port Vila, Vanuatu
  • Barcelona, Venezuela
Altogether, the temple prediction map has 140 potential sites for more likely and less likely locations where temples may be announced. Church growth trends in 2019 have appeared to slightly accelerate during the year compared to 2018 in regards to the creation of new congregations and stakes, and also increases in convert baptisms in many missions around the world. However, this significant increase in the number of locations added to the map is NOT due to a sudden increase in church growth, but rather a change in temple announcements to more cities with few members that are distant from the nearest temple (such as Yigo, Guam; Budapest, Hungary; Okinawa, Japan; and Moses Lake, Washington to name a few). As for what I see as the 10 most likely locations for new temples to be announced this October, see below:
  • Benin City, Nigeria
  • Santa Cruz, Bolivia 
  • Monrovia, Liberia 
  • Freetown or Bo, Sierra Leone 
  • Angeles, Philippines
  • Bacolod, Philippines
  • Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • Rogers, Arkansas 
  • Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
  • Tarawa, Kiribati
Red squares on the map below are temples which are dedicated or planned. Yellow squares are likely potential new temples that may be announced in the near future. Blue circles are less likely potential new temples that may be announced in the near future. Please share your predictions for new temple announcements in the comments below.

143 comments:

  1. Chiclayo, Peru and Reynosa, Mexico would both seem to fit in the this expanded list.

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  2. Did you know that the Ensign has been publishing information for countries all this year? It includes # of temples, # of church members, congregation #, missions numbers. And underneath it has a website to learn about global histories. I just thought this information would come in handy and maybe reduce work???

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    Replies
    1. You can find the global histories on the gospel library app. I have to admit I wish they had more stories than they do.

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  3. Why is Orem, Utah never on anyone's list despite having 26 stakes and currently being serviced by one of the busiest temples in the Church?

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    1. Saratoga Springs is getting a temple, so that should help relieve congestion. I served my mission in the Utah Orem Mission, and even 4 years ago, Saratoga Springs was exploding in size. I doubt there would be another temple announced in the area, when there is already the Mount Timpanogos, Provo, and Provo City Center within reasonable driving distance.

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    2. Saratoga Springs will not relieve congestion at Provo Temple. Utah has the most stakes per temple. 26 stakes is more than the total in some temple districts that have a temple being built to relieve congestion.

      My list of new temples is long. I hope to see some announced.

      Bo Sierra Leone
      Freetown, Sierra Leone
      Monrovia, Liberia
      Benin City, Nigeria (has 2nd oldest stake in Nigeria)
      Abuja, Nigeria
      Kampala, Uganda
      Lumbumbashi, Congo
      Singapore
      Kiribati
      Otavalo, Ecuador
      La Paz, Bolivia
      Santa Cruz, Bolivia
      Sorocaba, Brazil
      NW Arkansas
      Madison, Wisconsin
      Colorado Springs, Colorado
      Delta, Utah
      Springville, Utah
      Orem, Utah
      Lehi, Utah
      Herriman, Utah
      West Valley City, Utah
      Heber City, Utah
      Price, Utah
      Smithfield, Utah
      Bakersfield, California
      Ventura County, California
      San Jose, California
      Eugene, Oregon
      Malad, Idaho
      Casper, Wyoming
      Rapid City, South Dakota
      Augusta, Maine
      Knoxville, Tennessee
      McAllen, Texas
      El Paso, Texas
      Flagstaff, Arizona
      Torreon, Mexico
      Cancun, Mexico
      Culiacan, Mexico
      New Orleans, Louisiana
      Lansing, Michigan
      Wichita, Kansas

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    3. JPL, although the eventual dedication of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple may not directly impact the composition of the current Provo Utah Temple district, it may have an indirect effect. In 2015, with the then-scheduled dedication of the Payson Utah Temple, stakes in Orem were reassigned from the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple district to that of the Provo Utah Temple.

      Upon completion of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple, the current Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple district is anticipated to be cut roughly in half. If that is the case, then to relieve the burden on the Provo Utah Temple, which reportedly remains one of the busiest (if not very busiest) temples of the Church, the Orem Utah stakes could be again reassigned to the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple district.

      I might be entirely wrong about this, but it is a possibility. One other thing: within the last few days, I know I have responded several times to many of your prior commitments on this thread. I hope you know that I do not intend any such comments in a disrespectful way, and I have a high respect for the earnest comments you have made. My only objective was to bring to light things which may not have factored into your prior comments. And if they have come across as anything other than that, I sincerely apologize. I mean no offense to you, JPL, or anyone else who reads my responses or who has responded here.

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    4. Sorry. In my latest reply to John Pack Lambert above, the word "commitment" was inserted by autocorrect. I meant "comment" instead. My apologies.

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  4. I hope Ulanbaatar,Mongolia gets one and I second your picks for the UK!

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  5. Mongolia and San Pedro Sula, Honduras are also likely.

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    1. San Pedro Sula was announced last April. :)

      Completely agree with Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar is one of my top picks.

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    2. Haha, yeah it was! I guess there are so many temples it hard to keep track! What a wonderful problem to have.

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    3. Well, we can always hope for San Pedro Sula getting a 2nd temple, but that will probably happen after the 1st is complete. I would not be surprised if Sao Paulo gets a 3rd temple. I also have added Cuzco, Peru and Iqitos, Peru to my list. Iquitos I expect more.

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  6. Ditto the above. Charleston WV would be great.
    As stated before, I think the future of Vanuatu for stable non-sinking ground, which is better than Kiribati for future habitation and therefore stable Church growth.

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  7. Bakersfield CA should definitely be on the list...

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    1. Bakersfield currently has 3 stakes, and soon 4 stakes. Plus the huge Tejon Ranch development is in the works with 100-200K planning to live there.

      If you include Ridgecrest,Porterville, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria Stakes, there would be 8 stakes in the Bakersfield Temple District.

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    2. 8 stakes is maybe more than Feather River will have, and distance to LA is long. LA traffic is bad enough that people could argue Arcadia needs a temple because it is extremely hard to reach the LA temple even from there. I think In neglected Pittsburgh from my last list. Also a 3rd temple in Columbia and a 3rd for Guatenala seem likely, where exactly is hard to say.

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  8. I'm curious to know how your predictions have historically matched up with announcements, is there much overlap? Thanks for doing this fascinating site.

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    1. Anita Wells, Matt does these predictions every six months prior to each General Conference, and posts analysis of each set of announcements and how his thoughts compared with what was actually announced following each General Conference in which temples were announced. You should be able to view those posts by clicking on one or more of the tags on this post or those in the sidebar. Perhaps someone else can point you to the specifically more relevant tags better than I can.

      By the way, nice to run into someone here with the last name of Wells. A couple in my parents' ward in American Fork Utah was named Wells, and I worked closely with Brother Wells in particular due to one of my callings at the time. They subsequently moved to Draper, resulting in his release, and I still think of them now and then. But it is great to encounter someone else with that last name.

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  9. Living in Mexico, I can say that the two MOST likely places for temples in that country are TorreĆ³n and QuerĆ©taro.

    Both would have 10+ stakes in their districts and have multiple stakes locally, with proof of attendance to existing temples.

    Cuernavaca I see as something more medium to long term, next door to Cuautla. Cuautla is close enough to Puebla that it could very easily be part of the Puebla district when that temple is built. Same for the stakes in eastern Hidalgo state (Tulancingo, perhaps Pachuca).

    CancĆŗn could be on that list especially if Tizimin splits. As it stands there would be six stakes in that district and it is quite far away from MĆ©rida.

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    Replies
    1. Those of us who live by Canasa where a 3 stake tree temple district has a temple being built in it and a total of 4 temples will soon have districts of less than 5 stakes are trying to figure out how 6 stakes has not lead to a temple announcement already.

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  10. For those of you hoping for an announcement relating to changes to the missionary program, I added an interesting comment under other announcements to general conference, about two posts ago.

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    Replies
    1. I'm not seeing it. Did you post under a different name?

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    2. @ Michael Worley:

      MeaganT's comments about church schools are on this post, at the very end:

      https://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/2019/08/new-temples-and-other-announcements-in.html?m=1#comment-form

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    3. Her comments about missionary work should be there, too.

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  11. A member of my ward who is a temple worker in Vernal said the Church is intending to announce 19-20 new temples per year for the next 10 years. He also said that the church is mostly not building new buildings except for temples, and mostly doesn't need to anyway with the 2-hour schedule. I gathered that he was told this after recent visits to the Vernal temple from both Pres. Nelson and the head of the temple committee.

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    1. While the 2 hour block relieves demand to build new buildings in Utah (with the fewest temples per stake at present) it does not relieve much of the pressure for new buildings in places like Ivory Coast or Liberia. However since the later have much lower land costs and other costs, this is probably not where costs get eaten up. I can see somewhere like Las Vegas leveraging new Church building costs into building a second temple. The end of HP group and the end of priesthood opening exercises makes it even easier to do overlap in the same building. It has also been key to moving things like mission offices to Church buildings and saving money that way.

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  12. In fast-growing areas and emerging areas, there will still be the necessity for meetinghouses, just not on the previous scale, areas like Africa, some larger US metro aeas, Utah, and others, I think a third fewer per year is likely for what looks like 00 temples over ten years based on the above

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  13. 200 temples. Mystroke aftermath is to blame for the typo

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  14. We could really use at least one new building in South Florida. Almost every building has three wards and one ward was been meeting in a tiny former Protestant church for years. I think they have their classes in what used to be a dentist office nearby.

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    1. Building new buildings to replace old facilities that were reused from other uses and thus not actually meeting the needs of a congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the reason the 2 most recently built buildings of the Church in metro Detroit were built and that was over a decade ago. Since then metro Detroit has lost 4 wards and 2 branches, with 2 wards and 1 branch eliminated just beyond the metro area. The Church has also formed 1 new group. More recently the mission has gone to not assigning missionaries at all to some wards and branches, while my branch has 3 sets of missionaries. No building has more than 2 units in it in all of Michigan, although that is only because in East Lansing the YSA ward moved back to the institute building from the stake center. Still the Bloomfield Hills Stake Center by the temple is a huge building with 1 ward and a YSA branch. I almost think it would have been better to sell the Southfield Building and have that ward relocate to the stake Center instead of selling the Palmer Park building. It would have reduced most active members travel time to Church.

      I know why they didnt. In part because a few years ago when Southfield building was being renovated and they went to the stake Center those at the stake Center made them feel they were only visitors in the building not fellow citizens in the kingdom of God. In part because the 3rd of Souryfield Ward in Detroit would find traveling out to Bloomfield Hills too much of a culture shock and too likely to lead to police harassment. I have got it in Bloomfield Hills for driving g in a junky car, been pulled over by the Bloomfield Hills police and told I was a suspect in robberies just because of my car.

      The other problem was that the Palmer Park building as a former Greek Orthodox Church cost more to upkeep than the Detroit Temple, was in a horrible neighborhood just feet from a huge and aggressively marketed strip club. The chapel itself was so huge it inhibited congregational cohesion and made no sense for a congregation that struggled to have 50 attend Church. The chapel was built to hold probably 500 maybe more.

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  15. I predict anywhere from 8-15 new temples announced. Based on the last three sets of announcements, I decided to create two lists for my picks. One is international, where the majority of announcements have been and will continue to be. The other is the U.S., where two have been announced each the past three conferences. Since most will be international, I created a slightly larger list (15) compared to the one for the U.S. (10).

    International (majority of new announced), no particular order:

    -Santa Cruz, Bolivia
    -Belo Horizonte, Brazil
    -Punta Arenas, Chile
    -Iquitos, PerĆŗ
    -Freetown, Sierra Leone
    -Benin City, Nigeria
    -Antananarivo, Madagascar
    -Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
    -Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
    -Tarawa, Kiribati (or somewhere in eastern Micronesia)
    -Bacolod, Philippines
    -Oslo, Norway
    -TorreĆ³n, Mexico
    -Port Vila, Vanuatu
    -Dubai, UAE

    U.S. (2-3 announced):
    -Bentonville, Arkansas
    -Missoula, Montana
    -Austin or El Paso or McAllen, Texas
    -Charlotte, North Carolina
    -Tallahassee, Florida
    -Rapid City, South Dakota
    -Elko, Nevada
    -Heber Valley, Utah
    -Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    -Madison, Wisconsin

    So some mash of the two lists would be my picks for next month. Looking forward to seeing other's predictions. :)

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  16. Saw the rendering of the Richmond Virginia Temple. Really like the colonial look it has.

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  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. I'm going to put the O/U on temples at 10.

    Here are my picks:

    TorreĆ³n OR QuerĆ©taro MX (leaning towards TorreĆ³n)
    NW AR US (anywhere between Fayetteville and Bentonville)
    Heber City UT US
    Third GUA temple (CobƔn?)
    Southern Chile/Argentina (Punta Arenas OR Ushuaia, leaning towards the former as airport goes to more destinations)
    Freeport SL
    Monrovia Liberia
    Ullanbattar MON
    Washington County UT identified as Enterprise
    Russian Temple identified as Saratov
    Port Vila Vanuatu
    Benin City NG

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  19. The Church News just reported the newly assigned Mission President for the West Virginia Charleston Mission to succeed Pres. Michael Lindhardt, in September 2019.

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2019-09-02/this-new-mission-president-and-companion-were-recently-called-to-serve-in-west-virginia-158560

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  20. Chris that can either be very good or very bad, for the old MP.

    A MP doesn't get replaced mid stride like that unless one of two things happened.

    1. The MP did an extraordinarily good job and he gets called back to receive a call as either an area seventy or general authority seventy.

    2. The MP did an extraordinarily bad job to the point where he has to be sent home early and receive Church discipline, usually in the form of excommunication.


    There was an unflattering news story that showed up on VICE about four months ago about the Church in West Virginia though in cases where the story fumbled on this the MP really doesn't have discretion over these matters except in cases of isolated branches outside of a stake. The proper channel is Bishop --> Stake President --> Area --> SLC.

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    1. The vice story was very inaccurate. Church leaders had actually urged the families to report to police. Essentially they scrubbed this in their telling to advance their claims of liability. It was playing to a suit strategy. That said it is a case from several years ago, inside a sta kg e so has no bearing on the mission president.

      A few years ago a mission President was sent home from Puerto Rico and excommunicated for making sexual advances on sister missionaries. Elder Craig a general authority seventy stepped in and lead the mission until a new mission President was sent out.

      That said, mission presidents can be sent home due to ilhealth as well. That is normally my guess. In the Puerto Rico situation the mission presidents wife had declining health and the reasons he was sent home were not publicized at the time. Some assumed it was his wife's health that caused the move. The Church did not publicize why the mission President was sent home but it somehow leaked in the Tribune about 4 years later. The Deseret Nwws did run a story then.

      In the Rribune article they quoted a BYU sociology professor who pointed out that the non-release of information might have been to protect sister missionaries from suspicion.

      It is hard enough for 17 year olds to accuse adults of sexual abuse without being accused of entrapment. With it being 20 or maybe even then 21 year old women, 5 or 6 years before the Weinstein case turned the corner on the #MeToo movement, I really see that as a hard sell.

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  21. The other reason is health issues. Big health issues such as stroke, heart attack, or a significant injury, or a cancer diagnosis bad enough to keep him from being ble to maintain his strength to do his duties, or be disruptive enough to have impact on when and how he could do things

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    1. What about the health of other family members needing his attention.

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    2. Considering a h6sband and wife preside over a mission jointly, most of these developed by the wife would lo ead to release early. Other family members is hard to say. I am sure there might be some cases in which it could lead to a release. Historically there was a lot more leeway for the mission president's companion to leave the mission. When the earthquake in Florida struck the mission president's companion was in Florida giving birth to a child. I know my mission president's companion went to be with one of t hgv air children outside the mission for multiple weeks in a row at one point. I know a dealer at the Detroit temple who mentioned that when he was mission President his companion was allowed to go to their child's marriage but he was not.

      On the other extreme I remember reading about a woman who was head of the relief society for a mission in the 1950s when that was the title in missions outside of stakes because he had was mission President and her mom either died or was incapacitated by illness. My guess is these days they would release the dad in that situation. However since when Heber J. Grant brought one of his wives with him when he went to England to be mission president and Francis M. Lyman found this an odd innovation, and Hugh Nibley's father was mission President in the Betherlands while still a single man there are lots of historic variations. Elder Lyman was of course not really being fair to Elder Grant. Wilford Woodruff when he went to preside over the Eastern States mission in 1848 had his wife set apart as a missionary, and George Albert Smith had his wife with him a decade before Elder Grant went to England and Elder Smith was only mission secretary and acting mission president when President J. Golden Kimball would leave for Utah for several months at a time.

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  22. Does anyone know if Freeport, Abaco, or the hard hit areas of the Bahamas has much missionary presence or Church membership? Dorian is doing a number there.
    I hope potentially the Church can step in soon and help the peoples there.

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    Replies
    1. There is 1 branch on the island where Freeport is. I was there for my honeymoon last year. We were there Monday to Friday so we didnt make it to the branch.

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  23. My older brother had three mission presidents while serving his mission. The first finished at the end of the regular, three-year service period. The second had a serious medical/health issue arise sometime in the first year and could not continue serving at that time, so another one had to be called rather quickly to replace the one who had to be released. So there could be plenty of other reasons.

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  24. My first mission president went home about 6 months early after serious incidents with 2 of his kids (one committed suicide and another was the at-fault driver in a fatal car crash), and his predecessor came back for a few months until the new one could arrive. I really liked that mission president and felt pretty sad about his family situation. The son who committed suicide had actually spoken at a mission conference about a month previously, and I think the whole mission was shocked.

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    Replies
    1. Suicide is normally a shock, sometimes even to those who know the person the best. It is hard to understand what the person is going through. Even more so because it is sometimes the result of mental illnesses that swing in quickly.

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  25. I forget health issues too can impede. In any case I hope the released MP is all right.

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  26. My 2nd MP could only serve for 2 years due to his wife's job, maybe it had something to do with that?or as you say maybe he'll be be a new Seventy or something

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    1. Most new 70 are called in April conference. Plus normally they wait to release until after the call is given. So I doubt it is that.

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    2. JPL, slight correction to what you said above. The current Utah Area President, Elder Craig C. Christensen, was first called as a GA Seventy in October 2002, with a change in Quorum affiliation announced for him in April 2008.

      More recently, the call of Brook P. Hales as a GA Seventy was announced in May of last year and sustained in General Conference last October.

      And between the last 3 October General Conferences, at least 5 new area seventies have been sustained.

      But it is true that the bulk of new GA and area seventies have been sustained every April.

      Whether or not the released mission president might be sustained as an area seventy remains to be seen. But I wouldn't rule out the possibility either way.

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  27. Hello again, everyone! Great to hear these thoughts from Matt and from all of you on this thread about your temple picks. Rather than clogging up Matt's comment threads too excessively with my own thoughts, I will instead mention here that the list of potential temple prospects I put together can be found on my blog at the folowing web address:

    https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/07/revised-and-expanded-list-of-potential.html

    By way of reminder, I will be accepting comments on that list as it now stands until midnight MDT when Monday September 30 changes to Tuesday October 1, so I can have time to refine my list as needed based on the feedback I have received or will yet receive. About a month after posting that (around 2.5 weeks ago), I more specifically posted a three-part analysis on my blog about Nelsonian temple announcements. The final part thereof specifically discussed the parameters I anticipate coming into play with the next set of announcements in October:

    https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/08/additional-thoughts-and-observations-on_17.html

    As I noted in that post, I anticipate between 14-16 new temples being announced. Although I will not be able to narrow down my main list for October to that numerican range at this time, I may go back within the next couple of days and offer insights about my top picks by area based on the parameters I set in the second post.

    With that said, I wanted to again thank Matt for allowing me to share the web addresses of such content here, and all of you for your insights into top likely locations for October. I may have more particular thoughts to additionally share later on relating to some observations shared in this thread, but for now, I will leave my input here. Once again, my thanks to you all, and to you especially, Matt, for the work you do and for providing a place here where we can discuss such things.

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  28. A video was posted to Youtube b the Newsroom, and President Nelson again talks of the temple announcements but with some hints. Possibly pointing to a pattern that may become evident.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUx1J-16d94&t=318s

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  29. Here's the same video James pointed to, starting earlier to catch the comments about temple announcements.
    https://youtu.be/nUx1J-16d94?t=199

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  30. Remote locations, eh? Places that come to mind: Punta Arenas, Chile; Antananarivo, Madagascar; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Mbuji- Mayi or Lubumbashi, DRC; somewhere in UAE or nearby; Singapore, Singapore; Tarawa, Kiribati. Any others???

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  31. I am hopeful for Mongolia. Also, the saints in Vanauatu, Kirabati, Mozambique, Madagascar, Paupa New Guinea and other remote places around the world need temples closer and more accessible to them.

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    Replies
    1. Madagascar is a strong candidate even with only 2 stakes and Durban Temple being closer than past temples.

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  32. Pittsburgh should get a temple. More states that have never had one: Maine, Wisconsin, West Virginia...

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  33. 13 US states do not have temples but at least three of them have temples right near their borders.

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  34. Chinle or Window Rock Arizona covering the Chinle Arizona Stake and the Gallup and Farmington, NM Stake. Las Cruces or Roswell, NM. Covering both cities and possibly parts of El Paso TX.

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  35. Thank you for your replies on my comment under Other Announcements. I thought I would get attacked, and I'm pleasantly surprised that I wasn't.

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  36. Church announces passing of Philippines Naga Mission President Bradley W. Kirk

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  37. Here's ten that I expect could be announced next month:

    That means only 2 will be announced.

    1. Heber City, Utah
    2. Ulanbataar, Mongolia
    3. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
    4. Tarawa, Kiribati
    5. Antananarivo, Madagascar
    6. Torreon, Mexico
    7. El Paso, Texas
    8. Bentonville, Arkansas
    9. Colorado Springs, Colorado
    10.Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

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  38. Two would be a letdown for sure.

    But earlier in Church history there would be multiple months or years even with no temple announcements. Think only five years ago when they were clearing the backlog.

    I'm still thinking 10 +/- 3 (anywhere from 7 to 13).

    I also anticipate the rumored announcements to be circled on missionary work and perhaps seminary/institute.

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  39. Thoughts on Canadian temple announcements?

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    1. I predict none. Of course I would never have predicted Winnepeg. Winnepeg means any stake could have a temple announced. Some say Victoria, BC because it is ab island or Prince George's because it is isolated. Ottawa might be a nice touch, or Sudbury. I really do not see a need when Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria has no temple but about the number of stakes in Ontario.

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  40. Would there be a time where families would be called on missions to go live somewhere deserted/isolated to reach areas where the church hasn't been introduced or strong?

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    1. Isn't that kind of like that new Fighting Preacher movie about the family being called back to Palmyra kind of like that? I guess we could do some Church planting by sending families to love in various around the world and act as missionaries.

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  41. Tejon Ranch would be at the bottom of the Grapevine and near the CA-99 split, would cause traffic issues going over the Grapevine and the Tejon Pass generally (the old 'Ridge Route' that existed before I-5 was worse._

    They are upgrading CA-58 from Barstow with the intent of extending I-40 to at least CA-99 and eventually maybe San Luis Obispo. So they could include Barstow, CA-58 is four-lane road already.

    At least one or two larger temples as well as the small ones, especially if the timing were to be right for Hever Valley.

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  42. Madagascar and Papua New Guinea obviously need temples.

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  43. Thoughts about a Canadian Temple,I'm Canadian!!! the only possible, albeit remote chances of getting a Temple,I think anyways are Prince George, B.C and/or another one in the east coast somewhere

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  44. If anyone has tried driving from Ventura to West Los Angeles lately, 2 hours is an optimistic travel time. Not beyond reason at some point in the future to see smaller temples in Ventura/Oxnard and Santa Maria as well as Bakersfield.

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  45. Based on President Nelson's recent comments, I'm thinking the breakdown for temple announcements will be something like this for this Oct:

    10 total

    3-5 due to stake growth/splitting large temple districts

    5-7 due to remoteness/distance

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  46. I can definately see another one in Bolivia

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  47. If I am correct that the number of temples announced each April and October will build slightly on the number of temples announced the previous April, then since the 8 announced in April of this year was a slight increase to the 7 we saw President nelson announce last year, I assume that the number of temples announced on October will be a slight increase to the 12 we saw announced last October, which is why I have suggested the range of 14-16 for the total number of temples that may be announced next month.

    And while I am no expert on Canada, it is possible that the Church could opt to hold off on further announcements anywhere there until after next year's dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. But I have heard of a few prospects on my end. Reportedly, the traffic between Victoria British Columbaia and the Vancouver BC temple (which operates out of Langley) is atrocious, so a temple in Victoria seems likely at some point. I have also heard Lethbridge Alberta mentioned in a few different places. Again, neither may be immediately likely for the moment, but those are two cities on which I am keeping my eyes.

    Within the last 3 sets of temple announcements, the temples announced in the United States (aside from those for Utah) have included 1 for the North America Northeast Area, and the other 2 in what is now the consolidated North America West Area. So we could probably safely look towards either the North America Central, North America Southeast, or North America Southwest Areas for the US temple candidate city that would be outside of Utah.

    And aside from those 3 areas, the following areas of the Church have not yet had a temple announced during President Nelson's prophetic administration: Africa Southeast; Middle East/Africa North; and South America Northwest. I don't know if mentioning that here is helpful or not, but I hope some of you find it good food for thought. Also, given what we saw last April (when two temples were announced for the Pacific Area), I don't think we can rule out the prospect that 2 or more temples could be announced in a single area outside of the United States, and that could be particularly true for the Africa Southeast, Africa West, Brazil, South American Northwest, or South America South Areas of the Church.

    That said, I don't think the Church is quite at the point yet where multiple temples could be announced in a single announcement, for any single nation outside of Brazil or the Philippines, at least not this go-round. And it may be 4-5 General Conferences at least before a mass number of temples are anounced at once. But if the Church announces roughly 20-30 every year, and if the backlog of announced temples i thus kept consistently around 35 or so, then the face of the temple construction program of the Church could change fairly quickly, particularly within the next 2-3 years./ Just some additional thoughts from me, for what they may be worth to any of you who read them here.

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  48. What about the Tasmania territory of Australia? Or more capitals such as Canberra Australia, Ottawa Canada, Sucre and/or La Paz Bolivia. Are there other countries that may have temples but not in their capitals? I have seen several people sugest Dubai or Bahrain. I would love temples there. I'm not sure, but isn't most of the membership in those countries more transient or temporary from expatriate workers?

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    1. Tasmania is a state, not territory.

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    2. Nigeria has a temple but not in its capital. Abuja now has 3 stakes so a temple there seems likely.

      Ottawa is extremely unlikely. Montreal has 4 stakes assigned to it. Toronto if that is right has 8 stakes with Lindon Stake functionally half in the Detroit Temple district. Toronto Temple is 56,000 square feet while Dallas is 44,000 square feet. Dallas has over 20 stakes assigned to it.

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  49. I've heard Ottawa mentioned in the past but if built the Toronto Temple would be more of a ghost town and you have Montreal up the road, but who knows!Lethbridge, I don't know I think the Church would wait on that, Cardston lost a lot of folks when they built Calgary so another Temple would further deplete Cardston, but again we'll wait and see I guess! Victoria would be a possibility, expensive city but I can see them getting a Temple sometime

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    1. Lethbridge is a strong possibility. Cardston temple is still pretty busy. When I go to do baptisms with my daughter, the lineup is huge and only getting more busy. There are also renovations planned for the baptistry to accomodate the huge influx. Sessions have gotten more busy recently and I could definitely foresee another temple in Alberta at some point.

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    2. How much of Cardston use is Canadians and how much of it is Montanans. There are 23 stakes in Alberta. Orem has more stakes.

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    3. Mostly Canadians. Yes, Orem has more stakes, but it is concentrated in a smaller area close to numerous temple. Alberta's stakes are spread over a large area far from a temple.

      We will see!

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  50. In the mid-90s I spent part of my mission in Ottawa- it's about 2 hours from Montreal. Also I can't remember for sure but THINK they had 1 stake. I don't know what other stakes would be closer to there than to Toronto. The only other Ontario location I would look at is Thunder Bay, and I don't know how much of a church presence is there.

    Other than that, the most likely eastern sites in Canada are Saint John New Brunswick- my former stake center- and St. John's Newfoundland, which has only a recently reinstated district. Both would diminish the already small Halifax temple district (referring to membership, not land area), so I'm not sure how likely they are.

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  51. Although the Montreal temple is on the far side of the city relative to Ottawa so that would increase the travel time somewhat.

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  52. In 1927, only about 30 or less were called to be temple workers. The group photo was posted to FamilySearch a few weeks ago and is in Memories.

    As to a renovation, the Denver Temple is having their baptistry renovated, should be done by late October, Cardston I think is a larger temple, so that could take longer.

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  53. Groundbreaking announced for the Saratoga Springs Temple! Will occur on October 19.

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/saratoga-springs-temple-groundbreaking-date-announced

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    1. I wonder if it will be big and/or bright enough to be seen across Utah Lake from Provo/Orem

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  54. For Canada I would think Victoria BC (cost of travel to Vancouver is prohibitive for many), and (though not in Canada) a temple in Maine. This would significantly reduce travel times for many Saints in New Brunswick even when factoring in the need to cross a border.

    The Toronto temple is far from being used at capacity, and Stake/Ward Growth has been quite slow in Ontario. Unless there is a significant change in how temples are staffed/organized I don't anticipate another temple in Ontario for many many years.

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  55. I agree with you about Victoria and Toronto, I am still in shock Winnipeg is getting one. When compared to other places worldwide 6 hours on the clean Canadian highway is nothing to get to Regina. President Monson called the then stake president and asked him if Winnipeg could sustain a temple and he said yes, well that remains to be seen. He wants to leave a legacy, in his words, so hopefully it's a positive one. At best there are 600ish recommend holders in one stake and district. So hopefully this'll workout.

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  56. To be fair traveling any Canadian roads in the winter can be treacherous. I once had an elders quorum President die in a car crash while returning from going to a temple in Canada. That was is Ontario well south of the 45th parallel not in the prairies north of the 50th paralell

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  57. I would not at all be surprised if Bolvia has two new temples announced next month. 3 if President Nelson really wants to start moving the temples to the people in South America. I would be surprised by 3, but less surprised than I was by the Moses Lake Temple, and well less surprised than I was by Yuba City Temple.

    Yuba City Temple does make me think that the San Luis Valley of Colorado is a very strong candidate for a temple. Possibly also Cody Wyoming.

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  58. Bryan I read Frederick's statement to mean 2 of his 10 predictions would happen. If I am thinking right Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow announced no new temples during their administrations, and Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith dedicated no new temples. In fact I am not sure if John Taylor announced any new temples or if the 4 Utah temples were announced all under Brigham Young.

    Either way, when the Hawaii Temple was announced it had been over 20 years since a new temple had been dedicated. Jeffrey R. Holland is 16 years younger than President Nelson yet there was only 1 more temple when he was born than when President Nelson was born.

    The day I was born the 18th temple was dedicated, and I will turn 39 next month.

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  59. I just posted a post about the Salt Lake Tribune and its use of rhetoric that is unreasonably negative against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and arguably overly sensationalist and missing the reality of the way the Church operates on my blog. https://memberoftherestoredcofjcmichigan.blogspot.com/2019/09/rhetoric-against-church-of-jesus-christ.html

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  60. John - I'm not saying that 2 temples will be announced. I'm saying sarcastically that only two of my predictions will be correct - because that's how it always seems to be. There have been so many announced temples that I never would have predicted ever, such as Okinawa, Japan and Moses Lake, WA. But I think we I'm starting to see a pattern of how new temples are announced. My predictions reflect that pattern.

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  61. The Trib, as it is sometimes also called, has been a loose cannon for decades. It has gotte4n to the point that they, rather than fold, may become a nonprofit, even though readership outdoes the Deseret News.

    The big one this year came the day the new endowment film and changes showed. Someone immediately after going blabbed about those to them and it was the lead story on their website for a day or two.

    The net result is that everyone went, and kept the temples her busy for months and more so than usual, I think that has tapered off now.

    The Church relesed that statement they did about the temple withim as close as a couple of hours after the Trib article posted

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  62. John Pack Lambert--I'm getting lost, you've got to reference who you are responding to. I responded to your comment under the post in other announcements.

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  63. Any of you have predictions on what the "other announcements" might be?

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  64. I wonder if they are going to revamp somehow worthiness interviews (you can pay your tithing but still be a jerk to needy people but despite that still get into the Temple), tweaking of the missionary program, canonize something, empower district presidents(here the mission president counselour has to drive two hours to interview folks for a recommend, when the DP could do it but he doesn't have the keys, but if you can give the keys to the MP counselour why can't you give them to the District President? or possibly even eliminate some callings

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  65. Some callings went down the tubes 18 months ago, a few here and there since, and since the scouting program is ending scoutmasters/scout committee callings are gone.

    This is allowing more to be shifted towards temple worker callings, one you can ask your bishop to be called to. He fills out a form, you take it to the temple president, the rest is done there.

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  66. Be a jerk to needy people? What? We all police and inspire each other, brother. Golden rule, another 1,000 other true aphorisms from the scriptures, General authorities, local authorities, and even your Primary Presidency when you were four years old. Jerk, for sure.
    We pay/give fast offerings to allow our bishops to address severe needs, but that certainly does not stop any of us from being charitable with money or time.
    Speaking of that, try www.yepyep.org
    That is one of the best I know. Be loving and keep giving, brother.

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  67. if you go back and read what i said I am not saying to be a jerk to needy people but some people are like that, they can pay tithing but treat others with contempt, "They honour me with their money but their hearts are far from me"

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  68. I think the temple recommend questions are deliberately few and limited in scope. Tithing is something you either pay in full or you don't. Whether you're sufficiently kind and charitable is far more broad, nuanced and subjective. The existing questions are, I'm sure intentionally, an easy bare minimum for worthiness and by no means cover everything required to follow Christ or even be a half-decent person.

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  69. When I am on my phone I can respond and have it show up just below the comment I am responding to. When I am on the computer all the comments show it in the order they were posted, so it is less clear what people are responding to. I will try to think about that in the future.

    Tonight in my stake they had an evening meeting for YSAs and high school seniors with Elder Johnson. Tomorrow we have leadership meetings starting at 2pm and the adult session at 6pm.

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  70. Saratoga Springs is the same size and nearly the same design as Payson, so on a good night, since it is on a false flat that slopes down to the lake shore, it should be visible especially from parts of I015

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  71. Whizzbang. I read what you said. I re-read what you you wrote. Chris had a good response. The tithing settlement doesn't even dig down into fast offerings specifically. Lots of freedom allowed for all of us to be free agents for good or not.
    Youth Education Partnership (YEP) is a voluntarily founded organization of change and hope that is small but growing. Put your money where your mouth is and check it out and give, little stream!
    Thanks for the opportunity to share. Www.yepyep.org

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  72. We clearly have a day of wonder. We just finished a stake conference with Elder Peter M. Johnson of the seventy as our presiding authority. He is a great man.

    We also had a barely 12 year old girl speak. She has already done baptisms for the dead in 6 temples. I had not been in 6 temples until I was 21, and that is counting 1 temple that I only went to to watch a sealing of another. I didn't make it to a 6th temple to do ordinances until I was 22. I had not even been to the temple to do baptisms 6 times until I was 15 or 16, and this sister has probably been to the Detroit Temple more than once, so the number comparison still does not work.

    I posted more details, including on her encounter with President Nelson in the Salt Lake Temple at my blog here https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8382616447335470763#editor/target=post;postID=1723926014014611488;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname

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    1. JPL, in your above comment about your Stake Conference report which you published on your blog, it appears that the web address you shared was from the blogger template for the post in question, to which you alone would have access. I am assuming you actually meant to post this web address:

      http://memberoftherestoredcofjcmichigan.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-day-of-zion.html?m=1

      Let me know if that is incorrect. Hope this comment was helpful to you.

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  73. Tithing settlement and tithing questions on the temple reccomend interview are seperate issues. Tithing settlement does look at fast offerings, but you are not asked to assess your level, just to make sure that your record number is in agreement with the Church's records.

    I think issues with temple reccomend questions would have been easier before the question about treatment of family members out of harmony with the gospel was added. From what I understand at one time in the 19th century you only needed to show full tithe paying status. In some ways at that time the very act of coming to Zion showed commitment to the Church.

    On the other hand in the 19th-century people were excommunicated much more often, including for habitual drunkenss and many other things that would not lead to such now. So being a member at all was a more restrictive state.

    In stake conference after the 12-year-old mentioned going to the Nauvoo Temple, I was wondering if we will see temples in Kirtland, the Priesthood Restoration Site, the Joseph Smith birthplace, and Martin's Cove. We could staff them mainly with full time missionary senior couples. On even further reflection I wondered if the new central Utah temple might be at Cove Fort.

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  74. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  75. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  76. Both interviews ask if tithing is paid or establish the regular payment of tithing. They have different purposes, yes, but they both deal with the same principle.
    It is one of the few commandments we can follow perfectly, with exactitude.
    Other mandates are much more subjective.

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    1. Eduardo, I agree we can pay a full tithe 100% of the time on money we believe should be tithed. However, what we believe should be tithed (what each if us considers “increase” or our “interest annually” is highly subjective.

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  77. Hello again, everyone! I received new information this morning indicating that the groundbreaking for the Puebla Mexico Temple will occur in November. AFAIK, no official date has been set, and confirmation of official details is pending. You can find my analysis on this development on my blog at the following web address:

    https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/09/breaking-temple-news-puebla-mexico.html

    I am hopeful this information will be officially confirmed within the next couple of weeks, and that we may also hear of a few other groundbreakings being set before General Conference, whether or not any of those actually happen prior to General Conference. My thanks again to you all.

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  78. I've sort of moved on from the idea of my own predictions, just because trends are so hard to assess lately. I think any number of new temples is possible this conference, between 5 and 20. Also, a lot of the obvious blanks in the western hemisphere have been filled recently, so I believe new announcements will shift towards Africa, Asia and the Pacific considerably in the coming conferences.

    I'll just work through those three for now:

    Africa.

    Cape Town - Only has two stakes, but is quite distant from Johannesburg. The drive is about 13 hours.
    Beira - Given the central location and the ability to also serve Malawi, this seems to be a better choice than Maputo (which, in itself, is also reasonably close to Durban).
    Antananarivo - Given a fairly strong Church in an island nation, this is sort of an obvious pick.
    Lubumbashi - Really, I can also see Mbuyi-Mayi and Kananga with their own temples announced in the next five years or so, but out of the three, the Church in Lubumbashi seems to be the most mature.
    Kumasi - Would provide greater temple access to Central and Northern Ghana. The Accra temple also seems reasonably busy.
    Benin City - Has evolved as the LDS population center of Nigeria over the last decade, so having a temple close by seems like a rather obvious choice.
    Calabar - Given distance, I would take this over Port Haircourt for now. Going just after mission boundaries, there are 14 stakes and 2 districs in the southeastern corner of Nigeria, which is certainly enough to properly operate a temple.
    Freetown - It's Freetown or Monrovia here, really, but the Church in Freetown seems slightly more mature. Sierra Leone is also seeing better penetration of the Church in the entire country. Both will likely have temples in the medium-term.

    Asia.

    Dubai - A very small temple there could make a significant cut into travel distances for members on the Arabic peninsula (and possibly Pakistan?). Most members close to Dubai are expats, who have likely established habits of temple attendance in their home countries - so finding experienced workers and patrons would not be a huge challenge. Even if they run just a couple sessions a day, this could be a great blessing.
    Ulanbaatar - Distance and maturing membership would make this a great place to build a temple. Could also serve Siberia, parts of central Asia, and western China.
    Yerevan - This could be the last temple in Church history to be built without a stake in its district. I admit it's a long shot, but there are enough members in Armenia and Georgia to support a very small temple with limited operations.
    Several locations in the Philippines - Really, I could see 5 temples announced there in the next five years, and predicting an order is rather difficult.
    Singapore - Could serve Singapore and Malaysia.
    Jakarta - Indonesia is home to two of the most isolated stakes in the Church, and might also see a small temple announced.

    Oceania.

    Port Moresby - Would likely serve the entire country of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Fairly obvious choice given relatively large and growing membership in the area.
    Port Vila - Vanuatu is still quite a ways from Fiji, and I believe both countries could probably support a temple. Would also serve a stake in New Caledonia.
    Christchurch - A small temple there would cut travel times for members on New Zealand's South Island.

    On a different note, I would not be completely thrown off to see a temple built in the southern Caribbean. Martinique may be the most central location, although Trinidad and Tobago has more members and a stake.

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    1. Maybe Wellington NZ as well. Even though Hungary and Kenya got temples announces in recent conferences, I still anticipate temples for Austria and Uganda.

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  80. Something I have been thinking about recently with the smaller temples is how many workers are needed to staff one of those temples? Does anybody know what the minimum number of workers to staff a temple like Yigo, for example, is?

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  81. Unknown, the temple in The Hague (where I've been going these last couple of years) is one of the smallest in the world, and the staffing needs are actually very minimal. During the busiest times, I would be surprised to have more than 10 workers there, but usually it's less.

    The brother who checks your recommend is usually the one who also performs several parts of the endowment (names, officiating, working at the veil, and recording), and usually, there is just one pair of veil workers per gender in each session. There are no supplementary services of any kind (clothing rental, dedicated recorders, workers in the changing rooms, someone who plays the piano in the chapel - because there is no chapel, etc.), and for any ordinance that isn't an endowment, you need to bring your own workers with you. Doors and recommend desk are also open only during the half hour before each endowment session. So, this temple can operate properly with four workers (three male and one female), and I assume it does so quite often.

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    1. Pascal, what you said above about the number of temple workers for endowment sessions may be correct, but if the recommend desk brother officiates for the endowment session, someone else would need to monitor the recommend desk, and you may also not be accounting for the workers (make a needed for initiatories and the baptistry, in addition to those who would be on hand working as recorders, in security, and for engineering. With that in mind, the total number of workers needed at smaller temples may actually be closer to 2 dozen or so during operational hours, after adding in those called as shift leaders and trainers for those working each shift and the member of the temple presidency and his wife who are on duty each shift, unless some of those positions are neither needed or in existence for the smaller temples, which may or may not be the case. Hope this comment is helpful to the ongoing discussion. Thanks.

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    2. Sorry. I apparently overlooked your note about recorders and other ordinance workers. But I'd still anticipate security, engineering, the temple presidency member and his spouse, and perhaps one or two spare male and female ordinance workers assigned to each shift the temple is open to cover anything else in case of emergencies, which would cap it off at around 10 or so. Sorry.

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  82. When small temples were inaugurated the 2nd counselor was to be the engineer. James I think you really do not get how much smaller the operation at some temples is than what is seen at Detroit.

    If I understand how Detroit operates now building engineering is carried out by a Brother who is also over engineering for many local Church buildings. However he is only there when needed.

    I do not think we have any separate security. You do not have to bring your only initiatory workers and we do have a couple who runs the baptistry.

    While a member of the temple presidency is to be present whenever the temple is opened, I am wondering if they could do other things. They don't normally do ordinances other than dealings in Detroit, but I am trying to determine if they could be a veil worker or officiate in the endowment. I am not sure.

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    1. JPL, I have no first-hand knowledge on either the Detroit temple or any of the smaller ones and can thus only speak from my own frame of reference, which may not be applicable at all in the two scenarios to which you referred. I will try to keep that in mind in the future.

      But I do get how much smaller some temples are than others, as I have regularly studied such things as part of my own analysis on temple subjects.

      So I cannot speak to the extent of the involvement of temple presidency members anywhere else in the world. But relating to my service at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple, I can confirm that at that temple, it is fairly common for any of the temple presidency to officiate regularly at weddings, to ensure that the ordinances are being correctly performed, and to even step in and help at times when that temple is at peak activity levels during busy hours. Don't know if that happens elsewhere, but there you go.

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  83. I thought through this more. When someone gets their own endownment either the member of the temple presidency or the matronacy if they are a female on duty speaks to them before doing so. Also at the Detroit Temple, and even at the Toronto Temple, a member of the temple presidency always speaks briefly to youth groups before they do baptisms, or that was at one point the case. The methods and rules connected with doing baptisms for the dead have changed often.

    I do not remember such happening at the Provo Temple.

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  84. I would add the following, I served in the Montana Billings mission a few years ago. You have the Missoula Montana Temple, but I would change it as follows:

    Missoula Montana temple, but it only serves 4 stakes rather than all of Western Montana; Missoula, Stevensville, Frenchtown and Kalispell.

    I would respectfully add:

    Helena Montana Temple to serve the following States: Butte, Helena, Great Falls, Great Falls East and Bozeman. Eventually, there may be temples in both Great Falls and Helena, but Helena is more central to this area.

    With these two temples, Miles City would be the only stake center in Montana more than 1 hour away from a temple.

    Lovell Wyoming Temple to serve the Cody, Lovell, Riverton and Worland Stakes. There has been talk of creating a stake in Powell from wards currently in the Cody and Lovell stakes. Lovell is likely the highest percentage of active LDS in the entire state of Wyoming.

    If you then build temples in Evanston, and Casper, there would no stakes in Wyoming more than 2 hours away from a temple.

    This would leave the Billings temple to serve 4 stakes and one district, which would probably be just fine.

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    1. @Ben H.

      I like your ideas about the Montana and Wyoming Temples.

      I'd be glad for a 2nd Temple anywhere in Montana, but especially in Missoula. :)

      Delete
  85. I know I am late to the party on this one, but here are my thoughts on upcoming temple announcements.

    I believe there will be 12-15 temples announced. The following are most likely to be announced:

    Bo or Freetown, Sierra Leone
    Benin City, Nigeria
    Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
    Tarawa, Kiribati
    Indonesia or Singapore
    1-2 possible in the Philippines (Bacolod, Angeles)
    Belo Horizonte, Brazil
    Santa Cruz, Bolivia
    Kingston, Jamaica
    Heber Valley, Utah
    Colorado Springs, Colorado

    Other high possibilities:
    Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
    Antananarivo, Madagascar
    Monrovia, Liberia
    Port Vila, Vanuatu
    Iquitos, Peru
    Kingston Jamaica
    Punta Arenas, Chile
    Rogers, Arkansas
    Texas (El Paso or McAllen)

    I have others as a third group that seem less likely.

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  87. Ben, I really like your idea of a temple in Lovell, Wyoming. It would be similar to some of the recently announced Western U.S. temples such as Yuba City and Moses Lake that are filling in the longer distances between temples in more urban areas. I think we are going to see many more of those similar type announcements in the coming years, especially in the Western U.S. Other cities such as Elko, Farmington NM come to mind.

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  88. "Long time listener, first time caller." I have been a fan of this blog for about three years. I enjoy all facets of the posts, but the temple announcement posts are my favorite. This is the first time I have added to the conversation.

    I have a bunch of random thoughts and ideas. I am just going to let it rip.

    Canada

    I don't see any additional temples being located in western Canada. In eastern Canada, Ottawa, Quebec City, Fredericton, NB and St. Johns, NFLD would all be possibilities, but still not cracking the top 50 or even top 100 worldwide. Members in NFLD have the longest trip to a temple of any group of members in North America. St. Johns is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in North America. Only one branch in St. Johns. Halifax is still a long car and ferry ride or an expensive flight. Ottawa would be intriguing as it is Canada's capital city.

    Western US

    Elko, NV is also an interesting thought. Two strong stakes in Elko. 250 miles from SLC Temple. Many dedicated Temple Workers make the trip several times a week. I could see a Star Valley, WY sized temple located in Elko.

    What about Las Vegas? Arizona only had one temple until the Snowflake Temple was dedicated in 2002. Just since 2010, the Gila Valley, Gilbert, Phoenix and Tucson Temples have all been dedicated to serve the large population of members in AZ. I could see the same thing in the Las Vegas area, a jump from one temple to 3 or 4 in a short period of time. A temple in the western suburb of Summerlin, maybe a temple to the south in Henderson? Maybe North Las Vegas? I have no knowledge of temple attendance at the LV Temple.

    Missoula and Bozeman are strong possibilities. I think Tacoma, WA and Eugene, OR would also be on my top 20 for the US.

    Fairbanks, AK would be on my list. Not sure if it would be US top 20 or not, but close.

    Back to Arizona. Flagstaff is a city we have heard about a lot on this blog. Would be in my top 10 US. Have also heard the San Tan Valley (SE of Gilbert Temple) as strong possibility as well. I have been to the Gilbert Temple several times in the last few months. With the Mesa Temple closed for its major renovation, the Gilbert Temple is packed all the time. I had to wait 90 minutes just to start Initiatory. It is always a mass of humanity coming in and out. The giant parking lot is almost full, no matter what time of day, or time of the week I can get there. I was at the Payson Temple last weekend. Similar size as Gilbert and it was a ghost town comparatively.

    I have also heard a western suburb; maybe Surprise or Goodyear. Surprise is interesting because the Church has extensive property holdings along the 303 corridor that are beginning to be developed.

    I have relatives in Arizona. My grandparents were ordinance workers at the Mesa Temple in the late 80s and early 90s. Some other OW came from Albuquerque and El Paso as well as all over Arizona. My great grandparents were ordinance workers in Mesa in the 60s and 70s when members would attend from Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, Mexico, Central and even South America.

    Farmington, NM would be a logical choice for the Four Corners Area, but what about a temple on the Navajo Nation? I could envision a hogan inspired temple in the Window Rock or Chinle communities.

    Las Cruces, NM or El Paso would be be on US top 20.

    Colorado Springs is at the top of my US list. Rapid City, SD has merit for being included.

    For California, I would include Bakersfield, Santa Barbara (area) and maybe San Clemente or Temecula for the members between San Diego and Newport Beach.

    What about a temple in Cove Fort, UT? Not in any community, but close to Beaver, UT. Any other Church related sites (outside of Missouri) where a temple could be a possibility?

    Thanks for letting me jump in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Unknown

      Because you mentioned Cove Fort (which I hadn't heard of), I added it to my analysis of Millard County as a possible future temple site.

      Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

      https://www.dropbox.com/s/go8r5twtdc438xn/Temple%20Predictions%20by%20Utah%20County%20-%20Oct%202019.docx?dl=0

      Delete
  89. I was too long winded. I was over the character limit....

    Here are the rest of my North America thoughts:

    Temple Size -

    The smallest temples I have attended recently are:

    Newport Beach, CA - 17,800 sq ft
    Gila Valley, AZ - 18,500 sq ft
    Star Valley, WY - 18,600 sq ft
    Vancouver, BC - 28,100 sq ft
    Hartford, CT - 32,00 sq ft

    Star Valley has a beautiful temple. You have to make reservations for all ordinances. I am fine with that. Locker room area is where it feels small. Gila Valley did not feel as small and they have my favorite baptismal font. I have attended a few (Monticello and Redlands) of the 2000 era smaller temples. All of the temples listed above feel much larger than any of those smaller temples.

    Eastern US -

    Jacksonville and Pensacola are in the US top 20. Pittsburgh, and Augusta Maine need to be considered. Portland Maine may be more likely than Augusta. I said Augusta just because it is in between Portland and Bangor.

    I think Savannah, Georgia should be on the list based on location between temples. I don't know any specifics for membership in the area.

    Rogers, Arkansas is in the US top 5. Has appeared on many lists on this blog and I agree with all those that have included points for inclusion.

    Distance and weather can still limit temple attendance. For me, Ordinance Ready has been a game changer for temple attendance. I live 30 minutes from my assigned temple. Once I learned about Ordinance Ready, I have felt more connected to my ancestors and I have attended way more often. I can see the number of temples approaching 500 worldwide in less than 20 years.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Worldwide Temple Locations -

    Not sure where to start, so lets start in Europe. I am not a world traveler but have spent some time in Europe. Barcelona, Vienna, Milan, Warsaw, Oslo, Dublin, Scotland (not sure if Glasgow or Edinburgh) would be on my list. Not sure which list. Top 50 World??

    What are the possibilities of a temple in one of the Baltic countries, Latvia, Estonia or Lithuania?

    What about a temple in far southern Spain; Malaga or Seville? I dont know how easy it is to travel from Morocco to Spain? I dont know the number of members in northern Africa or their ability to travel. Just a very basic idea to serve (mostly in the future) members from northern Africa.

    Philippines - I have no real knowledge, but based on overall membership, lets just say five potential locations based on membership and distance to current temples. I would let some of the others on this blog narrow down those locations. I checked a list I made in April and I had written down Angeles and Bacolod.

    Oceania - Port Vila, Vanuatu is very high on my list. A second temple for Western Samoa on Savai'i. Port Moresby, PNG; Marujo, Marshall Islands; Christchurch, NZ; Kiribati all have potential.

    Asia - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is in my overall top 10. Osaka, Japan and Jakarta or Singapore, maybe top 50. I would include Vietnam. I dont know which city.

    South America - Bahia Blanca and Ushuaia Argentina are both strong possibilities. BB would be in my World top 15. Iquitos, Peru is also in my World top 15-20. I would also include Osorno and Vina del Mar, Chile; Cali, Columbia; La Paz, Bolivia and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tabago. Brazil is like the Phillipines for me, far under-served. Pick any five large cities and I would be fine with that decision. Checking my older list, I have Natal, Teresina and Jaoa Pessoa.

    For Mexico, I have Torreon and Cuautla. I would not be surprised if there were up to three more announced for Mexico before the end of 2020.

    Africa - Lets just add 10 right now to try to catch up with the growth curve. I have Antananarivo, Madagascar; Lubumbashi, DRC; Kampala, Uganda; Benin City, Nigeria; Cape Coast, Ghana. In my top World Top 5 are Freetown, Sierra Leone and Monrovia, Liberia. What are the possibilities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania?

    ReplyDelete
  91. Lots of good thoughts here, but I think there are several in my top 20 that are missing. Here are my top 20.

    1. Smithfield/North Cache County, Utah -- 2nd Temple
    2. Vina del Mar/Santiago/Valpariso, Chile -- 2nd Temple
    3. Colorado Springs, Colorado
    4. Jacksonville, Florida
    5. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
    6. Freetown, Sierra Leonne
    7. Kirtland, Ohio
    8. Edinburgh, Scotland
    9. Austin, Texas
    10.Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
    11.Antananarivo, Madagascar
    12.Kaohusiung City, Taiwan
    13.Buenos Aries, Argentina -- 2nd Temple
    14. Pusan, South Korea
    15. New Delhi, India
    16. Dubai, Abu Dhabi
    17. Oslo, Norway
    18. Santa Cruz De La Sierra, Bolivia
    19. Singapore City, Singapore
    20. Guatemala City, Guatemala (2nd Temple)

    These would be my top 20 based on a wide variety of research factors.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  92. If I had to chose a top 10, it would be as follows:

    1. Freetown, Sierra Leone
    2. Buenos Aries, Argentina -- 2nd Temple
    3. Smithfield/North Cache County, Utah -- 2nd Temple
    4. Vina del Mar/Santiago/Valpariso, Chile -- 2nd Temple
    5. Kaohusiung City, Taiwan
    6. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
    7. Colorado Springs, Colorado
    8. Jacksonville, Florida
    9. Dubai, Abu Dhabi
    10. Singapore City, Singapore

    ReplyDelete
  93. I am submitting a Top 24. I think 12 temples would be the max and 8 to 10 to be the most likely to be announced at one General Conference, but I could be totally wrong. Looking at my Top 12; I specifically included one temple in Utah, one in the western US, one each in Mexico, Brazil and the Philippines.

    1. Freetown, Sierra Leone
    2. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
    3. Colorado Springs, CO
    4. Monrovia, Liberia
    5. Bacolod, Philippines
    6. Torreon, MX
    7. Port Vila, Vanuatu
    8. Bahia Blanca, Argentina
    9. Port Moresby, PNG
    10. Joao Pessoa, Brazil
    11. Orem, UT
    12. Uyo, Nigeria
    13. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
    14. Antananarivo, Madagascar
    15. Flagstaff, AZ
    16. Jacksonville, FL
    17. Henderson or Summerlin, NV
    18. Vina del Mar, Chile
    19. Santa Cruz, Bolivia
    20. Austin, TX
    21. Oslo, Norway
    22. Kiribati
    23. Elko, NV
    24. Ushuaia, Argentina

    Port Vila, Port of Spain and Kiribati to be of a similar size and design as Cape Verde, San Juan and Guam. Elko and Ushuaia would be a similar size and design as Star Valley, WY.

    200th Anniversary of the founding of the Church will be April 6, 2030. Would it be possible to have 500 operational temples by that date. Right now, there are a total of 209 temples. 166 dedicated, 14 under construction and 29 announced. That would mean an additional 291 temples to be planned, constructed and dedicated in roughly 10 years.

    ReplyDelete
  94. @Captain Jack Sparrow,I noticed you put Kirtland, Ohio on your top 20 - #7 to be exact. Why so confident? What are the research factors you considered for Kirtland (besides, a desire to one day have it restored). Are there solid rumors that it's been handed over to The Church?

    ReplyDelete
  95. President Nelson, in Women's meeting, said he was recently in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Well there be a temple announced there? That could be the place rather than one in Pittsburgh.

    ReplyDelete
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