Now that General Conference is only four weeks away, I thought I'd list some temple announcement predictions. We had a lot of temples announced last conference so that probably means we will only have a few this conference, but it could instead mean that we will have a lot of temples announced. It will be interesting to see what happens.
I've grouped my temple announcement predictions geographically and have generally chosen 3 cities for a region, but for some I chose more. I give more weight to a first temple in a country or state. Here are my predictions:
Asia:
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Jakarta Indonesia
Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (Taichung City could also work)
Busan, Korea
Osaka, Japan
Puerto Princesa, Philippines
Australia / Pacific:
Christchurch, New Zealand
Tasmania, Australia
Marshall Islands
Africa:
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Kampala, Uganda
Kananga / Mbuji Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Europe:
Edinburgh, Scotland (or Glasgow)
Tirana, Albania
Barcelona, Spain
South America (not Brazil):
Punta Arenas, Chile / Rio Grande, Argentina (southern tip of the continent)
La Paz, Bolivia
Maracaibo, Venezuela
Brazil:
Teresina, Brazil
Palmas, Brazil
Cuiba, Brazil
North America (not US):
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Durango, Mexico
Kingston, Jamaica
United States (not Utah):
Tacoma, Washington
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Flagstaff, Arizona
Austin, Texas
Bakersfield, California
Utah:
Heber City
Price
Spanish Fork / Springville
Those are my picks for new temple locations. I'm hoping for a lot of temple announcements, but even a single temple will bless many lives. Please comment with your lists of possible temple locations. There is also usually a lively discussion about possible temple locations on the Growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website so you can go there for more predictions. This conference's list should arrive any day on that blog.
There is another possibility that could be considered: another temple in Salt Lake County. I know that may seem rather silly, but consider this: when new temples are built near historic temples, the chances of preserving those historic temples go way up. Look at Smithfield near Logan, Red Cliffs near St. George, Gilbert near Mesa, and most recently in May, Ephriam near Manti. This allows more high-capacity temple work to be done while keeping the historic character of pioneer temples. Considering the backlash that happened after the Salt Lake/Manti Temple fiasco in March, President Nelson might be prompted to implement a similar solution like in Manti. Though the original murals are gone, replicas of the murals are better than no murals at all...
ReplyDeleteSalt Lake County could easily get another temple. President Hinckley announced that the church had long term plans for a temple in the southwest part of the valley at the same time the Oquirrh Mountain and Draper temples were announced. It appears that this is for Herriman. I didn't include it in my lists as there are already many temples in the valley and they are large temples and the Taylorsville temple is currently under construction. Eventually I could see a temple in Herriman and one in West Valley. There could possibly be one around Sandy as well.
ReplyDeleteI would love and hope for the Salt Lake Temple murals to be repainted.
There already is a temple in Tucson Arizona. Are you predicting another?
ReplyDeleteI meant Flagstaff. I will update the post
DeleteOne in Flagstaff would be great.
ReplyDeleteIf you look on "temple" location map there is a big 'ole hole in Appalachia near where I was born and raised in the area where West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee meet. The Church has actually been in that area for a long time . I have even visited old meetinghouses built years ago by small branches of members before standardized meetinghouses reached that area. Is there any possibility that a small temple might bless this good people?
ReplyDeleteOver 50 years ago I served in the North Carolina-Virginia Mission. Near Marion, NC there was an old Latter-day Saint meetinghouse that had a cemetery where many early members were buried. I'm not sure if it is still standing. There was another such place in Franklin, WV.
ReplyDeleteI would add two candidates - North Pole Alaska which would serve the North Pole and Fairbanks stakes and Buena Vista Virginia Temples.
ReplyDeleteThe North Pole Alaska Temple sounds like a fun name if said from the pulpit, but would cover two stakes located there that are distantly isolated from the nearest temple (Anchorage).
The Buena Vista Virginia Temple would serve several stakes in the area (VA, WV, NC). Buena Vista is home to Southern Virginia University (SVU) and as one may know, many college students fresh from their parents home or mission do not have their own transportation, yet they're ones that could greatly benefit from frequenting the temple. SVU is run by members for members, making it a de facto unofficial church college serving members in the eastern US.
Of course another Philippines temple - particularly on the big and populated island of Luzon. While several has been announced in the Philippines, its still few compared to the many stakes and members in that island country. While there's one operating and two under construction, there's still 83 stakes and 23 districts on the main island of Luzon alone. Three 25,000 sf temples (plus or minus) doesn't seem like it would be enough to cover this many members/stakes, MTC, Philippines Area offices, etc. These aren't the 80,000 plus sf temples you see in the Salt Lake Valley. Manila is the world's most densely populated city.
Since the church has reduced services to 2 hours per week, all ward and stake houses are virtually empty. Property is becoming so expensive in Utah, does it make sense to continue to build more temples in metro area when many stake centers already have baptismal fonts, huge parking lots and are already in the areas where temples are needed? Since the experience is virtual/media in most temples, with just some minor remodeling part of these underused buildings could be transformed for use during the week which would not disturb Sunday services.
ReplyDelete