The Church is getting to temple groundbreaking faster than ever before

[IHAQ]

How many temples has President Russell M. Nelson announced in his tenure as the prophet-president?
Answer: 118. (One way to remember this number: The church had 182 temples in operation or announced when President Nelson’s administration began. The 118 he has announced bring the total to a round 300.)

Second, the more difficult question:
How many of the temples President Nelson has announced are already built, dedicated and open for temple work?
The answer — two — illustrates how much work is underway and ahead.

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2022/11/6 ... elson-open

President Nelson announced plans for those 118 new temples in 41⁄2 years. Few temples go from announcement through construction to dedication and opening in that short a span.

Since 2008, church leaders have announced 163 temples. Nine of those have gone from announcement to dedication inside a 41⁄2 -year time frame:

Gila Valley Arizona Temple: 2 years, 1 month.
Calgary Albert Temple: 4 years.
Kansas City Missouri Temple: 3 years, 7 months.
Brigham City Utah Temple: 2 years, 11 months.
Provo City Center Temple: 4 years, 5 months.
Cedar City Utah Temple: 4 years, 6 months.
Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: 4 years, 5 months.
Praia Cape Verde Temple: 3 years, 8 months.
Yigo Guam Temple: 3 years, 7 months.
Another, the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple, will be dedicated in January, going from announcement to completion in four years, three months.

But here’s what really stands out about temple construction during President Nelson’s administration. Temples are going from announcement to groundbreaking faster than before.

Since President Nelson began announcing temples in April 2018, the average time from announcement to groundbreaking is 1.62 years.

Did you notice the bait and switch? The author (Tad Walch) starts with talking about the timeframe from announcement to dedication, and then to aggrandise Nelson's achievements he has to switch to talking about the timeframe from announcement to groundbreaking.

Tad also takes a bit of licence with use of the phrase "average time" to break ground after announcement, because 68 of the 118 Nelson has announced have not yet broken ground. 12 of those 68 are already beyond 2 years since announcement.

I'm unsure of Tad's actual purpose in writing the article, but it appears to be a particularly poor powder puff attempt at making Nelson sound like the best Prophet, ever. Maybe Tad will update this information with something meaningful, like the average length of time between announcement and dedication and with some narrative about how the process has been reduced in timescale (smaller temples, easier development locations, cheaper/easier construction, easier to obtain materials etc etc etc). Because that would then be an interesting article.

[Philo Sofee]

Ha! Those Mormons... tricky as ever, but outstanding at attempting to bolster a sagging image of the church into something great - I see big numbers still impress the small minds of the world. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MANNNNNNNNNNNY TEMMMMMMMMMMPLES! This must be the hallowed work of the Lord which no hand can stop! Can't you just feel the testimony burning in your bosom? President Nelson is just SO true! He is a TRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE Prophet for having done SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (even with money hoarding, but... hee, hee... lets not go there, we're in testimony building mode with this temple thingy guys.)

[drumdude]

“Wow those Mormons sure have a lot of temples. Maybe I’ll go check out their sacrament meeting and see what all the fuss is about.”

[IHAQ]

“Wow those Mormons sure have a lot of temples. Maybe I’ll go check out their sacrament meeting and see what all the fuss is about.”

Said nobody. Ever.

[BeNotDeceived]

Gotta keep the ruse going somehow... if they build them, they will come! The higher ups at 'church' HQ might have seen Field of Dreams on BYUTV one too many times.

[Wonhyo]

“Wow those Mormons sure have a lot of temples. Maybe I’ll go check out their sacrament meeting and see what all the fuss is about.”

Said nobody. Ever.

Having lived outside the Morridor for much of my life, I have learned that very few non-Mormons are even aware that there is a distinction between temples and meetinghouses. Even the large, architecturally pleasing temple in my town is simply "the Mormon church" to the non-members that I know.

For lots of Mormons, more=better. More temples is not only a sign of the rolling forth of the kingdom, it's a sign of the influence and power of the church, which makes them proud to be members of it. Temples might be the MacGuffins of Mormonism, but they're also its crown jewels. Announce more temples in conference, break more ground for temples, dedicate more temples, and it signifies to Mormons that their tribe and their truth is kicking butt and taking names along the way.

Never mind that most of the temples are not used anywhere near capacity, or that the proxy names used for vicarious ordinances are usually recycled again and again. That doesn't bother most TBMs. Because more=better.