What happened to the temple promised in this generation?

Section 84 ties this house to the consecrated spot in Missouri, so a building in Ohio would need a separate explanation.

You read the location alongside the promise. Verse 31 repeats the connection to the appointed spot.

Kirtland was built soon afterward, so that would be my first explanation.

Its date makes it worth comparing. Check the place specified in verses 3–5 and 31 before identifying it as the promised house.

It says the work was no longer required of them, so I’d consider the question answered.

That addresses their obligation. Your friend may still ask whether a release from work also changes a prediction about when the work would be completed.

It directly addresses their obligation after enemies obstructed the work. I read the earlier promise with that release, but I still need to explain how it affects the timing.

You identify the basis of your faithful reading and the interpretive step the objection challenges.

Yes. His sermon supports the ordinary lifetime reading. My conditional reading still has to account for why he continued expecting that timing.

You give contemporary interpretation its proper weight. It establishes Pratt’s stated expectation and makes a later, broader definition something to argue for.

He was speaking for himself, so I would focus only on later explanations.

His statement is still evidence of how a prominent early reader understood the promise. Compare it with the later explanations and explain the difference.