President Nelson Announces Plans to Build 12 New Temples
Contributed By MormonNewsroom.org
President Russell M. Nelson announced that the Church plans to build 12 new temples during his remarks at the conclusion of the October 2018 general conference on October 7, 2018.
“I invite you to worship in the temple and pray to feel deeply the Savior’s infinite love for you, that each of you may gain your own testimony that He continues to direct this sacred and ageless work.” —President Russell M. Nelson
The Church plans to build 12 new temples, President Russell M. Nelson announced in his remarks at the conclusion of the October 2018 general conference, the highest number ever announced on the same day.
Those temples will be built in the following locations: Mendoza, Argentina; Salvador, Brazil; Yuba City, California; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Praia, Cape Verde; Yigo, Guam; Puebla, Mexico; Auckland, New Zealand; Lagos, Nigeria; Davao, Philippines; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Washington County, Utah.
There are currently 159 dedicated temples, and the news brings the total number of temples operating, announced, or under construction to 201. With seven temples announced during the April 2018 general conference, a total of 19 temples have been announced this year. The announcement comes exactly 18 years to the week since the Church completed its 100th temple.
Building and maintaining temples may not change your life, President Nelson said, “but spending time in the temple surely will.
“To those who have long been absent from the temple, I encourage you to prepare and return as soon as possible. Then I invite you to worship in the temple and pray to feel deeply the Savior’s infinite love for you, that each of you may gain your own testimony that He continues to direct this sacred and ageless work.”
He also announced plans to renovate the Salt Lake Temple and other pioneer-era temples, adding that details will be provided later.
Locations of twelve temples announced during October 2018 general conference.
When the Mendoza Argentina Temple is built and dedicated, Argentina will have four temples. The Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was dedicated in 1986, while the Córdoba Argentina Temple was dedicated in 2015. The Salta Argentina Temple was announced by President Nelson in April 2018. Argentina, a country of nearly 45 million residents, is home to nearly 459,000 Latter-day Saints.
After the United States (6.7 million Latter-day Saints) and Mexico (1.45 million), Brazil is home to more members (1.39 million) of the Church than any other country. There are six operating temples in Brazil, located in Campinas, Curitiba, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, and São Paulo. Two temples are under construction (Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro), and two others have been announced—in Belém and now Salvador.
The Yuba City California Temple will be California’s eighth temple. The state’s other seven temples are in Fresno, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Oakland (under renovation), Redlands, Sacramento, and San Diego. California is home to more than 760,000 Latter-day Saints and nearly 1,300 congregations.
This will be Cambodia’s first Latter-day Saint temple and the ninth temple in Asia. More than 14,600 Latter-day Saints live in the Southeast Asian nation of more than 16 million people.
This will be the first temple in Cape Verde, a set of islands located about 350 miles off the northwest coast of Africa. Some 14,700 Latter-day Saints live in this island nation of 539,000 people.
This small island territory in the Western Pacific is less than half the size of the Salt Lake Valley and has a population of 166,000 people. Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ first arrived in 1957, and today there are more than 2,500 Latter-day Saints in Guam. This will be the territory’s first Latter-day Saint temple.
This will be Mexico’s 14th temple. The country’s other 13 temples are in Ciudad Juárez, Colonia Juárez, Zapopan, Hermosillo, Mérida, Mexico City, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Ciudad Madero, Tijuana, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Boca del Rio, and Villahermosa. The country is home to nearly 1.5 million Latter-day Saints spread throughout almost 2,000 congregations.
The Auckland New Zealand Temple will be the country’s second Latter-day Saint temple. The first temple, built in 1958 in Hamilton, closed in August 2018 for renovations. The Church has had a presence in New Zealand since the 1850s. Today, more than 114,000 Latter-day Saints live in the country.
The Lagos Nigeria Temple will be the second temple in Nigeria and the ninth in Africa. There are temples currently operating in Aba, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Accra, Ghana. The Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple is scheduled to be dedicated April 14, 2019. The Durban South Africa Temple is under construction. Plans have been announced to build temples in Harare, Zimbabwe; Nairobi, Kenya; and Abidjan Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire). Church membership in Africa has grown from a handful of members in the late 1970s to more than 611,000 Latter-day Saints today (including nearly 174,000 in Nigeria) in more than 2,000 congregations.
With this announcement, the Philippines has six temples announced or dedicated, including Cebu City, Manila (2), Urdaneta, and Cagayan de Oro. There are more than 780,000 Latter-day Saints in this country of more than 107 million people.
This will be the first temple in Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island of more than 3 million residents and over 23,000 Latter-day Saints. The nearest temple to Puerto Rico is the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple.
This will be Washington County’s second temple; the other is in St. George, Utah. As the Church’s world headquarters, Utah has 2.1 million members of the Church in a state of 3.2 million people. There are 17 operating temples in the state, including Bountiful, Brigham City, Cedar City, Draper, Logan, Jordan River, Manti, Monticello, Mount Timpanogos, Ogden, Oquirrh Mountain, Payson, Provo City Center, Provo, St. George, Salt Lake, and Vernal. The Saratoga Springs Temple was announced at the April 2017 general conference, and the Layton Utah Temple was announced in April 2018. The new temple in Washington County will be Utah’s 20th Latter-day Saint temple.
