More Temples Underway around the World

Saints will gather in Papeete, Tahiti, to celebrate the rededication of the Papeete Tahiti Temple in November 2006 following renovations that began in August 2005. The dedication, which will be held on Sunday, November 12, follows a public open house from October 14 through November 4 (except Sundays). As part of the reopening, members will gather in a cultural celebration on Saturday, November 11.

The Papeete Tahiti Temple—the only temple in French Polynesia—will reopen for ordinances on Monday, November 13, to serve more than 21,000 Church members in the six stakes and one mission in French Polynesia.

The Tahiti temple was first dedicated on October 27, 1983, by President Gordon B. Hinckley, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency, almost 140 years after the first missionary arrived in French Polynesia in 1844. Nearly 500 Tahitian Saints packed the temple’s chapel that day for the first of six dedicatory services held from October 27 through October 29. With its 1983 dedication, the Tahiti temple brought the number of operating temples to 25 (see “News of the Church,” Ensign, Dec. 1983, 66).

Groundbreaking

The First Presidency will break ground for the third temple in the Salt Lake Valley on August 5, 2006, in Draper, Utah. The completion of the Draper Utah Temple will bring the number of temples in Utah to 12.

President Hinckley announced the plan to build a new temple in the Salt Lake Valley in the October 2004 general conference, and the location was announced that November. The Jordan River Utah Temple and the Salt Lake Temple are the other two temples in the valley.

In a letter that was read to Church members in meetings in the Salt Lake City area on November 21, 2004, the First Presidency noted that the temple will relieve overcrowding at the Jordan River Utah Temple. Utah is home to nearly two million Latter-day Saints.

Announcement

The First Presidency has announced the construction of new temples in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

The letter stated that the temples will bless “the many faithful Saints … who have had to travel long distances to enjoy the blessings of the temple.”

The new Vancouver temple will be the first temple in British Columbia and the seventh temple in Canada. Other temples in Canada are located in Cardston, Alberta (originally dedicated in 1923, rededicated in 1991); Toronto, Ontario (1990); Halifax, Nova Scotia (1999); Regina, Saskatchewan (1999); Edmonton, Alberta (1999); and Montreal, Quebec (2000).

The new temple will serve Church members throughout British Columbia. As of December 2005, Canada was home to more than 172,000 Latter-day Saints.

The new Tegucigalpa temple will serve more than 116,000 members in Honduras and 52,000 in Nicaragua.

Dedications

Following a month-long open house this month, the Sacramento California Temple will be dedicated on September 3, bringing the number of temples in California to 7 and the number of operating temples worldwide to 123. Of the approximately 750,000 Latter-day Saints in California, the temple will serve more than 80,000 Saints in the greater Sacramento area.

The Helsinki Finland Temple—the first temple in Finland—will be dedicated after an open house from September 23 through October 7, 2006, and a cultural celebration on October 21. The temple will be dedicated in four sessions on October 22. The temple will serve approximately 26,000 members living in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia.

Other Temples

The Twin Falls Idaho Temple is under construction after a groundbreaking ceremony on April 15, 2006. The Los Angeles California Temple closed for renovations in November 2005 and reopened on July 11. Other temples that have been announced by First Presidency letter or are under construction as of June include the Curitiba Brazil, Harrison New York, Kiev Ukraine, Panama City Panama, Rexburg Idaho, and Cebu Philippines Temples.

In the October 1985 general conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency, told members of the Church: “We are living in one of the most significant and important epochs in the history of the Church and in the history of God’s work among His people. We are living in the greatest era of temple building ever witnessed.”

Since that 1985 general conference, 86 new temples have been dedicated.

For more information about temples across the globe, visit the Church’s temples Web site (www.lds.org/temples).

The Helsinki Finland Temple will be dedicated October 22.