What meaningful experiences have you had with the temple?
It used to be that temples were almost always dedicated by a member of the First Presidency. But in recent years, other Apostles have been asked to help out—which is especially helpful when there are two (or even three) dedications happening on the same day!
For the 200th temple, though, our beloved prophet President Russell M. Nelson did the honors himself.
The Deseret Peak temple in Tooele, Utah, was dedicated by President Nelson on Nov. 10. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles accompanied him.
President Nelson has dedicated temples in these other places. Do you know where these countries are on a map?
- Sapporo, Japan (2016)
- Concepción, Chile (2019)
- Rome, Italy (2019)
The record-holder for temple dedications is President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008), who dedicated 85 of them!
But President Nelson has announced more temples than any other Church president: 185 so far, including the 17 at October general conference.
We didn’t reach a hundred temples until the year 2000. But we built the next hundred in just 24 years! No wonder President Nelson said, “The Lord is indeed hastening His work”!1
Notes
1. From “The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again,” Oct. 2024 general conference.