Salt Lake City, UTAH — At the conclusion of the 189th Annual General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans to build eight new temples. This brings the total number of operating temples (162) and temples announced or under construction (47) to 209 worldwide.
Deseret News highlighted Clay Taala, whose family is from Pago Pago, American Samoa, celebrating news of the first temple in American Samoa, where Latter-day Saints make up nearly 30 percent of the populace, according to Church Public Affairs.
In 1977, church leaders announced a temple for American Samoa but later determined it would be better suited if built in Apia, Western Samoa, according to the 2013 Church News Almanac.
"It's awesome," Taala said to Deseret News with a big smile. "Normally we have to travel, so having a temple at home means a lot to us."
This temple will be the first in American Samoa. This U.S. territory of seven islands and coral reefs has a population of 56,000 people, including 16,390 Latter-day Saints. With Church members making up nearly 30 percent of the populace, American Samoa has one of the densest concentrations of Latter-day Saints in the world.
Okinawa is comprised of more than 150 islands in the East China Sea between Taiwan and mainland Japan. The Okinawa Japan Temple will be the country’s fourth house of the Lord. Japan, a country of 127 million people, is home to nearly 130,000 Latter-day Saints spread throughout more than 260 congregations. The Church has been in Japan since 1901.
The temple in Neiafu will be the second house of the Lord in this Polynesian kingdom of more than 170 islands in the South Pacific. The first was the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple, completed in 1983. Tonga’s 65,500 Latter-day Saints make up 60 percent of the country’s 108,000 residents — making Tonga the most densely populated Latter-day Saint country in the world. The Church has had a presence in Tonga since 1891.
This will be Tooele’s first temple. As the Church’s world headquarters, Utah has 2.1 million Church members in a state of 3.2 million people (65.6 percent of the population). There are 17 operating temples in the state, including the 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 Temples. The Saratoga Springs Temple was announced at the April 2017 general conference, the Layton Utah Temple was announced in April 2018, and a temple in Washington County was announced in October 2018. The new temple in Tooele, located near Salt Lake City, will be Utah’s 21st house of the Lord.
This will be the fourth temple in the state of Washington. The others are located in Richland, Bellevue and Spokane. Nearly 290,000 Latter-day Saints in 546 congregations live in the state. President Nelson spoke to some 49,000 Latter-day Saints at Safeco Field in Seattle in September 2018.
Church membership in Honduras has grown exponentially in the past 40 years. There were 6,300 Latter-day Saints in 1980; today there are more than 178,200. This temple will be the second in Honduras and the eighth in Central America. Other houses of the Lord in the region include the Tegucigalpa Honduras, San José Costa Rica, San Salvador El Salvador, Guatemala City Guatemala, Managua Nicaragua (announced), Panama City Panama and Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temples.
This will be the third temple in Chile, whose populace of 18 million includes 595,500 Latter-day Saints. The nation’s first temple was completed in Santiago in 1983 and rededicated in 2006. The second temple was completed in Concepción in October 2018. The Church of Jesus Christ has been in Chile since the 1950s and now has more than 600 congregations.
The temple in Budapest will be the country’s first house of the Lord and the 16th such structure in Europe. The Church’s other temples in the region are the Bern Switzerland, Copenhagen Denmark, Frankfurt Germany, Freiberg Germany, Helsinki Finland, Kyiv Ukraine, Lisbon Portugal (under construction), London England, Madrid Spain, Paris France, Preston England, Rome Italy, Russia (announced in April 2018), Stockholm Sweden and The Hague Netherlands Temples. Hungary is home to 5,250 Latter-day Saints spread throughout 22 congregations. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a small presence in Hungary since the late 1800s, though legal recognition did not come until 1988.
Latter-day Saints consider temples to be the “house of the Lord,” the most sacred places on the earth. Temples differ from the meetinghouses or chapels where all are welcome to attend Sunday worship services. In the temple, the teachings of Jesus Christ are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other ceremonies that unite families
Comments
Sorted by BestComments are powered by Disqus. By commenting, you agree to their privacy policy.
Powered by Disqus