This press release was originally published on Church Newsroom.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will build 20 new houses of the Lord in the coming years. President Russell M. Nelson made this announcement in prerecorded remarks shown Sunday, October 1, 2023, in the final session of the semiannual general conference.
The temples will be built in the following locations:
- Savai’i, Samoa
- Kahului, Hawaii
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- Vancouver, Washington
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Roanoke, Virginia
- Cancún, Mexico
- Piura, Peru
- Huancayo, Peru
- Viña del Mar, Chile
- Goiânia, Brazil
- João Pessoa, Brazil
- Cape Coast, Ghana
- Calabar, Nigeria
- Luanda, Angola
- Mbuji-Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Laoag, Philippines
- Osaka, Japan
- Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
“Spending more time in the temple builds faith. And your service and worship in the temple will help you to think celestial,” said the prophet, who has announced 153 new temples since 2018. “The temple is a place of revelation. There you are shown how to progress toward a celestial life. There you are drawn closer to the Savior and given greater access to His power. There you are guided in solving the problems in your life, even your most perplexing problems. The ordinances and covenants of the temple are of eternal significance. … The Lord is directing us to build these temples to help us think celestial.”
This is the second-highest number of temples announced at one time in the history of the Church. At the April 1998 general conference, former Church President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) announced plans to construct as many as 32 new temples, though he did not list specific locations. And in April 2021, President Nelson announced 20 new temples.
The Church of Jesus Christ currently has 177 temples in operation, 59 under construction or renovation, and 99 in planning and design — a total of 335 houses of the Lord. See the official temple list.
► You may also like: Which Latter-day Saint temples are under construction around the world?
You can read more about each of the new temple locations on Church Newsroom.
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