SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 7, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans to build 12 new temples at the end of the 188th Semiannual General Conference Sunday.
In addition to this being the largest number of temples ever announced on the same day, the news brings the total number of Latter-day Saint temples operating, announced or under construction to 201, the LDS Church said in a news release Sunday.
The announcement comes exactly 18 years to the week since the Church completed its 100th temple.
The new temples will be 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
This will be Washington County’s second temple, the news release said; the other is in St. George. There are 17 operating temples in the state of Utah, 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.
In addition to the announcement of 12 new temples, President Nelson said pioneer generation temples would be renovated. “With the passage of time, temples are inevitably in need of refreshing and renewal,” he said. “To that end, plans are now being made to renovate and update the Salt Lake Temple and other pioneer generation temples. Details on these projects will be shared as they are developed.”
The previous largest number of temples announced on a single day was April 1, 1981, when nine temples were announced. With seven temples announced during the April 2018 general conference, a total of 19 temples have been announced this year.
