Today, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M. Nelson, announced plans to construct temples in the following 17 locations:
- Juchitán de Zaragoza, Mexico
- Santa Ana, El Salvador
- Medellín, Colombia
- Santiago, Dominican Republic
- Puerto Montt, Chile
- Dublin, Ireland
- Milan, Italy
- Abuja, Nigeria
- Kampala, Uganda
- Maputo, Mozambique
- Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
- Queen Creek, Arizona
- El Paso, Texas
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Summit, New Jersey
Price, Utah
With today's announcement, there will now be 367 temples that are planned or dedicated. I will provide an analysis of each temple announcement in the coming days. Today's announcement marks the first time the Church has announced a temple in a country where a temple has previously been announced but not completed yet (Mozambique). Also, temples in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Summit, New Jersey, will be the Church's first temples to be built in these states. Finally, temples in Dublin, Ireland, and Kampala, Uganda, will be the Church's first temples in these nations.
47 comments:
Results from my predictions:
Santiago, Santa Ana, Milan, Abuja, Kampala, and Milwaukee were in my top 30 locations.
Medellin, Juchitán de Zaragoza, Maputo, El Paso, and Price were in my "next 50" category.
Queen Creek (listed as "Phoenix Arizona metro area"), Puerto Montt, Coeur d'Alene, and Dublin were in my "less likely" category.
Huntsville and Summit were not in my predicted locations at all.
Of the 17 announced, I either had 14 named directly or relatively nearby on my Master List. The 3 I whiffed on were Maputo, Dublin and Huntsville. The first I was waiting until Beira was at least under construction to add, The second I did not have, as I don't have a good read on locations that are almost stand-alone in nature, even though I have seen on other lists. As far as the last selection, that came out of left field for me.
Craig H
YES! IRELAND IS FINALLY GETTING A TEMPLE! :D
Tá an soiscéal láidir in Éirinn!
All of these were on my masterlist I put together last year, but I didn't get the exact city of Summit right for New Jersey. Very pleased with Santiago, Santa Ana, Kampala, and Abuja, I've been waiting for those for quite some time
We have 8 U.S. states left for all 50 to each have at least one temple.
Glad for Abuja, it had the most distant stakes from a temple for Nigeria
It's especially good timing with the recent upgrading of Jos from a district to a stake
President Nelson has announced half of the total temples(185/367), effectively doubling the number of temples (including those that are announced, under construction/ renovation, etc.). How marvelous!!
I am overjoyed!!!!! I feel so thankful to our Heavenly Father and to our prophet Russell M Nelson!.
A Temple in Medellín! We have been waiting for this day for many years!!!
No temples for Brazil and the Philippines. This is an important fact
Very excited about these new temples and the blessings it will bring to those in the area and future temple districts!
There will now be four "Santiago" temples across three countries (2 in Santiago Chile, and 1 each in Santiago Philippines and Dominican Republic).
Huntsville and Juchitán de Zaragoza were complete surprises to me.
Summit New Jersey is very specific and was a bit of a surprise as I was expecting it to be named after Newark or a city that one of the stakes is named after. I think that likely means the Church already has a site in Summit for the temple and perhaps it may be one that will have its site info released sooner rather than later.
I know Mexican geography pretty well. I have been to 10 or 12 states, plus I look at a lot of places across the country, over 40 or so years, but I did not know much about Juchitán de Zaragoza. Very cool, second on Oaxaca, right?
So happy for southern Chile. Muy buena onda. Ireland, love it. Africa continues, and I think New England and West Virginia will have temples soon. Do we still have South Dakota? Two for Alabama, very nice.
Great to see and hear the centenarian prophet ushering in the Millenium!
Next time :-)
Or for the rest of Asia and Oceania.
Also next time. ;)
I am happy to hear Puerto Montt, Chile will have a temple. I spent months trudging through the rain soaked streets as a missionary there more than 20 years ago. At that time, the Puerto Montt and neighboring Puerto Varas stakes had recently been consolidated. Growth has been slow. The Puerto Varas stake was created again earlier this year. Southern Chile is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The faithful members from isolated places like Chiloe Island, Coyhaique, and Punta Arenas will be blessed having a temple more accessible (one flight or ferry away).
Other southern cities of the 9th and 10th Regions of Chile will be blessed, too, specifically Temuco, Valdivia, and Osorno. There are many smaller towns with branches and wards dotting those regions. The highest concentration of Mapuches (natives) lives in those two regions.
Maputo is not the first such case of you require announced completed temples to be not totally abandoned. Then the Logan Temple being announced in 1875 when there was no temple in the United States but 2 others announced Counts. It still means it is the first in 175 years.
While Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast I saw a potential for this yo happen, there is a key difference.
Bo is closer to Freetown than any existing temple. So is Yamasoukro closer to Abijan than any existing temple. Maputo is closer to Johannesburg than to Beira. So it is not clear that Beira will improve temple going options for those in Maputo. It may because of the cost/time factor at the border. It is a clear case where Maputo Temple fills a big need.
Another way to look at this is Mozambique brakes DR Congo's record of 1 year from 1st dedication to 2nd temple by moving it negative. I really hope Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone also come in under the DR Congo figure.
I think Mozambique also got its first stakes, 1 in Beira and 1 in Maputo, very close.
This past summer, I attended a local ward in Las Cruces, NM and all the sacrament meeting talks were focused on preparing for the temple. It seems almost fitting that one was announced today for El Paso, TX which only 40 minutes away.
I am not sure Summitt was in anyone's predicted location, although a few just did "somewhere vaguely in the part of New Jersey that is in metro New York City". I am hald surprised it is not just called Newark but built in Summit. Although with the Proper Texas Temple precedent, I would not be shocked if the name changes.
The Stake and District map is back up, haphazardly, so I took a look at the Huntsville Temple. It appears to me that it will cover the 2 stakes in Metro Huntsville and probably take over Chattanooga, TN from either the Atlanta Temple or Knoxville Temple, whichever it is assigned to once the Knoxville Temple up and running.
The only other two Stakes I am really seeing are Tupelo, MS or Gadsden, AL and I think they will both remain with their current Temples of Memphis, TN and Birmingham, AL respectively.
Does anyone have more info or thoughts regarding this Temple location?
Craig H
Well this time balances out against the fact that there were no temples announced for the African continent in April.
Kampala has been my number one pick since Chiclayo was announced in October 2022.
Peru, Brazil and the Phillippines each did not have a temple announced. Hopefully all 3 get at least 1 in April.
Juchitan de Zaragoza was on my insanely li g list, but I really thought it was not quite there. It did seem the most likely location in the southern third of Mexico. There were several locations in the areas north and west of Mexico City or along the Gulf of Mexico coastal region I thought stronger contestants. Still I am glad.
El Salvador and the Dominican Republic may have been the two countries with 1 temple with the most members.
I think next is Paraguay.
I am very glad Puerto Montt is getting a temple. Same with Medellin. Both Colombia and Chile will need more.
We still have not gotten a repeat of the Mexico City plan. We may see that in April.
Dublin surprises me a little, but there is a clear push to make all people in Europe, at least in countries with multiple stakes, which takes an all islande definition of Ireland, have temples.
Milan, Italy is good. They are assigned yo Rome but closer to the Swiss Temple.
Abuja might have gotten a little boost from Jos, but Jos will in time have its own temple. It is 5 hours away, and I am not sure how realistically Google maps takes into account roads where your car gets stuck in the mud and you have to push it out. The distance to Aba is 13 hours, a distance do long we enter "this is unrealistically low because you make stops on the journey" territory.
In the US we are now down yo 8 states without a temple. I think New Jersey was the state with the most members without a temple and Wisconsin was second.
Milwaukee surprises me a little because it is close to Chicago. Chicago traffic is a nightmare though. The temple president and matron of Chicago Temple lived in the Milwaukee South Stake when called. It is the former Shimon Oaks and her husband. They both grew up in Chicago. Even if Shimon was born in Provo. Shimon is President Oaks oldest daughter.
Summitt, New Jersey is close enough to Newark I am a little surprised that thry did not name the temple Newark. I am not surprised at the location, I figured any place in the New Jersey part of metro New York City was likely. I think though I epuld have nern surprised if it had been significantly further north.
Huntsville, Alabama shocked me. I am very glad since my brother lives there.
El Paso does not surprise me. Queen Creek was expected at domestic point, as was Couer d'Alene. Price is a little bit of a surprise. I expected Spanish Fork to be Utah's next temple. However Proce is basically the most temple isolated grouping of stakes in Utah.
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Mississippi, South Dakota, each don't have a temple still.
Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island will likely be a bit before they get one do to other temples being so close and those states being so small geographically with fewer members.
Maryland has a temple. The Washington DC temple is actually in Maryland.
It is quite specific, agreed. Morristown has had a mission HQ for sometime. Kinda surprised it was not announced aa the Morristown Temple. If they already have a site, perhaps it is a rebuild of the church building there in Summit with a temple on site?
The greater Phoenix, Arizona area has been given several temples around the valley, effectively doing the same as Mexico City, but just over several years. Same with Lima, Peru, Guatemala City, Washington, DC, and several other metro areas.
You could say the Connecticut temple and the NJ temple is doing the same for NYC. And Milwaukee is doing that for Chicago. Tacoma is doing this for Seattle, too.
And the several temples announced in the São Paulo, Brazil area.
As for the Medillín, Colombia temple, I wonder if it could be built in Rionegro by the church building there rather than in Medillín proper. There is plenty of space there, but only 1 building in Medillín that has a little bit of open ground near the church. The Church could always build another church building in the city of course.
Santa Ana, El Salvador has several buildings that have open space next to them. Some very good options there for the temple. One is right on a major highway, it seems.
There are 3 or 4 buildings in the Santiago, DR area that have open land adjacent to them. 2 look like they are in a pretty setting that could work well.
One great spot next to a building in Milan, Italy.
Summit is a nice name for a temple? lol
Of my list of 15 temples 8 got anounced. Most surprising was Huntsville, even after i checked the location on the Church Units Map of churchofjesuschristtemples.org. Juchitán de Zaragoza, Mexico i did not have on my radar as well. I also did not thing that Mozambique would alredy get it's second themple anounced. I tought that if any country with no operationg themple would get a second anounced it would be Côte d'Ivoire, since there first temple is nerly finished.
Unlike in the 1998-2001 era the current temples are often not being built by existing buildings. In Grand Rapids the Church bought the building of an organization called Christ Community Church and then leveled it to build the temple.
Des Moines Iowa temple is also a large lot I believe the Church bought about 6 months before it was announced. Tampa Florida is bring built on what used yo be a Colley Law School Campus. Brussels Belgium the Church bought an office building and is turning part of that building into a temple.
On the other hand many temples are either built adjacent yo existing chapels of by tearing down and replacing existing chapels. Also many are built outside the city limits of the named city. I can imagine any being done for Nedellin. Provo City Center and Montpelier Idaho required demolition or relocation of existing buildings to be completed. So there is also the possibility of clearing more land adjacent to one of the existing chapels in Medellin either in connection with replacing thd Chapel or building by the Chapel.
The think with Ivory Coast is that Abijan is a much closer temple for everyone than Accra. Maputo is 7 hours from Johannesburg and 16 from Beira.
Yamousokro to Abijan Temple s 3 hours. Daloa to Abijan Temple is 5 hours. Gagnon where EldervGoury was raised is 4 and a half hours. So is San Pedro but it is also 4 and a half hours from Gagnoa. San Pedro is 6 and a half hours from Yamosoukro.
Daloa is 2 hours from Yamousokro. Gagnoa 2 and a half. Bouake which has a stake is basically an hour and a half north of Yamousokro, while Daloa is west. Man is 4 and a half hours west.
There are 3 more districts in between and around Daloa and Yamousokro. Boucle, Sinfra and Issia.
Based on current placement of stakes Bouafle, Ivory Coast looks to be the best place to get a temple, other than that it only has a district. If either Yamousokro or Daloa see their stake split it will be a different situation. The thing is the only district at all between Yamosoukro and Abijan is Agboville which is 2 hours 20 minutes from Yamosoukro and 1 hour and a half from the Abijan Temple. Logistically Yamossoujri does not look like a good place to build the temple. However it is the capital and oldest stake outside Abijan. If that stake splits the logistics will change.
Another place I think will get a temple is Adzope. The issue there is there are no stakes just districts in that general area north of Abijan.
Togo with 3 stakes is not the country with the most stakes without a temple. It is not 100% clear the Cotonou stakes would be closer to there than to the Lagos Temple. However the Dzodze District in Ghana would be closer than to the Accra Temple. Ho Ghana District as well but not by a huge amount. Lome is a high likelihood temple. I also see Tema, Ghana and Takarodi, Ghana as having potential.
It looks like the project to build a bridge connecting Chiloe Island to the mainland has been revived and is expected to be completed in 2028. So possibly by the time the Puerto Montt temple is completed the Saints of the Castro District will be able to drive there without the need for a ferry.
Other Noah here.
Although there is certainly a lot of "wiggle room" so to say for a temple to be built in Rionegro, it would be a little over one hour away from most of the members in the city of Medellín (that, or you could pay a rather high fare to go through the "Eastern Tunnel", which connects both cities and the traveling time would be reduced to 30 minutes.)
The church building in Rionegro is not owned by the church, but rather a rented building, the empty lot to the north cannot be developed as it will be turned into an electrical substation (Or that is my understanding, at least). No idea about the lot to the south of the property.
Other Noah here.
There are a lots of available lots (hehe) in the city of Medellín, even if the city is already very densely populated and the land is overdeveloped.
I personally don't think demolishing an existing church building would be the way to go, mainly because all three stakes have multiple wards using the same chapel at the same time. For example, In the Medelín South Stake there are only three chapels although we have five different wards in the stake. The chapel located at the Itagüí municipality serves two wards (Asturias 1 and Asturias 2), the chapel at the Envigado municipality serves both the Envigado ward and Sabaneta ward, and the chapel near the airport (Guayabal Ward) is the stake center .
I believe the church could purchase some available land south of Medellín near the Itagüí Metro station, the lots that can be seen from satellite images are big enough to build the temple, a chapel and an auxiliary building.
Other Noah here.
Whatever the case, I am thrilled! Once the site is announced I will certainly contribute to the temple website with some location and construction pictures
El otro Noe: thanks for the descriptions and conjecture about Medellín. I have read about it and learned about a lot of its areas, but it is interesting to hear about where Church structures and facilities are located. Is there a hill or somewhere prominent where the Church could build a temple?
I know in some places the Church of Jesus Christ is able to construct a temple in more visible places, as many houses of worship choose to do, to be the "Light of on Hill" in the Christian beatific sense.
How is missionary work doing in Medellin or other parts of Colombia? Are Venezuelans being welcomed and integrated, both members and non-members?
How are the temples and planning in Venezuela going?
The Church has struggled in Guyana, and I think it has been tough in French Guinea and Suriname. Any news from there? How about into the Caribbean like Guadeloupe and Martinique? There are a lot of people there. We need faithful missionaries from faithful Cote d'Ivoire and Congo. Already know French, now they need to spread the Glad Tidings and Gospel of Joy. Joie.
Other Noah here.
Eduardo, thank you for reading through my comments. Medellín (and the other municipalities) are all located within the "Aburrá Valley", so hills and prominent places are the norm! I've been making a small list of possible locations since the beginning of this year, although some of the places I had chosen have already been purchased and developed. Once the list is ready, I will share it here with all of you.
We usually joke that the temple will be built "Atop the Volador Hill", which would honestly look really nice, but is simply not feasible as it is a protected Natural Park of the city.
The Missionary work is growing strong! We hade a couple of baptisms on September and we are already expecting three others this month in my ward. Hurray!
The area council a few years ago decided to ask the members to start praying for a temple both personally and in church meetings.
It was a goal from our stake president to pray and prepare for a temple. With the announcement of the new mission, it made the possibility even more real.
The location near the metro station sounds like a good one. Hopefully we will know soon enough.
Post a Comment