New Temple Predictions - March 2026 Edition

It has been 6 months since I most recently updated my temple prediction map. In a recent media interview, President Dallin H. Oaks indicated that many future temple announcements may occur at the regional or local level rather than during General Conference. However, it is likely that some announcements will continue in General Conference—particularly in areas with large Church membership (e.g., the western United States) or where regional announcements may be less practical (e.g., Sub-Saharan Africa). Moreover, there is an enormous number of planned temples that have yet to begin construction, including 50 with no site announcement and 55 with a site announced but no groundbreaking set.

Several variables are used to identify prospective sites for future temple announcements. These include: the size of the Church in a given area (stakes, districts, wards, and branches), the age of the oldest stake, growth trends, distance to the nearest temple, traffic and transportation considerations, temple square footage, the historical number of weekly endowment sessions, and member/missionary reports on activity, temple attendance, and convert retention. Altogether, there are 190 potential temples on the map (which is 4 potential temple sites more than the total number of potential sites identified in September 2025). Despite a growing backlog of announced temples, global expansion—particularly in Africa—continues to create strong candidates for future temple announcements. The following five locations have been added to the temples prediction map with this current update—all of which are in Africa and less likely temples:

• Gboko, Nigeria 
• Mont Ngafula, Kinshasa, DR Congo
• Lusaka, Zambia
• Matadi DR Congo 
• Nampula, Mozambique 

Also, there were five locations that were moved from the less likely to be announced list to the more likely to be announced list. The following locations were moved from the “less likely” to the “more likely” category based on the following factors: 

• Blackfoot, Idaho (steady growth in new stakes and wards in the Blackfoot and Shelley areas)
• Cotonou, Benin (third stake in the metropolitan area was just organized; rapid growth and remote location)
• Eldoret, Kenya (proliferation of branches and districts; first stakes in western Kenya highly likely to be organized in the next 1-2 years; remote location)
• Hurricane, Utah (steady growth in the number of stakes and wards)
• Luputa, DR Congo (rapid growth; two new stakes recently organized [one in Luputa, one in Ngandajika]; remote location)

See below for my top 20 most likely locations for a temple announcement within the next 6 months. It is unclear whether we may have many new temples announced in the coming months considering the significant backlog in temples in the earliest planning stages. Your predictions are appreciated and welcome in the comments.

1. Angeles or Olongapo, Philippines 
2. Bo, Sierra Leone
3. Port Harcourt, Nigeria
4. Rigby, Idaho
5. Lomé, Togo 
6. Southeast Salt Lake City, Utah (i.e., Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, or Sandy)
7. Evanston, Wyoming
8. San Pablo City, Philippines
9. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
10. Ibadan, Nigeria
11. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 
12. Lilongwe, Malawi
13. Santa Maria, Brazil
14. Kimbanseke, Kinshasa, DR Congo
15. Tema, Ghana
16. Yopougon, Côte d’Ivoire
17. San Luis Valley, Colorado
18. Longview, Texas
19. Lahore, Pakistan
20. Luputa, DR Congo