Yuma Arizona Temple
The Yuma Arizona Temple will be the Church's seventh temple in Arizona following the Mesa Arizona Temple (dedicated in 1927), the Snowflake Arizona Temple (dedicated in 2002), The Gila Valley Arizona Temple (dedicated in 2010), the Gilbert Arizona Temple (dedicated in 2014), the Phoenix Arizona Temple (dedicated in 2014), and the Tuscon Arizona Temple (dedicated in 2017). Thus, the Yuma Arizona Temple is the Church's first temple to be announced in Arizona since President Nelson became president of the Church and since the Church began its period of temple construction expansion. Currently, there is only one stake in Yuma which has seven wards and five branches. However, at one time the Yuma Arizona Stake appeared likely to divide, albeit two wards were discontinued in 2016 followed by another ward more recently. Moreover, the Church used to operate a stake in nearby El Centro, California, although this stake was discontinued in 2023 and the congregations in the former stake were reassigned to the El Cajon California Stake. The new temple will likely service members in the Yuma Arizona Stake (organized in 1958), eastern El Cajon California Stake, the Lake Havasu City Arizona Stake (organized in 1976), the two stakes in Mexicali (organized in 1977 and 1987), and one stake in San Luis Río Colorado (organized in 2009). Thus, although added to my list of less likely locations to have a temple organized in 2022, Yuma was a surprising location for the next new temple to be announced in Arizona, as there are several other locations with more stakes that appeared likely to have a temple announced (e.g., Queen Creek, Goodyear, Flagstaff). The Church reported 442,879 Latter-day Saints in Arizona as of year-end 2023. Yuma is currently assigned to the San Diego California Temple. Arizona ranked as the state with the 38th most rapid membership growth in 2023 at 0.79%.
Houston Texas South Temple
The Houston Texas South Temple is the Church's ninth temple in Texas and its second temple in the Houston metropolitan area. Other temples in Texas include the Dallas Texas
Temple (dedicated in 1984), the Houston Texas Temple (dedicated in
2000), the Lubbock Texas Temple (dedicated in 2002), the San Antonio
Texas Temple (dedicated in 2005), the McAllen Texas Temple (dedicated in 2023), the Fort Worth Texas Temple (announced in 2021), the Austin
Texas Temple (announced in April 2022), and the McKinney Texas Temple (announced in October 2022). The new temple will likely service 8-10 stakes in southern Houston and surrounding areas. The current Houston Texas Temple district has 22 stakes. The southern Houston area has generally experienced slow, but steady, growth within the past couple decades, whereas the Church has reported generally rapid growth in northern areas of the Houston metropolitan area. The Church reported 385,600 Latter-day Saints in Texas as of year-end 2023. South Houston was added to the list of less likely locations to have a temple announced in February 2023. Texas was ranked as the state with the 15th most rapid membership growth in 2023 at 1.93%.
Des Moines Iowa Temple
The Des Moines Iowa Temple is the Church's first temple to be announced for Iowa. Prior to the announcement, Iowa was the state with the second most Latter-day Saints without a temple, as there were 29,285 members as of year-end 2023. Church membership grew by 2.05% in 2023 - the highest seen since 2015. Iowa ranked as the state with the 13th most rapid membership growth in 2023. Overall, the Church in Iowa has reported slow to moderate growth rates for the past 2-3 decades. The most recently organized stake was the Des Moines Iowa Mount Pisgah Stake which was organized in 2016. There are three stakes in the greater Des Moines metropolitan area (one of which is in Ames and organized in 1995). The first stake in Des Moines was created in 1970. The new temple will likely have five stakes assigned to the temple district (two of which are in eastern Iowa in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City). Stakes in the Des Moines area are assigned to the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple, whereas stakes in eastern Iowa are assigned to the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.
Cincinnati Ohio Temple
The Cincinnati Ohio Temple is the Church's third temple in Ohio following the Columbus Ohio Temple (dedicated in 1999) and the Cleveland Ohio Temple (announced in April 2022). The first temple dedicated in the Church in this dispensation was in Kirtland, Ohio, which was recently reacquired by the Community of Christ, although this temple was never a fully functioning temple like other temples in the Church today. The temple in Cincinnati will likely have at six stakes assigned from Cincinnati (3) and Dayton (3). The first stake in Cincinnati was organized in 1958 (followed by two more stakes in 1985 and 2004), whereas the first stake in Dayton was organized in 1970 (followed by two more stakes in 1979 and 2021). The Church has experienced slow, but steady, growth in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas. The Church recently acquired property in the northern Cincinnati metropolitan area that appears to be a likely site for the new temple. Stakes in the Cincinnati area are assigned to the Columbus Ohio Temple (which currently has 18 stakes assigned) and the Louisville Kentucky Temple (which currently has nine stakes assigned). Ohio ranked as 29th for membership growth in 2023 (1.22%). Cincinnati was added to the list of less likely locations to have a temple announced in September 2022.
Honolulu Hawaii Temple
The Honolulu Hawaii Temple is the Church's fourth temple in Hawaii following the Laie Hawaii Temple (dedicated in 1919), the Kona Hawaii Temple (dedicated in 2000), and the Kahului Hawaii Temple (announced in October 2023). Except for the North Island of New Zealand, Oahu is the first island in Polynesia to have a second temple announced. Honolulu is the only location I added in March 2024 to the list of less likely locations to have a temple announced that had a temple announced this past conference. The reason why I added Honolulu to the list was due to greater accessibility to the temple where half of the island's Latter-day Saints reside. Also, a temple in Honolulu would permit the temple in Laie to just serve the stakes in Laie and BYU-Hawaii. The new temple will likely service six stakes in southern Oahu, which would leave five stakes assigned to the Laie Hawaii temple (all of which are located in Laie). The first stake in Honolulu was organized in 1955, whereas the first stake in Laie was organized in 1935. Slow to stagnant growth has occurred on Oahu within the past couple decades. Hawaii ranked as the state with the 37th most rapid membership growth rate in 2023 (0.91%), and this percentage growth rate for 2023 was the highest seen in Hawaii in nearly a decade. The most recently organized stake on Oahu was at BYU-Hawaii in 2004.
West Jordan Utah Temple
The West Jordan Utah Temple will be the Church's 29th temple in Utah following the St.
George Utah Temple (announced in 1871, dedicated in 1877), the Logan
Utah Temple (announced in 1876, dedicated in 1884), the Manti Utah
Temple (announced in 1875, dedicated in 1888), the Salt Lake Temple
(announced in 1847, dedicated in 1893), the Ogden Utah Temple (announced
in 1967, dedicated in 1972), the Provo Utah Temple (announced in 1967,
dedicated in 1972), the Jordan River Utah Temple (announced in 1978,
dedicated in 1981), the Bountiful Utah Temple (announced in 1990,
dedicated in 1995), the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple (announced in 1992,
dedicated in 1996), the Vernal Utah Temple (announced in 1994,
dedicated in 1997), the Monticello Utah Temple (announced in 1997,
dedicated in 1998), the Draper Utah Temple (announced in 2004, dedicated
in 2009), the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple (announced in 2005,
dedicated in 2009), the Brigham City Utah Temple (announced in 2009,
dedicated in 2012), the Payson Utah Temple (announced in 2010, dedicated
in 2015), the Provo City Center Temple (announced in 2011, dedicated in
2016), Cedar City Utah Temple (announced in 2013, dedicated in 2017),
the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple (announced in 2017, dedicated in 2023), the Layton Utah
Temple (announced in 2018, scheduled for dedication in 2024), the Red Cliffs Utah Temple (announced in 2018, dedicated in 2024), the Deseret Peak Utah Temple (announced in 2019), the Orem Utah Temple (announced in 2019, scheduled for dedication in 2024),
the Taylorsville Utah Temple (announced in 2019, scheduled for dedication in 2024), the Syracuse Utah
Temple (announced in 2020), the Lindon Utah Temple (announced in 2020),
the Smithfield Utah Temple (announced in 2021), the Ephraim Utah
Temple (announced in 2021), and the Heber City Utah Temple (announced in 2021). West Jordan was the only temple that was not officially on my list of likely temples to be announced, although it is very close to where I predicted a temple that was not announced (the Cottonwood Heights/Holladay/Sandy area). I was also surprised that this temple was announced instead of the long anticipated temple in the Herriman area where the Church acquired land approximately 15-20 years ago. The new temple will likely be within five miles of each of the three nearest temples in the area, including the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple (43 stakes in temple district), the Jordan River Utah Temple (62 stakes in temple district - many of which will be reassigned to the new Taylorsville Utah Temple), and the Taylorsville Utah Temple (anticipated to have 37 stakes in temple district). The decision to announce the new temple has followed the pattern of having large Utah temples to have 20-25 stakes per temple district at a minimum. The new temple will likely have 20-30 stakes assigned depending on how the temple district boundaries are drawn. The first stake organized in West Jordan was created in 1927.
Lehi Utah Temple
The Lehi Utah Temple will be the Church's 30th temple in Utah. The Church has reported rapid growth in the Lehi area within the past two decades, as scores of new stakes have been organized in Lehi and surrounding cities in north Utah County. Lehi has been a location listed on my temple predictions map as a more likely location to have a temple announced for many years. The new temple will likely have 20-30 stakes assigned to the temple district. Stakes in the Lehi area are currently assigned to the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple (34 stakes assigned) and the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple (42 stakes assigned). The first stake created in Lehi was organized in 1928. Utah ranked as 39th for membership growth rates by state in 2023 at
0.78%, which was at nearly the same percentage as for the year 2019
(0.79%). With 635 stakes in Utah at present, the average temple will now have 21.2 stakes assigned to each temple district.
91 comments:
Matt, thanks for this report. In the section for the Cincinnati Ohio Temple, you stated that the Kirtland Ohio Temple "was recently reacquired by the Community of Christ". I think you meant "from the Community of Christ", since our Church owns that temple now. Otherwise, great work!
One interesting thing about the Des Moines temple is that it leaves a neighboring temple with very few units. Nauvoo will likely go from 5 supporting stakes to just 3 (Davenport, Nauvoo, Peoria). This has always been the concern with a central Illinois or Iowa temple, since Nauvoo draws from both locations and doesn't have a lot of stakes in its districts to begin with.
I wonder how often this happens - when a new temple announced extracts resources from a neighboring temple to the extent that the original is potentially understaffed. With Nauvoo being a historical site, and likely missionaries assigned to the area, perhaps the concern on this dimension was mitigated (maybe missionaries assigned there would also be assigned to staff the temple).
A similar announcement was the Springfield MO temple. It will likely be staffed by 4-5 stakes, but it leaves the Bentonville temple with likely 3 stakes total.
They could be looking to the future for those temples. It often takes several years from announcement to dedication anyway. Also, in the case of Nauvoo being a historic site, how busy is it, at least in the summer months?
Nauvoo is very busy in the summer. Also, Chariton River could be moved into the district. In fact, some of the wards in that stake were in the Nauvoo Stake before it was split last year.
Nauvoo in summer versus Nauvoo in winter are very different experiences with how busy the temple is, especially during weekdays. My recollection from when we were in the Iowa City Stake years ago is that the temple has winter hours and is closed more often throughout the week.
While not the same as being assigned to a specific temple, there are a few units units in the Iowa City Stake (Muscatine, Fairfield, Washington) that will probably continue to attend Nauvoo instead of Des Moines with some regularity as travel there is shorter time-wise (subject, of course, to not getting stuck at the Fort Madison bridge waiting for a barge to pass).
Once Springfield Missouri opens, the Bentonville Arkansas Temple will serve 4 stakes - perhaps 5 stakes. The Bentonville Arkansas Stake is quite large and could split by the time Springfield opens. A recall hearing talk of a stake center being constructed in Centerton.
Just off the presses. The Sites announced today for the Tampa Florida, Lehi Utah and West Jordan Utah Temples.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/sites-released-for-three-temples-in-florida-and-utah
Hey, Chris! Thanks for sharing that update here. I am excited about the announcement regarding Lehi. That temple will be just down the street from where I live, less than a 5-minute drive. I was somewhat surprised at the quick announcement for both of those newest Utah Temples, but hopefully that means they're working on an accelerated approval process for both temples. Also announced today was the relocation of the Tampa Florida Temple. Hopefully that will make approvals easier to secure in that case, which would allow a groundbreaking to take place soon.
Looks like the new Tampa Florida Temple location was the site of the Thomas Cooley Law School. No doubt this is a much better location than the previously announced site in Valrico.
When it was organized in 1935 the Oahu Stake was functionally based in Honolulu, although it covered the whole island. The Honolulu Tabernacle was its base of operations, and most membership and leadership lived in Honolulu. So much so that when what is now BYU-HawI'i was planned local leaders wanted it in Honolulu. The Laie Stake being the original one is a result of the oddities of Stake splits later, but in 1935 the Stake was centered and based in Honolulu.
Sine the West Jordan Temple will be 10 miles north-west of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple it will not be anywhere near Sandy/Cottonwood Heights. We may see another Temple in the general area of Sandy announced soon.
I would not be at all shocked if Sandy and Spanish Fork Temples are announced in October. My Temple lists tend toward about 75 temples, so while I can guess some, I make lots of wrong guesses.
A branch of the Thomas Cooley law school. Their main branch is in Lansing, Michigan. They are named after a 19th-century jurist. I believe they also have a branch in the north suburbs of Detroit and may have others.
The new location seems closer to downtown. It Aldo may be more accessible to freeways. I have friends who attend the chaple next to the old planned location.
The West Jordan Temple is very far to the west. I think this means we may see a 3rd east side Salt Lake County temple announced. Also a Herriman Temple seems still likely.
Nauvoo is a temple where you can serve a 6 month"temple mission", so that would mitigate the summer staffing crunch.
Having Utah Temple to have a minimum of 25 stakes each is a lot!
I was wondering - does anyone know how busy the Manti temple was/is? I know it was recently rededicated, but I'm attempting to assess the likelihood of a temple in Richfield. Quite honestly, it feels like the announcement of a temple in Ephraim absolutely tanked the possibility of one in Richfield.
I do believe there is still a possibility for a temple in Price, because of distance and likely difficulty in winter conditions. However, it looks like with the dedication of the Ephraim temple taking all stakes to the north of Manti (6 stakes), and a likely temple in Price taking all stakes to the east of Manti (likely 8 stakes), it seems that a temple in Richfield (taking at least 5 stakes, possibly 7) would leave Manti with only 2-4 stakes at a minimum (depending on where Salina and Fillmore are assigned).
Salina and Fillmore are closer to Richfield (it looks like FIllmore would have to go through Salina to get to Manti), but it could also be a situation like Milan, where it's geographically much closer to the temple in Bern, yet it's assigned to Rome. I don't see the possibility of a temple the size of Manti being left with such a tiny district.
Bentonville Arkansas Temple: I live in Arkansas but still in the Memphis Temple District. Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest growing areas in the church within the US. In 1990, the Fort Smith Arkansas Stake covered all of western and Northwestern Arkansas as well as Eastern Oklahoma. Now there's four stakes on the Arkansas side alone with two of these close to splitting. Consequently, Northwest Arkansas can probably maintain their own after Springfield and Tulsa are completed.
List of Stakes for each temple:
Springfield Missouri Temple
-Saint Robert Missouri Stake
-Springfield Missouri Stake
-Springfield Missouri South Stake
-West Plains Missouri Stake
Unclear if go to Springfield MO or stay in Bentonville AR Temple District
-Monett Missouri Stake
-Joplin Missouri Stake
Bentonville Arkansas Temple
-Bentonville Arkansas Stake (11 wards - ready to split to create the Bella Vista Arkansas Stake)
-Fort Smith Arkansas Stake (Just split again and now an Arkansas-only Stake)
-Rogers Arkansas Stake (8 wards, 2 branches - large stake but not ready to split)
-Springdale Arkansas Stake (9 wards 1 Branch - practically ready to split to create the Fayetteville Arkansas Stake)
Tulsa Oklahoma Temple (Two of these stakes were created last year)
-Bartlesville Oklahoma Stake (Created 2023)
-Broken Arrow Oklahoma Stake
-Gore Oklahoma Stake (Created 2023)
-Owasso Oklahoma Stake
-Tulsa Oklahoma Stake
Possibly Stillwater, but I think that would be left in OKC Temple District
As for the Nauvoo Temple. It's one that gets busy with tourists, probably more so than the locals. I wonder if they'll honor temple workers visiting from other temple districts? I'd expect Dubai will a have similar situation where many of its visitors will be traveling through.
It seems so strange that the West Jordan temple is so out of place in relation to the surrounding civilization... Does the church intend to urbanize that entire site?
Ryan Searcy, I’m not sure how busy Manti is but I think Richfield at 50 minutes away from Manti and other stakes even further that Richfield will have a temple of their own one day. I know a lot of people thought there wasn’t much of a possibility after Ephraim was announced but they are still taking Temples to the people and a temple in Richfield would service five stakes, still leaving 3 for Manti and 6 for Ephraim. And I agree that Price will have one announced in the next several years and will have 7 stakes assigned. These areas were also mentioned by President Nelson as areas of expected growth. Also I can see a small one announced for the two stakes in Delta and would probably pull in the Stake in Fillmore.
After looking at the map again I would say a Richfield Temple would serve 7 stakes.
Found this article: but you have to pay to read the whole thing
https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2024/03/04/lds-buys-cooley-law-school-riverview-property.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2024/03/04/lds-buys-cooley-law-school-riverview-property.html
I think Richfield, Fillmore and Delta are all candidates for small temples; not mutually exclusive even. I think in the medium term they could each get one.
About the Tampa Temple location, from what I have heard the land behind the Stake Center in Valrico was not being able to pass any test and that at one time they were going to have to bring in a sizable amount of backfill to bring the land up to building standards. There was also grumbling about the location being behind the building and that people did not like it there. Personally I like new location. Its closer to I-75 and while not in the downtown area, still a nice location. Hopefully the church has done its ground test and they can announce a ground breaking date, especially with Orlando closing for a year and Tallahassee not open yet.
Other Matt here...
More growth news in Southern California.
Irvine California Stake just organized the first Russian speaking branch (Harvard Branch) for Orange County.
The Mandarin Speaking Ward in this stake is also having weekly convert baptisms.
You would not believe the push-back that the Church is getting from the local community opposing the Lone Mountain Temple. Someone went as far as to launch a balloon that rose to exactly the height of the proposed Temple to demonstrate how out of place it would be.
Billc if the church doesnt build there someone else will the people against the temple have to reliaze the dats of vegas being a deseret are over
The bizarre Ballon tactic was used in Phonix and Cody. It is a clear sign this is not local growth opposition as a coordinated attack. The Ballon tactic is also very dishonest. A narrow steple is not a wide Ballon. There is a reason narrow steples are treated very differently than other objects. The height of a building matters a lot less than what you have at that height.
I am hoping we will have several more ground breaking announced soon.
In the case of Cody I think the building meets the neighborhood height restrictions but steeple makes it higher. What is the height Of the usable building in Lone Mountain without the steeple?
The Church News podcast was one with Elder and Aister Oaks before thry headed to the Philippines to rededicate the Urdaneta Philippines Temple. It was very interesting.
The Church has grown from just under 600,000 members to over 900,000 in the time since then. I do not believe Cebu Temple had even been announced when the Oaks arrived in 2002.
The changes in missionary teaching and baptism requirements caused baptisms to fall from 20,000 a year to 8,000. The requirements were interesting. I think they were the following
1. No teaching people who did not live within 1 jeepnee ride of the Church.
2. No teaching children without adults who would assist them to remain in the Church.
3. A full month of attendance
4. A full month of observing the word of wisdom
5. Paying a fast offering
6. In some way participating actively in a church assignment. This could be helping with a humanitarian or welfare project, or helping teach a church lesson.
5 and 6 are the most radical.
President Oaks himself says this changed baptisms from 20,000 annually to 8,000 annually. However priesthood ordination and people getting endowed went up. Although the combination of poverty. Lack of stable employment and huge distances probably means that in many parts of the Philippines there are still lots of people who are spiritually ready to go to the temple who do not because of fiscal limitations. This will change. Hopefully none of the announced temples will take as long as Urdaneta did.
When you are building temples at 85,000 square feet, as opposed to Coban Guatemala at 8,800 square feet, you do have more members.
I actually saw on Facebook some people gripe that Utah was getting more temples when not all other states have 2.
It was an odd gripe, and I think the focus on States is not the best way to figure out where temples are needed.
Yuma was quite isolated from a temple. You can draw an area around Yuma with no Temple with a bigger area than some states.
The particular gripe I saw was about Mississippi not getting a temple. I have looked at things, and I suspect Hattiesburg is a strong candidate. Jackson would take in less stakes, and basically only take from Baron Rouge. Hattiesburg would take in Mobile and Prnsacola from Tallahasee. The one thing is it would leave Monroe, Louisiana very much still in Baton Rougue and still far. Monroe will need a temple sometime, but it will not be soon.
I think Hattiesburg would take 6 stakes, and leave 5 in Baton Rougue district. These are numbers we are seeing with new temples. Not all stakes are created equal though, so I am not sure that is doable. I am also not fully positive if taking two stakes from Talahasee district works.
Bangor, Maine and Juneau Alaska are the stakes furthest from a temple. Although Aputh Dakota may be the state with a temple furthest away from any point in it. Since Portland, Maine is not super far from Boston Temple.
Is New Jersey now the state with the most members without a temple?
I have to admit I find it very hard to see both Filmore and Delta getting a temple. Delta I think would take in 5 stakes, Filmore, the 2 Delta and the 2 Nephi. Nephi I think is starting to see growth in the region. I have a cousin who moved from Santaquin to Mona with her husband and 5 or more children.
Ephraim has 2 main functions. One is to allow regular attendance by Snow College students. This may mean the model for number of stakes per temple might be a bit off. The other is to allow those who cannot negotiate stairs to not have to go to Payson. The solution might be to calm temple workers somewhat indiscriminately to both temples.
I am thinking that places like Ruchfield and Delta will see small for Utah Temples, but that will mean 20,000 or 30,000 square feet as opposed to 80,000. I do not think they will be as small as Cleveland, Cody or Coban.
JPL,
I do notice that even here, baptism requirements seem to be more stringent than when I was a missionary. I remember only having to get them to church once; teaching the six discussions (before preach my gospel) could be done quickly, meet the bishop (which we counted a quick greet in the chapel), and agreeing to make the commitments brought up in the discussions, interview with another missionary with some exception, and I don't recall having to get consent of any parent not of the household.
I don't know what the policy is now, but I know in addition to the above, they have to attend church at least three times, have written consent from both parents even if they don't live in the same household, and have discussions with a member present (when I was a missionary it wasn't required but encouraged). The days of baptizing within three weeks of first contact are gone. In 2007, the bar was raised for those wanting to become a missionary, and the "Preach My Gospel", which was implemented beginning November 2004, seemed to raise the bar for those wanting to be a member as well.
With that higher bar, temple attendance, especially among youth, is higher than its ever been. The youth here are attending far more often now than when I was a youth.
The church doesn't release it, but it would be interesting to see what changes to convert retention since the implementation of preach my gospel.
My younger brother is serving as a Russian speaking missionary in the California Newport beach mission and was excited to report the creation of the Russian speaking branch. Apparently the church has started calling new missionaries to speak Russian in his mission (he was called as an English speaking missionary). He reports that they are staying very busy and there are many Russian speakers interested in the church in Southern California
I don't see a temple for Richfield anytime soon. Although it is an hour drive from Manti, a temple there would essentially take most of the temple district away from Manti. I also believe a temple will be announced for Price given its remote location. Price is actually much closer to Payson than it is to Manti.
A Price temple would serve 5 stakes in Price and 3 stakes south of Price off of highway 10. All of those stakes are much further from Manti than the Richfield stakes and there's a greater difficulty accessing the temple for those 8 stakes during winter months than is for the stakes around Richfield.
I think the next 4 likely temples in Utah are Price, Spanish Fork, Trementon area, and Holladay/Sandy area.
The first community informational meeting on the McKinney Temple is not even until May 2nd. People are objecting before the fact with little information. They are also engaging in false equivalency claims of trying to ascribe a number of stories to a temple.
The temple is a reasonable building, and temples are well built and beautiful. They bless and uplift a community.
I am very sad at how much energy some expend in opposing them.
JPL, can you explain your point on false equivalency claims regarding spire height a bit more? I'd like to understand that better.
If anyone is interested, here is the Newsroom article, from the Argentina newsroom. Posted last week on April 18th, about the recently organized Buenos Aires Argentina Pilar Stake, on sunday April 14th, 2024, from a division of the Buenos Aires Argentina Escobar Stake.
Matt had added it to his list of New Stakes yesterday, April 23rd.
https://noticias.laiglesiadejesucristo.org/articulo/se-crea-la-nueva-estaca-pilar
I know they will probably not be announced anytime soon, but I was wondering if anyone had thoughts regarding possible Temples for either the Magna area or Hyrum/Nibley in Utah?
Craig H
I would have thought Magna was more likely before the location of West Jordan was announced.
I have Hyrum on my list of less likely locations. I think it goes up in likelihood if that area grows a little more and/or they switch the Logan Temple back to four-stage progressive ordinance rooms the way they did Mesa, which would reduce that temple's capacity.
As the Church continues to expand and build more temples in areas with greater numbers of hostile members, I expect opposition will mount. Nothing will stop the growth of the Church, but there will certainly be more areas with more struggle getting temples approved. I think the Lone Mountain temple will require redesigning before it gets approved honestly. I figured they'd go with a smaller design to begin with.
Nearly all of the above Utah areas will have temples announced within the next decade, I think. Logan is primed for growth, and I think the Church will focus on all outlying Utah areas, including places as far as Kanab, Delta, and Morgan. Delta would take in Ely Nevada as well, which is likely about as close as the Ely stake will ever be to a temple
It appears the Church still has not fully submitted plans for the Teton River Temple to the City of Rexburg. I'm surprised by this, considering how close the groundbreaking is. A lot of the basic civil improvements have been submitted. Based on the photograph and the submitted square footage of 98,680, I think this is a 4-80 design with 6 sealing rooms and one baptistry.
Very interesting, but saints must understand that Zion is made of Stakes, not States !!!
Personally, I think the Church is prioritizing temple (and therefore ordinance) proximity over “having a ‘full’ set of temple workers” or “having a ‘full’ temple district”. I suspect that we’ll see a lot more small temples serving only 3 or 4 stakes that may only be open two or three days a week in the near future. In particular, in the US, most stakes will probably be between an hour and two hours from their nearest temple (for instance, see Springfield Missouri’s likely temple district). Looking at the church unit map on the ChurchOfJesusChristTemples site, I’ve noticed that quite a few temples are being built in areas that are more than 100 miles but less than 200 miles away from the nearest temple. I think any metro area with three or more stakes that doesn’t have a temple within 100 miles is a good candidate, but even metro areas without a temple within 50 miles are also likely candidates (Norfolk VA, for instance).
Where it gets interesting for me is more geographically dispersed areas like Central Illinois or Mississippi. I could see the Church building temples to serve three stakes if it’s more than two hours to the nearest temple (or if there are other travel difficulties), but I don’t see the Church building many one stake temples unless there are unique travel difficulties.
For instance, my list of likely temple sites in the US goes something like this:
(Western US)
Kauai Hawaii (one stake but it requires inter-island travel to attend any other temple)
Juneau Alaska (one stake, but travel to Anchorage or Fairbanks is hard, especially in Winter)
Redding/Eureka CA (three stakes, two of which are in Redding, more than 100 miles to the nearest temples, and Eureka has to go through Redding to get to other temples)
Potentially a Napa CA temple (Bay Area North Shore, mostly travel distance to Oakland, I think it’s more likely than a San Francisco City Center temple, 5 stakes vs 3)
Potentially a San Francisco City Center temple (depending on membership needs for a temple accessible via public transit)
Santa Maria/Santa Barbara/Ventura CA
Temecula CA
Possibly Palm Springs CA (only two stakes)
Possibly Victorville CA
Possibly Lancaster CA
Bend OR
Yakima WA
Olympia WA
Possibly Mt Vernon WA
Possibly Winnemucca NV (one stake)
Possibly Ely NV (one stake)
Henderson NV (not until after Lone Mountain is progressing)
A spire is a small item. It is not usable, and as a small and narrow item is not at all like a building being that tall.soire height cannot be translated into a number of stories, and any attempt to do so is misrepresenting that nature of a spire.
There is a long history of building religious building with spires.
(Intermountain US)
Possibly Lake Havasu City AZ (one stake in Lake Havasu City, possibly one stake in Kingman AZ)
Prescott/Flagstaff AZ (perhaps one temple to cover both or possibly one temple in Prescott and one in Flagstaff)
Queen Creek (or possibly Apache Junction) AZ
Goodyear/Surprise AZ
Ivins/Santa Clara UT or Hurricane UT
Kanab UT
Richfield UT
Price UT
Possibly Castle Dale UT
Springville/Mapleton/Spanish Fork UT (definitely one but possibly two, one in Spanish Fork and one in Springville)
Lehi South UT (I’d previously thought Alpine could be a possible location until the Lehi site announcement, at any rate another northern Utah County temple seems possible)
Harriman UT
Sandy/Cottonwood Heights UT
Millcreek/Holladay/South Salt Lake UT
Magna UT
Farmington UT
Ogden North UT
Tremonton UT
Morgan UT
Evanston WY
Preston/Malad City ID
Possibly Lava Hot Springs/Soda Springs ID
Blackfoot ID
Nampa/Caldwell ID
Possibly Ontario OR (two stakes in Oregon, one in Idaho)
Possibly Salmon ID (one stake, have to travel through the Sawtooth Mountains to get to the nearest temple)
Possibly Lewiston ID
Possibly Coeur d’Alene ID (depends on how busy Spokane’s temple is)
Southwest US
Roswell NM (one stake, quite far from Albuquerque, and it looks like the highways aren’t great)
Las Cruces NM/El Paso TX (the border crossing probably makes getting to the temple quite hard)
Amarillo TX
Possibly Midland/Abilene TX (two stakes plus Fort Stockton TX District)
Future Denton TX (probably not needed now, but it definitely will be needed in the future)
Longview/Tyler TX (three stakes, 150 mile trip to Dallas)
Possibly Corpus Christi TX
Possibly Laredo TX
Future Oklahoma City South OK (Norman or Moore)
Mountains and Great Plains
Alamosa CO (2+ stakes, far from nearest temple)
Possibly Kalispell MT (one stake, remote)
Possibly Great Falls MT (two stakes)
Possibly Glendive MT (one stake, very remote)
Garden City KS (one stake, remote, some units more than 200 miles from the nearest temple)
Kearney NE (similar situation to Garden City above)
Rapid City SD/Gillette WY (Gillette is more centralized and could serve Rapid City and Sheridan WY, but Rapid City is fairly reasonable for a one stake temple)
Sioux Falls SD (include Iowa City IA for two stakes)
Possibly Minot ND
Possibly Fargo ND (split the Bismarck ND temple district so that each stake has its own small temple, considering the distances and difficult winter travel)
Columbia/Jefferson City MO
Future Far West/Adam-Ondi-Ahman (I don’t actually think the Church would build either and would probably leave the existing sites as they are, but the Church might build a temple in the area, maybe in Cameron or Gallatin, is a possibility if the Far West Missouri Stake ever divides into two or three stakes - maybe Gallatin and Chillicothe)
Duluth MN (one stake)
Southeast US
Little Rock AR (three stakes in the metro)
Monroe LA (including Shreveport, Alexandria, and Monroe, maybe also Jackson MS)
Hattiesburg/Gulfport MS (Hattiesburg, Gulfport, possibly Mobile AL, possibly Slidell LA)
Destin FL (Pensacola, Destin, Panama City)
Fort Myers/Naples FL
Possibly Treasure Coast FL
Possibly Gainesville FL
Huntsville AL
Atlanta South GA
Hilton Head SC (three stakes, Savannah GA, Hilton Head and Charleston SC)
Wilmington NC (Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Morehead City)
Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point NC
Possibly Chattanooga TN (one stake only, though)
Norfolk VA
Charleston WV
Paducah KY
Great Lakes States
Champaign/Springfield/Peoria Illinois (I think Champaign is most likely, but that could also be a selfish bias)
Green Bay/Appleton WI (2+ stakes, the Green Bay WI Stake covers the Upper Peninsula of Michigan)
Possibly Dayton OH (made considerably less likely by the rumored northern Cincinnati location for the Cincinnati Ohio Temple, but Dayton has three stakes in its immediate area)
Oh, I also forgot a potential future temple in Ohio:
Kirtland Ohio (a purpose built building, not a renovation to the Kirtland Temple, mostly to serve Church History tourists and staffed mostly by senior missionaries)
Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
Possibly Baltimore MD (two or three stakes, one of the largest metro areas without a temple, but getting to the Washington DC temple isn’t particularly difficult)
Possibly Hagerstown MD
Possibly Dover DE
Possibly Scranton PA
Possibly Jamestown NY (one stake, quite far from nearest temples, wouldn’t be served by Scranton)
New Jersey (most likely to be located in Morristown, Scotch Plains, or East Brunswick, Morristown already has the mission office and a bishop’s storehouse, but it would include Soldier Hill and Liberty Park/Newark in the stake, it’ll be focused on automobile transportation instead of public transportation - public transit from Newark makes the Manhattan New York Temple fairly accessible [admittedly, with Manhattan closed for renovation, having one in Newark would be nice, but it’ll almost certainly be further west])
Possibly Harrison NY (to serve SE Connecticut, Westchester [to avoid driving or taking the train into Manhattan], Newburgh, and possibly Albany)
Possibly Plainview NY (Long Island outside of the Five Boroughs, two stakes, rather long trip to get to the temple especially via public transit, travel to any other temple [via public transit or car] requires travel through NYC)
Possibly Concord NH
Possibly Montpelier VT
Bangor/Augusta ME
Reiglang, neighbors to the temple site were sent a letter from the church stating the temple would follow existing height standards back in March. They're mad because now the plans have come out and the church's main temple structure is higher than zoning laws currently allow. That's not even including the spire. I think neighbors feel lied to.
I don't understand why the church keeps doing this. The "opposition" are just normal people. They aren't bigots. They aren't anti-Mormon. They just don't want a 200 foot spire or blinding lights kept on at night. And they don't want to be lied to until the final hour when it's too late. All of these are things that have happened very recently with Cody, Heber, Lone Mountain, and now this Texas temple.
And now the stake presidents of the Texas area have sent an email to members in their area to email the local zoning board commission and state that having a tall spire is an essential part of the church's worship - a very obvious lie (see Mesa, Laie, Cardston, and others).
I don't like the way the church is strong-arming their way into areas. Just be a good neighbor. The temple doesn't need to act as a billboard.
JPL, you're misinformed about the McKinney temple. The current zoning laws are for 35 feet or two stories, whichever is lower. The church's current plans for a temple go above that. And even though the first official public meeting is May 2, neighbors received letters in the mail from the church assuring them the temple would comply with existing zoning laws. You can't see why they would feel like they're getting deceived here?
From my perspective, such complaints seem to be exclusively about the heights of spires for temples planned by the Church. If any other religion wanted a building with a spire of that length, or any other, somehow it's magically not a problem. And I'm with JPL here. The spire shouldn't count under most reasonable height definitions. Unless your contention is that no religious building spire in the area exceeds the height you mentioned (including the spire), it looks to me like the citizens are attempting to hold the Church to a standard that seems hypocritical at best and disingenuously two-faced at worst.
The properties where the McKinney Temple is bring built are currently zoned for residential use. The temple will require rezoning from that.
Those Temples are beautiful, well built and peaceful buildings. They are fully and without question combatants with residential use. Opposition to them is largely built around misrepresenting their actual use and miscaracterixing it. It is not rational, which is my general assessment of the opposition to religious buildings.
The opposition to temples also is very deeply colored by religious bigotry. This was on display over and over again by the enemies if the Cody Temple. It was even more on display by enemies of the Heber Valley Temple who sought to exclude from the political process members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I saw this sort of think in my former home city of Sterling Heights when people opposed a mosque. They tried to claim it was because it was too big, etc. However it was very clear to any and all who had eyes to see that the opposition was motivated by religious animus.
A community cannot bar the building of reasonable sized buildings for religious purposes under the false cover of aesthetician. This is one of the great blessings of RLUIPA. Temples are beautiful and well designed buildings.
The height of a steeple is a key part of the symbolism of a temple. It is called the Mountain of the Lord among other names. It symbolizes reaching toward God. Thus the steeple is a key part of the symbolism of the temple.
Well the problem with that argument is that not all temples have steeples or spires. Laie, Cardston & Mesa come to mind.
Other Matt here...
Other temples like Newport Beach and the pending Heber Valley Temple have their lights turned off at night. 10 pm at Newport Beach. Similar lighting concessions can be made with this temple.
I believe the Church also has property next to Tivoli Village in Summerlin that was rumored to be a temple site back in the day.
Either way, the Church will find a way for a large temple on the Westside.
The City of Las Vegas Support building the temple they know it will be a good thing for them
Just because not all temples have certain features dies not mean that having that feature is not a part of the religious purpose of the temple. The design of the temple expresses its religious goals and purposes. There are several different ways yo achieve this. However that does not diminish the religious purposes and functions and religious necessity of the designs that do exist.
Local governments cannot alert unreasonable demands against religious buildings that burden them more than other buildings or that de facto prevent their being built at all. Making it so that people cannot express the symbolic connection to the heavens with spires is such an unreasonable burden.
Payson shuts doen sy 22pm, the neighborhood to the east and south was already established when it was built so they turn the outside lights off at 11pm
I went to Rick's website to see photos of the dismantling of the Provo Temple. Fetzer's beautiful modernist forms leaving... as a good Brazilian, I am a lover of modernist works. I've never been to Provo, but I couldn't help but feel sad.
As I thought about the final fate of the angel Moroni of this ancient and beautiful building that blessed entire generations of missionaries, I found myself quietly singing "Redeemer of Israel"...
Chris Duerig, did you have any thoughts on this announcement?
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/04/26/new-mission-presidents-australia-brazil-ecuador-montana-peru-france/
I had thought that all new 2024 mission leader couples had been featured already. I know that one couple is replacing the Cavalcantes, since President Cavalcantes is a new GA Seventy, and that one other mission leader (Adolf J. Johannson) was called as a temple president recently, but other than that, the new biographies were surprising to me.
James, This is just my take or opinion on today's Leadership biographies.
President Michael L Bressler in January had been called to preside over the Philippines Iloilo Mission. According to my record to succeed President Ronald Nagtálon (2021-2024). In todays announcement He was reassigned to the Montana Billings Mission instead to begin on or around July 1st, 2024.
Which according to my records is now the only remaining scheduled replacement for 2024. Since both Ukraine Dnipro and Pakistan Service Missions have not been publicly announced replacements officially.
Now what happened to President Steve H. Pearson, who was originally assigned to start presiding over the Montana Billings Mission the same date.
Looks like this article has since been updated to preside over the Philippines Iloilo Mission instead.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2024/2/16/24071304/16-new-mission-presidents-and-companions-serving-around-the-world-from-texas-to-taiwan/
I had originally copied the names back in February with this statement :
"Steve H. Pearson, 63, and Kathleen J. Pearson, five children, Valley View 8th Ward, Salt Lake Holladay North Stake: Montana Billings Mission, succeeding President Bret J. Wall and Sister Stacey Wall. Brother Pearson is a high councilor and former stake presidency counselor, stake Young Men president, stake mission presidency counselor, bishop, bishopric counselor, elders quorum president, elders quorum presidency counselor, addiction recovery group leader and missionary in the Connecticut Hartford Mission. He was born in Salt Lake City to Ralph Winston Pearson and Betty Jean Holman Pearson."
But has now been corrected to say this :
"Steve H. Pearson, 63, and Kathleen J. Pearson, five children, Valley View 8th Ward, Salt Lake Holladay North Stake: Philippines Iloilo Mission, succeeding President Ronald C. Nagtálon and Sister Faith R. Nagtálon. Brother Pearson is a high councilor and former stake presidency counselor, stake Young Men president, stake mission presidency counselor, bishop, bishopric counselor, elders quorum president, elders quorum presidency counselor, addiction recovery group leader and missionary in the Connecticut Hartford Mission. He was born in Salt Lake City to Ralph Winston Pearson and Betty Jean Holman Pearson."
The other surprise for me, beyond the afore mentioned by you, was that after just 1 year as President of the Ecuador Quito Mission, Pres. Bryan L. Welton (2023-2024) was succeeded by Pres. Gregory J. Anderson, also to begin on or around July 1st, 2024. With todays announcement.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2023/1/13/23548990/8-new-mission-presidents-guatemala-japan-philippines/
"Bryan L. Welton, 45, and Jenny Welton, six children, Lake Oswego Ward, Lake Oswego Oregon Stake: Ecuador Quito Mission, succeeding President David A. Winters and Sister Pamela R. Winters. Brother Welton is a Sunday School teacher and temple ordinance worker and former stake presidency counselor, bishop, bishopric counselor, ward executive secretary, elders quorum president, ward Sunday School president and missionary in the Perú Arequipa Mission. He was born in Kent, Washington, to Bryan Lynn Welton and Pamela Joan Welton."
Your guess is as good as mine.
Craig Shuler says,
The Church News today announced temple sites for 3 of the temples announced April 7th.
It says there is a new, different location for the Tampa Florida Temple, in Riverview, a suburb southeast of Tampa on the former Tampa Bay Campus of the Cooley Law School.
The West Jordan Utah Temple is on the far wast end of West Jordan and the valley,"west of the Bachus Highway or 8400 West at approximately 7147 South" about 7100 South and west of 8400 South."
The Lehi Utah Temple "northwest of 3950 North and Center Street in Lehi."
Craig, that announcement was actually made on Monday. There were comments about it on this thread on April 22, which you'll find above on that date. But thanks for making sure everyone was aware of that.
The Chilurch News has an article about some couples meeting up at the Kinshasa Temple who came from Luputa and maybe elsewhere. It is a 4 hour bus ride to Mbuji-Mayi. This fact alone makes me think that we will see a temple in Luputa in the not too distant future.
I belive Elder Renlund organized the stake in Luputa. The Not by Bread alone project, with Junior Banza and others interviewed Elder Renlund about his first visit to Luputa, which I think was organizing a stake there.
So in previous posts I have mentioned Buenos Aires, Paris and Maxico City where the first stake president was the first temple president. Then there is Port-au-Prince where the first temple president and matron were the first Haitian couple sealed in the temple.
Is there any city where the same person organized the first stake and dedicated the first temple?
The current Lai'e stake was organized by Hener J. Grant, although that was done in Honolulu. President Grant also dedicated the Lai'e Temple. The catch is he dedicated the temple 16 years before he organized the stake. He also confirmed more Japanese people while in Hawai'i to organize the Oahu Stake then he did while a missionary in Japan.
The loss of the Provo temple is a tragedy for sure. You are not alone my friend.
The rebuilding of the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple as a building people will actually like and be willing to be married in is an event to celebrate and dance in praise of. The work of the Lord is moving forward. We will have a new temple that will excite the people, and hopefully be bigger and able yo better meet the demands placed upon it and the desires of the people who live there.
I also strongly hope that the name changes means that Provo will get a third temple.
I live in Detroit, a city choking under the weight of well built buildings that are not functional but not torn down in part because of the false rhetoric of loss of buildings being a tragedy.
Loss of buildings is not a tragedy. It is a blessing to be celebrated. No building should be perpetuated and kept up beyond its usefulness.
That might not have quite been the point the Provo Temple was at, but I trust is the servants of the Lord to have the foresight to see what needs to be done to move the work forward, and a new and improved Temple for Provo was clearly that.
Is Deseret News going to revive the Almanac? So far, all it contains are details on each temple.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/almanac/temples/
I'll miss the old Provo Temple as much as anyone (I was a worker there for two years), but there was no practical way to save it. It needed a major seismic update and all of its infrastructure was 52 years old and utterly terrible. It would have been significantly more expensive and time consuming to renovate the existing structure, which nobody wanted to get married in and was the subject of more memes than admiration anyway.
Basically, other than nostalgia or the standard reactionary how-dare-you-ever-change-anything response, there was no argument to be made for keeping the original design.
I'm an intern at Church News. We're in the process of adding more. I and other interns have been working on additional content for months. It's just been delayed because we recently moved to a new project management system for our website.
I work with architects and restorers every day in my office. I can think of so many ways to disagree with that argument... based on that premise, Logan would have succumbed.
Not necessarily, Daniel. Logan has been renovated more recently than Provo, which is why I suspect the Logan renovation details haven't been announced yet. Logan was last rededicated in 1979, so its' systems are only 45 years old. The executive director of the Temple Department has been quoted as saying that temples need to be renovated every 35-50 years to bring their systems up-to-date, so that also explains why other temples have had renovations announced before Logan. I think Logan's renovations will begin in the next two or three years, if not sooner.
Thanks for that update. I recall seeing your name on at least a few Church News updates lately. Looking forward to the expansion of the Almanac content. Keep up the great work!
In the case of Logan they moved away from the original a lot in the 1970s renovation. St. George Temple wax basically made yo look like it did in the 1870s. Manti not quite so much, since some of the original murals had been replaced, but huge amounts of time and effort were placed into preserving what was there.
Provo and Ogden were built for maximum ordinance efficiency. Many dislike the design. I have to admit I was never in that camp, but I really do not understand holding to buildings just to keep them the way they are. I trust that the new Provo Rock Canyon Temple will be a wonderful building.
Logan there are lots of issues. How much do you want to reflect the 1880s in furnishes and other design features. I imagine it has an annex or additional like the other 3 19th-century temples. Do you want to rebuild that to match what was there before. There are lots of questions, and it takes a lot of work.
Logan is a busy Temple. I imagine it will not be reasonable to shut it before Smithfield is dedicated. So some of these decisions are probably being postponed. Especially since Salt Lake is also a major focus.
I imagine Los Angeles would also be a high priority to be renovated.
Craig Shuler says,
The name for the new Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple us clear. Is or should the Provo Utah Temple keep its Provo Utah Temple name?
Craig Shuler says,
My wife and I visited the site of the newly announced Lehi Utah Temple last night. It is one of the most stunning sites I have ever seen. It is high on a hillside about 3 miles straight north of downtown Lehi and about 2 miles east of the I-15 exit to Highway 92.
Craig, the Provo Utah Temple has been renamed the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple. The existing structure has been demolished, and the rebuilt temple will be known as the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple. So your comment is confusing:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/the-provo-temple-will-reopen-as-the-provo-utah-rock-canyon-temple
I hope when they remodel the Logan Temple that they'll make the annex look like the temple much like the same they did the Saint George Utah and bring back some of the pioneer look in the side
Craig, I live less than 5 minutes away from the Lehi Utah Temple site. I'm glad you got to see it. It looks like that temple could be built on an accelerated schedule. We are excited to have a temple in our neighborhood.
That seems to be a key intent of the renovations of these temples. Since the Church has already done so for St. George, Manti, and Salt Lake, the same will be true for Logan.
It seems that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it doing well growth-wise at its core, the Inter Mountain West, despite attrition through less activity, apostasy, and apathy.
Growth in smaller places like Iceland is encouraging, some of that based on strife in Venezuela and the displaced there.
How many new missions will open this year, I know a new one in Chile is coming.
Keep up the temple tracking, great to see. A pizza deliverer at the Chicago Temple joined the Church years ago based on workers ordering and fellowshipping, inviting. Hope to see more of that as well as the expected redemption of the dead.
I loved the Provo Temple in the 1990s, its symbolism reminiscent of the Old Testament, shadow by day and pillar by night. I saw it from very far away, like I was a watchman of Israel. I did my endowments there in the 1980s. But, its core and purpose remains. That is the most important thing.
Hi Eduardo,
36 new missions
Scheduled to start July 1, 2024, the 36 new missions will be in seven U.S. states and 20 other countries. On Wednesday, Nov. 1, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced it would add 36 new missions worldwide, because of the increase of its missionary force to more than 72,000.
I really expect the Logan Temple rebuild to be essentially like St. George. Tear out the annex and build a new one matching the original.
However I think they want Smithfirld done first. I am also thinking going back past the 1970s renovations may take some thinking. Also reinforcing old buildings is more costly than replacing them, and takes care, they are highly susceptible to fore and other structural issues while being renovated. So you want to plan out how to do things beforehand. Although there are limits.
With the Salt Lake Temple no one alive had ever seen the foundation. It was in much poorer shape than thought, which mean the boring had to be done with hand digging, which is the main factor in extending the project 2 years.
We are all super excited for the temple here in Yuma. My wife and I believe we have sleuthed out the location. We checked the city planning and zoning meeting minutes and found a construction company owned by a member of the church had gotten an approval to rezone a 9 acre piece of land for a religious building that will be 40-50 feet tall with an 120 foot spire.
Also when I was at my niece's wedding this past weekend I spoke with a recently returned missionary from the San Diego Mission who served in El Centro. He said he heard rumors that at least part of the former El Centro Stake could be split off and put in the Yuma Stake. It makes sense because El Centro to El Cajon is an hour and a half where the drive to Yuma is only a little over an hour.
Question- I live in Texas near where the Mckinney Temple is going to be built. We are currently receiving extensive pushback of the building of the temple. It seems a lot of criticism focuses on the size of the building.
I want to know if there are any articles or research that shows how Temples have enriched the locations, they have been built in. I would like to find ways to help the residents of Fairview see how it can help their community
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