I have updated my temple prediction map in preparation for General Conference in April. The size of the Church in a specific geographical area (i.e. number of stakes and districts, the number of wards and branches), the age of the oldest stake in a specific geographical area, church growth trends, the distance to the nearest temple, traffic/transportation, the square-footage of the nearest temple, the historical number of weekly endowment sessions scheduled at the nearest temple, and member and missionary reports regarding member activity, temple attendance, and convert retention are variables used to identify prospective sites for future temple announcements. Altogether, there are 194 potential temples on the map (which is 14 potential temple sites less than the total number of potential sites identified in September 2024). The following seven locations have been added to the temples prediction map with this current update - all of which are less likely temples:
- Cabanatuan City, Philippines
- Feira de Santana, Brazil
- General Santos, Philippines
- Tagbilaran, Philippines
- Hilo, Hawaii
- Madang or Lae, Papua New Guinea
- Taravao, Tahiti
Also,
there were six locations that were moved from the less likely to be
announced list to the more likely to be announced list. Provided with a
reasoning for the transfer from the less likely temples to be announced
list to the more likely temples to be announced list, these locations
included:
- Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (remote location, three stakes in the metropolitan area, creation of the Zimbabwe Bulawayo Mission in 2018)
- Caldwell or Nampa, Idaho (steady growth in the western Boise metropolitan area likely warrants a third temple for the area, now approximately 15 stakes in the area that could be part of a new temple district)
- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (remote location, first stake created in early 2025, rapid growth throughout the country, high prospects for a second stake in the near future, Tanzania Dar es Salaam Mission organized in 2020).
- Ibadan, Nigeria (rapid growth in this area of Nigeria for many years, two stakes in Ibadan, Nigeria Ibadan Mission reinstated in 2018)
- Lilongwe, Malawi (remote location, first two stakes in Malawi were organized in 2024, rapid growth)
- Santa Maria, Brazil (large number of stakes in central and western Rio Grande do Sul State, two stakes now in Santa Maria, large number of stakes (29) assigned to the Porto Alegre Brazil Temple)
In my opinion, the following 10 locations appear most likely to have temples announced this coming General Conference. As always, your prediction lists are welcome and encouraged.
- Spanish Fork, Utah
- Angeles or Olongapo, Philippines
- Bo, Sierra Leone
- Port Harcourt, Nigeria
- Rigby, Idaho
- Lomé, Togo
- Southeast Salt Lake City, Utah (i.e., Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, or Sandy)
- Evanston, Wyoming
- San Pablo City, Philippines
- Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
See below for the map of likely and less likely new temple sites:
130 comments:
Hey, Matt! Thanks for posting this update. I had shared my list in the comments of a previous post a while ago, but I wanted to post the link to my list here as well:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m7WcGe1hiF4lhmor85mA9BDk-ydbbCOIZqEhKr0BwAw/edit?usp=sharing
I don't have a top ten at this time, nor do I think I could narrow that list down to a top ten. I believe he will announce 15 temples, as he has done so the last two April General Conferences. But I haven't yet narrowed that list down to a top 15 yet. I will be sure to post here once I am able to do so. My thanks once again to you all.
In my opinion, Brazil still needs about 20-21 temples, considering the current size of the church and the expected growth. Of these, I believe that only 7-8 will be announced within the next 15 years. I believe they will be announced in this order:
Most likely (in the next 15 years):
- Santa Maria
- Cuiabá
- Metropolitan announcement for São Paulo (in the same way as it happened in Mexico City): Sorocaba, São José dos Campos, São Paulo South/ABC or even Jundiaí (the latter much less likely)
- Reconstruction of the Porto Alegre temple with double the capacity
- Fortaleza-CE #2
- Rio Branco/Porto Velho
- Foz do Iguaçu/Ciudad del Leste
Much less likely (+15 years):
- Palmas-TO
- Uberlândia
- Campo Grande
- Araçatuba or Rio Preto
- Aracaju
- Joinville
- Pelotas/Livramento/Passo Fundo
- São Luís
- Piracicaba or São Carlos/Araraquara (Center of SP)
- South of Bahia (or Feira de Santana)
About the metropolitan announcements (more than one temple announced at the same time for (the same region), I believe that this conference will include Lima, Peru. Manila and São Paulo will be the next regions, and in the near future we will see the same in Kinshasa/Brazzaville.
I think it is high time that the London temple be renamed the Surrey England Temple, allowing for the construction of a temple in the city center.
Finally, a political issue: if I were an American, I would never vote for a Republican. Never. But I think that the truce arranged by Trump in Ukraine will have a positive result, allowing for the reduction of Putin's hostility towards Western churches and the advancement of work on the Moscow temple.
I will be back soon with my list of 15 predictions for this conference
I wish all political comments were banned on this blog. That is not the purpose here.
I posted this list previously:
1. Santa Maria, Brazil
2. Sorocaba, Brazil
3. Resistencia, Argentina
4. 3rd temple for Lima, Peru
5. Chimbote, Peru
6. Olongapo. Philippines
7. Cardiff, Wales
8. Concord, New Hampshire
9. Otavalo, Ecuador
10. Poza Rica, Mexico
12. Thousand Oaks, California
13. Spanish Fork, Utah
14. Hattiesburg, Mississippi
15. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
With these 10 added:
1. Port Harcourt, Nigeria
2. Bo, Sierra Leone
3. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo MiKong / airport area
4. Luputa, DR Congo
5. Lome, Togo
6. La Serana, Chile
7. Rigby, Idaho
8. Caldwell, Idaho
9. Pleasant View, Utah
10. Kingston, Jamaica
It would not surprise me if Lome or Bo or Port Harcourt get announced and fewer temples get announced from my first list. Cardiff is probably the most likely to not be announced. Wales is in some ways the country where The Church has existed by far the longest that does not have a temple, but Wales is not a distinct country in ways that make it difficult to go to temples elsewhere, so that is not a big consideration. I am not even sure that all considerations would make a Cardiff Temple more likely than one in Bristol.
From just a number of stakes served, a 2nd temple in Kinshasa is more likely than Luputa. However from distance lessened Luputa is more. The other issue is I think a Luputa Temple would reduce a Mbuji-Maye Temple to inly 2 stakes, and have 4-5 stakes of its own. However with the level of growth there will be more stakes by the time either Temple is done, so it might be announceable.
I also think a Cotonou Benin Temple will be announced well before Lome is completed, but I think Lome will be 1st.
I am starting to think Ibadan will be the next in South-west Nigeria. For a bit I thought Lagoas Nigeria Agege would be next. Lagos Nigeria Agege is the only temple I can see likely to be announced in a city that already has a temple announced before that temple is completed.
I would also be unsurprised if both Blantyre and Lilongwe have temples announced at the same time, bit probably not this coming conference. It is over 5 hours drive between the cities. I know such has never happened ever, but Mozambique having 2 announced temples neither even having had a groundbreaking is unprecedented. Since the Nauvoo Temple was the first temple as we now understand it, and that was dedicated before any other was announced, Mozambique I'd the first country to have a second temple announced before the first is dedicated, and the first case since the 1870s where more than 1 temple was planned for a country that had none. So it will be interesting to see what happens.
My bet of top 15:
Santa Maria, Brazil
Lima #3, Peru
Kingston, Jamaica
Poza Rica, Mexico
La Paz, México
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Bo, Sierra Leone
London Hyde Park, England
Angeles or Olongapo, Phillipines
Quezon City, Phillipines
Nampa, Idaho
Murray/Sandy/Cottonwood Heights, Utah
Spanish Fork, Utah
I didn't mean to offend anyone. I spoke my truth and related it to the blog's theme. Don't be as nasty as always.
Is the temple going to be in Moscow? We don’t know the city yet. Russia, China and uab temples have been announced for years but we don’t know where there at.
I think Russia at present h for the most part has religious freedom. There might be more rules for proselyting. People living in China can attend meetings, pay tithing, observe sabbath and keep the commandments. Just can’t proselyte at present and temple will be for Chinese citizens only. Expiates won’t be able to use it.
For the Dubai Temple not sure if tourists will be welcome or not. There is no proselyting allowed anywhere there right now. Expatriate members there have to be discreet. Can attend meetings and keep commandments, can’t share gospel yet.
Daniel, as an American Latter-day Saint, I for one am tired of being lambasted for being a republican. Do not forget that Abraham Lincoln was a republican, who was responsible for the emancipation of millions of slaves. Ronald Reagan was a republican who was very instrumental in ending the Cold War and pushed to reunify Germany. Democrats are complicit in the murder of the unborn, wasteful in their stewardship of federal funds, and are consistently at odds with the basic tenants of ideas put forth in the proclamation to the world. As an American, I recognize the good that many democrats have done though.
I am a trump supporter. I don’t however fall under the trump woshipper category. There is a reason that he was re-elected. And sometimes it takes being American to understand why.
Also who remembers an LDS marine that fell in love with a Bahranian princess and they ran away together. Before 911 but since have been divorced. He felt right thing to do. When it’s time to go to those countries will go in the front door. Disobeying the law won’t speed up the gospel going forth. The Lord will work through his ways.
Also, there is only THE TRUTH, everyone does not have their own truth. They are delusional if they think their truth is superior to others.
Chapman, I do not intend to tell you in whom you or any American should stake your faith for good administration. In fact, I am not your fellow citizen. Here on the outskirts of the world I consider myself a socialist (much to your dismay), so I see no representation in the US for people like me, on either side. And I congratulate you for being an advocate but not a fanatic on this issue. This is the expected maturity in this aspect of life. Likewise, I do not see incompatibility between left-wing doctrines and Christianity in a practical sense, despite the secularism of some historical communists.
Anonymous, you're right. I was wrong to say that the temple will be in Moscow.
Asking to have a place free of political comments is not "nasty". It is a reasonable request. I really do not appreciate the hateful way that reasonable request was responded to.
I could express many of my views on political issues, but I understand this is not the place to do so.
In my stake conference today we have 5 speakers speak on the 5 different covenants made as part of the endowment. Our stake president then made some concluding remarks in relation to temples. He again drove home the call for people to get endowed right after graduating from high school. This is a huge change from past ways of looking at the matter. It was reflected by Sister Dennis in a talk in general conference and is clearly laid out in the handbook.
I serve as a veil coordinator on my shift at the Jordan River Temple. While waiting for the next session, workers will talk. (I have to encourage reverence.) But I listed to what they talk about. This is where rumors get past. I have not heard any rumors of numbers or locations, but I have heard that the temple committee is very busy getting ready to announce sites for new temples. I have a hunch it will be a larger number.
There is retaliation being reported against missionaries all over the world because of the criminal that is acting as president right now and the way he treats immigrants and certain people in the USA. Plus trying to steal Canda, Greenland, Panama, and Gaza. Be republican or whatever you want to be, that doe not mean you have to support such a nacissist, egocentric, human being. The church will suffer a lot, sadly because of this convicted felon in the white house and his intolerance for anyone who is not white, rich or evangelical. And his love affair with Russian president Putin, plus his demands for Ukraine to give up its territory will have HUGE consequences.
Ben H, sites of temples already announced or locations for next conference?
I would welcome one in the Sandy UT area but think that when the SL temple reopens in 2027, it will be hard to find the thousands of workers they need to staff that. Since it has been closed, other temples in the area (Tooele, Taylorsville) have drawn away former SL temple district workers, so I'm not sure we can support that yet. My parents are serving in the London mission and have mentioned several times how nice it would be to have a city center temple there, as it takes hours and lots of money to travel to the London temple, which is prohibitive for many urban members.
It may be best if we all decided not to mention politics. Speculation on Trump and Russia allowing more moving room for the church is cheap. Getting riled up about someone not liking Trump is weak.
On the other hand I am interested if we finally hear something on the UAE temple after Elder Bednar just visited.
So far I have
Henderson, Nevada
Richfield, Utah
Springville/Spanish Fork, Utah
Sandy, Utah
Herriman, Utah
Tremonton, Utah
North Ogden, Utah
Nampa, Idaho
Shreveport, Louisiana
Port Harcout, Nigeria
Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
Bo Sierra Leone
Thousand Oaks, California
As possible temple predictions
I'm going to add a few more
Mesa Arizona East
Rigby, Idaho
Seville, Spain
Sorocaba, Brazil
Glendale, Arizona
A little hard to narrow down, but here are my top 15, in no particular order:
Bo, Sierra Leone
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
East London, South Africa
Lome, Togo
Las Palmas, Spain
Hobart, Australia
Dunedin, New Zealand
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Neuguen, Argentina
Curitiba, Brazil #2
Kingston, Jamaica
Durango, Mexico
Nampa, Idaho
Flagstaff, Arizona
Evanston, Wyoming
Some runner ups:
Augusta, Maine
Mobile, Alabama
Hesperia, California
Spanish Fork, Utah
Jackson, Mississippi
Sao Paulo, Brazil #3 South
My Top 20 is as follows:
01. Rigby, Idaho, USA
02. Herriman, Utah, USA
03. Mapleton, Spanish Fork or Springville, Utah, USA
04. Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont, USA
05. Poza Rica or Papantla, Mexico
06. Ambato or Quevado, Ecuador
07. Chimbote, Peru
08. Sucre or Tarija, Bolivia
09. Neuquen, Argentina
10. Santa Maria, Brazil
11. Sorocaba, Brazil
12. Bo, Sierra Leone
13. Gagnoa, Daloa or Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
14. Cotonou, Benin or Lome, Togo
15. Port Harcourt, Nigeria
16. Likasi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
17. Taichung City, Taiwan
18. Angeles, Phillipines
19. Batangas, Phillipines
20. Marshall Islands
Craig H
I'm not making a political statement when I say this and neither do I find it appropriate to do so. However, I was able to serve in 3 countries (none of which were the US) during my mission. One country, despised the current president of the united states. Another one of the country's praised us for us Americans rejecting the runner-up candidate and let us know how much they despised them. The third country didn't care. Missionaries may be getting harassed about Trump in some places, but I assure you that there would've been other missionaries harassed had Vice President Harris been elected.
Anti-american bigotry will exist despite who is president of the US.
Top 5
1. Spanish Fork/Springville/Mapleton, UT
2. Lima, Peru
3. South Sao Paulo, Brazil
4. Port Harcourt, Nigeria
5. Bo, Sierra Leon
Next 5
6. Rigby, ID
7. East Mesa / Apache Junction, AZ
8. Poza Rica, MX
9. Valencia / Barquisimeto, VZ
10. Sandy / Holladay / Cottonwood Heights, UT
Final 5
11. Flagstaff, AZ
12. Little Rock, AR
13. Tecna, Peru
14. Puerto la Cruz, VZ
15. Arcatuba / Sao Jose do Rio Preto, BZ
Top Ten:
Bo, Sierra Leon
Poza Rica, Mexico
Tacna, Peru
Onitsha, Nigeria
Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Lome, Togo
Resistencia, Argentina
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Neuquén, Argentina
Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela
Five More:
Spanish Fork, Utah, USA
Pelotas, Brazil
Longview, Texas, USA
Machala, Ecuador
Redding, CA, USA
Slightly off topic (I'll post my own Temple Predictions list later), but just came across this video that I thought others here might be interested in.
It's an outside reaction to the announcement of the Shanghai Temple and a brief review of the Church of Jesus Christ's history in China:
"How Did the Mormon Church and China Become Best Friends Forever?"
https://youtu.be/TcmtuvaVU1A?si=XWijyNdIgyLMIuL3
Here are my top 15:
Resistencia, AR
Rio Grande do Sul II, BR
Lima III, Peru
Ecuador III (O, M, G.S)
La Paz BCS, MX
Majuro, Marshall Islands
Angeles/Manila North, PH
Tirana, Albania
Port Harcourt, NG
Lahore, PK
Mobile AL/Pens. FL
Flagstaff/Prescott AZ
Springville/SF/Maple UT
SW Wyoming
West of Boise, ID
Here are 5 more in rank order in case President Nelson announces more than 15:
16. Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
17. Poza Rica, MX
18. Tacna/Puno, Peru
19. Tasmania, AU
20. Yakima, WA
Hank, I think for Ecuador 3 O is Otavalo and M is Machala. Is G a Guayaquil Temple number 2 or something else. What is S?
G.S for Guayaquil South. I don't know the dynamics of temple attendance and need in Ecuador, so I didn't want to make a strong claim on any of the locations given they all have different strengths. Machala has distance and 4+ stakes in its potential district, Guayaquil south would have a 9-stake district but the temple in the city is already pretty big and kind of central. Otavalo has a dense core of 3 stakes but is would only have 3 stakes in its district, and Quevedo, an unmentioned additional choice, would have 6 stakes in its district but no central core for nearby temple-workers for the district.
If Cusco, Huancayo, Cali and Medellin and other similarly small LDS centers can have a temple a temple, an additional temple in Ecuador isn't that far-fetched, but no location in Ecuador stands out. Ecuador is the only country in the SA NW area not to have a temple announced or under construction, all the others have 2 or more announced or under construction.
^^If anyone has good sources on how the church and temples are doing in Ecuador, do share!
I think the G.S means Guayaquil South
I think Ecuador is the only country in the world with multiple temples that has not had a temple announced by President Nelson. I really think Machala, Quevado, Guayquil South and Otavalo are all quite likely. Manta or Portoviejo might also be contenders, but that would only be 2 stakes. If Quevado could get a 3rd stake, or even if Ventanas advanced from a district to a stake (which if it is close, might cause them to announce a temple there) that could be done. Quito has a core of 8 stakes, so really I think it could loose the 3 stakes to an Otavalo Temple, especially if they are at all close to getting a 4th stake in Otavalo. Santo Domingo and Esmeraldas stakes look like they would stay with Quito, although parts of the area under Esmeraldas stake or maybe direct mission branches would be closer to Otavalo. Pasto Colombia Stake and much more so Ipiales Colombia district look like they would be closer to a Quito Temple than to the Cali Colombia Temple. Ipiales district looks like it is closer to Quito Temple than to Cali Temple. So does Pasto stake as well actually. Both ways it looks like you are going through the Andes Mountains, so how much the road twists and turns may be another story. So the actual travel times may be different. The search I did said it is 8 hours and 11 minutes to Cali and 7 hours to Quito. That is from Pasto. Otavalo cuts it to 5 hours and 17 minutes. It is basically 2 hours from Otavalo to the Quito Temple, so you cannot do that trip (assuming you have a car at all, I am guessing lots of members in Otavalo do not, so it would take longer on a bus or such) in an evening. So either you take a day off work or go on Saturday. So getting a temple in Otavalo would be a huge blessing. Unless the border is very hard to cross it would help those in Pasto a lot to. Ipiales is 5 and a half hours to Quito, and 3 hours and 45 minutes to Otavalo. Still a long way, but that means the round-trip would drop by 3.5 hours. Over all it would be a plus.
Machala is 3 hours and 20 minutes from Guayaquil Temple. Which is also the travel time from Quevedo, but one is essentially straight south the other straight north. It is over 4 hours from Quevedo to Quito Temple.
Guayaquil is 45,000 square feet, 29 stakes and 4 districts. Quito is 36,780 square feet, 16 stakes and 2 districts (it has Ipiales district and Pasto Stake assigned from Colombia). If I did the math right Guayaquil is at about 1551 square feet per stake, while Quito is about 2250 or a little more per stake (I just put in 36,000 square feet). I am not sure temple square footage means that much, and not all stakes have the same number of members, active members or temple going members. There are 18 stakes in the Guayaquil urban complex, plus Milagro and Babahoyo each have a stake that would only really leave the Guayaquil Temple district if one of them got a temple. Libertadad is further away all the way on on the west coast, Guayaquil is on a river a little from its end, but the coast has come further east there. It looks to me like Machala might take it 5 stakes though. Cuenca, the 2 Machala stakes, Santa Rosa, which is not super far from Machala, and then Tumbes stake in Peru. Loja District would also be assigned to a Machala Temple. To compare Piura has 3 stakes, and 2 more not too far distant, 1 district a little further away and then Tumbes stake for now. So not that different of numbers from what we would see with Machala, Quevedo or Otavalo Temple. It looks like Machala has 3 stakes in a little less area than Huancayo Temple does.
Machala and Otavalo seem most likely first, but Quevedo seems likely as well, we shall see.
Speaking of Colombia. Today the Newsroom site posted this article about the Groundbreaking Ceremony on Saturday, for the new Cali Colombia Temple construction.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreaking-cali-colombia-temple
Yes! Cali Colombia Temple has had a groundbreaking. The groundbreaking was dome by a general authority who is a Utah born and raised American. His name is Elder Jorge Becerra. It appears no other temple updates were announced today.
Ensign College is transition all course-work to 7 week terms. They will do 6 terms a year.
I had Machala down as the next Ecuador temple just due to distance. Otavalo is also a good one given the tight cluster of stakes. I think Quevado will be the 3rd of those three to get a temple. But only the Lord knows.
In my case, as a Chilean with more than 30 years in the church, I know how the crisis of faith, the corruption of leadership for decades, the scarce fellowship that exists and the laziness of local leaders (bishops, stake presidents, organizations, high council) have affected the membership.
Regarding the announcements of temples for our countries, there is enough money, since the church or company has invested tithes and generous offerings very well and this allows for the construction of first and second class temples for our countries.
Since we stopped being an area we have been affected by the decrease in baptisms and assets in the gospel, losing more than 25 stakes and having more than 100 churches sold throughout Chile was very sad and heartbreaking.
I am from Santiago, and there is not much attendance at the temple, there is a shortage of workers, we have a small and modest temple, the construction of the Puerto Montt and Viña del Mar temples has not yet begun, due to the negligence of the poorly paid leaders that we have.
There is still a lack of temples in Iquique, La Serena, Santiago Sur, Rancagua, Curico, Temuco or Osorno and in Punta Arenas, it is true that there are not many active ones in Chile, but that happens all over the world, large temples are not necessary, tiny temples are in fashion, they do not need to be open every day, that is how they work in countries with few SUD
I hope that very soon all countries will have temples closer to them. There is plenty of money in the church, the problem is attendance, time, and the lack of volunteers.
Where additional temples will be announced in and in the general region of Santiago seems at bit hard to tell.
I think the next two temples far outside if the greater Santiago region in Chile will be Temuco is the south and LA Serena in the north.
Which temple is fimurthest south? Puerto Montt, Chile;Wellingto,NewcZealand or Capt Toen South Africa?
Sorry about the typos in my last post. I wish there was a way to go back and edit posts.
Puerto Montt Chile and Wellinton New Zealand are both at 41 degrees south. Puerto Montt us listed at 28 seconds and Wellington at 17. I am thinking we will not be able to say for sure which is further south until the Puerto Montt Temple site is announced.
Right now the filuthest south temple in Melbourne, Australia at 37 degrees south. I think Bahia Blanca might bearmt that one, but that might also take confirming the exact temple location. Cape Town is only 33 degrees south. It is actually fairly close to the latitude of Montivideo and Buenas Aires.
Is Fairbanks, Alaska the furthest north temple? Is Smchorage or Helsinki further north?
In the last 4 or 5 years 6 or more stakes have been created in Chile, great news!
Fairbanks will be the furthest north temple, and by a significant margin. It's actually way further north than most of populated Scandinavia.
Here are my top 30 temple locations for April 2025:
Corrientes/Resistencia Argentina
Neuquen Argentina
Flagstaff/Prescott Valley Arizona
Pelotas Brazil
Santa Maria Brazil area
Sorocaba Brazil
Daloa/Gagnoa/Yamoussoukro Côte d'Ivoire
Luputa Democratic Republic of the Congo
Machala Ecuador
Quevedo Ecuador
Blackfoot Idaho
Nampa Idaho
Aguascalientes Mexico
Poza Rica Mexico
Reynosa Mexico
Saltillo Mexico
Ibadan Nigeria
Port Harcourt Nigeria
Uyo Nigeria
Chimbote Perú
Tacna Perú
Angeles Philippines
Quezon City Philippines area
Bo Sierra Leone
Taichung Taiwan
Lomé Togo
Cottonwood Heights/Sandy Utah
Mapleton/Spanish Fork/Springville Utah
Barcelona/Puerto La Cruz Venezuela
Evanston Wyoming
As usual, I'll also include a link to my spreadsheet, which also has my 'Next 50' locations as well as a 'Less Likely' category that currently has 130 locations.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16fEj-5hfS38I50UUu_37kSZ9KyGRoukjeUBn-vwkcSo/edit?usp=sharing
JPL, I have the following Latitudes for the northernmost Europe North an North America West Areas Temples.
Oslo Norway Temple : Lat. 59°51'28.27"N Long. 10°28'44.86"E
Stockholm Sweden Temple : Lat. 59° 7'28.83"N Long. 18° 6'33.04"E
Helsinki Finland Temple : Lat. 60°13'30.69"N Long. 24°46'54.43"E
Fairbanks Alaska Temple : Lat. 64°50'52.95"N Long. 147°51'5.70"W
Anchorage Alaska Temple : Lat. 61° 6'5.86"N Long. 149°50'25.84"W
Based off these numbers in Google Maps. The Fairbanks Alaska will indeed become the new furthest north Temple. Once construction is completed. Replacing both Anchorage Alaska at 61 degrees North in first place and Helsinki Finland at 60 degrees North in second place.
And the Bahia Blanca Argentina Temple (under construction), is located at Lat. 38°41'28.83"S, and Long. 62°14'9.79"W
With the currently, in operation, Concepcion Chile Temple, slightly closer to the equator, at Lat. 36°51'5.12"S, and Long. 73° 3'1.74"W.
Melbourne Australia Temple : Lat. 37°52'7.59"S, Long. 145°12'45.44"E
Hamilton New Zealand Temple : Lat. 37°49'35.03"S, Long. 175°13'29.59"E
With just a couple of Minutes of a degree difference between both Melbourne and Hamilton.
And the new Wellington New Zealand (under construction), at Lat. 41° 7'24.70"S, Long. 174°51'15.69"E. Will become the new furthest south when completed.
Since, as you mentioned, even Concepcion and Bahia Blanca are both further south than the Cape Town South Africa Temple (under construction), at Lat. 33°56'29.07"S, Long. 18°28'46.86"E.
I was in Antofa the other day and after three weeks of being in Argentina, with small church buildings and even smaller wards, I was excited to see that in Antofagasta the building was jam-packed! Apparently there, the church is now quite healthy.
Anyone know why there is no dedication announced for the temple there yet?
We do have two stakes in the gulf region, and a temple in the UAE would see some use, although the government is totalitarian there is a desire to show openness to religious diversity (amongst expats, not natives). That said, I suspect the invitation to build a temple there from the UAE government was more symbolic than practical. I'd be surprised if it is built anytime soon.
In China we will probably not know where and when it is dedicated. There is a tremendous resistance in the PRC to foreign religious influence that has deep roots in the culture (it was even a factor in the Boxer Rebellion), and we got some blowback for announcing the temple at all.
It may be generations before a temple is built in Russia. We haven't been able to send western missionaries to the country for years, and our fellow saints are often viewed with suspicion for being part of an American church. With the war in Ukraine the situation will not have improved. A temple there would operate under extremely tenuous conditions.
On another note, to meu amigo Brasileiro. Different parts of America have very different political cultures, not just parties. I was raised in Vermont (New England), but I now live in Southern Utah. I find that while New Englanders are very comfortable talking about political issues, Utahans are not. If you take a stance on an issue, you will make them very uncomfortable. I have to avoid talking politics here, because almost nobody is comfortable having a conversation about political issues!
Most Latter-day Saints here in Utah are Republican almost by default, almost as though it is part of their ethnic heritage. In truth, the Republican Party has traditionally embraced social values that are more friendly to our church standards, and many Republican economic policies do serve Utah well. I see no likelihood that this will change anytime soon. I've made my peace with it.
Outside of Utah you will see much more political diversity in church congregations here in the U.S., and internationally (like in Brasil) there seems to be no political alignment amongst church members at all.
Don't take any hard words too personally, as a group Utahans are some of the kindest and most open people in this country. They just can't talk about politics.
I have REALLY enjoyed the focus on the temple covenants in recent years. I think I would have enjoyed that conference.
With the video endowment (and stationary endowment), I think Salt Lake will probably require significantly fewer temple workers than it currently does (the number of workers per session in a stationary temple is only two [a brother officiator and a sister officiator], since the veil workers are likely to be assigned to the veil for multiple endowment sessions). I’m not sure to what extent it will allow for other temple workers in other Utah temples, but it should help to some extent.
I’ve got a list with about 200 possible temples and another of ones possible in the next 10 to 20 years in areas where the church has potential for growth. But I’ll stick to my top 20 (in no particular order) and list other more general announcements that I consider strong possibilities.
Top 20 (in no particular order)
Springville/Mapleton/Spanish Fork Utah
Caldwell Idaho
Mobile Alabama (you could divide this district in two and have two smaller temples, but combining them into one temple for the Gulf Coast region makes it a stronger possibility, serving as many as 7 or 8 stakes)
Augusta Maine (which is more centrally located than Bangor, especially if Augusta Maine splits to form a Portland Maine Stake)
Bo Sierra Leone
Port Harcourt Nigeria
Lome Togo
Dar es Salaam Tanzania
Warsaw Poland or Baltics (I could see an Eastern European temple in a place where there’s only a district when announced, a la Kyiv) or Tirana Albania
Lahore Pakistan (I expect an announcement and a long delay, a la Russia or Shanghai, though it probably wouldn’t be a multipurpose building like Shanghai)
Lima Peru 3rd
Santiago Chile 3rd
Buenos Aires Argentina 3rd (possibly La Plata)
São Paulo Brazil 3rd
Manila Philippines 3rd (which I think is the most likely metro area to get multiple temple announcements in the same session)
Taichung Taiwan
Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo 2nd
Little Rock Arkansas
Port of Spain Trinidad
Lilongwe Malawi
Other strong possibilities: An announcement for California, for Virginia, one for the Brazilian states of Acre, Amazonas, or Rondonia, one for the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso or Mato Grosso do Sul, one for Rio Grande do Sul, one for western Cote D’Ivoire.
Daniel, Thanks for sharing.
I for one, would love to see your full list of about 200 in a spreadsheet or other format. If you would like to share, to compare to my evergrowing Consolidated list. Currently I have Matt's list he just posted here., And James Stokes form his blog posted dsocument above also. I have incorporated Snejkos map and David McFaddens map, and yesterday, Jonathon F. spreadsheet doc posted. I would love to add you complete list to compare.
Thank you in advance. If you can share a online link, like James and Jonathon have.
Here is Snejko's map link from last conference.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=10lauuaMZA5ZyrCXU5DpKk1kbhZKpCExq&ll=-37.59491337256075%2C-164.4401826740268&z=4
Isn’t it true that in Utah, there had to be a minimum of 20 stakes?, that’s still alot and makes the temples very busy!
Is Lagos Nigeria Temple the only one besides Russia that was announced in 2018 that has not had a ground breaking?
Someone mentioned a temple for the Quezon City area. The Manila Philippines Temple is actually in Quezon City. In fact at one time I suggested that thry could announce a Manola Temple and rename the existing Temple to Quezon City.
When does The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints usually release its annual report on helping the poor and the needy?
At one point I had compiled a much longer list of potential temples.
For example I think the next Temple announced for South Africa will be Pretoria. It does not reduce travel as much as East London would, but the number of stakes is high enough between Pretoria and Johannesburg and surrounding areas that I think a temple in Pretoria would help.
The Church News reports that Sister Yee and Sister Wright recently visited Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
I am not sure The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has any officially published minimums for temples.
Most temples in Utah are in the range of 80,000 square feet or bigger. Outside Utah there are a few temples bring built in that size range, such as Teton Riber Idaho (I think it is even bigger) and Lone Mountain Nevada.
However the biggest often are only 46,000 square feet, with many 20,000 to 30,000. A few are just under 10,000 square feet such as Clebeland, Ohio and Cody, Wyoming. I think a few temples on small islands may not even be 8 000 square feet.
Mexico City Temple was bigger than all other temples in Mexico combined until Tijuana Temple was dedicated. When Elder Gong spoke to Temple workers at that temple the meeting had at least 1000 attendees.
One thing to keep in mind though is that it is easier to get temple workers now than in the past. Thry have removed all guidelines related to marital status. At one point single men of certain ages could not be temple workers, and there were rules about how soon after a divorce. There was also a policy against members of bishopric being temple workers, that is gone. Sane with the policy against mothers of children under 18 being temple workers. That is probably the change that covers the most people. While it is probably not true that many mothers of young children children are temple workers, there are quite a few now who have high school aged children.
My favorite temple worker fact to date is the newly called president of one of the missions in Kenya gas served as a temple worker. That is Onward Chivungu who is coming from Zimbabwe, which does not yet have a temple. I believe this means that Brother Chivingu was serving as a temple worker in Johannesburg, possibly seen as a way to develop temple worker skill to help run the Harare Temlle. Brother Chivilungu will not be there in Zimbabwe when Harare Temple starts operating, although he may well be called on to help there in 2028. However I am sure President Koga does not mind knowing that he will have another experienced temple worker in country come July, even though President Chivungu with his duties as mission president will probably not be able to help with the temple much.
From I believe 1930-1931 the president of the Hawaiian Mission and the Hawaii Temple was the same person. Then thry put the first president of the Hawaii Temple back in the position since thry realized bring temple president and mission president at the sane time was too much.
Sorry about the typos above. I meant they. On further reflection I probably should have said the First Presidency. I think this was a few years before George F. Richards was made the superintendent of temples.
To my knowledge the only person who served as a temple president before being called as a general authority was Merriner W. Merrill. He also served as president of the Logan Temple the entire time that he was an apostle.
There may have been a point where Anthon Lund was president of the Manti Temple, Mariner Merrill was president of the Logan Temple and Lorenzo Snow was president of the Salt Lake Temple so that 75% of temples had presidents who were apostles and 25% of the quorum of the 12 was Temple presidents.
To my knowledge Elder Joseph from Haiti is the only area seventy who is a former Temple president. Lots of former area seventies have been Temple presidents. Lots more men served as temple president while a general authority or after bring released or given emeritus status. Altjough no man who was a general authority has been a temple president since the end of Cecil O. Samuelson's Presidency of the Salt Lake Temple in 2017. Sister Wixom who succeeded Sister Samuelson as matron was the prary general president though.
With both the number of temple presidents and area seventies I am not sure Elder Joseph is the only area seventy who is a former temple president. The numbers are too big to say such a thing definitively.
Since Nelson is a prophet, one expects the announcement of new temples around the world. We know that money is not a problem for our billionaire church. Also, we know that there are countries with few or scarce LDS or Mormons where there are temples and they are open only for a few days. Given that, it should not be a problem to build small and modest temples in any place where they are needed.x
Which is a sad thing, Adam. But it's predictable. Here it really is a more fun mix, but polarization was also felt among the members. Anyway, I still have faith that we will see news from Russia soon.
I believe political talk can be permitted here as long as it's done civilly and matches the topics of thread, discussion, or the topic "growth of the church".
What our president does directly affects the church, especially outside the US. LDS dominated areas voted for this president - regardless of official views of the church. This is why we have strong restrictions in non-aligned nations, and when local public sentiment is against the US.
Inside the US, we members may care about issues of transgenders, abortions, economy, etc. when choosing leaders, while outside the US, they're more concerned about political, work, movement, and trade relations with the US. Consequently, you have members in the US voting Republican and those outside the US asking "why?"
This can cause additional church persecution outside the US and effect church growth. I just hope it's minimal. The Russian Orthodox Church declined outside of Russia after they invaded Ukraine.
As for the socialism comment, the law of consecration does seem to mirror socialism. However, the law of consecration didn't work when the natural man is ramped (ie. not wanting to contribute or otherwise taking advantage of the system), as experienced after the church tried implementing this in its early history.
My personal views is that both socialized services and captialism is needed. There are services that's best handled by the government (streetside utilities, antitrust, public infrastructure, essential welfare and healthcare or self improvement services to bring one out of poverty/addiction/crime), but capitalist forces are best for about everything else including elective services.
As mentioned in my comment above. If on topic to church influence and in respect for others on this blog.
Politics does have influence on how church grows. ie. Russia's restrictions on the Church because it's seen as an US-based church.
Here's my map. I'll be doing last minute updates up till Friday but everything basically set. After Friday, I'm going to leave it alone till 30 days after conference announcements.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1G7hdBBWl07qNmfixCPEyCf7dAOKzzjw&usp=sharing
My top 10 in geographical order:
Wasatch Front - Spanish Fork/Springville Utah
Mobile Alabama/Pensacola FL
Flagstaff Arizona
Morelia Mexico
Resistencia Argentina
Tacna Peru/Arica Chile
Santa Maria Brazil
Lomé Togo
Southern Spain
Angeles/Metro Manila Philippines
I'm still doing last minute finishes but the below link has my top 20, likely 40 and another 70 making 130 total all mapped out. I've also listed another 60+ locations I took in consideration but not in my top 130. See map below:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1G7hdBBWl07qNmfixCPEyCf7dAOKzzjw&usp=sharing
It gets a little more difficult to accurately (meaning avoiding both Type I and Type II errors) predict temple announcements with each passing conference as the most obvious, highest need locations get announced. My best guess is 15 temples announced. They are as follows, sorted more-or-less in order of how likely I think they are:
1) Resistencia, Argentina
2) Lomé, Togo
3) Poza Rica, Mexico
4) Port Harcourt, Nigeria
5) Angeles City, Philippines (or Olongapo, I could see either one, but not both)
6) Bo, Sierra Leone
7) Reynosa, Mexico
8) Tacna, Peru
9) Cuiabá, Brazil
10) Neuquen, Argentina
11) Sorocaba, Brazil
12) Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
13) Santa Maria, Brazil
14) Lyman, Wyoming (or maybe Evanston instead)
15) Machala, Ecuador
--Felix
There's no minimum requirement. However, 20+ stakes is typical for an announcement along the Wasatch Front.
Elder Robert W. Mendenhall of Canada was the President of the Edmonton Alberta Temple prior to his current service as an Area Seventy
If anyone is interested. The journals of President Heber J Grant recently became available digitally.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-archive/2025/03/05/president-heber-j-grant-journals-available-church-history-catalog/
Other Noah here.
Thank you, Chris
In other news, Elder Rasband recently visited the Legazpi Philippines Stake Center, in the Bicol Region, Province of Albay, and offered a devotional about preparing for the Temples being built.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/03/05/elder-ronald-a-rasband-temples-philippines-light-the-world/
Oh ok thank you!
Does anybody know about new mission? A good friend was called as mission president and was told that his mission will be assigned later when the new mission is announced.
There were a couple of Brazilians that served as Temple presidents before serving as General Authorities. Anthos h amoral and hello carmargo. May have been a few more.
A few General Authorities have served simultaneously as General Authorities and Temple presidents. However those positions have been held by former in days of 2nd quorum five year call General Authorities and emeritus General authorities. But it has been years since emeritus General Authorities filled those positions.
For a change, I hope there is zero announced. We need to absorb the ones that are being built now. Especially in places the church is shrinking.
I do appreciate the diligence in updating changes as they happen at this blog.
Other than parts of California where prices are high, and maybe similar urban areas, I'm unaware of that many places where the church is "shrinking." And growth in Utah alone more than offsets the shrinking, as measured by net wards and stakes from 2000 to now, a decent, if imperfect, proxy for growth.
Whoa, extremely interesting! We've all assumed that there will be no new missions announced this year, but.. maybe?
For the last three years, I have been impressed over and over and over again that many small temples will be built because you’re right, there’s not a need for large temples and most places, but there’s definitely a need for much smaller temples in many places
Other Matt here....
For future California temples, I see:
Central Coast (Santa Maria or San Luis Obispo)
SW Riverside County (Temecula or Murrieta)
Ventura County (Camarillo, Ventura, or Thousand Oaks)
And I can see other Hinckley-era temples getting the "Anchorage" treatment. New 30k+ sq ft temple to replace 10k temple in locations like Spokane, Reno, Nashville, etc. in the U.S. , as well as several Mexican temples.
For Arizona, I see Flagstaff or Prescott, then West Valley (Buckeye or Surprise), and San Tan Valley .
Hello da Rocha Camargo was temple president after his service as a general authority. You are right about Elder Amoron. He was president of the Sao Paulo Temple from 1993 to 1996 and a general authority beginning in 1998. He was 65, almost 66 when called as a general authority and do emeritized after just 4 years of service. The 1980s and 1990s when they were calling general authorities who were in some cases released after 5 years makes it hard to keep track of everything about general authorities then.
Today all general authorities are called to serve until age 70. I think thry also are almost alemways under age 60, so in general they serve at least a decade before being emeritized. I think the number at any given time is roughly the sane as in the 1990s, but we might be having a little fewer called per decade. I have not looked closely so I am not sure exactly how the numbers match up.
Has there every been a person who served as temple president and then mission president (outside of Hawaii, I think there are two cases of this in mid-20th century HawIii) One of our temple presidents here in Detroit was later a counselor to a mission president (since there are about twice as many mission presidents counselors as mission presidents at any given time, this is not surprising. The fact that mission presidents counselors are not regularly published anywhere makes it hard to track. The only counselors below the level of counselor in an area Presidency who are easy to track are stake presidents counselors. although I think only changes that involve a new stake president, not new counselors with a retained stake president are published).
I think back in the 1970s the Ensign might have included at least naming counselors to new temple presidents, but the Church News only names president and matron for temple. Same for only the president and his wife for a mission. The thing is that temple presidents and counselors function in a lot more similar ways than mission presidents and their counselors.
Sorry I'm a bit late, but our temple is currently the 6th temple to have the northernmost designation. Calculating the last day of dedication as the official dedication date.
1. St. George Utah: 8 April 1877 (7 years, 41 days)
2. Logan Utah: 19 May 1884 (39 years, 101 days)
3. Cardston Alberta: 29 August 1923 (35 years, 12 days)
4. London England: 9 September 1958 (26 years, 298 days)
5. Stockholm Sweden: 4 July 1985 (13 years, 190 days)
6. Anchorage Alaska: 10 January 1999 (26 years, 55 days - as of 5 March 2026)
7. Fairbanks Alaska: ???
Elder Rasband's devotional on the temple in Legazpi City makes me think we may see a temple announced for there soon. I know Naga will be much closer than Manilla, but Legazpi does seem a good location for a temple. The thing is other than Legazpi it is mainly only districts and not stakes that far south on Luzon.
I actually think Legazpi Coty is more likely to be announced in October 2025 than April 2025 but we shall see.
The Temple that I would expect to next see get rebuilt on a much larger scale as is happening with Anchorage is not a "Hinckley Era" Temple, although Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated it. It is Lima Peru Temple, which is not 10,000 square feet. To be fair that does not include the detached building that does clothing rental, so it is not actually functionally the same as Cody Wyoming Templd. The thing is I think Lima is in the same situation as Provo was, that even with a second temple you just cannot shut down the original temple. So I think they will build at least one more temple in Lima before doing a renovation and expansion of Lima Peru Temple.
I think Nashville Tennessee Temple would be a good candidate for the Anchorage Plan. I also really want to have Detroit Temple experience it, but I love our stake center and do not want it to come down, even though I really do believe Detroit Temple needs to be bigger.
Anchorage is unique. Replacing a 10k temple with a 30k temple can be quite expensive as one is tearing down a structure to build an entirely new temple. However, I could see this happening when the existing temple already has significant deficiencies. Several of the temples in the south had had to be taken down to the studs and rebuilt. This is not the case with Nashville, so there maybe a possibility here if it happens to have these issues.
However all the temple districts you stated above are already being split.
Spokane Temple district is being split by the announced Coeur d'Alene Idaho Temple.
Reno is loosing a fraction of its district to Elko. Fallon could have a temple announced to further reduce strain on Reno.
Nashville's temple district is already being split in half by the 30k+ Knoxville Temple. The 30k sq ft Huntsville Temple less than 1.5 hours to the south has also been announced and is likely only going to have 2 current average-size stakes in its temple district if done by distance.
In the last year, 15 temples have had a groundbreaking, which is maybe a Nelson-era record with two more scheduled before conference. However, this is still significantly below the typical 35 or so per year he's been announcing. I love seeing announcements have been great to hear, but the repeated concern of mine is how are we getting these to construction? In the meantime, this is causing many of the announcements seem as a wish list.
My Top 15 not in any order
1. Spanish Fork Utah
2. Cottonwood Heights Utah
3. Flagstaff Arizona
4. Jackson Mississippi
5. New Hampshire
6. Santa Rosa California
7. Acapulco Mexico
8. Machala Ecuador
9. Tacna Peru
10. Santa Maria Brazil
11. Neuquen Argentina
12. Southern Spain
13. Yamoussoukro Cote d'Ivoire
14. Angeles Philippines
15. Christchurch New Zealand
I think that our era of temples acted as a testing ground for the actual Hinckley Era temples. Those three: Monticello Utah, Anchorage Alaska, and Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico were intended to be smaller, but I think they proved to be too small for general use, considering both Monticello and Anchorage very quickly required expansion.
I would say the Hinckley Era temples (of a specific style) actually started just a couple of months after the dedication of Monticello with the groundbreaking of the Columbus Ohio Temple (Spokane Washington being the first dedicated one), which would have been enough time to see that Monticello's floorplan was too small. By then, both Anchorage and Colonia Juarez were already under construction.
Another thing with Anchorage was that one, where our temple is was simply too confined for another expansion, plus I believe members always wanted the temple to be a bit more visible instead of just tucked into a corner. In addition, some things didn't get considered, like temperature as I'm told the temple experienced a lot of frozen pipes. Two, the stake center that shared the lot was described as the most expensive Church building (at least in the state) to maintain, so this plan just kills 2 birds with 1 stone.
In other news, Elder Cook's recent ministry tour of Asia tool him to visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Cambodia and Taiwan.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/03/05/elder-quentin-l-cook-asia-ministry-cambodia-taiwan-malaysia/
That was a perfect statement, David. Congratulations on this well-founded worldview.
And here is this week group of 8 New Temple leaders biographies posted.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/03/06/new-temple-presidents-and-matrons-california-to-australia/
Hi JPL, I hope all is well...
When the Grand Rapids temple is dedicated, it will take 4 stakes and 1 district from the Detroit temple district. That will leave the Detroit temple district with only 6 stakes. Do you believe the Detroit temple will still be too small when that occurs?
I'm sincerely interested in your response.
Yes, I think the Detroit Temple will be too small after Grand Rapids Temple is dedicated. However we will still be over 6 stakes. This is because we have parts of the Toledo Ohio Stake and the London Ontario Stake, as well as all 5 metro Detroit stakes (Ann Arbor and Grand Blanc go beyond metro Detroit, but both include areas clearly in metro Detroit). We will also have Midland Michigan Stake. Even though Lansing Stake will be assigned to Grand Rapids Temple, there are people in that stake who will be closer to Detroit Temple, so we may still get some from there.
Some of the smallness of the Detroit Temple is structural. It feels like it is in some ways just too small. The Celestial Room is really not big enough to handle the people coming there from a full endowment session for example.
Another point is that the Grand Rapids Temple will be nearly twice as big, yet it will cover fewer stakes. Grand Rapids Temple may get South Bend Stake as well, but that would put it at at most 5 stakes and 1 district (which I hope will be a stake by then) while Detroit will have 7 stakes, because the parts of London Ontario and Toledo Ohio stakes we have combined add up to essentially one stake.
So far this year all new temple presidents have been called from the district they will serve in.
My favorite case this week is the Sullivans. They live in the Oakdale, Minnesota Stake. That has been the norm for a while in most parts of the US, to call locally resident temple presidents. President Sullivan was born further north in Princeton, Minnesota. Having locally born leaders is a little less common, we still get lots of people who are what I call Utah expatriates. Some of them left Utah 3 or 4 decades ago, so it might be a weak way to describe them. My Dad grew up a Utah expatriate, they would go back to Utah and help his grandparents on the farm a few weeks each summer. My family was not Utah expatriates, we did more family excursions to visit relatives in California than to Utah, and even California was not every summer. So some of the indicators are hard to see, but I cheer for Midwest born leaders (even if some are like Elder Daynes who was born in Bloomington, Indiana but raised in Provo, Utah). Sister Sullivan is not local, she was not born in the Minneapolis Temple district. She was born in Racine, Wisconsin, which since it is not Utah, Idaho, Arizona or California I still cheer.
Not that I have anything against people from those 4 states, but there is a need for locals to have a place too.
I think at some point both Springville and Spanish Fork will have temples. However I expect Spanish Fork to be announced first. Springville coming 6 months after, like how Lindon was announced 6 months after Orem, would not surprise me at all.
Right now we have about 50 temples under construction. There are another about 50 temples with sites announced. I really do no think that announcing more temples has a negative impact on moving forward the temples that are already announced. So I think we will continue to see more temples announced.
I believe last year had the second highest number of dedications ever, second only to 1999.
@ Chris D. There has been a long history of Alberta wanting to succeed from the rest of Canada but it isn't a new thing and is a very small minority of people who want to leave
I just heard today that two new stakes may be coming to the Oklahoma City area on march 30 - a mass stake conference involving all four stakes in the metro is being held then.
The math works out, with 33 wards and 6 branches among the 4 stakes. That could be 5-6 wards and 1 branch for every stake. Assuming this happens, that would be 4 stakes created in Oklahoma in the past 2 years. I could also see the Guthrie 1st and 2nd wards being taken from the Stillwater Stake to be part of an Oklahoma City stake. The Anadarko ward from the Lawton Stake could also be included, which would give all the new stakes 6 wards and a branch. I believe this would also give the Oklahoma City mission 12 stakes, which is a lot, potentially meaning the mission would divide soon.
This seems like something not to share here.
-Henry
The First Presidency made an official invite to the upcoming Conference this afternoon.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/03/06/first-presidency-announces-invites-to-195th-annual-general-conference/
This is how I can see it happening (we'll see how it plays out). This would affect a couple of outlying stakes.
Lawton Oklahoma Stake - loses the Anadarko Ward, leaving it with 7 wards and 5 branches
Owasso Oklahoma Stake - loses the Skiatook Ward, leaving it with 6 wards
Bartlesville Oklahoma Stake - loses the Ponca City Ward and the Blackwell Branch, but gains the Skiatook Ward, leaving it with 5 wards and 3 branches
Stillwater Oklahoma Stake - renamed the Enid Oklahoma Stake, loses the Guthrie 1st & 2nd Wards, but gains the Ponca City Ward and the Blackwell & Woodward Branches (Woodward from Oklahoma City Oklahoma Stake), leaving it with 7 wards and 3 branches
Edmond Oklahoma Stake - loses the Cushing, Purcell, Scissortail, Shawnee, Village, and Oklahoma City YSA Wards, but gain the Guthrie 1st & 2nd Wards, leaving it with 7 wards
Norman Oklahoma Stake - loses the Ada, Ardmore, Blanchard, Pauls Valley, and Seminole Wards and the Chickasha Branch, but gains the Purcell Ward (don't see a boundary, but the ward indicates it meets in Noble), leaving it with 6 wards and 1 branch
Oklahoma City Oklahoma Stake - loses the Clinton, Oklahoma 3rd, 5th, & 7th Wards and the El Reno and Kingfisher Branches, but gain the Scissortail, Village, and Oklahoma City YSA Wards, leaving it with 6 wards
Oklahoma City South Stake - loses the Mustang 1st & 2nd Wards, but gain the Anadarko & Blanchard Wards and the Chickasha Branch, leaving it with 5 wards and 2 branches.
NEW Yukon Oklahoma Stake consisting of the Clinton, Mustang 1st & 2nd, Oklahoma City 3rd, 5th & 7th Wards and the El Reno and Kingfisher Branches, which is 6 wards and 2 branches
NEW Shawnee Oklahoma Stake consisting of the Ada, Ardmore, Cushing, Pauls Valley, Seminole, and Shawnee Wards, which is 6 wards.
I'm hoping I didn't miss anything.
Since there used to be a Tulsa Mission (It was renamed to Arkansas Bentonville, and then Tulsa and some other stakes were shifted to Oklahoma City Mission), creating a new Tulsa Mission could be doable.
Have any details such as location of size been released for the Tulsa Oklahoma Temple yet?
Tulsa does have a location:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tulsa-oklahoma-temple/street-map/
Current plans: single story, about 29,600sq ft.
A missionary serving in my ward told me that a new stake was created in Brazil from a division of the Curitiba Boa Vista Stake.
Does anyone here know if this is true?
Yes, the Colombo Brazil Stake was created on the 15th of December.
So Tulsa Temple is being built bigger than Oklahoma City, although Oklahoma City serves more stakes. I know there are other factors. Oklahoma City was recently renovated, so expanding it now does not seem that practical. Also it is in the midst of a neighborhood with golf courses, so making it bigger would probably be a hard sell.
There is an adjacent chapel, so doing a tear down of the chapel and rebuild the temple as the only building on the lot could be done. However part of me is thinking that if the 2 new stakes are formed, there could be a Norman Oklahoma/Oklahoma City South South Temple. Moore actually might be a better location to put another temple. With the existing temple very much on the north side of Metro Oklahoma City that might make sense.
If the new stakes are Yukon and Shawnee, then Oklahoma City, Edmund and Yukon I guess would go with the existing temple, and Oklahoma City South, Norman and Shawnee would go to the new temple. Lawton would also go to the new temple, and Stillwater stay with the existing temple. That would give Tulsa 5 stakes, Oklahoma City 4 stakes and Oklahoma City South 4 stakes. The Oklahoma City South/Norman Temple could end up being about as far from the existing Oklahoma City Temple as Couer d'Alene Temple is from Spokane. There are a few more stakes in the Spokane Temple district, but I also think that a temple in Pullman, Lewiston or Moscow is a doable thing right now. I think at least the 10,000 square foot range temples can be supported by 3-4 stakes.
The following are additional temples I think could be announced in the US in the not too distant future.
Paducah, Kentucky
Oklahoma City South, Oklahoma
Lewiston, Idaho
Lexington. Kentucky
Norfolk, Virginia
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Augusta, Maine
Providence, Rhodes Island
Baltimore, Maryland
Wilmington, North Carolina
Columbus, Georgia
Gainesville, Florida
Fort Myers, Florida
Longview, Texas
Prescott, Arizona
Chinle, Arizona
Surprise, Arizona
Temecula, California
Napa, California
Nampa, Idaho
Blackfoot, Idaho
Rigby, Idaho
Evanston, Wyoming
Roosevelt, Utah
Richfield, Utah
Kanda, Utah
That is in addition to Concrod, New Hampshire; Charleston, South Carolina; Hattiesburg, Mississipp; and Spanish Fork, Utah that are my top picks for the US. There will probably also be a few more temples in other parts of the Wasatch Front, but figuring out where in the Wasatch Front will get a temple is tricky. I would guess 2 more in Weber County, 1 more in Davis County, 1 more in Salt Lake County, and 2 more besides Spanish Ford in Utah county in the not too distant future.
This weeks group of 16 new mission leaders had only four couples not from the US. 2 are from Mexico and 1 each from Bolivia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This may be putting the cart before the horse.
The Huntsville Alabama Temple was announced to be located within 1.5 hour drive from two temples. Unless it will serve stakes in metros of other temples, It will serve two average-sized stakes. I would say it's impractical for existing temples to be demolished and reconstructed, unless,
1) Existing becomes unserviceable/impractical to operate. Many of the small temples had to be reconstructed because of it (everything removed down to the studs and rebuilt).
2) The temple is reaching capacity (goes back to point 1). But if this is the case, it could also be remedied by building a new temple in the vicinity and have two operating temples instead of one.
Nealtican Mexico appears to have the 3 stakes in the country with the closest stake centers. It actually seems to be a good place to put a temple, even if it is not that far from Puebla. Morelia, Durango and Aguascalientes all seem places that would benefit from a temple. Morelia would be the most likely in my mind to be announced first.
Reynosa and Saltillo both seem fairly likely as well. A Saltillo Temple will be about half an hour closer to the 3 stakes in Monclova than Monterrey Temple is. It would go from 2 hours 45 minutes ish to 2 hours 15 minutes. Not a huge change, although depending on the exact location of a Saltillo Temple it might be close enough to be more helpful. The other thing I have no clue of is if there are wards or branches between Monclova and Saltillo (I imagine there are) and what stakes they are in, or if some are directly under a mission.
After further consideration, I think I should modify my prediction. I would probably take Angeles City/Olongapo and Machala off of this list and replace them with Mobile, Alabama and Springville/Mapleton/Spanish Fork, Utah (I normally dislike listing several cities as one prediction, but those three suburbs are so close together that it really does seem impossible to say which among them will get a temple).
--Felix
Donald Trump might transfer 35,000 military from Germany to Hungary. British press claim.
Hungarian Temple going to get extra patrons in the future?
Where is Kanda Utah?
Why is race and/or country of birth or origin so important that is has to be constantly brought up here? We are all children of the same God.
Perhaps Kanab?
I have not made the experience that US military members stationed in Germany are particularly dedicated temple patrons. They are likely a small (perhaps 1 or 2%) of the patrons in Frankfurt. There are actually more workers from the Adriatic North District than from the Kaiserslautern stake, as far as I know.
I would not get the hopes of the Hungarian Saints up that much.
John, can you let up on the constant posts, especially the ethnicity/countries where your stake presidents ex wifes step daughter three times removed is from? Its getting tiresome.
I agree, Felix, with your sentiments about the Springville/Mapleton/SF area. Quite honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if in the next 5-10 years at least one more of those cities got a temple, potentially even all 3.
David, I, too, am intrigued by this delay. I know there was a time (I believe with President Monson) when it was mentioned that he was holding off on additional temples. And I believe the intended purpose was to allow those in works to progress further, and, in a more general sense, to hold off on announcements until the overall temple project was further along in the planning/approval phase.
I may be totally misremembering or mis-contextualizing this. But just by the numbers, if 30+ temples continue to be announced each year, then at some point, we will need to start seeing 30-40 groundbreakings per year, followed by 30-40 dedications per year.
I have been under the impression that this would be happening. All of our units in the Lawton Stake were instructed a few months back to verify all member addresses (which is generally the precursor to boundary changes). Figuring our stake wasn't ready to split, my guess was we would be losing a unit.
We will be a bit disappointed from a selfish standpoint, as this may delay the day in which the Lawton Stake can be split into an OK stake and a TX stake.
While it may/may not be much, any assistance would of course be helpful.
I think I may have posted the link above. While I may be tempted to do more edits to this map, I'm going to step back and not do any more edits until May. This is my final prediction map for April 2025 Conference. I've marked the two groundbreaking slated for later this month as Under Construction since It's projected out to conference.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1G7hdBBWl07qNmfixCPEyCf7dAOKzzjw&usp=sharing
As mentioned earlier, my top 10 in geographical order:
Wasatch Front - Spanish Fork/Springville Utah most likely along the front
Mobile Alabama/Pensacola FL
Flagstaff Arizona
Morelia Mexico
Resistencia Argentina
Tacna Peru/Arica Chile
Santa Maria Brazil
Benin/Togo - Cotonou Benin appears slightly more likely than Lomé Togo.
Southern Spain - Marcia vicinity seems most likely but Seville/Granada is also a possibility
Angeles/Metro Manila Philippines
You can pan the map of all other predictions of mine.
The Purcell Ward is now listed in the Norman Oklahoma Stake. I didn't see where the Purcell Ward was located when I made my comments (the boundary and inclusion at the chapel in Noble still isn't visible), but I did find Purcell, Oklahoma located south of Noble. Considering where Purcell is located which would have put it directly in the middle of the Norman Oklahoma Stake, it makes me think its listing in the Edmond Oklahoma Stake was actually an error.
Oh absolutely true. I just want to give realistic expectations. And if they were all stationed in the immediate proximity of Budapest, that could help get the desire/ability to attend up as well. There are a lot of factors playing into this.
Of the 4 mission leader couples called this week from outside the US, half are assigned to go to a country other then where thry live. One of the Mexican couples is being sent to Bolivia and the Bolivian couple is being sent to Chile. So all within areas where Spanish is the official language.
The couple from the DR Congo is going from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi. Dr Congo has 4 major language zones. Kinshasa is in the Lingala zone, although many people in Kinshsa also speak French, and either KiKongo, Swahili or KiLubu. Some at least somewhat know all 5 languages. There is an independent group creating films on The History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in DR Congo under the name Not By Bread Alone. The films are narrated by Junior Bonza who was the first person baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in what was then Zaire. His parents joined the Church in Switzerland, Elder Renlund told of them in his October 2019 general conference talk.
In one of the short films there is a scene of the Bonzas singing. This is mainly because they went to Switzerland because of their musical ability. They sing in all 5 languages I mentioned above. To be fair singing in a language words you have memorized is far easier than speaking in it.
Back to the couple who will lead the Lubimbashi mission the husband was born in Lubumbashi, so is almost certainly at least somewhat functional in Swahili. Even though most wards and branches in the mission operate in French, there is at least one designated as Swahili and knowing Swahili will assist in communicating with the people there.
Question for y'all as I'd guess if anyone would know, it'd be the people on this blog. What temples are used in the final section of the endowment film? I cannot figure out which temple's endowment room is used and I was wondering if someone here might know. Thanks in advance.
The last part of the endowment was filmed at the Bountiful Utah Temple.
-Henry
Two of the hymns in the most recent addition to the hymnbook are African-American spirituals. "This Little Light of Mine" and "Were You There" (which I would have titled "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord".
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