Rio de Janeiro Brazil Mormon Temple

That a new Mormon temple would be built in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was announced by Prophet Thomas S. Monson at the 183rd annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 April 2013.  There are nearly 2 million Latter-day Saints in Brazil.  There are already Mormon temples in Fortaleza, Recife, Manaus, Curitiba, Campinas, Porto Alegre, and Sao Paulo.  With the Rio Temple, Brazil will have eight.

The Church of Jesus Christ has been building many smaller temples for the last several years, with the goal of enabling access to all members of the Church.  Now, 85% of the membership can get to a Mormon temple in three hours.

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3D Rendering of Provo City Center Temple

A 3D rendering of the Provo City Center Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often mistakenly called the Mormon Church) has been released in March 2013.  The rendering was created by Brian Olson. The building was formerly the Provo Tabernacle, an historic landmark.  After a serious, but accidental, fire, the Church of Jesus Christ decided to rebuild  (retaining the historic exterior) and convert the tabernacle into a temple.  The current temple in the area, the Provo Temple, which in on the east bench of north Provo near the Missionary Training Center, is often filled to capacity.

Land near the tabernacle had to be procured in order to accommodate the grounds and gardens, and parking for the temple.  It will grace the downtown area of Provo and surely cause the whole area to be revitalized as no other sort of initiative could possibly do.  City offices and the large NuSkin office are nearby, as are many small shops.

Nearby, on 500 North University Avenue in Provo, the Provo City Library was remodeled some years ago, retaining the historic exterior.  The resulting, modernized building is beautiful.  These two special buildings will anchor the Provo Downtown area.

LDS Church Temples

Fortaleza Brazil Temple

At the October 2009 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes inadvertently called the “Mormon Church”) it was announced that a Mormon temple would be built in Fortaleza Brazil.  There are 13 stakes near Fortaleza and several more in outlying areas. Members currently travel nearly 500 miles to attend the Recife Brazil Temple.  The Fortaleza Temple will be the seventh Mormon temple in Brazil, where there are nearly 1.2 million Latter-day Saints.

The Fortaleza Brazil Temple will be built in the coastal neighborhood of Dunas on a site located across from the esteemed FANOR, an institute of higher education.  The exact location is   Avenida Santos Dumont esq Rua Mal. Mascarenhas Morais, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.

The design for the Fortaleza is a classical colonial design with two spires.  An accommodation Building, a meetinghouse, and maintenance buildings will also be constructed on the site.

The groundbreaking for the Fortaleza Brazil Temple took place on November 15, 2011, with Mormon Apostle Elder David A. Bednar presiding.

 

 

Sapporo Japan Mormon Temple

That a new Mormon temple would be constructed in Sapporo Japan, was announced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 3, 2009 at the 179th General Conference of the Church in the Saturday morning session.

The site for the Sapporo Japan Temple is at 1-620-5 Ohyachi-Nishi, Atsubetsu-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, Japan. The site is 9.8 acres. The parcel of land is on the Atsubetsu River, adjacent to the campus of Hokusei Gakuen University. The land was once occupied by the Shin Sapporo Golf Center and offers convenient access from the Hokkaido Expressway and the Ooyachi Subway Station.

The Sapporo Japan Temple was designed with inspiration from Asian architecture. The temple will anchor a complex of supporting buildings including an Arrival Center, a Patron Housing Facility, a Temple Missionary Housing Facility, a combined home and office for the Japan Sapporo Mission, and space for a future meetinghouse. The grounds will feature distinctive trees and plants, large landscaping stones, and a pond and waterfall spanned by a pedestrian bridge.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Sapporo Japan Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) was held Saturday, October 22, 2011, amidst wind and rain, marking the beginning of the Church’s third temple in Japan and sixth in Asia. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Church’s First Quorum of the Seventy presided at the groundbreaking. He was joined by Elders Michael T. Ringwood and Koichi Aoyagi of the Seventy.

The goal to qualify for a temple on Hokkaidō was five stakes (groups of congregations).

This will be the third temple built in Japan, which has 29 stakes and 14 districts. Sapporo is Japan’s fifth largest city and is located on the northern island of Hokkaidō.

There are presently two Mormon Temples in Japan — the Tokyo Japan Temple (1980) and the Fukuoka Japan Temple (2000).

Durban South Africa Temple

At the 181st semi-annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Prophet Thomas S. Monson announced the construction of a new Mormon temple in Durban, South Africa.  This will be the second temple for South Africa.  The Johannesburg, South Africa temple was dedicated in 1985.

The first missionaries to South Africa arrived in April 1853, and in August, the first congregation was organized four miles from Cape Town. Two years later, there were three congregations totaling nearly 130 members. Missionaries were not sent to South Africa from 1865 to 1903 because of government restrictions and the inability to speak the Afrikaans language. A few years after missionaries returned to South Africa, the first Church building was built in Mowbray in 1916-17.

An area conference was held for the first time in October 1978, attended by 3,450 of the 7,200 members living in South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and South West Africa (Namibia). In February 1992, another conference was held in Johannesburg with 4,200 in attendance. In February 1996, another regional conference had more than 5,000 in attendance. Today, members of all origins work together to overcome cultural barriers that have been prevalent in South African society.  There are around 55,000 Latter-day Saints in South Africa of all races.  The LDS Church does not segregate races in congregations or in the temples.

For information and Mormon news about the other temples that have just been announced visit the newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”)

Kinshasa Congo Temple

At the 181st general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Prophet Thomas S. Monson announced the construction of two new temples in Africa, one in Durban, South Africa, and one in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  These will be the fourth and fifth temples to be constructed in Africa, with existing temples in Johannesburg, South Africa; Accra, Ghana; and Aba, Nigeria.  Members in Congo currently attend the temple in Johannesburg, over 2000 miles away.  The Kinshasa Temple will serve 23,000 Latter-day Saints.

The first missionaries arrived in Kinshasa in February 1986, when the Church received legal status. Meetings were first held in the homes of members. Then the Church purchased a villa and had it remodelled into a meetinghouse. In September 1986, at the first meeting in the 200-seat facility, 208 Church members attended.

The Zaire Kinshasa Mission was created in 1987, and nine years later the Church had grown sufficiently for a stake (diocese) to be organized.

In 1991 a religious education program for youth and young adults was introduced.

For Mormon news and information about the recently announced temples visit the official newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ.

Star Valley Wyoming Temple

At the 181st semi-annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held in October 2011, Prophet Thomas S. Monson announced the construction of a new Mormon temple in Star Valley, Wyoming.  The prophet joked that he would personally dedicate the new temple, because the fishing is good nearby.  This will be the first temple to be built in Wyoming.

Mormons in Wyoming had previously attended the temple in Rexburg, Idaho.  The journey was considerably more difficult during the winter.

Mormon pioneers in the first westward party in 1847 made their way through Wyoming, stopping at Fort Laramie to repair their wagons.   They followed the Oregon Trail along the Platte River to Fort Bridger

The pioneers used rafts and a boat to ferry themselves and their belongings across the Platte River. Nine men stayed behind to continue the profitable ferry, which found business from Oregon-bound travelers.

In Wyoming, the pioneers met Jim Bridger, who gave an optimistic opinion of the Great Basin area. Most pioneer companies traveled through Wyoming without incident; however, the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies of 1857 started later in the year and became trapped in the winter snows. Approximately 200 of the 1,075 in the companies died. Others were saved by Utah rescue parties.

In 1877, Church members settled the Star Valley area, and the following year, Church President Brigham Young dedicated the spot as a gathering place for members.  In 1992, Wyoming Latter-day Saints erected three monuments in memory of the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies. Later, the Church purchased land at the mouth of Sweetwater Canyon where 21 pioneers died in one night. These sites were dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.

There are over 63,000 Latter-day Saints in the state of Wyoming in 154 congregations.

In June 2012 the location for the new Star Valley Wyoming Mormon Temple was announced.  The new temple will be constructed east of U.S. Highway 89 on the Haderlie Farm property south of Afton.

For information and Mormon news about the other temples that have just been announced visit the newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”)

Barranquilla Colombia Temple

In October 2011 at the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Prophet Thomas S. Monson announced the construction of a second temple in Colombia.  The first is in Bogota.  The new temple will be in Barranquilla, Colombia, which is located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea.  Located on the delta of the Magdalena River, the city serves as a port for river and maritime transportation within Colombia.

The first LDS Missionaries arrived in Colombia in 1966.  Five years later, 27 congregations were established in 10 cities.  Today, Church membership is nearly nineteen times that of 20 years ago.  Colombia has 172,534 members of the Church in 272 congregations, and four missions.

LDS.org has a separate website for Colombia (in Spanish), which you can access by clicking here.

For information and Mormon news about the other temples that have just been announced visit the newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”)

Provo Utah Tabernacle

The Provo Tabernacle  was originally built between 1883 and 1898 on University Avenue between Center Street and 100 South, and was a city landmark for over 100 years.  The tabernacle had been updated as the years went by, but its distinguished architecture was never changed.  The building was  gutted by fire in December 2010.  Apparently, no arson was involved.  The building was beloved and venerated by generations of residents and BYU students who worshiped and attended a variety of meetings, concerts and other events there.

During the months after the fire and the investigation that followed, residents wondered whether the historical facade of the building could be saved.  There was an audible gasp of joy at the announcement in General Conference by Prophet Thomas S. Monson that the historic tabernacle would be remade into a temple.  There is a precedent for this action, since the Vernal Utah Temple (dedicated in 1997) was created from the 1907 Uintah Stake Tabernacle.  The new temple will include “a complete restoration of the original historic exterior.

Speculation had intensified during recent months as the church had been working on acquiring additional properties on the Tabernacle block. In late August 2011, it announced the acquisition of land from two businesses on the block, the Travelodge Motel and Los 3 Amigos restaurant.  At the end of September 2011 the Provo Municipal Council voted to sell to the church the property upon which the old Hotel Roberts used to be located. The hotel was demolished in 2004.

With those acquisitions — and impending acquisitions — the Church will own the entire Tabernacle block, with the exception of the Post Office property. The Church has not indicated any plans for acquiring that property.

The Provo Utah Temple is the most-used temple in the Church, with the Brigham Young University campus and Missionary Training Center nearby.  This, second, temple in Provo will help to ease the crowding and waiting times experienced by the Provo Temple.

For information and Mormon news about the other temples that have just been announced visit the newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”)

 

Paris France Mormon Temple

That a new temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be built in Paris, France, was formally announced at the Mormon General Conference of October, 2011. However, since the French press got hold of the plan many months before, an informal announcement was made in July of 2011, while government approvals were still in progress. The temple is planned for the area of Le Chesnay. Le Chesnay is located in the western suburbs of Paris 16.7 km (10.4 mi) from the center (Wikipedia).

There are more than 36,000 Latter-day Saints in France, and they have attended the temple in other European countries, especially Germany and Switzerland.

The first LDS missionary to France was the apostle John Taylor, who later became prophet and president of the Church. He departed for Europe in 1849. The first congregation in France, consisting of six members, was organized in April 1850 in Boulogne-sur-Mer. By July 24, 1853, nine branches (small congregations) had been formed with 337 members. Two hundred eighty-nine of those members were from the Channel Islands.

The Church grew slowly in France until after World War II, when the LDS Church contributed to the reconstruction of Europe. At that time missionaries were once more sent into France, and membership began to increase. In 1955, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir made its historic tour of Europe, performing in the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. (Later, the choir performed in Strasbourg in 1991 and in Marseille in 1998.) At the time of the Choir’s first performance, Church membership in the nation was only about 1,500. France’s first meetinghouse was completed in Nantes in 1962. By 1974, 29 French members were serving as missionaries for the Church.

In 1998 LDS prophet and president Gordon B. Hinckley visited France and predicted that a temple would someday be built there. He visited France again in 2004 and asked the Saints to be patient. Church members in France are organized into seven stakes (dioceses) that meet in 115 meetinghouses. Members come from every walk of life.

Updates

In France,  Le Parisien reported that the final hurdles were cleared for the construction of the Paris France Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“It’s now a done deal,” Le Parisien reported on November 9, 2011. “The city council has just given its green light by validating the building permit filed by La Foncie des Régions on behalf of the Mormon Church.” [1]

In February 2012 Voice of America reported controversy regarding the building of the Paris France Mormon Temple.  France is traditionally a Catholic country, but as in many countries in Western Europe, few attend church.  As a secularized country, France is wary of any religion, especially a religion as demanding of its followers as Mormonism.  The fact that only worthy Mormons can attend the temple also concerns some French people.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assures the French people that it is not extremist in any way, and that the gardens (open to the public) will be a blessing to local residents.  There is always an open house staged before a Mormon temple is dedicated for worship, and many LDS temples offer holiday programs for the public.

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