Temple Work Rolls On Around World

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles rededicated the Papeete Tahiti Temple in two sessions in November 2006. First dedicated in October 1983, the temple underwent a 15-month renovation that enlarged the baptismal font and sealing rooms and provided a youth center for children being sealed to their parents.

An estimated 10,000 Tahitians participated in the rededication, which was broadcast to local stake centers as well as to Salt Lake City, New Caledonia, and the BYU–Hawaii campus.

President Gordon B. Hinckley presided at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple on December 16, 2006. In attendance were President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust, Counselors in the First Presidency; Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who conducted the service; and other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Quorums of the Seventy.

Plans for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple include a 9-foot-tall (2.7-m) statue of the angel Moroni that will sit atop a single 193-foot-tall (59-m) spire. The temple will sit on an 11-acre (4.5-ha) site at the base of the Oquirrh Mountains and will face the Wasatch Mountains to the east.

South Jordan, Utah, where the Oquirrh Mountain temple will be located, will be the first city in the world to have two temples. The Jordan River Utah Temple is also located in the city. The new temple will be the 13th in Utah.

During the groundbreaking ceremony for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced plans to build a temple in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. The temple will be the second in Guatemala.

The temple in Quetzaltenango will be what President Hinckley refers to as a smaller temple. The concept of smaller temples, introduced by President Hinckley during the October 1997 general conference, can be constructed at much less cost than larger temples while making temple blessings available to more members.

Work continues on the Curitiba Brazil, Draper Utah, Panama City Panama, Rexburg Idaho, and Twin Falls Idaho Temples.

Currently the Church has 135 temples announced, under construction, or in operation.

For more information about temples across the globe, visit the Church’s Temples Web site (www.lds.org/temples).