President Nelson announces 20 new temples during recorded general conference address

During the Sunday afternoon session of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 193rd Semiannual General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced the construction of 20 more temples across the world.

A few highlights from the announcement:

• With Sunday’s announcement, President Nelson has announced a total of 153 temples during his time as prophet.
• Four of the newly announced temples will be built in Africa.
• A temple will be built on the island of Maui.
• A second temple will be built in Alaska and a sixth temple will be built in Washington state.
• There will be a 24th temple in Mexico, a 22nd temple in Brazil, a 13th temple in the Philippines, a 10th temple in Peru and a fifth temple in Japan.

Here’s the complete list of new temples announced:

• Savai’i, Samoa
• Kahului, Hawaii
• Fairbanks, Alaska
• Vancouver, Washington
• Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Roanoke, Virginia
• Cancún, Mexico
• Piura, Peru
• Huancayo, Peru
• Viña del Mar, Chile
• Goiânia, Brazil
• João Pessoa, Brazil
• Cape Coast, Ghana
• Calabar, Nigeria
• Luanda, Angola
• Mbuji-Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Laoag, Philippines
• Osaka, Japan
• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

President Nelson participated in the entire conference remotely. On Thursday, he announced that he had sustained a back injury from a fall two days after his 99th birthday.

President Nelson announced 15 new temples at the close of April general conference. While this list did not include a new location in Utah, the recent dedication of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple begins what will be a wave of temple growth in the Beehive State in the coming years.

Utah has 28 temples that are operating, under construction or announced.

There are a total of 315 announced, under construction, and operating temples around the world.

Here’s what we know about the new temples’ locations

Savai’i, Samoa

• This will be the second temple in the country of Samoa, after the Apia Somoa Temple.
• Somoa is home to 95,000 Latter-day Saints.

Kahului, Hawaii

• Located on the island of Maui, the Kahului Hawaii Temple will be the first on the island.
• It will be built about 25 miles east of the town of Lahaina, which was devastated by a wildfire earlier this year.
• Two other temples are located in the state, home to 75,000 Latter-day Saints.

Fairbanks, Alaska

• This will be the second temple in the state.
• Alaska is home to 35,000 Latter-day Saints.
• The first temple is in Anchorage, which will stay open as it undergoes major renovations in early 2024.

Vancouver, Washington

• The Vancouver Washington temple will be the sixth temple to be constructed in the state.
• It will service those in the Portland metropolitan area.
• Washington is home to more than 280,000 Latter-day Saints.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

• There are three other temples in the state of Colorado. Colorado Springs will be the fourth.
• Colorado Springs is the city with the second largest population in the state.
• More than 150,000 Latter-day Saints call Colorado home.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

• One other temple, the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple, is located in the state. Tulsa will be the second.
• Oklahoma is home to more than 50,000 Latter-day Saints.

Roanoke, Virginia

• Roanoke Virginia will be the third temple in the state of Virginia.
• Virginia is home to close to 97,000 Latter-day Saints.

Cancún, Mexico

• The city of Cancún is on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula.
• This will be the first temple built in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, but 24th in the large country.
• More than 1.5 million Latter-day Saints live in Mexico.

Piura, Peru

• Piura is the capital of the Piera Region.
• There are seven other temples in Peru, but two more were announced in October 2023, for a total of 10 temples in the country.
• More than 630,000 Latter-day Saints call the country home.

Huancayo, Peru

• Huancayo is 290 miles east of the capital of Lima, Peru and is the capital of Peru’s Junín Region.
• There are seven other temples in Peru, but two more were announced in October 2023, for a total of 10 houses of the lord in the country.

Viña del Mar, Chile

• Viña del Mar, Chile, is one of the four largest cities in the country.
• This temple will be the first in the region of Valparaíso and the fifth in the country of Chile.
• More than 600,000 Latter-day Saints live in Chile.

Goiânia, Brazil and João Pessoa, Brazil

• With 2.9 million people, the Goiânia Brazil Temple will be built in the largest city of the state of Goiás.
• Located on the northeast coast of Brazil, João Pessoa is the largest city in the Brazilian state of Paraíba.
• Eight other temples have been announced previously with two more during October 2023 general conference. Ten more temples are operating and two are under construction in the country, for a total of 22.
• 1.5 million Latter-day Saints live in Brazil.

Cape Coast, Ghana

• Cape Coast is located in the south-central region in Ghana.
• The Cape Coast Ghana Temple will be the third temple in the country.
• More than 100,000 Latter-day Saints live in Ghana.

Calabar, Nigeria

• Calabar is a West African port city in Nigeria.
• The Calabar Nigeria Temple will be the fifth in the country.
• More than 225,000 Latter-day Saints live in Nigeria.

Luanda, Angola

• Angola is located in southwestern Africa.
• Portuguese is spoken in Angola.
• Close to 9.3 million people live there, 5,000 of which are Latter-day Saints.

Mbuji-Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

• The second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mbuji-Mayi is the capital of the south-central, Kasai-Oriental Province.
• This temple will be the fourth in the country.

Laoag, Philippines

• Laoag is located in the western part of the Philippines and is home to 110,00 residents.
• The Philippines has the fastest-growing church membership in the world.
• It will be the 13th temple in the country.

Osaka, Japan

• The Osaka Japan Temple will be the fifth in Japan.
• Japan is home to 19 million people, 130,000 of which are Latter-day Saints.
• The Okinawa Japan Temple will be dedicated on Nov. 12, 2023.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

• Mongolia is located between China and Russia in East Asia, where the closest temple is close to 2,000 miles away in Hong Kong.
• Ulaanbaatar is known as the coldest capital of the world.
• About 12,000 Latter-day Saints live in Mongolia.

How have people reacted to the new temple announcement?

Reactions to the 20 temples announced ranged from amazement to tears of joy by users on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.