20 new temples announced by President Nelson at October General Conference

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

Some highlights of the ad:

• With Sunday’s announcement, President Nelson will have announced a total of 153 temples during his prophetic period.
• 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 the 24th temple in Mexico, the 22nd temple in Brazil, the 13th temple in the Philippines, the 10th temple in Peru, and the 5th temple in Japan.

Below is the complete list of new temples announced:

• Savaii, Samoa
• Kahului, Hawaii
• Fairbanks, Alaska
• Vancouver, Washington
• Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Roanoke, Virginia
• Cancun in Mexico
• Piura, Peru
• Huancayo, Peru
• Viña del Mar, Chile
• Goiânia, Brazil
• Joao Pessoa, Brazil
• Cape Coast, Ghana
• Calabar, Nigeria
• Luanda, Angola
• Mbugi Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Laoag, Philippines
• Osaka, Japan
• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

President Nelson participated in the entire conference remotely. It was announced on Thursday that he suffered a back injury after falling two days after his 99th birthday.

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

Utah has 28 temples in operation, under construction, or announced.

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

Here’s what we know about the new temple sites

Savaii, Samoa

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

Kahului, Hawaii

• Located on the island of Maui, the Kahului Hawaiian Temple will be the first on the island.
• It will be built about 25 miles east of Lahaina, which was destroyed by a wildfire earlier this year.
• There are two other temples in the state, which is 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 located in Anchorage, which will remain open as it undergoes major renovations in early 2024.

Vancouver, Washington

• The Vancouver Washington Temple will be the sixth temple built in the state.
• It will serve 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 Colorado. Colorado Springs will be 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

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

Roanoke, Virginia

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

Cancun in Mexico

• Cancun is located on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
• This will be the first temple to be built in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, but the 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 consider the country their home.

Huancayo, Peru

• Huancayo is located 290 miles east of Lima, Peru and is the capital of the Junín region of Peru.
• 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 Valparaiso region and the fifth in 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 in the state of Goiás.
• Located on the northeastern coast of Brazil, João Pessoa is the largest city in the Brazilian state of Paraíba.
• Eight more temples were previously announced with two more during the General Conference in October 2023. There are another ten temples in operation and two under construction in the country, for a total of 22 temples.
• 1.5 million Latter-day Saints live in Brazil.

Cape Coast, Ghana

• Cape Coast is located in the south-central region of 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 coastal city in West Africa, 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 southwest Africa.
• Portuguese is spoken in Angola.
• Nearly 9.3 million people live there, including 5,000 Latter-day Saints.

Mbugi Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

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

Laoag, Philippines

• Laoag City is located in the western part of the Philippines and has a population of 110,000 people.
• The Philippines has the fastest growing church membership in the world.
• It will be the thirteenth 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 whom are Latter-day Saints.
• The Okinawa Japanese Temple will be dedicated on November 12, 2023.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

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

How did people react to the announcement of the new temple?

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