A by-the-numbers look at the 118 temples announced by President Nelson
The geographic breakdowns, firsts, multiples and more of the temples President Nelson has announced in less than five years
President Russell M. Nelson turns the first soil at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ephraim Utah Temple ion Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. With President Nelson are his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, third from left, Gov. Spencer Cox, left, and Utah first lady Abby Cox, second from left. Second from right is Elder Walter F. González, General Authority Seventy, next to his wife, Sister Zulma González.
Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
A by-the-numbers look at the 118 temples announced by President Nelson
The geographic breakdowns, firsts, multiples and more of the temples President Nelson has announced in less than five years
President Russell M. Nelson turns the first soil at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ephraim Utah Temple ion Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. With President Nelson are his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, third from left, Gov. Spencer Cox, left, and Utah first lady Abby Cox, second from left. Second from right is Elder Walter F. González, General Authority Seventy, next to his wife, Sister Zulma González.
Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Of the 118 temples announced by President Russell M. Nelson since becoming President of the Church in January 2018, the following totals show their current status after October 2022 general conference:
- Dedicated — 2
- Scheduled for dedication — 1
- Under construction — 41
- Scheduled for groundbreaking — 1
- With site announced and rendering released — 11
- In planning and development — 62
- Total — 118
The two dedicated temples President Nelson announced are the Yigo Guam Temple and the Praia Cape Verde Temple, with the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple scheduled for dedication on Jan. 15, 2023.
The Heber Valley Utah Temple will have its groundbreaking this weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 8.
President Russell M. Nelson, his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Sister Patricia Holland tour the Church site to be used for a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, April 20, 2018.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Frequency over tenure
President Nelson was ordained and set apart as Prophet and President of the Church on Jan. 14, 2018; on Oct. 2, 2022, he announced temple locations number 101 through number 118.
Earlier in the year, at April 2022 general conference, he announced 17 new temple locations, bringing the total of temple locations he had announced to an even 100.
That’s 118 temples over 1,723 days as Church president — a rate of a temple announced every two weeks. Or a rate of two temples a month during the just-under 57 months of his tenure.
Geographic area
The geographic breakdown of the 118 temples is as follows:
- United States — 41
- Mexico, Central America and Caribbean — 16
- South America — 19
- Europe — 7
- Africa and Middle East — 15
- Asia and the Philippines — 13
- Pacific — 7
Cheryl Reyes reacts to Church President Russell M. Nelson’s announcement that there will be seven new temples around the world during the afternoon session of the 188th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 1, 2018.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Temples in Utah
President Nelson has announced new temple locations on 11 occasions, including 10 general conferences settings. On nine occasions he announced at least one Utah temple — including in each of the eight general conferences during the first four years of his tenure as President of the Church.
One temple was announced outside of general conference — the only one of President Nelson’s 118 temple locations to be released outside of a conference weekend. On May 1, 2021, in a message delivered digitally from Church headquarters to the historic Manti Temple, which in turn was broadcast to members of the Manti Utah Temple district, President Nelson stated plans to preserve pioneer-era craftsmanship, artwork and character as part of the Manti temple’s renovation — and he announced a new temple for Ephraim, less than 10 miles away from Manti in the same Sanpete County.
He later announced a temple for Utah’s Heber Valley — his 10th for Utah — in October 2021 general conference. However, no temple location in Utah was part of his temple location announcements in April 2022 general conference or more recently at October 2022 general conference.
Only once did he announce two Utah locations at the same setting. In the October 2019 general conference, two temples were announced for Utah — in Orem and Taylorsville.
Following are the Utah locations announced by President Nelson for new temples — all are under construction except for the Heber Valley temple, which soon will be following its Oct. 8 groundbreaking:
- April 2018 general conference — Layton
- October 2018 general conference — originally announced as a temple for Washington County, the temple was renamed the Red Cliffs Utah Temple
- April 2019 general conference — originally announced as a temple for Tooele Valley, the temple was renamed the Deseret Peak Utah Temple
- October 2019 general conference — Orem and Taylorsville
- April 2020 general conference — Syracuse
- October 2020 general conference — Lindon
- April 2021 general conference — Smithfield
- May 1, 2021 — Ephraim
- October 2021 general conference — Heber Valley
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shows an artist rendering of the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple during a devotional in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Nov. 19, 2019.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Firsts
Of the 118 temples announced by President Nelson, 22 are the first in their nations or territories and three are the first in their U.S. states.
Nations/territories
- American Samoa
- Austria
- Belgium
- Cambodia
- Cape Verde
- Guam
- Hungary
- India
- Kiribati
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Mozambique
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Papua New Guinea
- Puerto Rico
- Republic of Singapore
- Republic of the Congo
- Russia
- Sierra Leone
- United Arab Emirates
- Vanuatu
U.S. states
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- Virginia
President Russell M. Nelson, front, is joined by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, right, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder Randy D. Funk, left, General Authority Seventy; and Elder Robert K. William, behind, an Area Seventy, in looking over a possible temple site in Bengaluru, India, on Thursday, April 19, 2018.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Multiples
Of the 118 temples announced by President Nelson, the Prophet has announced multiple temples for 12 nations or territories and nine states in the United States.
Nations/territories
- United States — 41
- Mexico — 10
- Brazil — 8
- Philippines — 6
- Argentina — 4
- Guatemala — 3
- Nigeria — 3
- Bolivia — 2
- Chile — 2
- Democratic Republic of the Congo — 2
- New Zealand — 2
- Peru — 2
U.S. states
- Utah — 10
- Texas — 4
- California — 3
- Florida — 3
- Idaho — 3
- Montana — 2
- Nevada — 2
- Washington — 2
- Wyoming — 2
A map showing operating, under-construction and announced temples in and around Mexico City, Mexico.
Google Maps and Church News graphic
Mexico and metro-area multiples
Temples in Mexico took a prominent role in the announcement of new location in October 2022 general conference, when President Nelson spoke of plans to build multiple temples in selected large metropolitan areas where travel to an existing temple is a challenge.
He then announced four locations for new temples near Mexico City — Cuernavaca, Pachuca, Toluca and Tula, Mexico.
The four locations upped the total of new temples for Mexico as announced by President Nelson to 10 — equal to the 10 for Utah during the past nearly five years.
The four also put a spotlight on temples locations announced by President Nelson that are in the same metro area or in close proximity to other temple locations.
5 new temples
Mexico City, Mexico — new temples announced for Mexico City Benemerito, Cuernavaca, Pachuca, Toluca and Tula, Mexico and the under-construction Puebla Mexico Temple, near the operating Mexico City Mexico Temple.
2 new temples
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas — the new temples announced for Fort Worth and Prosper, near the operating Dallas Texas Temple.
Davis County, Utah — the under-construction temples in Layton and Syracuse.
São Paulo, Brazil — new temples announced for São Paulo East and Santos, near the operating São Paulo Brazil and Campinas Brazil temples.
Utah County, Utah — the under-construction Orem Utah and Lindon Utah temples, near the operating Provo Utah, Provo City Center, Payson Utah and Mount Timpanogos Utah temples and the under-construction Saratoga Springs Utah Temple.
1 new temple
Buenos Aires, Argentina — the newly announced temple for Buenos Aires’ city center, near the operating Buenos Aires Argentina Temple.
Cache County, Utah — the under-construction Smithfield Utah Temple, near the operating Logan Utah Temple.
Eastern Idaho — the not-yet-under-construction and recently renamed Teton River Idaho Temple in Rexburg, near the operating Rexburg Idaho, Idaho Falls Idaho and Pocatello Idaho temples.
Greater Los Angeles, California, area — the under-construction Yorba Linda California Temple, near the operating Los Angeles California, Newport Beach California and Redlands California temples.
Guatemala City, Guatemala — the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple, near the operating Guatemala City Guatemala Temple.
Las Vegas, Nevada — the newly announced temple for Lone Mountain, Nevada, near the operating Las Vegas Nevada Temple.
Sacramento, California — the under-construction Feather River California Temple in Yuba City, near the operating Sacramento California Temple.
Salt Lake County — the under-construction Taylorsville Utah Temple, near the operating Salt Lake, Jordan River Utah, Oquirrh Mountain Utah and Draper Utah temples.
Sanpete Valley, Utah — the under-construction Ephraim Utah Temple, near the dedicated and under-renovation Manti Utah Temple.
Santiago, Chile – the new temple announced for Santiago West, near the operating Santiago Chile Temple.
Seattle, Washington — the newly announced temple for Tacoma, Washington, near the operating Seattle Washington Temple.
South-central Idaho — the under-construction Burley Idaho Temple, near the operating Twin Falls Idaho Temple.
St. George, Utah — the under-construction Red Cliffs Utah Temple, near the dedicated and under-renovation St. George Utah Temple.
Two Congos — the new temple announced for Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo, just across the Congo River from the operating Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple.
