President Thomas S. Monson announces plans for three new temples during the Sunday morning session of general conference on April 5, 2015.
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SALT LAKE CITY — LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson opened the Sunday morning session of the faith's 185th Annual General Conference by announcing plans for three new temples in Africa, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia.
The temples will be built in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Port au Prince, Haiti; and Bangkok, Thailand.
The church also is in the process of finding locations for more temples, he said.
It had been two years since President Monson last announced a new temple, the longest lag between temple announcements in 25 years for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was part of a deliberate decision. He declared a moratorium on new temple announcements a year ago so the church could focus efforts on completing previously announced temples.
At the time, he promised more temples in the future. Sunday, he fulfilled that promise.
"The process of determining needs and finding locations for additional temples is ongoing," he said, "for we desire that as many members as possible have an opportunity to attend the temple without great sacrifices of time and resources. As we have done in the past, we will keep you informed as decisions are made in this regard."
He said the building of temples is "a very clear indication of the growth of the church" a day after the church announced membership had grown by about 290,000 to 15,372,337 at the end of 2014.
"We currently have 144 temples in operation worldwide," he added, "with five being renovated and 13 more under construction. In addition, 13 temples which were previously announced are in various stages of preparation before construction begins."
On Saturday, Elder Quentin L. Cook said the church has seen "a dramatic increase" in recent years in the number of temple-endowed members with a current temple recommend. Faithful Latter-day Saints receive an
endowment
— a bestowal of knowledge and understanding of gospel principles — in temples.
President Monson said five new temples are scheduled for dedication this year —
Córdoba Argentina
(May 17),
Payson Utah
(June 7),
Trujillo Peru
(June 21),
Indianapolis Indiana
(dedication, Aug. 23),
Tijuana Mexico
(Dec. 13).
He said the church anticipates rededicating two other temples this year after renovations are completed. One is scheduled —
Mexico City Mexico
(Sept. 13). The other rededication this year likely will be the Montreal Temple. The other temples under renovation are in Idaho Falls, Fiji, and Freiberg, Germany.
He said he has enjoyed many blessings since February 2008, when he became the church's 16th president, and "among the most enjoyable and sacred of these blessings has been my opportunity to dedicate and rededicate temples."
Temples are central to LDS worship and doctrine, though they are not used for Sunday services like chapels or meetinghouses, which are open to the public. Once a temple is dedicated, only faithful Latter-day Saints may enter to be married and sealed to a spouse for eternity, to receive an endowment and to perform baptisms and other
ordinances on behalf of those who have died
.
The last time Latter-day Saints saw more time pass without a new temple announcement was the six years between 1984 and 1990, a span that straddled the church presidencies of Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson.
In the 25 years since 1990, the church's membership doubled from 7.7 million members to more than 15.3 million.
During that time, the number of operating temples jumped from 44 to 144.
In April 2013,
President Monson revealed plans
for temples in Cedar City, Utah, and Rio de Janeiro.
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