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The temple in Newport Beach, Calif., is shown Monday, July 18, 2005. During nearly a month of public tours, more than 185,000 people were expected to see the new facility.

Temples dedicated around world

by Brad Jackman Leslie Bardsley BAR04015@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

The dedication of temples in Nigeria, California and Samoa in less than a month illustrates President Gordon B. Hinckley’s determination to fill the world with temples.

President Hinckley dedicated a temple in Aba, Nigeria on Aug. 7, and one in Newport Beach, Calif. on Aug. 28. The Apia Samoa Temple will be rededicated on Sept. 4, a two-year process after fire destroyed the temple in July 2003.

These temples relieve considerable stress from members who previously had to travel hundreds of miles to attend the temple. The Aba Nigeria Temple is only the third in Africa and the Apia Samoa Temple is only the fourth in the Pacific Islands.

Each dedication is preceded by two to four weeks of public tours and then a celebration of the area’s unique culture on the eve of the dedication. Thousands of people have the opportunity to view the temples and gain a greater understanding of the mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Every temple that this Church has built has, in effect, stood as a monument to our belief in the immortality of the human soul,” President Hinckley said in his April 2002 Ensign article, “Inspirational Thoughts.”

These three recent dedications raise the number of operating temples to 122, with seven more planned. Temples are now announced, under construction or operating in 40 countries throughout the world.