The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released the open-house and dedication dates for three new houses of the Lord in the Americas — the Taylorsville Utah Temple in North America, the Cobán Guatemala Temple in Central America and the Salta Argentina Temple in South America.
The three will be dedicated on successive Sundays in June — the Taylorsville temple on June 2, the Cobán temple on June 9 and the Salta temple on June 16. The latter is the same day as the dedication of the Layton Utah Temple.
The dates were announced Tuesday, Jan. 16, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Taylorsville Utah Temple
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the Taylorsville Utah Temple on Sunday, June 2, in two sessions scheduled at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. MDT. The sessions will be broadcast to all units within the temple district.
A public open house is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, through Saturday, May 18, excluding Sundays. A media day is planned for Tuesday, April 9, with invited guests touring the temple later that day through Friday, April 12.
The Taylorsville temple was announced by President Russell M. Nelson during the women’s session of the October 2019 general conference. Less than 10 weeks later, the First Presidency identified the site location, centrally located within the Salt Lake Valley just west of Interstate 215 and southwest of the Belt Route’s 4700 South interchange.
The house of the Lord is a three-story, 70,000-square-foot building with a center spire, on a 7.5-acre site at 2603 W. 4700 South. Elder Gong presided over the temple’s groundbreaking services Oct. 31, 2020.
The Taylorsville temple is one of 28 total temples in operation, under construction or under renovation in Utah, home to more than 2.1 million Latter-day Saints spread throughout some 5,400 congregations.
Houses of the Lord in Utah that are operating are the Bountiful, Brigham City, Cedar City, Draper, Jordan River, Logan, Monticello, Mount Timpanogos, Ogden, Oquirrh Mountain, Payson, Provo, Provo City Center, Saratoga Springs, St. George and Vernal temples.
Two dedicated temples are under renovation — the Manti and Salt Lake temples; the Provo Utah Temple will close for reconstruction in late February.
The Orem Utah and Red Cliffs Utah temples are completed and scheduled for dedication on Jan. 21 and March 24, respectively; the Taylorsville and Layton temples make four in the state to be dedicated over the next five months. Other houses of the Lord under construction are the Deseret Peak, Ephraim, Heber Valley, Lindon, Smithfield and Syracuse temples.
Cobán Guatemala Temple
Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the Cobán Guatemala Temple on Sunday, June 9, in two sessions scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local time. The sessions will be broadcast to all units within the temple district.
Prior to the dedication, a public open house will be held from Thursday, April 25, through Saturday, May 11, excluding Sundays. A media day is scheduled for Monday, April 22, with invited guests to visit the temple Tuesday and Wednesday, April 23-24.
President Nelson announced a temple in Cobán at the women’s session of the 2019 October general conference.
Elder Brian K. Taylor, a General Authority Seventy who was then president of the Central America Area, presided at the Nov. 14, 2020, groundbreaking for the temple, held just days after Hurricane Eta had hit Guatemala and other parts of Central America, resulting in the loss of more than 100 lives.
A single-story edifice of approximately 8,800 feet, the Cobán temple is on a 5.4-acre site adjacent to 4a. Avenida 4-48 Zona 8, Barrio Bella Vista, in Cobán, Guatemala. The property also includes a meetinghouse and temple patron housing.
The Cobán temple will be the third dedicated house of the Lord in Guatemala, joining the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple (dedicated in 1984) and the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple (2011).
A fourth temple — the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple — has been under construction since its December 2022 groundbreaking. A temple in Huehuetenango has its site released, and another in Retalhuleu is in planning.
The first missionaries arrived in Guatemala in 1947. The country now has nearly 290,000 Latter-day Saints comprising more than 430 congregations.
Salta Argentina Temple
Elder D. Todd Christofferson will dedicate the Salta Argentina Temple on Sunday, June 16, in two sessions, at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local time. The sessions will be broadcast to all units in the temple district.
A public open house is planned for Friday, May 3, through Saturday, May 18, excluding Sundays. A media day is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30, and invited guests will visit Wednesday and Thursday, May 1-2.
The Salta temple is built on a 17.72-acre site across from the airport in the city’s southern area. An accommodation center and meetinghouse have been built on the property, as well as a residency for the temple president and matron.
President Nelson announced the Salta Argentina Temple at the April 2018 general conference. An exterior rendering of the temple was released on June 5, showing a single-story edifice with an attached central tower.
Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, a General Authority Seventy and then the South America South Area president, presided at the Nov. 4, 2020, groundbreaking ceremony. It was the third — and finally successful — groundbreaking date set for the Salta temple, in the country’s northwest area. COVID-19 concerns had postponed previously scheduled dates in mid-August and early October of 2020.
Nearly 475,000 members of the Church in more than 720 congregations reside in Argentina.
The Salta temple will be third dedicated house of the Lord in Argentina, with dedicated temples in Buenos Aires (1986) and Córdoba (2015). Two more temples are under construction, in Mendoza and Bahía Blanca, with a sixth for the southern South American nation announced as the Buenos Aires Argentina City Center Temple.
