This Church News article looks at some interesting numbers on President Nelson’s temple-building push since he became the prophet.
He has announced 118 temples over 1,723 days as Church president — a rate of a temple announced every two weeks!
Here are some more interesting numbers:
- 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 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
Temples are getting closer and closer to members. When I first joined the Church in the 1990s, the closest temple was a five-hour drive away. Now, there is a temple just a half-hour drive away.
I lived in Brazil for several years, and members tell crazy stories about how they used to take a week to travel to the Sao Paulo temple, which was the only one in the country for many years. Now there are 18 temples in Brazil.
And how about President Nelson announcing on Sunday four new temples in the Mexico City area?