With the dedication of the Trujillo Peru Temple on June 21, there are now 147 temples in operation around the world.
It follows the dedication of the Cordoba Argentina Temple on May 17 and the Payson Utah Temple on June 7. That number will grow as the Indianapolis Indiana Temple is scheduled to be dedicated on Aug. 23, the renovated Montreal Quebec Temple on Nov. 22, and then the Provo City Center Temple on March 20, 2016.
At the April 2015 General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson announced three new temples to be built in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Bangkok, Thailand. After he made the announcement he said this about temples: “As I think of temples, my thoughts turn to the many blessings we receive therein. As we enter through the doors of the temple, we leave behind us the distractions and confusion of the world. Inside this sacred sanctuary, we find beauty and order. There is rest for our souls and a respite from the cares of our lives.
“As we attend the temple, there can come to us a dimension of spirituality and a feeling of peace which will transcend any other feeling which could come into the human heart. We will grasp the true meaning of the words of the Savior when He said: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’”
President Monson also spoke about the covenants made in the temple, saying, “The blessings of the temple are priceless. One for which I am grateful every day of my life is that which my beloved wife, Frances, and I received as we knelt at a sacred altar and made covenants binding us together for all eternity. There is no blessing more precious to me than the peace and comfort I receive from the knowledge I have that she and I will be together again.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, presided over the dedication of the Trujillo Peru Temple and gave the dedicatory prayer. In it he said, “We give thanks for those who helped build this beautiful temple and are helping to build Thy kingdom, for their work, their faith, and their sacrifices.
“Our hearts are filled with gratitude for Thy blessing of the sons and daughters of Lehi. Thou hast heard their cries and seen their tears. Thou hast accepted their righteous sacrifices. We thank Thee for the sacred record of Lehi, Nephi and Jacob, Alma and Mosiah, Benjamin and Mormon, and of Moroni. We thank Thee for this voice that has come from the dust to bear witness of the divinity of Thy Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
As President Uchtdorf laid the cornerstone of the Trujillo Peru Temple, along with Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve and their wives, he said, “Let this cornerstone become a cornerstone in your lives, to build a foundation of values built on the gospel of Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of this work and of our lives."
The temple will serve more than 88,000 members of the church in and around Trujillo, says lds.org. The Lima Peru Temple was the first operating temple in the country, it continues, and a third temple has been announced for Arequipa the southwestern area of Peru.
The Laie Hawaii Temple will be 100 years old on Nov. 27, 2019. It was dedicated by President Heber J. Grant on Thanksgiving Day in 1919. At its dedication, it was the fifth operating temple in the church.