Open House and Dedication Announced for San Juan Puerto Rico Temple
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the dates for the open house and dedication of the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple.
Artist Rendering San Juan Puerto Rico Temple
Rendering of the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple.2019 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.The public open house will run from December 1, 2022, to December 17, except for Sundays. The temple dedication on Sunday, January 15, 2023, will take place with three sessions: 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m.
A media day will precede the open house on November 28, 2022. Invited guests will tour the temple on November 29–30.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside at the dedication. The dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to all congregations in the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple district. The San Juan Puerto Rico Temple will be the first house of the Lord in the territory. The current temple district for members living in Puerto Rico is the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple.
Latter-day Saint military servicemen began holding Church meetings in Guajataca, Puerto Rico, in 1947. In January 1964, the first missionaries arrived in Puerto Rico and the first Latter-day Saint was baptized in February. In 1970, the first meetinghouse opened and home seminary, a youth religious study program, began in Puerto Rico. Today, there are nearly 23,500 members of the Church in 38 congregations in Puerto Rico.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provided extensive relief to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated much of the island in 2017. In addition to monetary assistance, the Church donated mobile medical outreach services, food and water supplies, hygiene and cleaning kits, batteries, bedding, mosquito nets, and roofing materials to those in need.
Renovations Are Coming to the Stockholm Sweden Temple
The Stockholm Sweden Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will close for extensive renovations in 2023. Reconstruction is anticipated to last approximately three years. Following the remodel, the public will be invited to tour the temple during an open house. After the open house, the temple will be rededicated.
The renovated Stockholm Sweden Temple will be approximately 31,000 square feet, nearly double its current size of 16,366 square feet. It will have two endowment rooms with 40 seats each.
Stockholm-Sweden-Temple
An artist's rendering of the Stockholm Sweden Temple scheduled to begin renovation in 2023.© 2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.The first Church of Jesus Christ missionary arrived in Sweden in 1850, and by 1860 congregations had been established throughout the country. Many Swedish members emigrated to the United States and played a pivotal role in the Church’s migration to Utah. Because of this, as well as government opposition during the first half of the 20th century, membership in Sweden stayed relatively small. By 1975, Sweden’s first stake (similar to a diocese) was organized in Stockholm. Today, there are more than 9,500 members of the Church in 40 congregations in Sweden.
The Stockholm Sweden temple, originally announced in 1981, has been in service since its dedication on July 2, 1985, by President Gordon B. Hinckley. It was the first to be constructed in Scandinavia and serves members of the Church in Sweden, Norway and Latvia.
Latter-day Saints consider each temple a house of the Lord and the most sacred places of worship on earth. Temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses (chapels). All are welcome to attend Sunday worship services and other weekday activities at local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples is for faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ to participate in sacred ceremonies such as marriages, which unite families forever, and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity to be baptized while living.