There are over 15 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the world and temples are a central part of the Church's teachings.
Here are some interesting facts about LDS temples found across the world.
1. There are currently 143 operating temples in 47 countries. Three are under renovation, 13 more temples are under construction and 14 have been announced.
 |
| Salt Lake City temple |
2. The Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build. It was dedicated 46 years after its announcement, the same length of time taken to erect the ancient Jerusalem Temple (John 2:20).
 |
| Laie Hawaii temple |
3. Eight temples do not have an angel Moroni: St. George Utah; Manti Utah; Logan Utah; Laie Hawaii; Cardston Alberta Canada; Mesa Arizona; Hamilton New Zealand; Oakland California.
 |
| Hamilton New Zealand temple |
4. Brigham Young disliked the original "squatty" tower of the St. George Utah Temple. Shortly after his death, it was struck by lightning and burned to its base. The tower was rebuilt taller and with a more elegant shape.
 |
| St. George Utah temple |
5. There are four temples in Texas: Dallas (1984), Houston (2000), Lubbock (2002) and San Antonio (2005)
 |
| Houston Texas temple |
6. The first smaller temple (a concept introduced by then-president of the Church Gordon B. Hinkley) to be completed was the Monticello Utah (1998) and it originally had the first and only white angel Moroni. This was too hard to see, so it was replaced with a gold Moroni. The white angel Moroni was glazed with gold and now sits atop the Columbus Ohio temple.
 |
| Monticello Utah temple |
7. The largest LDS temple in the world is the Salt Lake City temple. The Los Angeles California temple was briefly the largest until the SLC temple underwent an expansion and reclaimed the title.
 |
| Los Angeles California temple |
 |
| Washington D.C. temple |
9. The Jordan River Utah temple has the most sealing rooms, with 17. Portland Oregon and Seattle Washington tie for second with 13 sealing rooms apiece.
 |
| Jordan River Utah temple |
 |
| Draper Utah temple |
11. There were 34 temple dedications in 2000, the most in a single year.
 |
| Hong Kong China temple |
 |
| Mexico City Mexico temple |
13. The original Nauvoo temple was the first to have an angel Moroni on top and it was also a weather vane. The angel has been redesigned for other temples several times since and, whenever possible, is placed facing east.
 |
| Nauvoo Illinois temple |
14. There have been four times when two temples were dedicated on the same day (Once in 1999 and three times in 2000).
 |
| Accra Ghana temple |
15. The Bountiful Utah temple had 28 dedicatory sessions and had over 201,000 members in attendance. Over 870,000 visitors toured the temple during its 6-week open house.
 |
| Bountiful Utah temple |
16. The Kyiv Ukraine Temple was awarded first place for the best religious building constructed in Ukraine in 2010.
 |
| Kyiv Ukraine temple |
17. After touring the Lima Peru temple, the wife of the mayor of La Molina said she “felt the love of God” there and added ““If heaven really exists, today I have visited a little piece of that heaven.”
 |
| Lima Peru temple |
18. Portland, Oregon is known as the “City of Roses.” The Portland Temple was awarded first place by the Royal Rosarians of Portland in the category of commercial rose plantings.
 |
| Portland Oregon temple |
19. Heavy rain fell during a big thunderstorm on the day of the Santiago Chile temple groundbreaking ceremony in May 1981. The thunderclaps made “the windows vibrate” an attendee reported in the Church News. As soon as President Spencer W. Kimball arose to start the ceremony, "from among the dark clouds came a ray of sunshine, followed by others. Soon the clouds parted and bright sunshine warmed all those present."
 |
| Santiago Chile temple |
20. The Seoul Korea temple was dedicated in 1985 and Kim Jung Shik, who diligently kept genealogy records, submitted 50 generations of ancestors starting with his direct line immediately following the dedication.
 |
| Seoul Korea temple |
The Ogden Utah temple recently underwent a massive exterior renovation and was rededicated in September. The Phoenix Arizona temple open house is scheduled through Nov. 1 and will be dedicated on Sunday, Nov. 16.
 |
| Phoenix Arizona temple |
For more interesting facts about LDS temples, visit LDS.org.
