President Thomas S. Monson announces six new temples

Yesterday, in the Saturday morning session of the 181st Semiannual General Conference of the Church, President Thomas S. Monson announced six new temples around the world:

• Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Durban, South Africa
• Barranquilla, Colombia
• Paris, France
• Star Valley, Wyoming
• Provo, Utah

President Monson had previously announced the Paris temple in July.

Speaking of the Star Valley Temple, President Monson said: "I think I'll dedicate that one.  There's good fishing up there!"  And I suspect he will!

The new Provo Temple, the second temple in that city, will be built at the site of the Provo Tabernacle, which was badly damaged in a December 2010 fire.  From a Deseret News story:

The announcement of the new temple in Provo drew an audible response from the Conference Center congregation. President Monson explained that the temple would be built on the site of the recently burned Provo Tabernacle in downtown Provo. He indicated that the current Provo Temple is among the busiest in the church — the new temple will take some of the pressure off that temple.

We're delighted that the Provo Tabernacle will be restored.  It is the site of my graduation from the BYU Law School way back in 1990 and brings back great memories of friends and family on an important day.

In speaking of temples, President Monson said:

No church-built facility is more important than a temple.  Temples are places where relationships are sealed together to last through the eternities.  We are grateful for all the many temples across the world and for the blessing they are in the lives of our members.

More information about temples and their significance to the Church may be found here.  You may also want to read past temple-related stories on Elliot's blog (here, here, here, here, and here).