Updates on temples in Sweden and Puerto Rico
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.
The public open house will run from December 1, 2022 to December 17, 2022, excluding Sundays. The Sunday, January 15, 2023 temple dedication will take place with three sessions: 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.
A media day will precede the open house on November 28, 2022. Invited guests will visit the temple on November 29-30.
lder D. Todd Christofferson of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside at the inauguration. The dedication sessions will be broadcast to all parishes in the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple District. The temple in San Juan Puerto Rico will be the first house of the Lord in the area. The current temple district for members living in Puerto Rico is the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple.
Latter-day Saint military officers 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 meeting house 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 assistance to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated large parts of the island in 2017. In addition to financial assistance, the Church donated mobile medical outreach services, food and water supplies, hygiene and cleaning kits, batteries, bedding, mosquito nets and roofing material for the needy.
Renovations are coming to Stockholm Sweden Temple
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in Stockholm Sweden will be closed for extensive renovations in 2023. The reconstruction is expected to last approximately three years. After the rebuilding, the public will be invited to visit 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 meters, almost double the current size of 16,366 square meters. It will have two donation rooms with 40 seats each.
The first missionary of Jesus Christ arrived in Sweden in 1850 and by 1860 congregations had been established all over the country. Many Swedish members emigrated to the United States and played a decisive role in the church’s migration to Utah. Because of this, as well as the government’s resistance in the first half of the 20th century, the number of members in Sweden was relatively small. In 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 it was dedicated on July 2, 1985 by the President. Gordon B. Hinckley. It was the first to be built in Scandinavia and serves members of the Church in Sweden, Norway and Latvia.
Latter-day Saints regard each temple as a house of the Lord and the holiest places of worship on earth. Temples are different from church meeting houses (chapels). Everyone is welcome to participate in Sunday services and other everyday activities in local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples is for faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ to participate in sacred ceremonies such as marriage, which unites families forever, and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity to be baptized while they were alive.