Open House, Dedication and Groundbreaking Dates for Temples in Argentina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania

Mendoza Argentina Temple

A public open house for the Mendoza Argentina Temple will run from Thursday, August 22, through Saturday, September 7, 2024, excluding Sundays. Before the public open house, a media day will be held on Monday, August 19, 2024. Invited guests will tour the temple on Tuesday, August 20, and Wednesday, August 21, 2024.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the temple in two sessions on Sunday, September 22, 2024. The dedicatory sessions at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. UTC will be broadcast to all units in the Mendoza Argentina Temple district.

Church President Russell M. Nelson announced the Mendoza Argentina Temple in October 2018. “Building and maintaining temples may not change your life, but spending your time in the temple surely will,” he said as 12 new temples were announced, including the Mendoza Temple. Construction began in December 2020.

The temple in Mendoza, located within the foothills and high plains of the eastern side of the Andes, is one of seven houses of the Lord operating, announced, or under construction in the country. The others are in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires City Center, Córdoba, Rosario and Salta. The temple in Rosario was recently announced in general conference on Sunday, April 7, 2024. The Salta Argentina Temple will be dedicated by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on June 16, 2024.

Argentina, where two German immigrants began preaching the gospel in 1923, is home to more than 480,000 members in about 730 congregations.

Cleveland Ohio Temple Groundbreaking Date Is Set

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released the date of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cleveland Ohio Temple.

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Groundbreaking services will be held on June 1, 2024. Elder Vaiangina Sikahema, First Counselor in the North America Northeast Area Presidency, will preside at the event.

The Cleveland Ohio Temple was announced by President Russell M. Nelson in April 2022.

“Positive spiritual momentum increases as we worship in the temple and grow in our understanding of the magnificent breadth and depth of the blessings we receive there,” the prophet said as the Cleveland Ohio Temple and 16 other new temples were announced.

“I plead with you to counter worldly ways by focusing on the eternal blessings of the temple. Your time there brings blessings for eternity,” he added.

The location for this house of the Lord was released in December 2022. An artist’s rendering was published soon after in 2023.

Cleveland is on the southern shore of Lake Erie in the U.S. Great Lakes region, about 20 miles from the Church’s first temple in Kirtland, Ohio.

Ohio was an important gathering site for early members of the Church of Jesus Christ and today is home to nearly 65,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 125 congregations.

Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ are different from meetinghouses or chapels where members gather for Sunday worship services. A temple is considered a house of the Lord, where the teachings of Jesus Christ are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism, and other ceremonies that unite families for eternity.

Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple

The public is invited to tour the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple from Friday, August 16 through Saturday, August 31, 2024, excluding Sundays.

Before the public open house, a media day will occur on Monday, August 12, 2024. Invited guests will tour the temple from Tuesday, August 13, through Thursday, August 15.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the temple in two sessions on Sunday, September 15, 2024. The dedicatory sessions at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. EDT will be broadcast to all units in the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple district.

President Nelson announced the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple in April 2020. Construction began in August 2021.

“Talk about the temple with your family and friends. Because Jesus Christ is at the center of everything we do in the temple, as you think more about the temple you will be thinking more about Him,” the prophet said.

The Pittsburgh Temple is one of three temples operating, announced, or under construction in the state.

The Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple was dedicated in September 2016 by President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency. The Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple, once dedicated, will join the Philadelphia Temple as the second operational house of the Lord in Pennsylvania. The Harrisburg Pennsylvania Temple was announced in April 2023.

Pennsylvania, which is home to more than 53,000 Latter-day Saints in about 105 congregations, was host to many significant events in the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Much of the Book of Mormon was translated in the town of Harmony, and the first members of the Church were baptized in the Susquehanna River in May 1829.

Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple

This house of the Lord will be built on a 1.6-acre site located at Avenue Ilunga and N1 in Kananga, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Plans call for a one-story temple of approximately 11,000 square feet, along with patron housing and arrival facilities. This will be the city’s first temple.

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On October 3, 2021, President Nelson announced plans to construct the Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple. This new house of the Lord will be the Church’s fourth temple in the country after Kinshasa (dedicated in 2019) and Lubumbashi (under construction), and Mbuji-Mayi (announced in October 2023).

On July 1, 2023, the Church created a new mission headquartered in Kananga. This is the fifth mission of the Church in the country, where missionaries first arrived in 1986.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to more than 115,000 Latter-day Saints in about 290 congregations.

Latter-day Saints worship in temples for several reasons: to feel God’s love and peace, to learn more about God’s plan for His children and the gospel of Jesus Christ, to make promises with God and one’s husband or wife, and to unite families in this life and the next through sacred agreements with God in His holy house.