History made as apostles dedicate 3 Latter-day Saint temples in a single day

Apostles on two continents dedicated three temples Sunday, making it an historic day for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Brasília Brazil Temple at what was 7 a.m. Mountain Time.

• Elder David A. Bednar dedicated the Bentonville Arkansas Temple at 9 a.m. MT.

• Elder Quentin L. Cook dedicated the Moses Lake Washington Temple at 11 a.m. MT.

It is the first time the church has had three temples dedicated in a single day. The three become the 180th, 181st and 182nd operating temples for the church, which is in its 194th year.

“It is a glorious day,” Elder Andersen said, according to the Church News.

The apostles said the temples represent Jesus Christ, his gospel and gathering Israel.

“The temple is a blessing and a gift and prepares us to rejoice in what the Savior has done for us,” Elder Cook said, according to the Church News.

“How grateful we should be to live in this remarkable season of the latter-day dispensation of the fullness of times. We are blessed to witness and participate in the ongoing fulfillment of prophecies that holy houses of the Lord will dot the earth,” Elder Bednar said, according to the Church News.

“In the temple, we are enrolled in an immersion tutorial of the language of the Spirit,” Elder Andersen said.

The church is in the midst of a temple-building boom, with 48 temples under construction and plans announced for an additional 85.

“As a 12-year-old boy in 1964, I attended with my mother the dedication of the Oakland California Temple — the 13th operating house of the Lord,” Elder Bednar said. “Today, just 59 years later, 315 temples are functioning, announced, in design, under construction or being renovated.”

President Russell M. Nelson has announced 133 of those temples over the past 65 months. He announced the Bentonville and Moses Lake temples in 2019.

Prior to Sunday, the church had dedicated two temples on a single day five times — once in 1999, three times in 2000 and again on Nov. 20, 2022.

Which temples will be dedicated next?

Three weeks from now, two temples will be dedicated on one day, on Oct. 8:

• The McAllen Texas Temple, by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

• The Feather River California Temple, Elder Ulisses Soares.

Four more temples are scheduled for dedication:

• Oct. 22, Bangkok Thailand Temple, by Elder Ronald A. Rasband.

• Nov. 12, Okinawa Japan Temple, by Elder Gary E. Stevenson.

• Jan. 14, Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple by Elder D. Todd Christofferson.

• Jan. 21, Orem Utah Temple.

Bentonville Arkansas Temple dedication

The Bentonville temple dedication was a homecoming for Elder Bednar and his wife, Sister Susan Bednar. They lived in the area with their three sons in the 1980s and 1990s, when Elder Bednar worked at the University of Arkansas as a professor of business management, associate dean for graduate studies and director of the Management Decision-Making Lab at what is now called the Sam Walton College of Business.

Bentonville is the headquarters of Walmart, which Walton and his brother founded in 1962.

President Nelson assigned Elder Bednar to the November 2020 groundbreaking for the Bentonville temple, to preside over the temple’s media day that launched the public open house in June and to dedicate the temple on Sunday.

Elder Bednar said temples are part of the fundamental responsibility of Latter-day Saints, the Church News reported.

“Gathering Israel is the most important work in which any of us can be engaged. And the covenants received and the ordinances performed in the house of the Lord are central to the work of gathering,” he said.

“We are to assist in the gathering of Israel by inviting all of God’s children on both sides of the veil to come unto their Savior, receive the blessings available in His holy house, have enduring joy and qualify for eternal life.”

Elder Bednar said each new temple is a source of joy for Latter-day Saints.

“Our primary focus should be on the covenants and ordinances that can change our hearts and deepen our devotion to the Savior and not simply on the location or beauty of the building,” he said.

Moses Lake Washington Temple dedication

Elder Cook previously served as president of the church’s North America Northwest Area, which included Washington state. He also participated with the late President Gordon B. Hinckley at the dedication of the Columbia River Washington Temple, in 2001.

Elder Cook quoted President Nelson’s 2018 invitation to Latter-day Saints to increase the time they spend at temples.

“Building and maintaining temples may not change your life, but spending your time in the temple surely will,” President Nelson said.

“Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater,” President Nelson added. “I plead with you to take a prayerful look at how you spend your time. Invest time in your future and in that of your family. If you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to make an appointment regularly with the Lord — to be in his holy house — then keep that appointment with exactness and joy.”

Elder Cook tweeted about Latter-day Saint doctrine on how temples connect family members to each other and God.

“... the whole human family is interdependent and interconnected — like the roots and branches of a great tree. The work performed in the Lord’s temples allows us — and our families — to be eternally connected to our loving Heavenly Father,” he said in his tweet.

Brasília Brazil Temple dedication

Elder Andersen also has strong ties to Brazil, where he served as Brazil South Area president for the church 20 years ago. He has been back many times on church assignments. Earlier this year, he and Sister Kathy Andersen visited the Brasília temple and met with Brazil’s first lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva.

Brasília was created in 1956 specifically to be Brazil’s capital. The Brasília temple will be the church’s 10th in the country, which now is home to nearly 1.5 million Latter-day Saints. An additional 10 temples in Brazil have been announced or are under construction.

Elder Andersen said each temple is sacred.

“This is the house of the Lord. It is a sacred place – unlike anywhere else. It is nestled between heaven and earth,” he said, adding that, “In the temple we feel a peace not available anywhere else in the world.”

Elder Andersen also said temple ordinances help church members increase their understanding of life.

“As we bring our ancestors beyond the veil the holy ordinances they desire, and as the holy endowment is presented to us each time we are here, the eyes of our understanding our opened,” he said. “We better see the purposes of our being on earth.”

He tweeted Sunday evening about dedicating the Brasília temple and the difference all temples can make.

“I invite all of us to come to the temple when you are troubled with challenges in your family,” he said. “Come when decisions confront you. When the world seems burdensome and you seek peace. When you seem defeated and you need added power.

“Come when you are happy, and all seems well. Come without being asked. Come when you are not in a hurry. Come having forgiven those who have offended you. Come believing. As we do, the Lord’s Spirit will be with us and the beauties of the eternities will be ours.”