Groundbreaking dates set for temples in Bolivia, Texas

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced groundbreaking dates for two temples — June 8 for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple and Aug. 17 for the Austin Texas Temple.

Of the Church’s 350 temples total worldwide that are dedicated, under construction or in planning and design, nine have concluded or are concluding construction and have been announced for dedication, with 42 more currently under construction. Two — the Teton River Idaho and Cleveland Ohio temples — are scheduled for June 1 groundbreakings.

The Church makes every effort to construct temples in an expeditious manner. At times, various reasons may delay a temple’s completion and dedication.

The two groundbreaking dates were first published Monday, May 6, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Attendance at the sites will be by invitation only, with additional details on the events to be released as the groundbreaking dates draw closer.

Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple

Elder Jorge F. Zeballos, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s South America Northwest Area, will preside and offer a dedicatory prayer at the June 8 groundbreaking services for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple.

President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Santa Cruz during the October 2020 general conference. The site location was announced two years later, on Nov. 28, 2022.

With plans calling for a single-story building of approximately 29,000 square feet, the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple will be built at Avenida Quinto Anilla y Santa Rosa (Av. Radial 27), Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

Bolivia has two other houses of the Lord — the Cochabamba Bolivia Temple, dedicated in April 2000, and the La Paz Bolivia Temple, which was announced in October 2021 and had its site made public in August 2023.

In conjunction with the groundbreaking announcement, an exterior rendering of the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple was released Monday.

Missionaries began teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Andes Mission in November 1964. Today, Bolivia is home to more than 225,000 Latter-day Saints in over 270 congregations.

Austin Texas Temple

Elder Michael A. Dunn will preside at the Aug. 17 groundbreaking ceremony and offer a dedicatory prayer. A General Authority Seventy who is currently second counselor in the North America Southwest Area presidency, Elder Dunn will serve as first counselor in the presidency beginning Aug. 1.

President Nelson announced a temple for Austin during April 2022 general conference, one of 17 locations he announced on April 3, 2022, bringing to 100 the number of temples he had announced since becoming President of the Church in 2018. Through April 2024 general conference, he has announced 168 temples.

First published in September 2023, the exterior rendering of the Austin Texas Temple visually represents that house of the Lord according to initial details as announced when its site location was released in December 2022.

The house of the Lord is to be built on a 10.6-acre site adjacent to an existing meetinghouse at 1801 E. Park St., Cedar Park, Texas. It is planned as a single-story temple of approximately 30,000 square feet. Cedar Park is a suburb northwest of Austin.

The Austin temple is one of nine in Texas. Operating temples are located in Dallas, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen and San Antonio, with one in Fort Worth under construction. The Austin temple is one of three in planning stages, along with others in McKinney and south Houston.

Missionaries first visited Texas in 1843. In 1898, about 300 Church members settled on land purchased by the Church in northeast Texas that would become the colony of Kelsey, about 110 miles east of Dallas.

Church membership in Texas has grown rapidly in recent decades — from 132,000 Latter-day Saints in 1985 to just over 210,000 in 2000. Today more than 385,000 members of the Church comprise the 750-plus congregations in the state.