Following a two-month closure to address typhoon damage sustained in May, the Yigo Guam Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has reopened for temple worship and work.
Typhoon Mawar struck the U.S. territory island in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, May 24, hitting landfall with winds up to 140 mph, according to media reports. No fatalities were immediately reported after the storm, Guam’s worst in more than two decades.
The house of the Lord did not sustain any structural damage, but flooding from the immense downpour saturated the carpets and some furniture inside. The typhoon also damaged trees and other landscaping on the temple grounds.
The temple was closed for repairs through late July.
The reopening was announced earlier on the Church’s Guam/Micronesia Newsroom site.
Typhoon Mawar was listed as a Category 4 typhoon, the strongest recorded at Guam since 2002. “It sounded like a 747 landed on our roof,” said one senior missionary serving in Guam.
The heavy rains flooded homes and buildings throughout Guam, with most of the island losing electrical power and water. When power went out in Yigo, the lights of the temple remained on, run by a generator.
The Latter-day Saints in Yigo and throughout Guam were celebrating the one-year anniversary of the temple’s dedication the week of the typhoon, which scuttled some of the planned weekend activities.
Guam has more than 2,500 Latter-day Saints in five congregations. The Yigo Guam Temple was dedicated on May 22, 2022 by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
