The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released the exterior renderings of six new temples, a week after releasing five such renderings for another five houses of the Lord.
The renderings released Monday, Dec. 23, offered the first look at six temples — the Cincinnati Ohio, Cuernavaca Mexico, Des Moines Iowa, Missoula Montana, Tacoma Washington and Toluca Mexico temples.
They come after the Dec. 16 release of renderings for the Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Jacksonville Florida, Mexico City Benemérito Mexico, Springfield Missouri and Winchester Virginia temples.
For the year of 2024, the Church has released 32 new renderings and one updated rendering for 33 temples in 14 different states in the United States and nine other countries.
The latest six renderings were first published Monday, Dec. 23, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
All six are temples that were announced by President Russell M. Nelson over the past two-plus years, including two earlier this year. President Nelson announced the temple for Missoula in the April 2022 general conference; temples for Tacoma, Cuernavaca and Toluca six months later in October 2022 general conference; and the Cincinnati and Des Moines temples in the April 2024 general conference.
All six have had their site locations previously released.
Cincinnati Ohio Temple
The rendering of the Cincinnati Ohio Temple shows the projected single-story structure of approximately 29,630 square feet, which will be built on a 35-acre parcel located southwest of the intersection of Mason-Montgomery Road and Cedar Village Drive in the city of Mason. It is in the northeast region of metropolitan Cincinnati, Ohio’s third-largest city.
President Nelson announced a house of the Lord for Cincinnati earlier this year on April 7, which with Des Moines, Iowa, was one of the 15 locations identified at the conclusion of the April 2024 general conference. The Cincinnati and Des Moines sites were announced later that same month, on April 29.
The Cincinnati Ohio Temple will become the state’s third house of the Lord and operating temple in the state. The first was the Columbus Ohio Temple, dedicated in September 1999 and rededicated in 2023; it is located about 80 miles northeast of the Cincinnati temple site. The second will be the Cleveland Ohio Temple, which has been under construction since its June 1, 2024, groundbreaking.
When Kirtland — a city located near Cleveland — served as an important early center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1830, a temple was built — but ultimately left behind as the Church relocated elsewhere in the Midwest. The Community of Christ transferred ownership of the Kirtland Temple on March 5, 2024, with the Church of Jesus Christ saying that the Kirtland Temple will remain a historic site and will not be transitioned into an operating temple offering temple ordinances and instruction.
Nearly 65,000 Latter-day Saints comprising more than 125 congregations reside in Ohio.
Cuernavaca Mexico Temple
The Cuernavaca Mexico Temple is planned as a single-story edifice of approximately 19,000 square feet, as shown in the new exterior rendering. It will be built on a 5.36-acre site southeast of the corner of Calle Hernán Cortes and Calle Santa Prisca in Colonia Vista Hermosa, Cuernavaca, in the state of Morelos, south of Mexico City and in the south central area of the country.
President Nelson announced a temple for Cuernavaca during the October 2022 general conference, saying the Church was planning to build multiple houses of the Lord in selected metropolitan areas where travel time to an existing temple is challenging. “Therefore, I’m pleased to announce four additional temples near Mexico City, where new temples will be built in Cuernavaca, Pachuca, Toluca and Tula.”
The Cuernavaca and Toluca (see below) temples the first two of the four to have their sites identified and exterior renderings released. The site location for the house of the Lord in Cuernavaca was released on Jan. 16, 2024.
Mexico is home to 26 temples — operating, under construction or in planning and design. The operating temples are in Ciudad Juárez, Colonia Juárez, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Mérida, Mexico City, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tampico, Tijuana, Veracruz and Villahermosa.
Houses of the Lord are under construction in Querétaro, Torreón and San Luis Potosí. Sites have been released for the Mexico City Benemérito and Toluca and Cuernavaca temples, while houses of the Lord have been announced for Pachuca, Tula, Culiacán, Cancún, Chihuahua and Juchitán de Zaragoza.
More than 1.5 million Latter-day Saints comprising more than 1,860 congregations reside in Mexico, making Church membership there more than any other country except the United States. The preaching of the gospel began in the 1870s in Mexico, with the first stake organized in 1961 and the first temple dedicated in 1983, both in Mexico City.
Des Moines Iowa Temple
The rendering of the Des Moines Iowa Temple shows the proposed single-story building of approximately 18,850 square feet that is planned for the 19.576-acre site located at 9050 NW 62nd Ave., Johnston, Iowa, in northwest metro Des Moines, the capital of the Midwest state.
The site was released earlier this year on April 29, just 22 days after President Nelson announced Des Moines as one of 15 locations for new houses of the Lord. The April 7 announcement came at the conclusion of the April 2024 general conference.
Iowa is home to more than 29,000 Latter-day Saints in nearly 70 congregations. The Des Moines temple will be the first house of the Lord in the state, which played key role for the early Church in the mid-1800s.
Montrose was a key city for Latter-day Saints across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo, Illinois. And other Iowa cities — from Keokuk in the state’s southeast corner to Council Bluffs on the western border — played important roles in the migration of Latter-day Saint pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley. Two other prominent pioneer resting spots — Garden Grove and Mount Pisgah — are located less than 60 miles south of Des Moines.
Missoula Montana Temple
A single-story building of 19,000 square feet is planned for the Missoula Montana Temple, as shown in the recently released exterior rendering. The house of the Lord will be built on a 5.08-acre site northwest of the corner of Old Bitterroot Road and Lower Miller Creek Road in southwest Missoula, with an ancillary building also planned for the site.
Missoula was one of 17 new temple locations announced April 3, 2022, by President Nelson at the close of the April 2022 general conference. The site was released last month, on Nov. 4.
The Missoula temple will be the third house of the Lord in the state, joining the Billings Montana Temple (dedicated in 1999) and the Helena Montana Temple (2023).
Montana is home to more than 52,000 Latter-day Saints in 13 stakes over 130 congregations.
Before the 1860s Montana gold rush, some Latter-day Saints were trading with the Flathead tribe of Native Americans, while others had reached the region area by following Montana Trail from the Church’s Fort Lemhi settlement on the Salmon River.
The discovery of gold and subsequent extension of overland railways attracted more Church members, with the Montana Mission organized in 1896. A year later, Church leaders received the promise of religious freedom from Gov. John E. Rickards, with a meeting of 75 people held in Anaconda and a gathering of 300 in Butte later that spring.
Tacoma Washington Temple
The Tacoma Washington Temple rendering shows the planned multistory structure of approximately 45,000 square feet, which will be built on an 11.6-acre site at 1405 S. 364th Way, Federal Way, Washington. An accompanying utility building is also planned for the site, which was released several months ago, on Sept. 16.
President Nelson announced a future house of the Lord for the Tacoma area on Oct. 2, 2022, one of 18 temple locations he identified at the conclusion of October 2022 general conference.
Washington is home to more than 281,000 Latter-day Saints in nearly 490 congregations and four operating houses of the Lord — the Seattle Washington Temple (dedicated in 1980), the Spokane Washington Temple (1999), the Columbia River Washington Temple (2001) and the Moses Lake Washington Temple (2023). The Vancouver Washington Temple was announced on Oct. 1, 2023, with its site identified on Feb. 26, 2024, and an exterior rendering released in September.
The Church of Jesus Christ in Washington dates back to the mid-19th century, when four missionaries laboring in the area of California were sent into the Washington and Oregon territories. Enough converts joined to create a congregation just north of present-day Vancouver along the Lewis River, a tributary of the Columbia River.
Many Church members helped with the 1880s railroad construction of the Northern Pacific Oregon Short Line in Washington. In 1930, Church membership in the state totaled 1,900 in eight congregations, with chapels in Seattle, Spokane, Olympia and Everett.
Completed in the early 1940s, the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in central Washington produced hydroelectric power and increased irrigation water, resulting in many Latter-day Saints moving into the area and the state.
Toluca Mexico Temple
The Toluca Mexico Temple rendering shows a single-story building of approximately 19,000 square feet, which is planned for a 4.87-acre site at the northwest intersection of Calle Guadalupe Victoria and Calle Uruapan in Colonia Las Jaras in Metepec, just southeast of Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico.
As mentioned before, President Nelson announced the four new Mexico City area temples during the October 2022 general conference — for Cuernavaca, Pachuca, Toluca and Tula. The Toluca temple was the first of the four to have its location released, in November 2023.
