AUCKLAND, New Zealand — On Palm Sunday, an Apostle and disciples of Jesus Christ raised the hallowed refrains of the Hosanna Shout in the house of the Lord.
This moment came not on the actual Palm Sunday event more than two millennia ago and some 10,000 miles away, as Jesus Christ made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem amid shouts of hosanna on the Sunday before His atoning suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, His Crucifixion on Golgotha and His Resurrection from the Garden Tomb.
Rather, it was Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025 — this year’s day of commemorating the Sunday before Easter and the start of Holy Week — when Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Auckland New Zealand Temple, the 203rd dedicated house of the Lord of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the temple’s namesake city.
Near the end of the morning’s singular dedicatory session and after Elder Kearon’s message and dedicatory prayer, those attending at the temple in person as well as others watching the livestream broadcast in meetinghouses across the temple district participated in the Hosanna Shout. Described by the late Church President Gordon B. Hinckley as a “sacred salute to the Father and the Son,” it is given at the dedication or rededication of temples and other special historical events.
The combination of the commemorative day and the temple dedication was not lost on Elder Kearon in observations he shared with the Church News. He said he hoped attendees across the temple district would sear into their memories and record in their journals the sacred privilege of participating in the dedication of a holy house of the Lord on Palm Sunday.
“To shout hosanna to God and the Lamb on Palm Sunday is a singular experience,” Elder Kearon said, mindful of the people waving palm branches and shouting hosanna more than 2,000 years ago to welcome the King. He called the Palm Sunday dedication “the experience of a lifetime” and an “immaculate demonstration of our love for our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.”
He added: “Everything about this holy house points us to our Heavenly Father and our Savior. Everything here is to help us look beyond ourselves and come to a deeper understanding of our life’s purpose.”
Each temple ordinance, each covenant and each blessing is a reminder of Heavenly Father’s deep love for His children, he said. “Every time we come here, we are reminded of our eternal nature and all of the promises and blessings in store for us. Every time we come here, we are reminded that to serve others is its own reward for us.”
The sacred setting of the temple is where Latter-day Saints can perform saving ordinances for those they love and those they will one day meet, said Elder Kearon. “This is the place where you can leave your mortal cares behind, rise above your earthly troubles and perfectly contextualize your daily experiences within the great plan of happiness. Here you may come to know the higher ways of the Lord and receive His higher joy.”
Elder Kearon was accompanied at the dedicatory services by his wife, Sister Jennifer Kearon. They were joined by Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy and currently the executive director of the Church’s Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Nancy Duncan; and Elder Peter F. Meurs, a General Authority Seventy and Pacific Area president, and his wife, Sister Maxine Meurs.
President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church, announced a temple for Auckland on Oct. 7, 2018. The Auckland temple becomes the Church’s second dedicated house of the Lord in the island nation and joins the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, which in 1958 became the first house of the Lord in not only the South Pacific but the entire Southern Hemisphere.
A third temple for New Zealand has been announced for Wellington, and together the three New Zealand temples are among the 22 total houses of the Lord in the Church’s Pacific Area.
‘A beacon and symbol of God’s love for us’
Elder Meurs — a native of Australia who served as a young missionary in Auckland and was married in the Hamilton temple — underscored the importance of having a new house of the Lord in the Pacific Area’s headquarters city.
“Throughout the Pacific Area, leaders and members are focused on bringing all to Jesus Christ — strengthening our faith in Him and inviting all to receive His healing power as they participate weekly in the sacrament ordinance and helping all to receive the eternal blessings of temple ordinances, covenants and worship.”
He singled out the new temple’s prominent position in South Auckland overlooking the country’s main freeway and along the flight path of international flights as helping the newest house of the Lord “stand as a beacon and symbol of God’s love for us.”
He added that the temple’s location nestled in front of the hilly suburb of Goodwood Heights and between the Auckland New Zealand Redoubt Stake Center and the New Zealand Missionary Training Center “visibly shows how missionaries and members can work together to help all people discover Jesus Christ and enjoy the blessings that come through His redeeming power.”
Another ‘center place’ in Zion
Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Pacific Area presidency, is mindful of two Māori sayings, the first a question and the second its answer.
“He aha te mea nui o te ao?” means “What is the most important thing in the world?” And the answer “He tangata, he tangata, he tangata” is translated as “It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.”
Said Elder Jaggi: “The Lord knows His people ‘upon the isles of the sea’ (2 Nephi 10:21). To have a temple in Auckland just 15 minutes from the international airport allows those from the South Island of New Zealand, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia the opportunity to choose to go to Auckland if they are transiting for work or holiday.”
Members have the flexibility to stay with friends or family in the Auckland area and attend the temple there or to go about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south to the Hamilton temple, where they can stay for a week in patron housing and worship daily in the temple there.
And just as Hamilton has served as a great “center place in Zion” for decades, “eight stakes are growing within 30 minutes of the Auckland temple and is indeed another ‘center place’ in Zion,” Elder Jaggi said.
The temple and neighboring MTC
The entrance to the Auckland New Zealand Temple is a mere 119 steps from the entrance of the neighboring New Zealand Missionary Training Center. “What an incredible blessing to be so close to the house of the Lord,” said MTC President David E. Young.
“We emphasize in our training of missionaries that we must become more holy and strive to become unspotted from the world so that we contribute to the holiness of the house of the Lord and not detract therefrom,” said President Young, underscoring President Nelson’s teaching that the gathering of Israel includes participation in saving ordinances for ancestors in the houses of the Lord worldwide.
“The gathering of Israel occurs on the other side of the veil in the Auckland temple, which we see through the front windows of the MTC, and in the gathering of Israel on this side of the veil through our mission preparatory work within the walls of the New Zealand MTC,” he said, acknowledging the training center as a powerful neighbor to the house of the Lord.
“What better place could there be on earth for young missionaries and senior missionaries to be instructed from on high in how to fulfill our missionary purpose, as outlined in ’Preach My Gospel,’ and to more fully and completely understand the doctrine of Christ?” said President Young.
Prior to the Auckland temple’s dedication, missionaries at the MTC have traveled weekly by bus to the Hamilton temple, leaving at 7 a.m. and returning at about 2:30 p.m. The group size most recently has been 70-plus training missionaries, with the Polynesian elders and sisters often quietly singing hymns during the 90-minute ride each direction, said Sister Rae Lou Young, President Young’s MTC leadership companion.
“From the MTC courtyard, our missionaries can view the spire of the Auckland temple rising above the roofline,” Sister Young said. “We remind them that such a view and proximity to a house of the Lord will not be possible in many of the areas where they will serve and to feast upon the glorious vista.”
‘Experiencing the beauty and spirit’
Held in the weeks prior to Sunday’s dedication, the temple’s open house drew some 80,000 visitors “experiencing the beauty and spirit of the house of the Lord and marveling at the ceremonies that connect families for eternity,” Elder Meurs said.
Each of the stakes within the temple district was assigned to staff two days of operations at the open house. About 7,000 members provided service ranging from parking attendants to tour guides to those helping place shoe coverings on the feet of visitors entering the temple. “Youth, young single adults and adults participated in the temple, teaching and testifying of eternal truths there,” he said.
Mark and Ivoga Green have served as the temple open house and dedication committee chairs leading up to Sunday’s special day.
Local media coverage of the open house was positive, said Mark Green. “The questions went beyond the physical characteristics of the building to how it will benefit members and the community.”
Those who attended the open house and those who served at it were all touched by the Spirit found in the house of the Lord, Green said, adding: “Many members returned to church. Many friends of the Church requested to know more and attended meetings. The temple open house blessed many lives.”
He said many of his own neighbors and work colleagues visited the temple. “All were both impressed by the building and the Spirit they felt. The objective of the open house — having all who enter the house of the Lord feel of His love — was achieved.”
The new temple — located just across State Highway 1 from the apartment complex where the Youngs reside — served as a prompt as the MTC leaders engaged in conversations with many people, from less-active Latter-day Saints desiring to return to nonmembers with questions and observations.
They spoke of one young woman recounting how she felt she had entered a holy place as she stepped into the temple during the open house and one young man in the complex who confided of leaving his floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors completely uncovered so he could view the Auckland temple both night and day.
Auckland New Zealand Temple
Location: 19 Redoubt Road, Goodwood Heights, Auckland 2105, New Zealand
Announced: Oct. 7, 2018, by Church President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: June 13, 2020, with Elder Ian S. Ardern, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Pacific Area, presiding
Dedicated: April 13, 2025, by Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Property size: 4.6 hectares (11.4 acres)
Building size: 4,223 square meters (45,455 square feet)
Building height: 53.9 meters (177 feet) to the top of the spire
