Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Proposed Temples

General Authorities have often prophecied or proposed the future construction of temples to members in areas of the world where a temple was not conveniently located. Following are some temples that have been publicly proposed but not yet announced or constructed.

New Delhi India Temple

In June 1992, Elder Neal A. Maxwell visited the Saints of New Delhi where "prophecies were given (conditional upon member sharing [the term used by Elder Maxwell to mean fellowshipping and teaching friends about the gospel]) that Delhi would have a [Latter-day Saint] temple and great expansion of the work." At the time, there were fewer than a thousand members in India. But despite the great cost in time and money to travel to the closest temples in Hong Kong, China and Manila, Philippines, the Indian Saints began to go.

President Gurcharan Singh Gill, a native Indian and professor of mathematics at BYU who had been called to serve as the first president of the India Bangalore Mission, made it his goal to assist more members to become worthy to attend the temple. He reported, "We had thirty-seven people go to the temple, and fifteen families were sealed together with their parents and children….That has really been a spark. Now the people know what being married forever means, what we have that other people don't have, how our temple marriages are so sacred and different than their marriages from the other churches, and so forth….Those people have come back and really stirred the members into doing family history work, genealogy work, and beginning to pay tithes so they can go to the temple someday. It has really spurred a lot of enthusiasm."¹

Tirana Albania Temple

On October 11, 2022, Elder David A. Bednar visited the Saints of Albania during a five-country ministry tour of Central Europe. He testified that the Church is restored, priesthood authority is on earth, and God's plan of happiness is for everyone. "When we are yoked with the Savior through our covenants, we are never alone. And we will have strength beyond our own," he said. "It is not about the covenants alone, it is about the living Christ and how His power comes into our life."

Elder Massimo De Feo, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Central Europe Area, was also in attendance at the member devotional. He said the Albanian Saints are some of the most faithful in attending the temple. "There is a bright future for the Church here," he said. "As you become a true covenant people, there will be nothing in this world that will be an obstacle for the growth of the Church for generations to come in Albania, even to worship in the temple even closer to you."²

Vilnius Lithuania Temple

On a beautiful spring morning in May 1993 from atop Gedimino Hill, overlooking the Old Town of Vilnius, Elder M. Russell Ballard dedicated the land of Lithuania for the preaching of the gospel. Standing near a partially renovated castle at the top of the hill, he was joined by 27 others including his wife, Barbara; Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the Seventy and first counselor in the Europe Area presidency and his wife, LeAnn; and Pres. Charles Creel of the Russia St. Petersburg Mission and his wife, Susann.

Before uttering his prayer of dedication, Elder Ballard addressed the humble gathering: "From this small beginning, you will see the Church grow and prosper here. There will be many branches and then a district and, in the Lord's due time, there will be stakes. Who knows, if we could look out 50 years, perhaps a small temple. That all depends on us, really, and how diligent we are willing to be, and how wise and prudent we are willing to be as we proceed to establish the kingdom of God in Lithuania."

In his prayer, Elder Ballard asked that people of Lithuania be granted peace and prosperity. "Help them, Heavenly Father," he asked, "as they make this great transition to freedom, which freedom has brought to the people the privilege of missionaries of thy Church to be here to teach the gospel of thy Son Jesus Christ to the people." He prayed that "they may put aside tradition and forget the past repression. Give them the vision of the blessing of freedom so in the future they may prosper in this land. Lift this people so they can receive all of the blessings that thou wouldst have them receive." He further stated: "The people of this land have a goodness and many of them have righteousness in their hearts. Let that be touched by the missionaries so thy work may move forward."³