“First” temples
Following is a list of interesting “firsts” regarding the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
- The first temple of the latter-days — Kirtland Ohio Temple, 1833
- The first temple dedicated of those temples that are currently operating — St. George Utah Temple, 1877
- The first temple dedicated outside of North America — Laie Hawaii Temple, 1919
- The first temple in a country other that the United States or its territories — Cardston Alberta Temple, 1923
- The first temple with ordinances in a language other than English — Mesa Arizona Temple, Spanish language, beginning in 1945
- The first temple in Europe — Bern Switzerland Temple, 1955
- The first temple with a primary language other than English — Bern Switzerland Temple, 1955
- The first temple in the Southern Hemisphere — Hamilton New Zealand Temple, 1958
- The first temple in South America — Sao Paulo Brazil Temple, 1978
- The first temple in Asia — Tokyo Japan Temple, 1980
- The first temple in Africa — Johannesburg South Africa Temple, 1985
- The first temple in a country under Communist rule — Freiberg Germany Temple, 1985
- The first multi-level, multi-purpose temple building — Hong Kong China Temple, 1996 (Note: The Hong Kong China Temple was the first multi-level, multi-function temple building constructed by the Church. The top three levels are dedicated to temple use, with the temple baptistery below ground, along with an underground parking area. Other floors include a chapel and apartments for the temple president and the China Hong Kong Mission president.
- The first removal of an Angel Moroni statue — The Hong Kong China Temple is the first temple to have had a spire and angel Moroni statue permanently removed as part of a renovation.
- The first temple dedicated with full First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve present outside the United States — The dedication of the Rome Italy Temple marked the first time that all members of the First Presidency AND Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were present at a temple dedication outside of the United States.
- The first temple dedicatory prayer offered in a language other than English — The Freiberg Germany Temple, with the prayer being offered in German by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. The second temple dedicatory prayer that was offered in a language other than English was the prayer offered at the dedication of the Kinshasa Congo Temple, with the prayer being offered in French by Elder Dale G. Renlund. The third non-English dedicatory prayer was given at the dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple,offered in Portuguese by Elder Ulisses Soares.
- The first totally non-English temple dedication — all three sessions the dedication of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple were completely in Portuguese, including the prayers, the hymns, the talks, the dedicatory prayer, and the Hosanna shout. No side-by-side translation was used at any time.
- The first ‘two-temple’ city outside of the United States — When the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple was dedicated on January 14, 2024 by Elder D. Todd Christoffersen, Lima became the only city outside of the United States that has two temples within the city limits. Two cities in Utah have two temples within the city limits, those being Jordan River and Provo.
- The first temple in Virginia — President Dallin H. Oaks dedicated the Richmond Virginia Temple on May 7, 2023.
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