The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released the dates of the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Modesto California Temple and the Fort Worth Texas Temple.
Modesto California Temple Groundbreaking
Groundbreaking services will be held for the Modesto California Temple on Saturday, October 7, 2023. Elder Gary B. Sabin, General Authority Seventy and First Counselor in the North America West Area Presidency, will preside and offer the dedicatory prayer.
The Modesto California Temple was announced in April 2022. It will be built on a 17.63-acre site adjacent to an existing meetinghouse located at 4300 Dale Road, Modesto, California. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 30,000 square feet.
California is home to 12 houses of the Lord. Temples were announced for Bakersfield and San Jose by Church President Russell M. Nelson in the April 2023 general conference. Besides Modesto, other temples in use or under construction in the state include Fresno, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Oakland, Redlands, Sacramento, San Diego and Yorba Linda California Temples. The Feather River California Temple will be dedicated on October 8, 2023, by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
There are nearly 730,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 1,130 congregations in California. The first Latter-day Saint immigrants arrived in San Francisco in 1846. The Mormon Battalion, a group of Latter-day Saints preparing to fight in the Mexican-American War, arrived in San Diego the following year.
Fort Worth Texas Temple Groundbreaking
Ground will be broken for the Fort Worth Texas Temple on Saturday, October 28, 2023. Elder Jose L. Alonso, General Authority Seventy and First Counselor in the North America Southwest Area Presidency, will preside and offer the dedicatory prayer.
The Fort Worth Texas Temple was announced in October 2021. It will be built on a 9.37-acre site located north of Southwest Hulen Street and Greenridge Drive, Burleson, Texas. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 30,000 square feet.
There are four operating temples in Texas in Dallas, Houston, Lubbock and San Antonio. In addition to Fort Worth, there are also plans to build temples in the cities of Austin and Prosper. The McAllen Texas Temple will be dedicated on Sunday, October 8, 2023, by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Located in the South-Central United States, Texas was first visited by missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ in 1843. In 1898, about 300 Church members settled on land purchased by the Church in northeast Texas that would become the colony of Kelsey. Church growth in Texas has been rapid in recent decades, with more than 132,000 Latter-day Saints in 1985 growing to just over 210,000 in 2000. Today, Texas is home to more than 378,000 members in nearly 750 congregations.
Attendance at each groundbreaking event will be by invitation only.
This is an official press release re-published by LDSDaily.com from Newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
