LDS Church announces plans for new temples in Arizona and Peru

President Thomas S. Monson announced plans for two new temples as he opened the 182nd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday.
The temples will be built in Tucson, Ariz., and Arequipa, Peru.
 
"No church-built facility is more important than a temple," President Monson said.
The LDS Church has 139 temples in operation around the world. Another 27 were already under construction or planned before today's announcement.
"I can't stop crying, it's just incredible," Tucson's Megan Allen said. "It's a huge thing to have that so close and so available for everybody. I remember for every conference, everyone was on the edge of their seats for the announcement, and finally this is the one."
Growing up as a youth there, Allen said it was always a big deal for everyone to be able to go to the temple to perform baptisms for the dead. There were months of planning, and they often had to leave early in the morning and it would be an all-day event.
"I'm excited for the youth," said Kalene Day, who is from Marana, Ariz., a town near Tucson. "They have been so strong and having a temple here is going to be amazing ... it's just going to to give us something more to work towards, it's going to be a wonderful experience."
The Tucson temple will be the sixth in Arizona, according to a church press release. Three of the other five temples, those in Mesa, Snowflake and Gila Valley, have been dedicated and are operating, while those in Phoenix and Gilbert are under construction. There are approximately 400,000 Church members in Arizona.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency of the church, and Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve, visited the city of Iquitos, a remote city in Peru, in June of this year. For members in the area it is difficult to attend the temple in Lima as often as they would like. President Uchtdorf told the Saints, "Stay temple worthy. Focus your lives on the temple and always hold a current recommend, even if you cannot currently attend the temple."
Bernardo Solari, of Lima, Peru, had a family from Arequipa recently move into his ward to be closer to a temple where they could be sealed together.
"They went to watch conference with their family in Arequipa," Solari said in an email. "I wish I could have seen their faces in that very instant! I know it means a lot to them because they (had) to even move to Lima to be able to get sealed."

source: desert news