Recently Announced Temples in the Pacific Show the Lord ‘Remembers the Islands of the Sea’

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By Rachel Sterzer Gibson, Church News

More than 4,500 miles from the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City lies French Polynesia, a collective of roughly 100 islands and atolls stretched across 1,200 miles in the central South Pacific Ocean.

Among the island groups that comprise French Polynesia is an archipelago known as the Society Islands, which includes Tahiti — the highest and largest island in French Polynesia.

Among the Society Islands is an island cluster known as the Leeward Islands. Among the Leeward Islands, across the lagoon from the island of Bora Bora, lies Raiatea.

It is this far-flung island, in its main township of Uturoa, that President Russell M. Nelson announced as the first of 15 new temple locations during the concluding session of the April 2024 general conference.

“What a blessing,” Renaud Taae, bishop of the Pare Ward, Arue Tahiti Stake, told the Church’s Pacific Newsroom about the announcement of the temple for his home island. “One can barely see our little islands on a world map. But the Lord sees us and remembers the islands of the sea.”

Uturoa was not the only temple for the Pacific Area announced by President Nelson on Sunday, April 7. President Nelson also announced a temple for the south area of Brisbane, Australia, which will be the second house of the Lord in the region.

The announcement was met by surprise, quickly followed by gratitude, Brisbane Australia Stake President David Fulcher said. “We are grateful for this gift and want to use it to its fullest extent.”

Following general conference, Elder Peter F. Meurs, a General Authority Seventy and Pacific Area President, commented, “The Lord is blessing Church members in the South Pacific with more temples so we can more fully and deeply understand God’s magnificent plan for His children, strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, receive sacred ordinances and make eternal covenants, and be blessed with divine peace, guidance and power.”

The history of the Church in French Polynesia and Brisbane is both rich and deep, dating back to the early days of the restored Church. Here’s a brief look at the history of temples going in both places and how local Church members are reacting to news of a more local house of the Lord.

Uturoa, French Polynesia

The first Polynesian converts to the Church in French Polynesia were baptized on July 22, 1844. A branch was organized days later by Addison Pratt, one of the early missionaries called to take the gospel “unto the islands of the sea” by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

In 1852, Pratt, his family and other missionaries were compelled to leave the islands due to increasing tension with French colonial authorities. They left behind 1,500 to 2,000 local Church members spread over 20 islands. These Saints struggled to maintain the faith in the face of persecution and without contact from Church leadership in Salt Lake City.

In 1892, 40 years after official Church missionaries left, two missionaries from the Samoan Mission arrived to the shores of French Polynesia.

Since then the Church has grown steadily. For many years, French Polynesian Saints sacrificed to make the 2,765-mile journey to the closest temple in Laie, Hawaii, which was dedicated in 1919, or to the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, which was dedicated in 1958.

In 1963, a group of 60 French Polynesian Saints made the trip to Hamilton for the first Tahitian-language temple sessions.

Twenty years later, in 1983, President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the first temple for the overseas territory — the Papeete Tahiti Temple, which lies roughly 140 miles to the east of Raiatea.

Today, there are nearly 30,000 Latter-day Saints in close to 100 congregations throughout the islands of French Polynesia.

When President Nelson listed “Uturoa, French Polynesia” as a new temple site, Noelline Parker, the Church’s communication director in French Polynesia, said her first reaction was a shout of astonishment followed by “tears of joy, of overwhelming gratitude, of feeling so blessed.”

Warren T. Laufatte, a counselor in the Raromatai Tahiti Stake, was in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City with his wife when the announcement was made. “We cried with joy, filled with emotions all the way out of the Conference Center,” he told the Church’s Pacific Newsroom.

Counsel from general conference provided Terangi Bouges, a French Polynesian Latter-day Saint, both comfort and peace. “I testify that the Lord is hastening His work and that He needs us to have more holiness in our lives,” she said.

In his concluding remarks before announcing the temples, President Nelson declared, “The temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has for each of us.”

The Prophet’s words, Bouges told Pacific Newsroom, helped her know what to focus on: “Trust the Lord, serve Him, keep His commandments, and frequently worship Him in the temple.”

Raromatai Tahiti Stake President Boyer Teheiura said the announcement of another temple for French Polynesia was long awaited and met with “immense joy.”

Following the announcement, President Tehieura said his phone kept ringing because many members wanted to confirm that they’d heard correctly. “Today our prayers have been answered. Thank you, Lord,” he told the Church News.

Brisbane, Australia

The city of Brisbane, which lies astride the Brisbane River, is the country’s third largest city, with a population of approximately 2.2 million. A port city and the capital of the Australian state of Queensland in the northeastern corner of the country, Brisbane is both a transport and business hub.

Through the years, it has also served as an important hub for the Church.

While the restored gospel was first introduced to Australia in 1840, the first known Church members to live in the state of Queensland were British Latter-day Saints William Duffin and Sarah Aslett Duffin and their family in September 1874.

The first known Relief Society in Australia was organized in the Brisbane Branch on February 27, 1898, with Emmeline Lebherz as president. A Primary was organized in Brisbane that same year.

Many early members emigrated to Utah to help build up the kingdom of God, with fewer remaining in Australia. In 1904, however, in Woolloongabba, Australia, a suburb of Brisbane, the first chapel in Australia was built.

After World War I, with reassurances from the Church that missionaries were no longer encouraging converts to emigrate, the Church was granted permission to send more missionaries to the country. In 1920, the Church membership of the whole of Australia reached 1,000. Today, there are more than 155,000 Church members in more than 300 congregations in the country.

Through the years, temples slowly became more accessible to Australian Saints. The first temple in the Pacific was located 4,700 miles away in Laie, Hawaii, followed by the Hamilton New Zealand Temple in 1958, roughly 1,500 miles away. The first house of the Lord built on the continent was the Sydney Australia Temple, dedicated in 1984, 600 miles from Brisbane.

More temples in the country were not dedicated until 2000 in Adelaide and Melbourne, followed by President Hinckley.

Located at the top of the cliffs of Kangaroo Point, the Brisbane Australia Temple overlooks the Brisbane River, Southbank, Captain Cook Bridge and the Brisbane city skyscrapers.

The roughly 11,000-square-foot edifice has only two ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms to service the 12 stakes and one district currently within the temple district.

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The announcement of a temple for Brisbane’s south area — the sixth for Australia and the second for the greater Brisbane area — “reflects the growth of the Church in our area,” President Fulcher said.

“We feel blessed that there is already a temple in the center of Brisbane that is well supported by temple patrons,” President Fulcher told the Church News. “Now there will be a second temple in the area to meet the demand. The members are excited to support it too and make them both busy places where they can find increased peace and feel our Savior’s love.”

Queensland resident Tiarne Paniora told the Church’s Pacific Newsroom, “We are absolutely thrilled and deeply moved by the announcement of the Brisbane south area temple being built. It’s a testament to the growth and strength of our gospel and we can’t wait to see the blessings it’ll bring to so many lives.”

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Kristie Gibson and her mother, Kathryn Gibson, who are all from Brisbane, were in the Conference Center when it was announced. “We just turned and stared at each other and couldn’t believe our ears. Another temple in Brisbane? We felt so overwhelmed and blessed that such a thing would happen for us.”

Elder Wayne Maurer, an Australian Area Seventy, called the news of another temple in Australia “fantastic.”

He noted, “This brings great responsibility to continue ensuring the temple remains our focus. If we follow President Nelson’s advice, we will be in the temple as often as circumstances permit. I am so glad members of the greater Brisbane area will be able to extend their time in the temple.”

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