The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) has announced a ground breaking date for the church’s new temple in American Samoa.
The new temple will be built in the open field next to the Pago Pago Samoa Central Stake Center in Ottoville.
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held October 9th and a presiding church leader will be named later based on travel requirements related to COVID-19 according to a release from the LDS church.
This new temple is one of two approved for the South Pacific. The other temple is the Neiafu Tonga Temple and its groundbreaking is set for Saturday,LDS September 11th.
LDS President Russell Nelson announced the American Samoa Temple during the April 2019 general conference. It will be a single-story structure of approximately 17,000 square feet.
The temple will be located on Ottoville Road and constructed on the site of the Pago Pago Central Stake Center in Tafuna. Housing for the temple president and missionaries, as well as a distribution center, will be built on the site.
There are about 16,000 LDS church members in American Samoa attending 43 congregations on Tutuila.
