The Perth Australia Temple is a great blessing to the 12,000 members that it serves. Previously members had to travel a distance equivalent to Los Angeles to New York to attend the nearest temple in Sydney. Now members can complete their own temple ordinances and work for their ancestors much easier.
“Australia is emerging as a very significant place for the Church. The new temples will assist our many new members to unite their families eternally and cement their faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ,”1 said Peter Meurs, president of the Perth Australia Warwick Stake.
Local reaction to the newMormon temple has been favourable. At the groundbreaking ceremony Elder Kenneth Johnson quoted letters from the governor and premier of Western Australia.
Governor Jeffrey wrote, “I have no doubt that the temple will contribute to the growth and stability of the Church here. But more importantly it will contribute to the growth and stability of members and their families.” 2
Premier Court was equally positive. “The significant growth of the membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the world is accompanied by the growing respect and influence for good in the Western Australian community,” he wrote. “Now at the end of the 20th Century an important extension of the work and witness of the Church is about to be built in Perth.” 3
Members are thrilled to have a temple close. Commenting about the groundbreaking ceremony stake president, Adrian S. Palm, said, “I was overwhelmed with a real sense of brotherhood. The influence of the temple is already touching lives.” 4
President Hinckley said, “In view of the fact that we do not build a temple until there are sufficient people in the area, until there are sufficient tithe payers, and until there is sufficient faith, the very construction of these sacred buildings becomes an indicator of the increase of faith and obedience to the principles of the gospel.” 5 This is apparent since in just 100 years since the first Mormon missionaries entered western Australia Church membership has grown to 12,000 members.
The central figure of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Jesus Christ. As the approximately 37,000 visitors toured the Mormon temple during the open house, they realized this. President Hinckley commented that people tour the temples with reverence and respect. Visitors often marvel at the beauty of the temples. “But among many things, they are most impressed with pictures of the Savior they see in these holy houses. They will no longer regard us as a non-Christian people.” 6
President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Perth Australia Temple on 20 May 2001. During the dedicatory prayer, he blessed the country of Australia saying, “We thank Thee for this land of Australia, where this and other temples have been built. We thank Thee for the freedom of worship, which pertains here. May this great nation always remain a place of individual liberty, that men and women may approach Thee within these walls without threat or disturbance of any kind.”7
Physical Address:
163-173 WORDSWORTH AVE
YOKINE WA 6060
AUSTRALIA
Mailing address:
178 Virgil Avenue
Yokine, Western Australia 6060
AUSTRALIA
Australia
Phone: (61) 8-9276-0000
For more information about Mormon temples visit the sites below:
Mormon Temple: Information From Answers.com
Mormanity: Mormon Temples and “Secrecy”
History of Mormon Temples
(1) “News of the Church,” Ensign, Aug. 2001, 71
(2) Church News, 4 December 1999
(3) Church News, 4 December 1999
(4) Church News, 4 December 1999
(5) Gordon B. Hinckley, “Welcome to Conference,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 4
(6) Gordon B. Hinckley, “Welcome to Conference,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 4
(7) “‘We thank Thee for this land of Australia,’” Church News 26 May 2001, 25 Jun. 2005
