Dedication of the Taipei Taiwan Temple
In 1960, as an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley accompanied the president of the Hong Kong Mission to Taipei to search for a location for a new meetinghouse. They purchased a site that held an old prison, which was later demolished to make room for the meetinghouse.
More than 20 years later, on Aug. 26, 1982, around 1,500 Church members gathered in that chapel for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Taipei Taiwan Temple, which would soon be built on the same site. President Hinckley, then a counselor in the First Presidency, recalled seeing a branch Relief Society president working hard to dig the foundation for the meetinghouse.
“She was barefooted, and as she walked through the mud as slippery as grease, it squeezed up between her toes,” he said. “But she went down into the [foundation] hole and began carrying dirt on her shoulders.”
After he told this story to the gathered Taiwanese Saints, he testified that “when people are working together for a great cause with a common purpose, there is unity among them.”
Stake President Liu Ch’un-Hua of the Taipei Taiwan West Stake also spoke to the congregation, saying that the new temple would have a “very positive effect on members [of the Church] and nonmembers.”
The Taipei Taiwan Temple was dedicated Nov. 17, 1984, by President Hinckley. At the dedication, he spoke of the temple work that the members would do in the house of the Lord, saying, “This house, built on what was once prison property, will open the prison doors of the veil of death.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “There have been many ... who have served faithfully and diligently as messengers of Thine eternal truth, speaking to their own people in their own tongue. Thousands have responded to their teachings. We thank Thee for the firm foundation on which Thy Church is now established in this part of the earth. We thank Thee for this day when those who will use this temple may turn their hearts to their fathers, participating in this, Thy holy house in those ordinances which will make it possible for their deceased forebears to move forward on the way that leads to eternal life.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Taipei Taiwan Temple here.
Timeline of the Taipei Taiwan Temple
A temple for Taipei, Taiwan, was announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley, a counselor in the First Presidency, during a press conference on March 31, 1982. Around 1,500 Church members from the temple district attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the temple on Aug. 26, 1982.
After an open house from Oct. 30 to Nov. 10, 1984, the Taipei Taiwan Temple was dedicated by President Hinckley on Nov. 17, 1984.
Architecture and Design of the Taipei Taiwan Temple
The 9,945-square-foot Taipei Taiwan Temple was built on 0.48 acres of land. The exterior walls are made of white ceramic tile, and six detached spires surround the temple on the ground, similar to the temples in Lima, Peru; Stockholm, Sweden; and Manila, Philippines.
The temple also features four instruction rooms and three sealing rooms.