Groundbreaking of the Tarawa Kiribati Temple
The groundbreaking of the Tarawa Kiribati Temple was presided over by Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi — a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Pacific Area presidency — on Nov. 2, 2024. Those in attendance included His Excellency Taneti Maamau, president of Kiribati, and the groundbreaking was broadcast live to meetinghouses across the country.
In his remarks at the event, Elder Jaggi said: “Today’s breaking of the ground is symbolic of planting a giant coconut or breadfruit seed. It will produce the greatest harvest we have seen or can conceive for generations to come.”
Timeline of the Tarawa Kiribati Temple
The Tarawa temple was announced Oct. 4, 2020, by President Russell M. Nelson. Just over four years later, ground was broken for the temple on Nov. 2, 2024, with Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi presiding.
Architecture and Design of the Tarawa Kiribati Temple
The Tarawa Kiribati Temple will be a single-story building of approximately 10,000 square feet. According to an exterior rendering released May 19, 2021, the temple will be surrounded by square windows with brown frames and an arched entryway above the main doors. Atop the temple, above the entrance, will be a tower on a square base and an arched window on each of the four sides.
The temple, along with a new meetinghouse and patron housing facility, will stand on a 0.8-acre site. The temple grounds will be adjacent to the Kiribati Parliament building. Green, red and purple bushes as well as some palm trees will decorate the site. An additional ancillary facility will also be located 450 meters west of the temple site.
