Latter-day Saints’ First Temple in American Samoa Begins Open House Before December Dedication

The Pago Pago Samoa Temple in American Samoa has opened for public tours, the first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the American territory. Media day was held on November 2, and guided tours for special guests followed on November 3. The public may tour the building from Wednesday, November 4, through Saturday, November 21, except on Sundays.

Two Seventy General Authorities accompanied media representatives on their tour during media day. They were Elder K. Brett Nattress, executive director of the Temple Department, and Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, a member of the Church’s Pacific Area presidency. The Church also published photos of the temple’s interior and exterior on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Elder Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will dedicate the temple on Sunday, December 13. The dedication will be broadcast to all congregations in the temple district. Based on dedications announced to date, the Pago Pago Samoa Temple will become the Church’s 232nd temple and is scheduled to be the last temple dedicated in 2026.

The temple’s decorative motifs draw on traditional Samoan textiles and carvings, as well as design features common to the islands’ architecture. Its green and gold tones are inspired by the islands’ vegetation and the colors of sunrise and sunset. The red ginger plant, the national flower of nearby Samoa, appears in the stained glass throughout the building. The single-story temple covers approximately 1,579 square meters in Tafuna, American Samoa. The site also includes housing for the temple president and missionaries, as well as a distribution center.

The project has a long history. In 1977, then-Church President Spencer W. Kimball announced a temple for Pago Pago to serve Latter-day Saints in the South Pacific. When he announced temples for Nuku’alofa, Tonga, and Papeete, Tahiti, in 1980, he also announced that the Samoan temple would be located in Apia, Samoa, rather than American Samoa. On April 7, 2019, then-Church President Russell M. Nelson again announced a temple for Pago Pago, one of eight locations he named during the April 2019 general conference. The groundbreaking was held on October 30, 2021, and Elder Nattress, then a Seventy and first counselor in the Pacific Area presidency, presided. He said, “By symbolically removing the earth, let us turn our hearts to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us establish a firm foundation in our Savior.”

Missionary work in what is now American Samoa began in June 1888 with the opening of the Samoa Mission. The first meetinghouse built in Samoa was dedicated on October 28, 1888, in Aunu’u, and a branch was organized the same day. Recalling where the work began in the islands is one way of passing on the faith (Deuteronomy 32:7). American Samoa became a U.S. territory in 1900.

Of the 22 temples in various stages of planning or construction in Oceania, five are under construction: the Neiafu Tonga temple (since 2021), the Port Vila Vanuatu temple (2023), the Port Moresby Papua New Guinea temple (2023), the Tarawa Kiribati temple (2024), and the Wellington New Zealand temple (2025). With the Pago Pago Samoa temple completed, the region will have 12 temples in operation. Eleven are already operating, including temples in Hamilton, Apia, Nuku’alofa, Papeete, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Suva, Perth, Brisbane, and Auckland.

On June 15, 1969, the Pago Pago Stake, the first stake in American Samoa, was created. Between 1985 and 1991, the number of Church members in the territory roughly doubled, from about 5,500 to about 11,000. Today, American Samoa has more than 17,600 Latter-day Saints, who meet in 44 wards and branches.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Spanish)