Temple in Sapporo

It is hard to express the immense joy and intense excitement that has swept through the island of Hokkaido with the announcement of the temple in Sapporo. This has been a dream and a goal of the members and missionaries for decades. Recently, there has been increased emphasis on preparing the island for a temple. In the past couple of years, the members have been blessed with the presence of four Apostles, President Eyring, President Uchtdorff, Elder Oaks and most recently, Elder Bednar. The members have not only been praying for a temple in Hokkaido, they have demonstrated their faithfulness with regularly scheduled, well attended temple excursions to the Tokyo Temple. Under the direction of the Area Presidency, the Stake Presidents, District President and Mission President have united their efforts to increase the number of valid temple recommend holders in Hokkaido. The targeted goal was achieved prior to General Conference.The missionaries have been diligent in increasing the membership base to support and sustain a temple in Hokkaido. We rejoice that we are fortunate to be in Hokkaido at the time of this epic announcement for the church in Japan but extend our gratitude to all of the saints and missionaries who paved the way for this dream to be realized.