Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Groundbreaking Ceremony

Church members, leaders, public officials, and invited guests gathered for the groundbreaking service for the Teresina Brazil Temple on Saturday, April 18, 2026. The event marked a historic milestone for the Church in the states of Piauí and Maranhão, located in northeastern Brazil. Elder Ciro Schmeil, First Counselor in the Brazil Area Presidency, presided at the event. In his message, he taught that "temples are a demonstration of God's love" for His children and a place where they draw closer to Jesus Christ.¹

Temple Rendering

On February 12, 2024, an official exterior rendering of the Teresina Brazil Temple was released to the public.²

Temple Site

On August 28, 2023, the location of the Teresina Brazil Temple was announced as a 3.6-acre site located at the convergence of Av. Raul Lopes and Rua Des. Pedro Conde in the Noivos neighborhood of Teresina. Plans call for a temple of approximately 25,420 square feet.³

Temple Announcement

On April 2, 2023, President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct the Teresina Brazil Temple at the April 2023 General Conference. The inland city of Teresina is the capital of the state of Piauí, located in Northern Brazil. The conurbation of Teresina and Timon, located in the bordering state of Maranhão, boasts a population of nearly one million residents. The first known members of the Church of Jesus Christ to live in Brazil immigrated from Germany in 1913. In 1988, Brazil became the third country outside the United States to have 50 organized stakes. In April 2017, President Russell M. Nelson said, “Brazil is part of the heart of the Church.”

At the time of the temple's announcement, there were nearly 1.5 million Latter-day Saints in Brazil in about 2,175 congregations. There were dedicated temples in Belém, Campinas, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo with temples under construction in Brasília and Salvador. Teresina became one of nine additional cities where temples are planned for construction. The other cities are Belo Horizonte, Londrina, Maceió, Natal (announced the same day), Ribeirão Preto, Santos, São Paulo (East), and Vitória.⁴