Construction of the Kumasi Ghana Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began Saturday, Oct. 18, with a groundbreaking ceremony to dedicate the site.
“May this day be a spiritual groundbreaking for each of us gathered, marking a renewed dedication (to) thy gospel,” said Elder Isaac K. Morrison, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the church’s Africa West Area presidency, as he dedicated the future temple’s 2.08-acre site.
“Help us draw nearer to thee,” he continued, “and prepare ourselves to enter thy holy house worthily.”
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Elder Morrison — who also presided over the Oct. 18 event — first addressed listeners, calling the ceremony a “historic event” and a blessing for members who have long yearned for a temple nearby and traveled more than five hours to the Accra Ghana Temple.
He also reflected on church leaders’ recent teachings and said that a groundbreaking “symbolizes breaking the earth to make a sacred deposit of (a) foundation, a firm base for the house of the Lord.” Likewise, he said, members must prepare themselves “with a broken heart and contrite spirit, turning the soil of our lives and putting God first, in fact, letting him prevail in our lives.”
Following his address and testimony, Elder Morrison offered the site’s dedicatory prayer, invoking God’s blessings to be upon the site and its workers, as well as those who will one day worship in the Kumasi Ghana Temple.
“Please remind us to have a broken heart and contrite spirit,” Elder Morrison prayed.
“Strengthen our resolve to prepare for thy son’s second coming, and to prioritize our discipleship of Jesus Christ. Let thy will prevail in our lives, and help us break barriers of misunderstanding and conflict by choosing to become peacemakers in a turbulent world.”
First announced by the late Church President Russell M. Nelson in April 2021, the Kumasi Ghana Temple will become the church’s second operating temple in Ghana — a country home to more than 113,000 Latter-day Saints in nearly 390 congregations.
The Kumasi temple will stand on a 2.08-acre lot adjacent to an existing meetinghouse in Bantama, Kumasi, and is planned to be a two-story building of approximately 22,750 square feet.
