Temple Predictions – April 2022

Welcome! How has it possibly been six months already? We’re excited for the upcoming General Conference, wherein we can be fed spiritually over the course of one weekend. Hopefully we’ll come out of it with a desire to be better.

As is tradition, this article (and podcast!) covers temple predictions for the April 2022 General Conference. We used to employ much more math to make our decisions, but now that we’re in an era of temples going up in areas with a single stake (and ones that are not even all that far from another temple), it’s a bit harder to pinpoint just where temples may go. Still, through a combination of statistical analysis, gumption, and humor, we’ll do our best—and we have a pretty solid track record up to this point.

President Nelson appears unlikely to take any breaks from temple announcements. Some might even feel we are oversaturating the market, but not us! Let the temples flow as they would in Aspen. After announcing 13 new temples in the last General Conference, President Nelson has now announced more temples than any other president in Church history. He revealed 20 new temples in April 2021, which stunned all of us. Who knows what the Lord has in store this time around.

We’ve changed up our approach this go-around. Instead of each author picking a handful of temples and the rest responding to them, Geoff, Joseph, and Cory have agreed on a few joint selections up front. After those, we’ll swing over to our individual picks, coupled with some discussion. It’s a minor distinction, but we thought it best to spend our efforts duking it out over the more out-there choices compared to everyone agreeing Mongolia is inevitable (come on, Ulaanbaatar!).

There are two competing metrics we can use to visualize areas “in need” of temples: Many years ago, President Thomas S. Monson noted that 85% of Church membership was within 200 miles of a temple. That percentage is likely higher today. This is why our map continues to show 200-mile-radius circles around a temple point – to illustrate potential gaps in coverage. However, President Nelson has also said he wants the saints to be no more than two hours away from a temple, and two hours in one location can mean something completely different in another. To help visualize this, some of our picks will include an image showing what is within a two-hour driving range of certain temples. Sometimes there is overlap. Other times, one metric tells a story that the other doesn’t. For example, Knoxville, Tennessee, is 196 miles from Franklin, Tennessee, the location of the Nashville Tennessee Temple. However, it sits well outside the estimated two-hour distance to that temple, as well as temples in Atlanta and Louisville. Chattanooga is in the same boat.

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