Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple

The Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple was first announced by Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, during the 178th Semiannual General Conference in October 2018.

Cambodia is home to more than 15,000 Latter-day Saints and approximately 30 congregations. The temple, which will provide worship opportunities for Cambodia’s Latter-day Saints, will be located on Russian Confederation Street, between the Cambodia Institute of Technology and the Institute of Foreign Languages near the Royal University of Phnom Penh. The temple site will be shared with an ancillary building.

Due to the distance and cost needed to travel to temples in Hong Kong or the Philippines, a temple visit had been a once-in-a-lifetime event for most members in Cambodia.

During his recent ministry tour in Southeast Asia, President Nelson made his first visit to Cambodia. On Tuesday evening, 19 November 2019, he greeted hundreds of gathered Church members at the Premier Centre Sen Sok in Phnom Penh. During his message, which was transmitted to all congregations in Cambodia, he unveiled an artist’s rendering of what will become one of the Church’s most sacred worship spaces — the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple.

As the image was displayed on a large screen in the auditorium, the prophet said, "Isn't that beautiful? We don’t know when the temple will be completed. But I do know this, difficult as it is to build a temple, it is even more difficult to build a people ready for the temple. Preparation of the temple includes members of your family. Your preparation of yourself will bless the members of your family."

President Nelson reminded the members that an important part of the preparation is understanding the temple recommend interview questions that each Latter-day Saint must answer prior to entering a house of the Lord. He said, "Those questions are public knowledge. But your answers to those questions are very sacred and confidential. Your helpers and you will work on your preparation so that you may become worthy to receive all the blessings of the holy temple. I promise you that as you become worthy of that temple recommend, miracles will happen in your life."

President Nelson also reminded the many youth present of their "religious responsibility to get a good education." He said, "This education is the difference between wishing you could help other people and being able to help other people." He concluded by praising the Cambodian Saints for being upstanding citizens in their community. He said, "I am very optimistic about the future of Cambodia."

Sister Wendy Nelson, the wife of President Nelson, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Kathy, accompanied President Nelson on the seven-day trip to four southeast Asia countries. Each spoke at the Tuesday evening devotional.

Groundbreaking Ceremony Is Held for the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple

On Saturday, 18 September 2021, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints broke ground for the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple. President Veasna Kuonno Neang of the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission presided and offered the dedicatory prayer.

During his remarks, President Neang, said:

This is a day heaven is smiling on us. While there have been some dark days in the history of Cambodia, this is a day of light and gladness. The light of Christ will shine here as temple construction is completed.

More than a thousand years ago, a temple was erected in Siem Reap and stands there as a symbol of the Khmer culture of compassion, forgiveness, joy for others, and charity. Today, a holy temple of God will begin its foundation representing the faithfulness, love, and joy of the saints in Cambodia. We know that when we come to the temple, we can feel closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be such a blessing to come to the temple as often as we can.

While COVID-19 gathering restrictions limited the physical attendance of the groundbreaking ceremony, members and friends of the Church across Cambodia and neighboring countries viewed the proceedings via an online broadcast.

Phnom Penh North Stake (group of congregations) President Bunhouch Eng (local leader) also spoke at the ceremony. He recalled his feelings when the late Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated Cambodia for missionary work in 1996:

I remember him speaking of the work growing and prospering here in a marvelous and wonderful way. He spoke about us being a little handful of members now that could become a great army of converts to the Church with hundreds and then thousands and beyond that, tens of thousands as the years pass. I feel that the building of a temple on this site is another example of blessings from the Lord that President Hinckley prayed for.

Less than 450 people attended President Hinckley’s fireside that year; half of whom were not Church members. Today, the Church has two stakes and four districts in Cambodia with both stakes headquartered in the capital city, Phnom Penh.

In the dedicatory prayer, President Neang prayed that God would sanctify the site and protect it "against any power of nature that could damage it and against any power of man that would seek to defile it…that this site may be protected and blessed to be on a fully suitable setting and foundation for a sacred house of the Lord." He also said this temple would be "a beacon of light and hope," and he prayed that all those who pass by the site would feel the Lord's presence.