Saturday’s announcement by Mormon Church President Thomas S. Monson that five new LDS temples will be built includes another Utah temple in Brigham City. It was a pleasant surprise to one LDS Stake President in Brigham City. “I was completely startled,” said President Ron Frandsen. “Obviously, it changes our community forever and it’s probably the most far-reaching announcement in the history of this community. It will create so many wonderful opportunities for us here.” Frandsen said he remembers conversations years ago with people in the church real estate department about various real estate transactions in the area. “During those times they rolled out their maps on the table, smiled at me, and cautioned me to not bring up the ‘T word.’ So that compounded the surprise factor. We are so close to other temples, 30 minutes to Logan and 30 Minutes to Ogden.” He said having a temple locally and keeping it busy is not a daunting thought at all. “It will just unroll in a very normal, natural way. I’m confident we’ll keep the temple busy.” Frandsen said there is speculation in the community about a location for the temple. “What I’m told is there will likely be an announcement sometime within the next week or so. Indications I’ve received is they are attempting to finalize the legal requirements for the property they have in mind.” He said church members in Brigham City hope the temple’s construction is not years away. “We hope it doesn’t take that long,” said Frandsen. “In other temple districts they announce the temple then it’s several years before construction begins. My sense in those cases is that it’s largely driven by getting zoning ordinances complied with and so forth. My anticipation is that won’t be as difficult here as it might be in other areas.” Other future temple locations announced Saturday, in addition to Brigham City, are Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Concepcion, Chile; Fortaleza, Brazil; and Sapporo, Japan. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 130 temples operating worldwide, most in the U.S. Another 16 are either planned or already under construction. President Monson has announced plans for at least 10 new temples since he became the church’s 16th president in February 2008. The locations selected for new temples reflect the growth of the church, which according to statistics released in April has grown to 13.8 million members. Frandsen said in the Brigham City area (from Willard to just north of Brigham into the Harper/Honeyville area) there are seven LDS stakes.