The São Paulo Brazil Temple is the 17th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1975 at an area conference in Brazil, then President of the Mormon Church, Spencer W. Kimball, announced that a temple would be built in São Paulo. The São Paulo Temple was the first Mormon temple built in South America. It was dedicated on October 30, 1978 by President Spencer W. Kimball. At the time, there were more than 242,000 members of the Church living in South America, with 54,000 in Brazil alone. As of 2006 there are a total of thirteen Mormon temples in South America.