President Gordon B. Hinckley Significant Events 1995 Date Event March 12 Set apart as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints April 1 Sustained by Church members as 15th President of the Church April 8 Dedication of Tuacahn arts center and amphitheater in Ivins, Utah May 13 Groundbreaking for the Vernal Utah Temple, the 10th temple in Utah June 17–23 First time a President of the Church has held meetings with members in Alaska September 23 Read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" at general Relief Society meeting November 13 Met with the President of the United States at the White House to discuss the importance of families December 20 Announced new logo design for the Church 1996 Date Event April 6 Announced the construction of a new meeting hall that would hold three to four times more people than the Tabernacle April 7 Interviewed by Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes on CBS network April 22 Dedication of the David O. McKay Events Center at Utah Valley State College May 26 Dedication of the Hong Kong Temple June 11 Groundbreaking for the Madrid Spain Temple June 29 Rededication of the refurbished This Is the Place Monument and State Park October 13 Dedication of the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple November 10 Groundbreaking for the Cochabamba Bolivia Temple 1997 Date Event May 8–17 Toured New Zealand and Australia and spoke to a total of more than 55,000 people May 28 Dedication of a new nine-story headquarters building for the Deseret News June 1 Dedication of the St. Louis Missouri Temple June 5 Spoke at the graduation ceremonies for the 100-year-old Juarez Academy in the Church colonies of Juarez, Mexico July 22 Addressed 50,000 people at This Is the Place Monument and State Park after the commemorative Mormon Trail Wagon Train entered Salt Lake City July 24 Groundbreaking for the new assembly building July 24–25 Participated in Pioneer Sesquicentennial Spectacular at BYU's Cougar Stadium for 130,000 people August 9–10 Addressed 56,000 people in four nations in South America: Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Uruguay October 4–5 Announced plans to begin building small temples around the world November 2 Dedication of the Vernal Utah Temple 1998 Date Event February 14–22 Toured five nations in Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, speaking to more than 30,000 people; he was the first Church President to ever visit West Africa February 16 Announced plans for a temple in Ghana, the first in West Africa April 4–5 Announced a program to construct an additional 30 smaller temples April 25 Announced plans in a member meeting to build a temple in Columbus, Ohio April 26 Addressed 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City June 7–10 Dedication of the Preston England Temple July 31–August 8 Addressed more than 50,000 members during an 8-day, 12-city tour of Canada; announced plans for two more temples in Canada September 8 Appeared on CNN's Larry King Live November 6 Received BYU's Marriott School of Business' International Executive of the Year award December 1 Participated with Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini in joint announcement of the proposal to purchase part of Main Street 1999 Date Event January 9–10 Dedication of the Anchorage Alaska Temple February 20 Announced plans to build temple at Palmyra, New York March 6–7 Dedication of the Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico Temple March 19–21 Dedication of the Madrid Spain Temple April 1 Helped open 50-year-old Sunday School time capsule April 4 Made surprise announcement of rebuilding the Nauvoo Illinois Temple April 24 Dedication of the Bogota D.C. Colombia Temple April 25 Addressed 57,500 Church members and friends in a soccer stadium in Santiago, Chile May 13 Addressed the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, speaking of the worldwide operations of the Church May 24 Linked by satellite between Salt Lake City and Washington D.C., officially launched the FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service August 1–2 Dedication of the Guayaquil Ecuador Temple August 19 Announced official name for the new assembly building: the Conference Center August 21 Dedication of the Spokane Washington Temple September 4–5 Dedication of the Columbus Ohio Temple September 11 Dedication of monument honoring memory of 120 people killed in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 October 16–17 Dedication of the Columbia South Carolina Temple October 23–24 Dedication of the Detroit Michigan Temple October 24 Groundbreaking for a reconstruction of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple November 14 For the first time in Church history two temples were dedicated on the same day: the Halifax Nova Scotia Temple by President Hinckley and the Regina Saskatchewan Temple by President Boyd K. Packer November 20–21 Dedication of the Billings Montana Temple December 8 Presided over sealing of a time capsule to be opened in 50 years for Sunday School bicentennial December 11–12 Dedication of the Edmonton Alberta Temple December 18–19 Dedication of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple December 24 Interviewed on Larry King Live 2000 Date Event January 9 Dedication of the St. Paul Minnesota Temple January 22 Addressed more than 15,000 members in Laie to commemorate the sesquicentennial year of the establishment of the Church on the tropical islands January 23–24 Dedication of the Kona Hawaii Temple January 27 Met with Abdurrahman Wahid, the president of Indonesia, in Jakarta, Indonesia February 1 Completed an 11-day tour of the Pacific Rim where he traveled 22,670 miles and spoke to over 26,600 people February 22 His book Standing for Something: Ten Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes went on sale February 26 Dedication of the Ciudad Juarez Mexico Temple February 27 Dedication of the Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Temple, which was the 50th temple he had dedicated or rededicated March 5 Dedication of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple March 8 Spoke to National Press Club in Washington D.C. April 1–2 Presided over first general conference held in the new Conference Center April 1–2 Special Witnesses of Christ, a video production of the testimonies of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was shown between sessions of general conference April 6 Dedication of the Palmyra New York Temple; an estimated 1.3 million members participated in the dedication in stake centers in six time zones April 9 Dedication of the Fresno California Temple April 30 Dedication of the Cochabamba Bolivia Temple June 4 Dedication of the Montreal Quebec Temple