Temple building and personal spiritual preparation as a protection against disaster were highlighted during the Saturday sessions of the 175th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which opened with an unexpected announcement.

As more than 21,000 people packed the Conference Center and thousands more listened on Temple Square Saturday morning, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that two new temples are to be built in the Salt Lake Valley — one in the west and the other in the southwest. They will join a temple announced last year and now in the planning stages for the southeast section of the valley, near Corner Canyon in Draper.

President Hinckley said an unprecedented 32 million sacred ordinances, such as marriage and proxy baptisms, were performed worldwide in the church's 122 operating temples during 2004. "This is more than have been performed in any previous year. At the moment, some of our temples are crowded to capacity and beyond. The needs and desires of our people must be met," he said.

Six temples are under construction, and another, in addition to the two newly announced in Salt Lake County, is yet to be designated but is in the works, he said. Still others are "under consideration."

One problem with increased temple work is duplication of effort in performing temple ordinances. A plan to use computer technology that would help avoid such duplication is also under way, he said. "Preliminary indications are that it will work, and if this is so, it will be a truly remarkable thing with worldwide implications."

Several speakers during both the general sessions and the evening priesthood session alluded to the recent hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast area or to the December 2004 tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands in a huge geographic area of the Indian Ocean. While physical preparation and succor for those who have suffered is necessary and the church has assisted, only spiritual preparation through faith in God and righteous living can ultimately protect individuals, they said.

No guarantee is made that the righteous will be spared in such circumstances, but believers can achieve a level of understanding, peace and comfort not available to those who have no faith, the speakers said.

The history of mankind is marked by calamities, President Hinckley said in the all-male priesthood session. "Just as there have been calamities in the past, we expect more in the future." Prophets throughout time have warned of calamities used as a tool by God to humble mankind. Their warnings are contained in scripture.

Regarding the hurricanes, he emphasized, "Now I do not say, and I repeat emphatically that I do not say, or infer, that what has happened is the punishment of the Lord. Many good people, including some of our faithful Latter-day Saints, are among those who have suffered." The church has been generous in its response to the stricken areas, he said, donating significant amounts of both physical aid and financial help to church members and many not of the LDS faith.