In case you missed it, President Monson yesterday announced plans to build two more temples, both in Arizona. One will be in Gila Valley, and the other in Gilbert. The LDS Newsroom notes that this will bring the number of temples operating, and in planning or construction, to 139. These are also the first temples that have been announced by President Monson since becoming the prophet and president of the Church. President Monson is dedicated to continuing the legacy of temple building that his predecessor, President Hinckley, instituted:
It is my personal priority to make sure members of the Church have access to the blessings of the temple. It is here where members learn of their divine origin and destiny, where they are strengthened spiritually as individuals and as families. Temples are sanctuaries from the storms of life.
Here is a graph of the growth of the numbers of temples and membership since the organization of the Church in 1830. You can see that there is roughly one temple per every 100,000 members of the Church:
The graph indicates that temples have lagged church membership since the 1930s and are now catching up. However the linear scale emphasizes the larger numbers. It would be interesting to note the trends on an logarithmic scale.