What took the pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 40 years to complete the first time has now taken six years to renovate and revitalize. The Salt Lake Temple is almost ready to host the world at an open house that leaders are calling a full celebration.
On this episode of the Church News podcast, Elder Brent H. Nielson, an emeritus General Authority Seventy, and Richard Sutton from the Church’s Temple Department, join guest host Sheri Dew, executive vice president of Deseret Management Corp. and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency.
The three discuss the unparalleled nature of the upcoming Salt Lake Temple Celebration and the many opportunities it provides for individuals to learn about the historic and holy structure and its purpose in Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation.
Listen to this episode of the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, bookshelf PLUS, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
Sheri Dew: In April of 2019, President Russell M. Nelson announced that at the end of 2019, that the Salt Lake Temple would close for an extended period for major renovations. In fact, this is what he said specifically. He said this project “will enhance, refresh and beautify the temple and its surrounding grounds. Obsolete systems within the building will be replaced. Safety and seismic concerns will be addressed. Accessibility will be enhanced so that members with limited mobility can be better accommodated.”
We’re here today with Elder Brent Nielson and with Richard Sutton to talk about what will follow. Now that the temple is almost complete, next year we’re contemplating a wonderful event, probably one unlike anything the Church has ever seen before, and that being the open house for the Salt Lake Temple.
So, Elder Nielson and Rich, welcome to the Church News podcast.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Thank you.
Richard Sutton: Thank you, Sheri.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: I’m so excited to be here.
1:00
Sheri Dew: So, we saw just a few days ago, we saw another evidence of wonderful progress, and that is those beautiful doors that every couple who’s ever been married there has had their picture taken in front of with their families and friends and so forth. We saw those be hung again. So, again, things are moving along.
You two have had your unique assignments for several years. Would you talk to us about what you were called or asked or assigned to do? And give us just a picture of what you’ve been doing the last two or three years as you’ve been planning a party for millions of your closest friends.
1:38
Elder Brent H. Nielson: I was serving as a general authority in 2024 and was about to become an emeritus general authority. And President [Dieter F.] Uchtdorf and Elder [Neil L.] Andersen called me to President Uchtdorf’s office and said, “Are you going to stay here in Utah after you’re emeritus?” And I said, “Yes.” And they said, “We would like you to be the coordinator for the Salt Lake Temple open house.”
And they showed me a minute entry from the First Presidency where they had appointed a committee of four members of the Twelve and asked that I do that. And so I’ve been doing it now for almost two and a half years involved with this. Started, it was, I believe, that was March of 2024.
2:22
Richard Sutton: Mine was a little bit different but similar as well. But I was in the Temple Department. I was serving as a senior director in the Temple Department over operations worldwide and was loving my job and my position and was starting to help prepare some of the original preparations for the Salt Lake Temple.
We made some recommendations to the First Presidency of how we might go about an open house. I’d done open houses at different temples around the world, from Fiji to Provo City Center to Tucson and different areas of the world. So I’ve had that experience in the past. And we thought this was going to be different. And so we were proposing a little bit different of an organization and a structure from the Temple Department.
But as Elder Nielson said, the First Presidency made the decision to have an executive committee, kind of cross-departmental, established. And shortly after that decision was made, Elder Andersen invited me into his office. And he said, “You’re going to take a break from serving in the Temple Department specifically” — or generally, I should say — “and specifically just be responsible for the Salt Lake Temple open house.”
And it was about that time, and I think this is critical, that President Nelson said, “This needs to be a celebration.” And so we went from a Salt Lake Temple open house to a Salt Lake Temple Celebration under prophetic direction, which was really, really quite neat to be a part of.
3:44
Sheri Dew: So, how early in this process did you sense that, “Oh, this is maybe way different than I thought it was going to be”?
Elder Brent H. Nielson: About the time that I thought it was going to be an open house. So, we’ve all done those before. We’ve all participated in those. But then President Nelson said, “No, this is a celebration.” And so when he renamed the event, it became a totally different idea than I was contemplating at the time.
4:14
Richard Sutton: And right from the beginning, when you have four Apostles, a third of the Quorum of the Twelve, assigned to a specific project — I’ve worked for the Church for almost 20 years now. I’ve never been involved in a project that has four Apostles assigned to it. And so, yeah, there was a lot of indicators right from the beginning that this was not going to be a normal open house.
4:38
Sheri Dew: Obviously, the central feature — we’re going to talk in the next few minutes about many, many features of this open house — but the central feature, of course, is the temple.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Yes.
Sheri Dew: And you have both been able to see inside at different stages along the way to see what’s actually happening.
And what does it feel like? What’s it feel like? What’s it look like? Especially now as you walk through and you see it getting close, really, to completion. How’s it feel? How’s it feel?
5:08
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Well, I might just say — and not many people know this unless they visit our visitors’ center that just opened — but President Nelson added an additional 100,000 square feet to the historic temple. So we’ve got the historic temple that all of us are familiar with, but he added another 100,000 square feet that runs from the historic temple to North Temple, underground, four levels. And so we now have 22 sealing rooms, two baptismal fonts. It’s a new structure for all of those things, but the historic temple has pretty much remained the same, with this big addition.
5:53
Sheri Dew: So it’ll feel familiar, the historic part?
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Yeah, the historic temple feels familiar. But the new addition isn’t going to feel — it’ll be something we’ll all get used to.
6:04
Sheri Dew: Is there anything that would be appropriate to say in this context about what President Nelson said or how he explained the reasoning for adding that many square feet?
Richard Sutton: It was interesting to watch that prophetic direction come of, “This temple needs to serve the world.” It wasn’t just, I think, a specific temple district like we’re used to.
6:26
Sheri Dew: As per normal.
Richard Sutton: Yeah, as per normal. When you look at, “OK, these are the people in the district.” But it’s really — you think about general conference, you think about the Olympics in the past, the Olympics that are coming in the future, many events that take place in Salt Lake City, not just Church events, but an array of different events.
The Salt Lake Temple becomes a gathering place for a lot of members of the Church from around the world. And so it wasn’t just a normal temple district that we were looking at. He was looking at it much larger from a prophetic vision of, “This really needs to service the world in a way that other temples don’t.”
7:02
Elder Brent H. Nielson: And my wife and I were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. I’m from Idaho, she’s from Texas. We don’t live in Salt Lake City. But everyone at the time, and I think continues to be that way, that we all want to be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. It’s the iconic place for us to be sealed. And I think President Nelson realized that and added all these additional sealing rooms.
So I think it isn’t — we’re used to thinking, “Well, that’s my temple district, and we all go to that temple,” but the Salt Lake Temple is the world’s temple district. And even as we have prepared for this celebration, some of our area presidencies around the world have said, “So, why is this important to us?” And we explained to them this is the center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is where the First Presidency and the Twelve meet every Thursday. This is a different temple than other temples in the Church. And young people are going to come here to be sealed that have nothing to do with Salt Lake City.
8:08
Richard Sutton: I was just thinking about the original part of your question, about: “What does it look like? What does it feel like inside?” It just got me thinking. It’s really interesting to think, as we were walking through not too long ago, we were actually looking at what one of the tour paths through the temple could be for the open house.
And as we were walking through it, there were areas of the temple, as Elder Nielson was mentioning, in the lower areas of that north addition that were basically complete, meaning gold leafing is up. I mean, it’s a completed room. And there’s other areas of the temple where they’re still pouring concrete. So the amount of work that’s going on on this site is incredible.
And I wanted to just follow up on something Elder Nielson said. Though it will be brand new in some areas, it’s going to feel familiar because they’ve made the design really cohesive throughout the temple. So even in a brand-new area, it’s going to feel in the north addition just like that historic temple feels. It will feel very cohesive, though it will be brand new.
9:06
Sheri Dew: Now, in addition to this incredible project that has been undertaken on the temple, there are so many other features and things that have been added or changed. There’s new statuary on Temple Square, a lot of renovation taking place in different buildings.
So, talk about that when you come to the Salt Lake Temple — should we call it celebration? When we come to the celebration, that yes, the centerpiece is walking through and seeing the temple and better understanding the temple.
But there are other opportunities too. Let’s talk about some of those. Rich, do you want to go first with that?
9:40
Richard Sutton: I don’t think we have the hours and hours it would take to describe everything that’s being planned. There is so much that’s going to be new and renovated on Temple Square, from the new Temple Square Visitors’ Center that you mentioned earlier, which has just opened not too long ago to the public, and it’s just incredible. It’s such an opportunity to have the temple be open 24/7, if you will.
10:05
Sheri Dew: Say more about that. Everybody may not understand what that means.
Richard Sutton: Yeah, so there are replica rooms of sacred spaces in the Temple Square Visitors’ Center replicating temple spaces. And so you have an instruction room, you have a baptistry, you have a celestial room, and you have a sealing room that are all there to walk through and an audiovisual presentation that helps guide a guest through the temple and the experience there.
And so we’re able to open ourselves up as a Church to say: “OK, usually only when a temple is just about to be dedicated, we have a few weeks, maybe a few months in some areas, to go through the temple. Even the Salt Lake Temple will be open for six months and then will be rededicated. But this will be forever on Temple Square.”
10:49
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Three hundred sixty-five days a year.
Richard Sutton: Yeah, 365 days a year. And you can go through the temple. It’ll just be incredible, that experience. And then there’s a lot of other exhibit space within the visitors’ center helping describe the temple and the role of Jesus Christ in the temple as members of the Church.
There’s also a few videos, films that are being prepared and planned now. There’ll be one in the Conference Center that describes the renovation of the Salt Lake Temple. People are so curious, “What happened in that seven years of construction?” And we’re going to, in about 20 minutes, try and condense that into layman’s terms of what happened in that temple.
There’s another wonderful kind of single-point-of-view film that’s being created highlighting temples around the world, and just taking almost like a drone would be flying throughout the earth, highlighting different cityscapes and the temples in those areas.
The Relief Society Building is going to have a brand-new exhibit just for the open house — or just for the celebration, I should say — and it’s going to be incredible, highlighting the Primary, Young Women and Relief Society organizations of the Church and the incredible impact that women of the Church have had, not just on the Church but on communities throughout the world. And President Camille Johnson, who’s had a huge part — she sits on the executive committee as one of our leaders — she’s had a huge part in kind of directing how that will look and operate.
The Beehive and Lion houses are being renovated. There’s new exhibits going into the Joseph Smith Memorial Building highlighting the Savior’s role there. The Tabernacle will have dome projections onto the dome ceiling, which will just be incredible to sit there in that historic Tabernacle and look up on the roof and watch these presentations. There will be spaces for families and individuals to come and just kind of relax on kind of lawn space. Like you mentioned, there’s a dozen or more new statues that are on Temple Square.
12:52
Sheri Dew: Some of them are just stunning, too.
Richard Sutton: Church History is doing new exhibits in the museum and in the library, family history in the FamilySearch Library. Elder Nielson, what am I missing?
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Well, I just think it’s important to point out that President Nelson had a very distinct vision of what the plaza — which is the area of the Church of Temple Square that runs from State Street to the temple — and he wanted it to look a specific way. And in fact, I saw his diagram of this. And he wanted a plaque on State Street, and it’s right there now, and it’s Isaiah 2. It’s right there, and it says that in the last days, the house of the Lord will be established in the mountains, and all nations will flow unto it (see verse 2).
And as you look at that plaque and you face the temple, you see all the flags around the world leading to the temple. And he used to regularly say, “This is a fulfillment of that prophecy, that all the nations of the world will come to this temple.” And that’s what’s going to happen during this celebration. We’re inviting all of the leaders around the world to come.
14:09
Sheri Dew: So, we’ve talked, we’ve mentioned the four members of the Twelve that are on this executive committee. You mentioned President Johnson.
Do you want to say anything else about this executive committee appointed by the First Presidency? Isn’t that correct?
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Yes.
14:24
Sheri Dew: And they are taking the leading role in overseeing what’s taking place. Is that how you would describe it?
Elder Brent H. Nielson: So, we’re led by President Uchtdorf. He is the chairman of everything that we do. And then we have Elder Cook of the Twelve, who also serves on the committee; Elder Andersen of the Twelve; and then Elder Stevenson.
They’ve kind of divided their responsibilities up a bit. Elder Andersen has responsibility for what Rich is doing, which is at the on-site open house. But we also have — and we haven’t discussed this much — but we also have a virtual committee that Elder Stevenson directs with Brad Tate on our subcommittee to tell everybody around the world what’s happening here at Salt Lake City. It’s all of the things that will be put on our website and all of the — we’ll have a video series, a six-part video series, that involves young adults around the world. And it’s already been produced, a good part of it, and Elder Stevenson directs that.
We also have the presiding bishop on the committee. He’s been serving on it since the beginning. And we have, frankly, somebody from every department of the Church that’s on our subcommittees, from Church History to the Priesthood Department to the Temple Department to the Missionary Department. This whole campus is covered on our committees because they all have input into what we’re accomplishing, what we’re trying to do, and we’re coordinating with each one of them.
16:04
Sheri Dew: So, let’s say a little bit more about that, can we? It is taking literally a cast of thousands to undertake, really, “How do you host millions of people in a confined area for a fairly long period of time, six months?” We haven’t said that the open house will run from April till October of 2027.
So, would you like to say more about some of the individuals or the kinds of talents that we have, that you have, brought to bear to help pull all of this off?
16:36
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Well, just like Rich — Rich was one of the top people in the Temple Department. And he was taken out of the Temple Department to help us. Brad Tate from Church Communications is the chairman of the virtual committee.
But we have also taken people from Family History who are handling logistics, a wonderful sister who frankly is handling all of our logistics. We have people who have been taken from other committees and also hired who are over creativity — a wonderful sister who is doing all of the creative things that we are doing all across Temple Square.
So we have some really wonderful people who serve. We have even asked Sheri Dew to come and help us, and she has helped us.
Sheri Dew: A teeny bit.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: She has helped us in some of our —
Sheri Dew: She has tried not to mess anything up. That is what she has done.
17:32
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Anyway, we have just a beautiful group of people. It’s a pleasure to work with all of them.
Richard Sutton: It’s incredible. One of the things I would add, just amen to what Elder Nielson has said, to watch all of these amazing people who have been prepared, either through Church employment — because every organization has a way of getting things approved and getting things done, and so having people who have been in Church employment and know how to navigate the councils and committees and how that works.
But also, like Elder Nielson mentioned, we’ve hired people who have been in the tops of their fields and have been prepared for these kinds of moments, people that have worked in the Olympics and other areas to prepare for a large event of this scale, and it’s just been incredible to watch.
The other thing that I’d say is I envisioned at first an executive committee that would be more of an approving body, not really getting into the details, but really high-level, kind of get the surface of something, approve it, give the direction, and then the team goes to work. That has not been this executive committee. President Uchtdorf, from Day 1 and from the very first executive committee meeting, said, “This is a working committee,” and that’s exactly what it’s been.
I think people, members of the Church, would be shocked of how intensely aware of every detail these four Brethren of the Twelve are. They’re in the details. They know what’s going on. They’re engaged in it. They’re giving direction in it. They’re working. We get calls, Elder Nielson and I, day and night from these members of the Twelve. But it’s incredible that they care. They’re involved this much, and they know what’s going on. They’re part of it. And it’s been a life-changing experience for me to kind of watch that and be involved in it.
19:18
Sheri Dew: So, Elder Nielson, you’ve been around Church headquarters for quite a while. You’ve had a lot of important assignments, leading roles.
What do you think it’s — how would you characterize what it says about the fact that four members of the Twelve — I’ve never seen four members of the Twelve assigned to something before either. I don’t have the experience the two of you do. But I’ve been around this block a fair amount.
And what do you think that says about this? Why is this such a big deal?
19:50
Elder Brent H. Nielson: I find it fascinating that it was the First Presidency who established that committee. It wasn’t something anybody else came up with, and they actually assigned these four Apostles to take the assignment to be over this committee. And it tells me the way the Lord looks at this temple.
This temple took 40 years for our pioneer ancestors to build, and it is the icon of the Church, and it is the place where everyone gathers every six months, and it is a very sacred space for all of us. And so I just think it’s interesting that the Lord and the First Presidency are the ones who established this committee.
And, like you said, I served in the Missionary Department, I’ve served in area presidencies around the world, and I haven’t seen four Apostles assigned to a specific event like this one. And as Rich said, they’re deeply involved. They know what’s going on from the very creative beginning of what we’re doing to now pounding nails, which is where we are now.
Sheri Dew: Which is where we are now.
21:12
Richard Sutton: And I — what I would add to that is just how incredible this is. It’s more than just a building being renovated. I mean, 40 years to originally build it is something monumental, but with all of the modern technology we have, seven years to renovate a building is an incredible amount of time in the modern age. And so a lot has been done. When you look at the seismic retrofit and all that has been done, it’s incredible. But it’s more than just the restoration of a historic building. This is an opportunity to really celebrate and rejoice together.
We’re really, quite literally, we’re inviting the entire world to come to this celebration. And we want everyone to come. We recognize not everyone will be able to come to Salt Lake City during that six months. But we’d like to bring Salt Lake City to the entire world as well. And so we have an on-site portion where the entire world can come. And those who can’t come, we’re going to take Salt Lake City — or at least Temple Square — to you.
And we’re going to have a virtual tour of the Salt Lake Temple unlike anything you’ve seen before. We have the new app that was introduced with the opening of the visitors’ center but will only be enhanced and increased and used as part of the open house and then will be the ongoing Temple Square app here on Temple Square.
But it’s just incredible to think we’re inviting the entire world here to celebrate with us. And those who can’t come, we’re going to bring it to you and celebrate in your own home in a virtual way. And so it really is far more than just the restoration of a historic building. We want to celebrate and rejoice together throughout the world.
22:50
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Do you mind if I mention one other thing?
Sheri Dew: Please, please.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: In answer to your question, I think — and I had this impression as we started to take tours through the visitors’ center — because we have this beautiful spot in the visitors’ center where we have the Christus statue, and right behind the Christus is the temple.
And this is the Lord’s house. This is His house. This is where He has a place to come, and we are establishing a wonderful place for Him to be. And as I mentioned earlier, this is where the decisions of the Church are made. The First Presidency and the Twelve meet there every week. And it’s a very different temple than most other temples in the Church.
23:36
Sheri Dew: One of the things I’ve wondered too, thinking about this, if I were a little farm girl growing up in Kansas, which I once was, and if I couldn’t come, No. 1, I can still walk through, but it would send a signal to me that it is something very important that says how important we think all temples are. That your temple, just down the street from you, wherever you live, this is how deeply we feel about those temples as well. And this is a symbol, it seems to me, of that.
Now, it’s going to take — we’ve talked about people doing the work, starting with the executive committee and many other employees across the Church campus. You just put out a call for volunteers. I think that we need 35,000 volunteers or some little number like that.
What’s the response been, and what kind of an experience do you think a volunteer is going to have helping host those who will come, other than probably sore feet? What do you think their experience is going to be, and what’s the response been to the call?
24:42
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Well, I’ll let Rich respond to what the response has been, because he actually knows that a bit better than I do. But I just have to say that I was the chairman of a little small open house in Twin Falls, Idaho, and we had many of our members in those 14 stakes volunteer. And it was life-changing, because they saw miracles.
As a result of the temple being opened, it changed people’s lives and had them recommit to wanting to be part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It had people come who wanted to join our Church. And people who participate in this type of an event, it will change their life and changed my life. And I watched it change the lives of all of our members in that small experience, and now this is going to be a grand experience, where we are inviting millions to come. And we need 35,000 volunteers instead of 1,000. And it’s going to be incredible for them to experience this and to be part of this.
25:51
Richard Sutton: I would say the response has been really positive. It’s been overwhelming for us because we’re getting all of these applications that are coming in. Overwhelming in a great way; I don’t want anybody to be dissuaded from applying. We are so excited to see what’s coming in. And I would say we need and want more. And so if you’re hearing this thinking, “I wonder if I should,” I would. It’s going to be a life-changing experience.
One of the things, in addition to people having a wonderful experience on Temple Square while they’re here, is we want people who are volunteering their time to have a wonderful time on Temple Square. We think that it can be — it’s not mutually exclusive where the volunteer is just going to have sore feet, be beaten down and, “Oh, I’m here working, but I’m helping somebody else, a guest, have a wonderful experience.” We think both parties can have a great experience.
I think volunteers will have an experience unlike any other. They will be all over Temple Square. You can do any number of things. If you think, “Ooh, I’m not sure I’m able to communicate with people well or have that guest experience kind of relationship,” well, we have parking of cars, we have transportation, we have safety and security. We have something for almost anyone.
27:06
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Anyone. And they can tell us when they can do it. I mean, we’re not — if you volunteer, it isn’t like we’re saying, “OK, you have to be here all the time.”
Sheri Dew: For six months.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Yeah. In fact, we’ve divided it up into two-month waves, so if you volunteer, you’ll come and work for two months at times that are available to you with your work schedule and other things.
Richard Sutton: Why don’t you try us and see if there’s an opportunity for you to serve? We would benefit from you serving, and I think you would benefit from serving as well, and I think it would be a really fun opportunity.
27:37
Sheri Dew: I’ve just been thinking as you’ve been talking that both of you have given way more tours through the new visitors’ center than I have. I’ve only done it a few times. But I had the privilege a week or two ago to take several groups of those not of our faith through. It was awesome. That was the neatest experience, and it was the easiest experience I have ever had of saying, “This is what we believe, and this is why we do what we do.” And it’s just kind of there in front of you.
So, this backdrop of the temple, and the other things that you’ve both mentioned, it just makes it really comfortable to talk about: “This is who we are. This is what we believe. We’re so glad you’re here.”
What provisions are being made to make sure that everyone, whether they’re a member of the Church or not, feels comfortable and welcome? Are there specific things that are being done to make sure that happens?
28:36
Richard Sutton: Well, I think I would say yes to that in every part, because there’s a lot of different things. When you think of accommodations being made, I think your mind can go to a lot of different areas. We’re making accommodations for people with varying levels of abilities, and so that is a place we’re making accommodations for. Mobility as well. We’re making accommodations for languages, as many as we possibly can, both on-site here if you come to Temple Square and virtually as we take Temple Square to you.
There’s also opportunities, like you said, to make accommodations to make it as easy as possible for people to talk about what they feel, what they know and what they believe. Rather than being at a table trying to describe what an instruction room looks like, you can now show them and stand in an instruction room and say: “This is what it is, and here’s what we talk about. Here’s what we learn. Here’s why it’s important to us. Here’s why it’s centered on Jesus Christ.”
29:32
Elder Brent H. Nielson: The interesting thing to me is the temple hasn’t been open to those outside of our faith since 1893. I mean, this is the first look inside this place since 1893, which is incredible to think about. And I think some of us have had the opportunity to visit the Vatican in Rome, to visit some of the other wonderful religious sites around the world.
Sheri Dew: Cathedrals.
29:58
Elder Brent H. Nielson: And it just — when I go, I just have a million questions. I want to know: “Why do they do — why do you have this in your cathedral? Why is this done here in Rome? Why do you do that?” And I’m hoping that people not of our faith will come and have the chance to finally get inside this temple and have millions of questions. I have millions of questions about other faiths and how they do the things they do, why they do the things that they do. And we hope that they will come with those same questions for us.
Sheri Dew: It’s true. You walk through a mosque in Istanbul, and it’s fascinating, and it’s really inspiring, too, and inspiring to find out, “Oh, this is why they do what they do, and this is how they see it.” And I think that’s just beautiful.
What about youth and children? Will they be bored, or will there be something for them? Why bring the kids?
30:53
Elder Brent H. Nielson: We are actually excited, and Rich can talk about the specifics. But we — our assignment literally was given to us with the idea that we are focused on our rising generation. So the video series that we’ve prepared, that will be shown beginning in October, the things that will happen here on Temple Square, we’re always keeping the young men and young women in mind. Rich and I meet with the Primary presidency so that we can make sure that the children who are coming are also having a positive experience.
So, we’ve tried to involve all of these organizations to help us and give us direction, and they have helped us a lot. They are always — they have the eyes of the young men and young women and the Primary in mind, and they’ll say: “You know what? You need to do this a bit different.” And so that’s been helpful. Rich knows the specifics of what’s happening.
31:50
Richard Sutton: Yeah, I love that our executive committee from Day 1 had the rising generation as our target audience. And that’s been our focus. And like Elder Nielson mentioned, we have really tried hard to make sure that that’s been our focus and refine some things over time, when maybe it got a little out of focus and we thought, “No, I don’t think a young person would want to have that.” And we’ve done focus groups to make sure that what we are preparing actually resonates with the youth. We’re creating selfie stations. And so we’re finding the best opportunities to get the temple in view or something in view, and we’re marking out stations. We have volunteers that will be there to take pictures for people, if they don’t want to do selfies.
Sheri Dew: So, come and volunteer at the selfie station, right?
Richard Sutton: And you get to be a selfie taker.
Sheri Dew: Right. I could do that.
32:35
Richard Sutton: Also, every exhibit we’ve created, there’s something that’s going to be for youth and even children. Because there is a difference between children being engaged versus a youth versus single adults and all up the ladder. And so we’ve been very careful to make sure that our focus is there in all of the exhibits that we create.
And along the way, you’ll find some amazing opportunities, and some geared specifically for children and youth, and then others where it’s, though it’s not geared specifically for, there are ways that it will resonate with them.
33:07
Elder Brent H. Nielson: And using sacred music and lighting, every night we’ll light the temple. So we’ll have this beautiful sacred music being played around Temple Square, and the temple will be lit up.
Richard Sutton: And celebratory concerts that will not only appeal to the youth but are specifically being designed for them. And kind of a, yeah, there are some celebratory concerts that are in the planning and works right now that I think the entire Church, but specifically the youth audience of the Church, will just fall in love with.
33:40
Sheri Dew: Now, if I’m a resident of Salt Lake or the surrounding areas, I might be listening to this and thinking: “This sounds great. I’d love to come. But wow, it sounds like that’s going to be a nightmare. I can just picture the lines. Where are you to park?” There’s so many implications about this logistically, including the effect it’s going to have on Salt Lake City itself, and the city of Salt Lake City but the state of Utah.
What have you done to work with the state and the city? And also, can you alleviate any fear that someone who’s averse to lines, like I am, so that I’d say: “Yeah, I think I’m willing to risk it. I’m willing to go”? What would you tell us about the logistics? Because they’re massive for this many people.
34:30
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Well, I would say that we have been so grateful for the city of Salt Lake and their cooperation, from the mayor to the city council to the chief of police to the fire chief. We have been working with all of them to make this a safe environment, to make sure that everybody who comes will have a pleasant experience. They’ve allowed us to do something that’s highly unusual. We’re going to close North Temple and West Temple so that it’s all part of —
Sheri Dew: For six months?
Elder Brent H. Nielson: For six months. So it’s all part of the campus. But it will make this not only a secure experience, but it will make it a wonderful opportunity.
So, in order to get to this place, if you have a ticket to come to the temple, you’ll be able to ride UTA for free. So you could come UTA, you could come on FrontRunner. But in addition to that, some of our very good friends in the community have donated a 2,000-space parking lot on North Temple, where we’re hoping a lot of our visitors will park. And we’ll have a bus that’s running every few minutes from that parking lot to Temple Square and back. So it should be very easy to do.
Our open house at the temple will actually start inside the Conference Center. There’s no way that we will ever have enough people to fill that Conference Center. And any line that you have will be inside the Conference Center in a pleasant experience, but there really won’t be a line. You’ll be moved in, watch a short video, and then you’ll be into the temple.
36:15
Richard Sutton: We’ve been able to get contracted with some of the great vendors that are out there. One is helping us with this transportation issue. We don’t want to inundate the city of Salt Lake downtown with just cars and parking and different things. And so, like Elder Nielson mentioned, we have a company that will be shuttling people. And it’s an eight-minute — so it’s not as if you’ll be on a bus forever and waiting, but as soon as you get out of your car, you’ll get right onto a bus, and you’ll come right away.
A very safe event, but it will be very easy to get in and out of security. We’ve got a lot of high-tech equipment that will be used so that it’s not just lines waiting to get through security, but you’ll be able to walk right in and walk right out. So if you want to go and get a bite to eat in between your visit, there will be opportunities to do that, to go into the community and have that opportunity.
So there is just, in addition to — what I wanted to mention is — in addition to all of the people that are working on it from a kind of Church headquarters standpoint, we are getting the best of the best in our vendors to be able to help us with areas that aren’t our expertise but is their expertise in being able to shuttle and transport people.
37:24
Sheri Dew: We talk about the logistics because they are overwhelming, and I’ve watched some of the presentations, and it’s mind-boggling. That doesn’t happen to be something I would ever be good at, and so I marvel at what has been created to make this a seamless and a pleasant experience.
But let’s go back now to the real experience that we hope people will have, and maybe we could talk about that by saying: With all of this worrying about the logistics that you both have had to do, and still have to do — we’re not finished — you said that the Twin Falls open house changed you. How is this changing you?
38:05
Richard Sutton: I think that’s a really poignant question, and what comes to my mind when you ask that question is: Sometimes if you don’t worry about the logistics or the planning side of it, then you get so frazzled in the moment, it’s hard to feel the Spirit, it’s hard to recognize or focus on what matters most. And so I think one of the great things that I’m learning is, in our preparation, we’re trying to do as good a job as humanly possible to prepare ourselves for probably the largest event the Church has ever put on.
All of these things are taken care of, even to the point where you don’t maybe even notice them, but you can have this experience where you’re not worried about all of the other things, but now you can ask those million questions of: “So, why is Jesus Christ the center of everything that you do in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Why is Jesus Christ the center of my worship in the temple?” And if that’s the case, then all of this work will have been totally worth it.
And so the changing for me is: If you prepare yourself, then you can have that moment when the time comes to really rejoice and worship and have that moment with Jesus Christ that you wanted to.
39:25
Elder Brent H. Nielson: And to answer your question about how is it changing me, as soon as I got the assignment, my amazing wife started pulling books about the building of the Salt Lake Temple and historic books about what it is that — why it was that this was such an important place for them.
And we’ve had Emily Utt, who is kind of the expert with the Salt Lake Temple, come to our committee and teach us about the Salt Lake Temple and why they did the things that they did. And I’ve realized as we’ve read the histories, as we’ve tried to understand what this is about, it becomes more meaningful to me to see what’s taking place in the Lord’s house. This is His house.
40:16
Sheri Dew: His house. How would you counsel those getting ready to attend, to prepare themselves to have the maximum kind of opportunity and experience?
Richard Sutton: I think it’s probably going to be different for each person. Each person will have a different thing that they may need in their life or what they’re searching for in their life. But I would encourage people to come with an open mind. Those who might be curious of what the temple is all about, come with an open mind, and allow us to share with you what our beliefs are.
40:48
Elder Brent H. Nielson: As I think about how we might prepare, we will be releasing an album — is what an old guy like me calls it — a number of musical presentations. What do we call it today if it’s not an album?
Sheri Dew: We call it the same thing.
41:07
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Anyway, one of them is a beautiful, beautiful rejoicing hymn by Mack Wilberg that will be part of it. But others are for youth, some for Primary. And this wonderful selection of music will help us prepare our hearts and help our young men and young women prepare themselves as they come to the temple.
And we have this beautiful video series that will be available online that families can watch together. And we’re going to take them inside the Salt Lake Temple. They’re going to see the construction going on in this video.
So, there are many ways to prepare, and they will be on the website so that you can see them, hear them and prepare your kids for this amazing event.
41:59
Sheri Dew: And then, of course, when you get there, then you can build on that. You’re not starting from scratch. And I absolutely hope that happens, just when I think about the people that I know and that I care about and that I hope will have a wonderful experience.
So, when do tickets become available? How does somebody know that they’ve got a spot on a tour?
42:20
Elder Brent H. Nielson: So, on TempleSquare.org, people around the world will be able to get on that website and will be able to reserve tickets starting on Sept. 1 of 2026. So actually just in a few months, the tickets will be available. You can reserve some for your family to come.
If you’re bringing a group of young men and young women, then there is an opportunity on the site to say: “I’m actually bringing a large group. How do I reserve tickets?” And you’ll go to a different part, a different area of the website, and be able to reserve for larger groups.
So, Sept. 1 is the date, and we’ll be releasing a portion of the tickets then to give us a feel for how many we need and what needs to be released. So, we’re looking forward to that release. And Rich might have something I missed on.
43:11
Richard Sutton: No, the only thing I would add to that is the ticket you’ll need is just to go through the Salt Lake Temple as the open house tour, which is obviously the pinnacle, the primary experience. You don’t need a ticket for almost anything else on Temple Square. And so there might be people who want to come multiple days who want to kind of experience everything.
43:33
Elder Brent H. Nielson: So we hope they’ll get a ticket online. If they don’t, if they haven’t prepared for that, then we’re still going to try to accommodate them.
Sheri Dew: With these 35,000 volunteers that will help them somehow.
Richard Sutton: With a smile, with happiness, with everything they can. But yeah, we’ll accommodate everyone with a ticket, and we’ll accommodate everyone without a ticket that we can. Yep, that’s the message.
43:56
Sheri Dew: And just to be clear, the only place a ticket will be taken is inside the Conference Center, where the tour that leads to the temple begins. That’s the only place.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Right.
Sheri Dew: OK.
44:06
Richard Sutton: And there is a ticketed portion of the visitors’ center to take that tour, the “Inside a Temple” tour. Really, I think those are the only two tickets for all of Temple Square during that celebration that you need.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: And you can get all of those online.
Richard Sutton: Online. And they’re all free. So when you think about wanting to come and experience something in the summer, sometime between April 5 and Oct. 1, we’ve got the greatest opportunity for you.
Sheri Dew: So, for your family of 10, it’s not a big outlay to bring them down. It’s just go to the lot, park, take an eight-minute bus ride, and there you are, and here it begins.
Richard Sutton: Yup. And dozens and dozens of experiences for you.
44:46
Sheri Dew: Wonderful. Final thoughts, parting thoughts. What do you want everybody to know? Rich, and then Elder Nielson, would you bring us home?
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Yeah, thank you.
Richard Sutton: I would just say this is for everyone. There might be some people that think, “I don’t know if this is for me,” and that could be both members and nonmembers.
Sheri Dew: Sure.
45:05
Richard Sutton: I think this is for everyone, and we’d love for everyone to come and rejoice together, have everyone come and celebrate together. This is going to be a celebration unlike anything else in the Church. And I think I would invite everyone to participate in whatever way they’re able to participate.
This really is for everyone. I think about my family, I think about my friends. It’s going to be different for everyone, but I think it can be for everyone. And I would just invite everyone to come and be a part of it. Come and see, come and feel, come and be a part of it. And we’re doing a lot of work in order for this to be a celebration unlike any other, and we hope everyone will come.
45:51
Elder Brent H. Nielson: I’m just so delighted with this opportunity for those not of our faith. And Rich and I, we work with a lot of the people in Salt Lake City who are planning other things that will take place at the same time up at Heritage Park and other locations around the Salt Lake Valley.
I think it will be a great opportunity for hopefully this wonderful city, this state of Utah, to be united and for them to — those who are not of our faith — to come and see that we are so transparent now. We’re going to take you inside a temple, and we’re going to show you anything you want to see. We’re willing to help you understand what happens inside this temple.
We want to be wonderful citizens. We want to be part of this community. I think we are hoping that this will be a wonderful uniting effort for Salt Lake City, for Utah, for the Church, for those who come, those world leaders who come, that they’ll understand that when our missionaries come to their country, we’re trying to help them lift the people in their communities. We’re trying to teach them about Jesus Christ. We’re doing this to uplift people and to help them.
And I hope that that is the end result of this, that we conclude this with this united effort, and with other things to come, Olympics and other things, that we’ll be one community that feels very comfortable with each other.
47:33
Sheri Dew: Elder Nielson and Rich, thank you so much for sharing with us a vision of this moment. This is going to be a thing. This is going to be a moment. And thank you for helping us start to gear up for that and understand a little bit more about all the tremendous work going on and what we have to look forward to next year. Thank you so much.
Elder Brent H. Nielson: Thank you.
Richard Sutton: Thank you, Sheri.
