When Brigham Young sent settlers to southern Utah in the mid-19th century, the area that now encompasses St. George was almost uninhabitable. Red sand, alkaline soil and hills of black lava rock covered the landscape, and the nearby Virgin River was filled with mud and sediment, bringing mosquitoes and disease when it flooded. Ten years into the settlement, half the original residents had left. But those who remained pressed on, especially when President Brigham Young announced in January 1871 that a temple would be built.

“I think he also picked St. George because he knows that these are people that will work hard to build Zion. They’re not going to give up when things get difficult,” later said Emily Utt, the Church’s historic sites curator, in 2024.

Over 150 years after Brigham Young’s announcement, the sacrifices of those early settlers, coupled with the explosive population growth in the region in the 21st century, manifested themselves in the dedication of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple, the second in St. George, after the St. George Utah Temple.

Massive growth in the region came with more youth and young adults, who many local members said would now have more opportunities to serve in the temple.

Local members Lonette and Burke Staheli said their favorite moments of the open-house period were when youth groups would come through on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. “They brought so much energy and enthusiasm,” Burke Staheli said of the Latter-day Saint youth. “I just kept saying, ‘This is why we needed to build this.’ We were not able to keep up with the growth of the youth and their opportunities to serve in the temple with just one temple.”

For five weeks, until the dedication of the Urdaneta Philippines Temple in late April 2024, St. George was home to both the oldest and newest operating temples of the Church.

With the two St. George temples both visible from multiple vantage points in the city, the holy structures are shining invitations to come unto Christ and constant reminders to members in the region to attend regularly.

“With all my heart, I urge [Latter-day Saints] to come to the temple often,” said President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, who dedicated the temple on March 24, 2024, and whose great-grandfather was an original settler of the region.

“I rejoice in the myriad ways [Latter-day Saints] will be changed, refined and endowed with power from on high as they make regular appointments to come and worship in this glorious house of the Lord,” Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles added.

The two leaders were joined at the dedication by Elder Kearon’s wife, Sister Jennifer Kearon; Elder Kevin W. Pearson, a General Authority Seventy and Utah Area president, and his wife, Sister June L. Pearson; and Elder Jonathan S. Schmitt, a General Authority Seventy and assistant executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Alexis Schmitt.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We pray for the children and youth in a world that is increasingly unworthy. May they be drawn to this house of the Lord to learn a pattern of living that will allow them to stay close to Thee. As they turn their hearts to Thee, may they also turn their hearts to their family members, past and present, that Thy promise might be fulfilled.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple here.

The Red Cliffs Utah Temple was announced Oct. 7, 2018, by Church President Russell M. Nelson. The groundbreaking and site dedication were held on Nov. 7, 2020, and presided over by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

After a public open house from Feb. 1 to March 2, 2024, the Red Cliffs Utah Temple was dedicated on March 24, 2024, by President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency.

Architecture and Design of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple

The Red Cliffs Utah Temple, designed in the desert modern and neoclassical architectural styles, has an area of approximately 96,277 square feet. Motifs in the coral-and-beige-toned precast exterior are inspired by the grand cottonwood trees, mountains and canyons of southern Utah. Atop the center of the building is a multilevel spire, with arched windows around the bottom portion and arched openings around the top portion.

A water feature with three reflecting pools and waterfalls and accompanying seats sit on the temple’s north side, with shade structures on both the east and west sides. Common motifs inside include those of the dwarf bearclaw poppy, succulents, Indian paintbrush, cottonwood leaves and pomegranates.

This house of the Lord sits on a 15.31-acre site, with palm trees and green, yellow and purple bushes adorning the grounds. Due to a high water table, the temple site used to be unable to support the future temple’s foundation. Workers transported 30,000 cubic yards of red dirt from the foundation of the St. George Utah Temple, a temple in the same city, onto the Red Cliffs temple grounds to make them more stable.

Interior Photos of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple

After a day of rain, the skies were blue and clear the day of the dedication for the Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple on May 4, 2014. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, remarked that the rain was “not only liquid sunshine which came down but might even be tears of joy which were shed from heaven because of this great event of the dedication of this Fort Lauderdale temple.”

Later, President Uchtdorf applauded the Florida Saints and the history of the Church in the Sunshine State. “I am impressed not only by the natural beauty of Florida,” he said, “but also by its people and the rich, inspiring heritage in Church history.”

He continued, “No one can read the stories of the early Church members here in Florida without having a feeling of gratitude and love for these early Saints. Tears come to my eyes when I think of the many sacrifices made and the devoted service given by these early members in Florida. It was not easy and often dangerous for these Saints, whose history was mostly written long after the handcarts arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.”

One member, struggling to talk because of emotion, told Church News of the great blessing it was to have a temple so close to her home. “It is now possible to come to the temple often, even weekly, rather than occasionally,” she said.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles joined President Uchtdorf at the ceremony by conducting the second of three sessions.

Accompanying President Uchtdorf and Elder Christofferson at the dedication were Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy; Elder Kent F. Richards, a General Authority Seventy and Assistant Executive Director of the Temple Department; and Bishop Gary E. Stevenson, Presiding Bishop.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “O God, our Eternal Father, our humble hearts are filled with gratitude and love for Thee on this long-awaited day of dedication. We ask for Thy Holy Spirit to attend us during the dedication of the Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple. We rejoice in this day of celebration, and our hearts are filled with praise to Thee.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple here.

The Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple was announced Oct. 3, 2009, by President Thomas S. Monson. A groundbreaking ceremony was held nearly two years later, on June 18, 2011, where Elder Walter F. González presided.

Visitors attended an open house from March 29 to April 19, 2014, and a cultural celebration took place just a few weeks later, on May 3, 2014. The temple was then dedicated in three sessions on May 4, 2014, by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

Architecture and Design of the Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple

The Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple’s single-spire design was built with precast integral colored concrete panels, giving it a white-colored exterior. The temple includes a series of arches that lead to the main entrance. Standing on 16.82 acres, the structure is approximately 30,500 square feet, rising almost 100 feet high.

The grounds are planted with palm trees, flowers, and various shrubs and walkways that lead to the front doors of the house of the Lord, where fountains and a reflection pool can be found. A large pond is located just outside the west area of the temple grounds.

The Fort Lauderdale temple interior includes a lot of blue, green and other earth tones to reflect the tropical area. The wood is made of red grandis from Ecuador, and interior stones used are marble, limestone and onyx.

Interior Photos of the Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple

The Raleigh North Carolina Temple is located in Apex, a community just 12 miles southwest of Raleigh. The name of the town seemed to have significance to local members who believed that the dedication of this new house of the Lord was at the “apex” of Church history in North Carolina.

Many were positively affected by the construction of the new edifice, including a nonmember named Gary Stansbury, who was sent to help build the temple after previous work fell through. In the six months that it took to build the temple, Stansbury learned about the Church and was baptized before its dedication.

“Looking back at the series of events that brought me here to North Carolina, I don’t much believe in coincidence,” he said. Even when he was offered another job before the temple’s completion, he declined the offer. “I had to stay and build this temple,” said Stansbury. “I needed to be here.”

Another Latter-day Saint, Sarah Barnhill, invited her employer — who was also a local minister — to the Raleigh temple’s open house. Not only did her employer attend, but he also invited his entire AME Rush Methodist congregation to the event.

The Raleigh North Carolina Temple was dedicated from Dec. 18 to Dec. 19, 1999, by President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church. Other Church leaders attending the dedication’s seven sessions included Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Loren C. Dunn, president of the North America East Area.

One member at the dedication ceremony said, “I will always remember this day and the feelings that I had. The Spirit is just enormous in this little temple.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We are partakers of those wondrous blessings promised in words of revelation. Thou hast said: ‘For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times, ... even the fulness of the priesthood’ (Doctrine and Covenants 124:41, 28). In the authority of this priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ we dedicate unto Thee and to Thy Beloved Son this, the Raleigh North Carolina Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple here.

2019 Dedication of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple

Members felt that the Raleigh temple was a miracle for them. When the house of the Lord closed in 2018 for renovations, many members continued to make sacrifices to go to temples in other areas.

President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, presided over the rededication of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple on Oct. 13, 2019. He told the Church News, “[Raleigh is] a wonderful part of the country and a tremendously important part of the Church. There are great Saints here in North Carolina.”

Other members described the rededication as a special and spiritual experience.

Elder Matthew S. Harding, an Area Seventy and resident of North Carolina, said, “The people who came to the open house were uplifted and saw our love of the Savior. ...”

“The beautiful Raleigh temple is the symbol of our faith and our love for the Savior and His atoning sacrifice for each one of us,” he continued.

President Ballard said that the purpose of dedicating or rededicating a temple is to help increase Latter-day Saints’ spiritual preparation in a world that is becoming more secular and dismissive of God.

“One of the best ways our spirits can be reinforced and strengthened is to be here at the temple,” said the Apostle. “The Spirit of the Lord is here. The temple feeds the inner soul. It makes us stronger. It teaches us of our true identity: sons and daughters of God coming into His holy house and doing sacred work.”

Attending with President Ballard were Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director of the Temple Department, and Elder James B. Martino, president of the North America Southeast Area.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We ask Thee, dear Father, for heavenly protection to be over this temple, that the sacred work of salvation for the living and for the deceased may continue here uninterrupted from this day forward. Heavenly Father, please temper the weather from storms and watch over the temple and grounds, that they may remain clean and beautiful.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple here.

The Raleigh North Carolina Temple was announced Sept. 3, 1998, by the First Presidency. On Feb. 6, 1999, a groundbreaking ceremony was held, presided over by Elder Loren C. Dunn. In just six months the temple was completed, and an open house was held from Dec. 3 to Dec. 11, 1999, and was dedicated Dec. 18, 1999, by President Gordon B. Hinckley.

The Raleigh temple was closed in early 2018 for renovations, and an open house to welcome the renovated temple was held from Sept. 21 to Sept. 28, 2019. President M. Russell Ballard rededicated the house of the Lord on Oct. 13, 2019.

Architecture and Design of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple

Standing on 3.17 acres, the Raleigh temple is surrounded by long-leafed pines and other greenery, including 51 shade trees, evergreen trees and other local trees. Also found throughout the temple grounds are 901 shrubs and 402 perennials, as well as ground cover and annuals that fill 3,163 square feet of the area.

The exterior was made with beige-colored limestone and features an array of art-glass windows.

The interior of the structure includes daphne white stone tile in the entryway, waiting room, baptistry and bride’s room. The celestial and sealing rooms have a unique, gold-leaf pinstriping detailing. Blue, gold and cream art glass is found throughout the temple.

Interior Photos of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple

The Toronto Ontario Temple’s public open house — according to a general conference talk by President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency — was a transcendent blessing. “How the people did come,” he explained. “First they thronged to the public open house, where reverently and quietly they viewed the interior of the temple and learned the purpose for its erection and of the blessings which the temple can provide.” One visitor described the temple’s beauty with the words, “This is a center of serenity.”

As one young girl was about to leave, President Monson recounted, she said, “Mommy, this is beautiful here. I don’t want to go.” One woman told an usher, “I have been so impressed with what I have seen. How do I join your church?” One attendee, having spent four years in a hospital, was wheeled into the house of the Lord in her hospital bed and expressed profound gratitude to be there.

After the open house, the Toronto Ontario Temple was dedicated in 11 sessions from Aug. 25 to Aug. 27, 1990, by President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency. The 27 speakers at dedicatory sessions included 21 general authorities, 11 being members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Ezra Taft Benson, President of the Church at the time, was not in attendance due to his age and the long distances required to travel. President Monson pleaded in the dedicatory prayer for the prophet to have “gladness in his heart, comfort in his body and the assurance of our love.”

Some general authorities in attendance had served as mission presidents in Canada: President Monson in Toronto from 1959 to 1962; Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the New England Mission, which included the Maritime provinces of Canada, from 1965 to 1968; and Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in Toronto from 1974 to 1976.

More than 17,000 Latter-day Saints attended a dedication session. Because of multiple nationalities of members in the temple district, the sessions were translated into six languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “In this, Thy house will be administered those ordinances which are eternal, even as Thou, our God, art eternal. These ordinances bear witness of the immortality of the human soul. Through them we are made certain that life continues beyond the veil of death. Within this sacred house a great and marvelous work of vicarious service will be performed in behalf of the dead.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Toronto Ontario Temple here.

Rededication of the Toronto Ontario Temple

Nearly 35 years after its 1990 dedication, the Toronto Ontario Temple was rededicated March 23, 2025, by President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This followed more than a year of interior renovations to meet increased patron demand and improve accessibility, as well as upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

This house of the Lord was rededicated in a single morning session that was broadcast to meetinghouses throughout the temple district. “Today we are happy to break the lock on the Toronto Ontario Temple and its grounds, to have what we pray will be a continuous flow of faithful recommend holders,” President Holland said of the reopening of the house of the Lord.

Pointing to the historical significance of the Church in Canada, President Holland said the Restoration made advances in part because of how the Lord used the country as a type of training ground for early Latter-day Saints and Church leaders. Canada was home to the Church’s first mission outside the United States and was the only non-U.S. country visited by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

President Holland was accompanied at the rededication by Elder Robert M. Daines, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the North America Northeast Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Ruth Ann Daines. Elder Kevin R. Duncan and his wife, Sister Nancy Duncan, also attended. Elder Duncan is a General Authority Seventy and serves as the executive director of the Temple Department.

President Holland lovingly reflected on a time when he was not able to be in a temple when he wanted desperately to attend, but he described what he did to help prepare mentally and spiritually as though he were going to the temple. He then asked what the Saints in the Toronto Ontario Temple district had done to prepare to return to the temple closest to them.

“What have we done with our spiritual lives during these 18 months to prepare to return to the temple, to be ready for this day?” asked President Holland. “I hope we have searched our own souls and have been truly anxious for the temple to reopen.”

In addition to encouraging a Savior-focused soul searching, President Holland also reminded those who had made covenants in the temple of the way to live life after making that search. “I hope we have remembered that it is what we do when we are outside the temple that testifies we understand what we learned and promised inside the temple.”

Judy Chivers — from the city of Sarnia, located more than two hours away on the southern tip of Lake Huron — was overwhelmed with gratitude to attend the rededication on her anniversary. “To go back into the temple to see it rededicated is an honor for me,” she said.

Alex and Silvana Padrón from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, traveled 90 minutes to the temple for its rededication. Silvana Padrón looked forward to spending more time, more regularly in the temple. “I don’t think we can fully grasp at this point what we have been missing with the temple closed,” she said. “But we’ll start remembering that as we start coming back.”

Alex Padrón served in his stake’s stake presidency at the time of rededication and said their entire stake was happy to see the temple reopening so that they could spend more time remembering their covenants. Specifically, he noted that there were many older members in his stake who missed being able to spend time serving in the house of the Lord. “We’ve been doing temple recommend interviews like crazy.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Father, we rededicate ourselves on this delightful day of rededication. Each one of us is here by virtue of a temple dedication recommend. Whatever our circumstance in life, we pledge our best effort to improve, to be more kind and clean and to remember that Christlike behavior should be evident in those who take upon themselves His name.”

Read the rededication prayer of the Toronto Ontario Temple here.

A temple was announced for Toronto, Ontario, on April 7, 1984, by President Gordon B. Hinckley, second counselor in the First Presidency, with President Spencer W. Kimball as President of the Church. A groundbreaking was then held on Oct. 10, 1987, with President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in a reorganized First Presidency, presiding.

After an open house from Aug. 2 to Aug. 18, 1990, the Toronto temple was dedicated by President Hinckley — first counselor in the First Presidency, with President Ezra Taft Benson as Church President — during 11 sessions, from Aug. 25 to Aug. 27, 1990.

This house of the Lord was closed in October 2023 for renovations. After a public open house from Feb. 13 to March 8, 2025, the Toronto Ontario Temple was rededicated March 23, 2025, by President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Architecture and Design of the Toronto Ontario Temple

The Toronto temple is 171 feet tall with an 11-foot statue of the angel Moroni, and it has a floor area of 55,558 square feet. The exterior of this house of the Lord, which stands on a 13.4-acre site, is made of white cast stone, and tall arches are a prevalent theme around the building.

Above the edifice is a three-tiered tower that sits on a square base and has a spire that leads up to a point. Inside the temple are a baptistry, a celestial room, four ordinance rooms and six sealing rooms.

Interior Photos of the Toronto Ontario Temple

During a media day for the Richmond Virginia Temple, before it was open to the public, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin toured the building. In his remarks at the event, he drew attention to how a house of the Lord — the state’s first — is now in “the first state to forge religious freedom into the fabric of our nation.”

This history stretches back to Thomas Jefferson, an American founding father who wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, a forerunner to the First Amendment and constitutional protection of religious freedom.

“May this temple be a lasting symbol to all Virginians of our collective legacy of true religious freedom,” said Gov. Youngkin, “and give the Latter-day Saint community across Virginia and around the world a powerful central location to practice their faith.”

The Richmond Virginia Temple was dedicated by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, during two sessions on May 7, 2023. During the cornerstone ceremony on the same day, the Apostle said, “The most important idea about a cornerstone is that Jesus Christ Himself is the chief Cornerstone, setting the direction for the building at the key position in the foundation.”

President Oaks was joined by his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks; Elder W. Mark Bassett, second counselor in the North America Northeast Area presidency and his wife, Sister Angela Bassett; Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director of the Church’s Temple Department and his wife, Sister Nancy Duncan; and Elder Michael John U. Teh, a General Authority Seventy, and his wife, Sister Grace Teh.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Please bless all who worthily serve in Thy holy temples that they may participate with joy and understanding that Thy work will go forward in power to fulfill Thy purposes for all Thy children. We pray that Thy Spirit will always be present in these holy spaces to enlighten and guide and bless all who are here and all that is said and done here.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Richmond Virginia Temple here.

The Richmond Virginia Temple was announced by President Russell M. Nelson on April 1, 2018. Two years later, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, ground was broken for this house of the Lord, presided over by Elder Randall K. Bennett, president of the North America Northeast Area, on April 11, 2020.

After a public open house from March 25 to April 15, 2023, the Richmond temple was dedicated on May 7, 2023, by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency.

Architecture and Design of the Richmond Virginia Temple

The Richmond Virginia Temple is a two-story building with 36,200 square feet. Its design includes one large steeple with a gold angel Moroni statue on top.

The design choices were inspired by local historical American traditions, such as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and the University of Virginia. Symbols of Virginia’s state tree and flower — the dogwood — can be seen around the interior.

Interior Photos of the Richmond Virginia Temple

After temple ordinances were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the 1840s, the wording was passed down by memory and word of mouth. The dedication of the St. George Utah Temple, originally called the St. George Temple, changed this. President Brigham Young — the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — directed that temple ordinances be written down, ensuring wording consistency and long-term availability.

The St. George Utah Temple was dedicated by President Daniel H. Wells, second counselor in the First Presidency, from April 6 to April 8, 1877. The Church held its April 1877 general conference at the St. George temple also from April 6 to April 8, 1877, to coincide with the dedication.

In his dedicatory prayer, President Wells prayed that the temple would “stand as a monument of purity and holiness as long as the earth shall remain.”

Although the Salt Lake Temple was the first house of the Lord whose construction started in Utah Territory, the St. George Utah Temple was the first dedicated in the area. This makes it the oldest operating temple in the Church.

It was also the first temple where Latter-day Saints could perform all temple ordinances for the dead. Baptisms and sealings of a living person to a deceased spouse had previously been performed, but the St. George temple started vicarious endowments and sealings of two deceased persons.

In the temple’s first year of operation — recorded Elder Wilford Woodruff, the first president of the St. George temple — approximately 25,000 baptisms for the dead, 12,000 endowments and 3,800 sealings were performed.

“This is the first temple in the West,” said Elder Steven E. Snow — an emeritus General Authority Seventy, former Church historian and St. George native — around a century and a half later. “I think Brigham Young was very, very happy that finally a temple had been built in the West before he passed.” The Prophet passed away almost five months after the dedication.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We feel not to multiply words before Thee, for language is inadequate to express the fullness of the feelings and emotions of our souls in being thus privileged to meet before Thee in this sacred, this holy place. ... May it stand as a monument of purity and holiness as long as the earth shall remain, commemorative of Thy great goodness toward us, Thy people.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the St. George Utah Temple here.

1975 Rededication of the St. George Utah Temple

The St. George Utah Temple has since been renovated several times. One of these renovations, starting with the temple’s closure on March 2, 1974, enlarged the annex, built to the west-side staircase and added new sealing rooms.

Following the new construction, Church President Spencer W. Kimball rededicated the temple from Nov. 11 to Nov. 12, 1975, three sessions each day. Approximately 4,200 people were seated in the temple for each of the sessions, held in the large priesthood assembly room, including Saints watching the ceremony via closed-circuit television in other rooms of the building.

In his dedicatory prayer, President Kimball applauded early pioneers and their sacrifices to make the St. George temple construction possible: “As we come to rededicate this lovely edifice — newly enlarged, cleansed, refurbished — our memories return to the beginnings when loyal, devout people, who were hardly settled from their long, painful and distressing exodus across the plains, were again uprooted and sent to this desert place to colonize the valleys of the mountains and to build the first temple west of the Mississippi River.”

Rachelle Gordon, a 10-year-old Latter-day Saint from Caliente, Nevada, called this dedication the highlight of her young life and something she would “remember all my life.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Our Beloved Father, let Thy Holy Spirit dwell herein. Let Thine angels minister here, to let Thy statutes be made known unto Thy people and be ever revered herein, that it may be a place of prayer and meditation and sacred instruction, that those who come within the sacred portals may feel to uncover their heads, loose their shoes from off their feet and reverence Thy holy name.”

Read the 1975 rededication prayer of the St. George Utah Temple here.

2023 Dedication of the St. George Utah Temple

On April 7, 2019, during the Sunday afternoon session of April 2019 general conference, Church President Russell M. Nelson announced that pioneer-era temples of the Church would undergo renovations. “Efforts will be made to preserve the unique historicity of each temple wherever possible,” he said in his address, “preserving the inspiring beauty and unique craftsmanship of generations long-since passed.”

The St. George temple — whose closure was first announced in January 2019 — was the first of these pioneer-era temples to start renovation after the Prophet’s announcement. On Nov. 4, 2019, the house of the Lord was closed for extensive structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical and finish renovations.

After these renovations, the temple held a public open house from Sept. 15 to Nov. 11, 2023. Among the nearly 670,000 visitors of the open house were a Jewish friend who found “layers of peace here” and a couple who had been sealed in the St. George temple 80 years prior.

One Latter-day Saint youth toured the temple early in the open-house period and said to her youth leaders, “I’m going to get a temple recommend — I’m going to get worthy.” Toward the end of the open-house period, she returned with that recommend, which had allowed her to perform ordinances in the Cedar City Utah Temple, an hour’s drive away.

Dana Moody — who chaired the open house and rededication committee for the St. George temple with her husband, Russ Moody — said, “I feel that as people walk through the temple, they can’t help but feel the Spirit that is there, and they’re touched by it. Sometimes they don’t even realize what they’re feeling.” Russ Moody agreed the Spirit was strong in the house of the Lord: “As you look around this magnificent temple, you can’t help but recognize that this is a place that has been prepared for the presence of God.”

The St. George temple was rededicated during two sessions on Dec. 10, 2023, by President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Holland, a native of St. George, had been baptized as an 8-year-old in the temple’s baptismal font, the only font in the area at the time.

Returning to rededicate the temple, he said, was “one of the sweetest and most rewarding assignments” he had been given as a general authority. The Apostle added, “I could not love any other spiritual home more than I love this one.”

Attendees of the two rededicatory sessions admired the temple’s renovations, which upgraded it with modern features while keeping the building’s historic appearance. Elevators and better stairs, walkways and hallways were added for greater accessibility; a new baptistry entrance and bride’s exit were added; and the north and west additions were rebuilt to match original architecture.

“I think the pioneers who built this would be pleased with our work,” said Andy Kirby, director of the Church’s historic temple renovations. “They would be satisfied that we preserved their efforts and the beauty and the intent of their work.”

When the St. George temple was announced in 1871, only 1,100 Saints lived in St. George. A cause of that growth, President Holland pointed out, has been temple worship: “There is a wonderful flood of faithfulness, revelation and righteousness that is affecting the whole Church. We are a stronger Church — we are better people — for having been in the temple.”

He promised that correlation between Church growth and temple worship will continue, saying, “The more we can get to a temple, the closer we are in living worthy of it, the better this Church is going to be and the stronger we as a people are going to be for eternity.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Father, we acknowledge that the hallowed masterpiece in which we gather was originally built by weary but believing pioneer hands. ... Father, we desire to be more like those Saints of the historic Cotton Mission, who moistened these stones with their tears and lifted these beams with their strength. We know they did that in part for us and also for the legions of kindred dead who yet wait for us, the living, to see that their eternal possibilities are realized.”

Read the 2023 rededication prayer of the St. George Utah Temple here.

The St. George temple was announced by President Brigham Young on Jan. 31, 1871. The temple’s groundbreaking was held Nov. 9, 1871, with President Brigham Young presiding.

This house of the Lord was originally dedicated twice: First, a preliminary dedication to dedicate parts of the unfinished temple for usage. Second, a formal dedication three months later. President Daniel H. Wells, second counselor in the First Presidency, formally dedicated the St. George temple on April 6, 1877.

The temple has since been renovated more than 10 times, some renovations larger than others. It was rededicated by President Spencer W. Kimball on Nov. 11, 1975. After renovations, it was rededicated again on Dec. 10, 2023, by President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Architecture and Design of the St. George Utah Temple

The 143,969-square-foot St. George temple was built in an area with swampy ground, so early Saints packed the site with volcanic rock, using a cannon as a pile driver, to create a sturdy foundation. Walls were built with sandstone and a white plaster exterior, and in later renovations, drywall and new plaster were added to repair some exterior sections. The outside walls are surrounded with two rows of long, arched windows and two rows of small, circular windows. Atop the temple is an octagonal tower with a domed cupola above it.

Inside the house of the Lord, arched doorways are decorated with millwork from maple and poplar wood. White Tuscan columns are spread around the temple in close proximity to one another, either inside open spaces or within the walls. Modern improvements — like a new elevator and upgraded electrical systems — have been added in renovations while keeping the original style of the historic temple.

Several plazas and grassy areas adorn the 6.5-acre temple grounds, with hundreds of shrubs and trees, including rows of palm trees. An annex is joined to the temple’s south side. On the southeast corner of the site is a public visitors’ center with a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Christus statue.

Interior Photos of the St. George Utah Temple

When President Joseph F. Smith — sixth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — dedicated the Uintah Tabernacle in August 1907, he said he “would not be surprised if a temple were built here someday.” Almost 100 years later, the tabernacle was converted into a temple and marked the fulfillment of that prophecy.

During the dedication, held from Nov. 2 to Nov. 4, 1997, attendees considered the house of the Lord to be a “unique temple.” Approximately 20,000 people attended the 11 dedicatory sessions, with 3,528 attending the first session.

The Vernal temple was dedicated in 11 sessions by President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church. Other leaders in attendance included President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency; President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency; and Elder Neal A. Maxwell and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The transformation of the old tabernacle was as much a community effort as it was a Church one.

“It’s a community temple,” said Gayle McKeachnie, vice chairman of the open house and dedication committee. “We’re a small community, and we’ve had thousands of people helping. We’ve had people help with parking and ushering during the open house who are not members of the Church but who wanted to participate. That’s been exciting.”

Among the generous contributions was the donation of a century-old home by a local non-Latter-day Saint. The home was made of bricks similar in color to those on the temple and were used to replace some 1,500 bricks on the outer wall that had fallen into disrepair as well as construct the west gates of the grounds.

Temple project manager Lloyd Hess described his work as “the highlight of my career. Because this was a restoration, which I dearly love, I put my whole heart into this.”

“This is a unique temple,” Elder Ben B. Banks, a General Authority Seventy and chairman of the temple committee, told the Church News. “Seeing the tears in the eyes of people, listening to the beautiful hymns and the Prophet speaking is something I’ll never forget.”

Indeed, the simple Georgian New England architecture and its historic tie to locals is only a small part of the significance of the building.

“It’s a blessing if we take advantage of it,” said the temple’s first president, Alva C. Snow, after the dedication. “That’s the only way it’s a blessing to us. To have it here and not use it is no blessing to anybody.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We are grateful for this beautiful new structure which utilizes the historic tabernacle built by Thy people nearly a century ago. The original tabernacle came of a great spirit of faith and sacrifice on the part of those Saints who settled in this area. It was built as an offering unto Thee, and was held in the affections of the people long after it was used as a house of worship.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Vernal Utah Temple here.

The Vernal Utah Temple was announced Feb. 13, 1994, in a letter from the First Presidency. Ground was broken for the temple on May 13, 1995, with Church President Gordon B. Hinckley presiding.

After an open house from Oct. 11 to Oct. 25, 1997, the temple was dedicated during 11 sessions from Nov. 2 to Nov 4, 1997, by President Hinckley.

Architecture and Design of the Vernal Utah Temple

The Vernal Utah Temple is made with clay brick, making it one of few temples without a light exterior. The house of the Lord has two domed towers on the west and east sides of the building, the east tower holding a statue of the angel Moroni. In the wall of the east side of the temple is a stained-glass window depicting the Savior holding a lamb.

The landscape has various trees and flowers and a wrought-iron fence with brick pilasters.

Inside the temple, the walls are hand-painted and feature sego lilies and wheat stocks — vegetation common to the area. The furniture was made to replicate the style of the early 1900s to honor the temple’s heritage. Pieces of furniture in the celestial room were crafted from horsehair and are replicas of the original armchairs the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles use in the Salt Lake Temple.

During the construction of the temple, additional brick was needed. Architects were able to manufacture some of the brick to look like the original brick, but they also had donations from a local resident who owned a house dating back to the same time the Uintah Tabernacle was built. The donated home, made from the same brick, provided the necessary additions to completing the temple. An architect stated, “From samples, it was determined fairly accurately that the brick in this house came from the same kiln as the brick used to build the tabernacle.”

The brick of the tabernacle was made from local red clay. When the tabernacle was first built, it took three days to bake the clay into bricks. An estimated 1,128 people volunteered over 5,000 hours to dismantle the donated house and salvage 16,000 bricks to use for the new temple.

At the groundbreaking of the Sydney Australia Temple — the country’s first — on Aug. 13, 1982, Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “There is no reason in the world why we can’t have temples in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.”

A temple for Adelaide was announced March 17, 1999, and temples in each of the cities Elder McConkie mentioned would also receive temples within the coming five years, fulfilling his prophetic words.

After the temple’s construction in Adelaide, the 12,000 Church members in the temple district invited their friends and family to tour the building during its open house, which saw 49,303 visitors. The Adelaide Australia Temple was then dedicated June 15, 2000, by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. The Prophet was accompanied by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Holland said that those not in the Church would also feel the Spirit, power and influence of a dedicated temple in their community. “They will be very impressed and very gratified, very rewarded for the dedication and completion, the arrival of this new temple in their midst. It certainly is a beautiful city, a very receptive city to such religious matters. With nearly 50,000 people visiting the open house, it seems to me to reflect the nature of the citizenry here.”

When Rhelma Badger attended a Church activity with her daughter, Kerrie, while the Adelaide temple was still under construction, she didn’t realize that the visit would result in a radical change to her life. Badger, a member of another Christian faith at the time, had been invited by her daughter to look through the unfinished temple. Kerrie, who had joined the Church just a few months prior, was anxious to help her mother understand firsthand the excitement that she and other young Latter-day Saints were experiencing knowing that a house of the Lord was rising in their midst.

Badger was married to a member of the Church, but she declined many invitations to be baptized because of her parents’ negative feelings toward the Church and some confusion about Church doctrine.

Although Badger saw little more than scaffolding and bare concrete during her visit to the temple site with her daughter, she felt something very different, she recalled, something that she had never experienced before. “I felt so warm as we went into the baptismal area and then the sealing room,” she said. “I went home and asked God to tell me what to do and for help to be able to tell my parents that I wanted to join.”

A little while later, without any prompting from Badger, her father phoned her and said that it was about time she joined the Church to be with her husband and daughter. Badger was taken by surprise at her parents’ change of heart and was baptized shortly afterward.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “All that is done here will be in recognition of the immortality of the human soul. ... There will be carried forward in this house a great work of redemption in behalf of the dead, many of whom have waited long for these saving ordinances. May this be a day of rejoicing on both sides of the veil, and may all who have the privilege of working here feel the obligation and responsibility of this great vicarious service.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Adelaide Australia Temple here.

A temple for Adelaide was announced via letters to priesthood leaders in the temple district on March 17, 1999. The groundbreaking ceremony for the temple was held May 29, 1999.

Visitors toured the completed house of the Lord from June 3 to June 10, 2000. The Adelaide Australia Temple was dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley on June 15, 2000.

Architecture and Design of the Adelaide Australia Temple

The 10,700-square-foot Adelaide Australia Temple was built on 6.94 acres of land, and snow white granite makes up the temple exterior. Grass fields, trees, shrubbery and sidewalks fill the temple grounds.

The interior of the temple features two instruction rooms and two sealing rooms. Both the Melbourne Australia Temple and the Adelaide temple, which were dedicated a day apart and built during the same time, have the same square footage, exterior finishes, and number of instruction and sealing rooms.

When the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple was announced in April 2017 general conference, Greta Smith — a Latter-day Saint who had lived in Saratoga Springs for decades — was shocked. She recounted, “At first, I gasped, and I just stood in front of the TV, and I was bawling. We cheered and cried, and then the phone lit up.”

Ground was broken for the house of the Lord on Oct. 19, 2019. President Mark B. James, a stake president in the temple district, took an engraved shovel from the event and visited second-hour Church classes in the stake. He testified to Saints that just as shovels soften ground in preparation for a temple, “we need to soften our own hearts. I invited them to prayerfully set a goal of how they needed to prepare for the temple.”

In May 2021, at a local seminary graduation, the seniors were invited to sign their name on an anchor bolt that would be set into the Saratoga Springs temple foundation. This was a symbolic reminder that they would be cemented in Christ as they focused on the temple and covenants made.

Two years later, the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple was dedicated by President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, on Aug. 13, 2023.

Other Church leaders in attendance at the event included Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director of the Temple Department; Elder Hugo E. Martinez, first counselor in the Utah Area presidency; Elder Adeyinka A. Ojediran, a General Authority Seventy; and Bishop L. Todd Budge, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric.

President Eyring said that Church members in the temple district “have been given this temple as a sign of the Lord’s trust ... and His confidence that [they] will respond with greater faith and energy. ... He knows your desire to be lifted and to become a more righteous people — just as the world becomes more contentious and fallen.”

The region saw rapid residential construction in the decades leading up to the temple dedication; Saratoga Springs and neighboring Eagle Mountain had a combined 3,160 residents in 2000, then the population grew to 103,503 in 2022. In the six years between the temple’s announcement and dedication, the number of stakes in Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain and west Lehi grew by 36%

Several stakes in the region set goals to increase the number of Latter-day Saints holding temple recommends. The Saratoga Springs Utah Saratoga Hills Stake, for example, set the goal of having 80% of its endowed members holding a current temple recommend. The day of the temple dedication, the stake had 85%.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We ask Thee to protect this holy house against any force that would harm or defile it. May it be a physical and spiritual refuge for all who are blessed to come to it. Bless all who even step onto the ground upon which it stands. Bless them to feel Thy presence and to leave with a sense of hope and a desire to draw closer to Thee and to Thy Son.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple here.

On April 2, 2017, President Thomas S. Monson announced plans to construct the Saratoga Springs temple during April 2017 general conference. On Oct. 19, 2019, Elder Craig C. Christensen, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Utah Area, presided over the groundbreaking ceremony and offered the dedicatory prayer.

A media day was held on Monday, April 10, 2023, to start off the open house period. On the following day, April 11, private sessions were also held for invited guests to attend. The public open house started on Saturday, April 15, 2023, and lasted until July 8, 2023, excluding Sundays.

The temple was dedicated by President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, on Aug. 13, 2023.

Architecture and Design of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple

The Saratoga Springs Utah Temple was built on a 22.7-acre site within the Beacon Pointe subdivision, west of Redwood Road and north of Meadow Side Drive. The building is three stories high, with an area of approximately 87,000 square feet.

An adjacent 21,000-square-foot meetinghouse is also located on the property. Ward youth groups helped plant flowers around the temple grounds.

Inside this house of the Lord, styles and artwork draw heavily on images and colors representing the nearby Utah Lake and Wasatch Mountains, like hues of purples, blues, greens and golds. Various stylized wildflowers — including the iris, daisy and chrysanthemum — are represented throughout.

Interior Photos of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple

In 1952, Church President David O. McKay traveled to Europe to minister to the European people and make arrangements with Swiss leaders for a house of a Lord to be built in Bern. Just before he boarded his plane back to Utah on July 1, 1952, President McKay told the United Press in Glasgow, Scotland, that the first European temple would be built in Bern, Switzerland.

After a building process that included a cornerstone ceremony on Nov. 13, 1954, presided over by President Stephen L Richards, first counselor in the First Presidency; an open house from Sept. 9 through Sept. 10, 1955; and a visit from The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in Bern on the last day of the open house, President McKay presided over the 10 dedication sessions of the Bern Switzerland Temple from Sept. 11 through Sept. 15, 1955.

As reported in a 1955 edition of the Deseret News, the First Presidency — President McKay; President Stephen L Richards, first counselor; and President J. Reuben Clark Jr., second counselor — said the temple dedication was “a realization of the dreams and prayers of hundreds of the faithful Saints who through years of war and deprivation had longed for the day when they too might be afforded the most treasured blessings of the gospel.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “May this building ever be held sacred, that all who enter may feel a peaceful and hallowed influence, and may those who pass the grounds, whether members or nonmembers of the Church, feel a hallowed influence and substitute for a doubt or possible sneer in their minds, a prayer in their hearts.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Bern Switzerland Temple here.

1992 Rededication of the Bern Switzerland Temple

The Bern Switzerland Temple was closed for renovations from early 1990 through October 1992. Once renovations were completed, the house of the Lord was open to the public for tours from Oct. 8 through Oct. 17, 1992, with nearly 33,000 in attendance.

According to a 1992 edition of the Deseret News, Michael Obst, public affairs director for the Europe Area, said the open house events “were very organized, with typical Swiss precision. There was a very loving, kind and calm spirit about the open house. People commented time and again about how impressed they were with the happiness that radiated from the tour guides and those conducting the tours and welcoming them.”

After the open house, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over 10 dedicatory sessions for the temple from Oct. 23 through Oct. 25, 1992. Nearly 9,000 people attended throughout the 10 sessions.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We pray for those who direct the affairs of thy temple that they may be guided by Thy Holy Spirit and be possessed with wisdom beyond their own. We pray for all who administer the ordinances that they may do so in a manner acceptable unto thee and in a spirit of reverence. We pray for all who come to this, Thy holy house, that they walk in cleanliness before thee.”

Read the rededication prayer of the Bern Switzerland Temple here.

Church President David O. McKay announced plans to build a temple in Bern, Switzerland, on July 1, 1952. Ground was broken for the Bern Switzerland Temple on Aug. 5, 1953, and a cornerstone ceremony was held on Nov. 13, 1954.

After an open house from Sept. 9 to Sept. 10, 1955, this house of the Lord was dedicated by President David O. McKay in 10 sessions from Sept. 11 through Sept. 15, 1955.

The temple closed for renovations in early 1990 and, once construction was finished, was open to the public for tours from Oct. 8 through Oct. 17, 1992. The Bern Switzerland Temple was rededicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley throughout 10 sessions from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25, 1992.

Architecture and Design of the Bern Switzerland Temple

The exterior of the 39,063-square-foot temple, originally 39,457 square feet before renovations, is made of reinforced concrete with gray terracotta trimmed in white. The grounds cover seven acres and are filled with grass fields, trees, hedges and gardens.

The interior features the baptistry, the celestial room, four ordinance rooms and seven sealing rooms. The steeple of the temple was a simple spire until it was replaced with a statue of the angel Moroni on Sept. 7, 2005, in honor of the building’s 50th anniversary four days later.

The Newport Beach California Temple was built on what used to be fields of orange groves before the economy grew and brought in thousands of new residents. Though the orange groves are gone, members believe that “there will be a new blossoming of the gospel” in the Orange County area.

Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the house of the Lord on Aug. 28, 2005. In his dedicatory prayer, the Prophet said, “May the presence of this beautiful structure lead to interest and desire on the part of those who are not members of [the] Church, that they may be led to inquire and learn the truths of the everlasting gospel.”

A Newport Beach local, who had been among protesters against the temple construction, said after its completion: “Seeing the beauty of the temple and what it adds to the neighborhood, I’m sorry I ever opposed it.”

Another local expressed a similar excitement for the new structure: “It is totally awesome, and the hosts treated us like visiting royalty. We saw nothing short of a first-class effort, and we’re proud to have the temple as our new neighbor.”

“This temple will become the compass point around which all the activity in Orange County will occur,” said then-President Weatherford Clayton of the Newport Beach California Stake. “Since [President Hinckley] first announced there would be a temple here, there has been such a purpose and destiny in the hearts of the Saints.”

“Words cannot describe how happy we really are,” said Sister Mele Kilifi, a Latter-day Saint who had moved from Tonga to Orange County in 1978.

A member of the temple’s first temple presidency said that the Newport temple “is distinguished. It is grand. It is beautiful. But it has a character that is very much a character of this area.”

In attendance with President Hinckley were President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency; and Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Seventy.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “And now, in the name of Thy Beloved Son, and in the authority of the priesthood Thou hast bestowed upon us, we dedicate unto Thee and to Him this, the Newport Beach California Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wilt Thou accept it, dear Father, and let Thy divine presence be felt here. May Thy Holy Spirit abide in these premises at all times. Sanctify and hallow it as the house of the Lord.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Newport Beach California Temple here.

A temple for Newport Beach, California, was announced April 21, 2001. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Aug. 15, 2003, and two years later an open house welcomed the public to tour the temple from July 23 to Aug. 20, 2005.

Orange County youth performed in a cultural celebration on Aug. 27, 2005, prior to the dedication. President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over the dedication ceremony of the house of the Lord on Aug. 28, 2005.

Architecture and Design of the Newport Beach California Temple

The Newport Beach California Temple stands on 8.8 acres, with a Salisbury pink granite exterior finish. The structure is a total of 17,800 square feet. The grounds display water features, walkways, and various columnar, palm and other native trees.

Inside the temple, the walls are adorned with various pictures and paintings of Jesus Christ, as well as murals of the California coast in the instruction rooms. A baptistry, two ordinance rooms and three sealing rooms fill the house of the Lord.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for the Meridian Idaho Temple, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Nothing could be more important than to have a temple for these people in this area. For people in this community, this will be a beautiful place.”

Just over three years later, more than 200,000 people toured the interior and grounds of the completed Meridian Idaho Temple during a public open house held Oct. 21 through Nov. 11, 2017.

“We feel the Meridian temple open house was very successful,” said J. Craig Rowe, coordinator of the Meridian temple committee. “We opened the doors of the temple and allowed people from all walks of life here in the Treasure Valley and the western part of Idaho to feel the Spirit and see the beauty of the Meridian temple.”

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the temple on Nov. 19, 2017, in three sessions.

President Uchtdorf told some 6,000 youth within the temple district at a youth event, “Here in the wonderful Treasure Valley is a great treasure of young people of faith.”

The story goes that at the end of every rainbow is a pot of gold, he said. “You are a much greater treasure than any treasure at any rainbow. You are the future of this community, of this area. You are the treasure of all those who live here: your own families, your own generations who passed before and who will follow, and for those who live in this beautiful area.”

Hal Bunderson, a Meridian local who served as a temple sealer in the Boise Idaho Temple after he retired from his professional career, lost his wife before the Meridian temple was dedicated. He continued to serve as a sealer in the new house of the Lord in Meridian, and in reference to his service, he told Church News at the dedication, “For a little widower like me, it sustains me. It lifts me.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Wilt Thou accept this, Thy holy house, as the gift of our hearts and hands. Wilt Thou honor it with Thy presence. May Thy Holy Spirit dwell here at all times and be felt by all who come within its portals. May a mantle of holiness come upon this sacred edifice. May it stand as a beacon of everlasting truth and light and as an invitation to come unto Thee. Wilt Thou protect this temple from any harm or defilement.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Meridian Idaho Temple here.

Church President Thomas S. Monson announced a temple for Meridian, Idaho, on April 2, 2011, during April general conference. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the temple on Aug. 23, 2014.

More than 200,000 visitors toured the completed temple during its open house from Oct. 21 through Nov. 11, 2017, and approximately 6,000 youth from the temple district participated in a cultural celebration in honor of the temple on Nov. 18, 2017.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the Meridian Idaho Temple on Nov. 19, 2017.

Architecture and Design of the Meridian Idaho Temple

The 67,331-square-foot Meridian Idaho Temple exterior is decorated with scenic walkways, ponds, trees and shrubbery. The cupola cap atop the temple, made from titanium surfacing, changes colors from blue-gray to gold to bronze, depending on how the sun hits it.

This house of the Lord, along with the Cardston Alberta Temple and the Laie Hawaii Temple, was built in Prairie School or Prairie Style — a late 19th- and early 20th-century North American architectural style featuring horizontal lines, restraint in decoration, flat or hipped roofs, windows assembled in horizontal bands and a design integrated into surrounding landscapes.

Floral designs are displayed in the art glass and other decorations throughout the temple, portraying growing flowers and plants, including the camas flowers and the white syringa, Idaho’s state flower.

The interior of the temple features three instruction rooms and five sealing rooms.

Interior Photos of the Meridian Idaho Temple

During the open house of the San Diego California Temple, the original goal of 650,000 attendees was broken by almost 60,000 attendees. The success came as a result of a concerted effort to raise public awareness of the temple. The efforts received national recognition as the Church received the Silver Anvil, the top award given by the Public Relations Society of America.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the San Diego California Temple in 23 sessions from April 25 to April 30, 1993. President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, also presided over and conducted the sessions. President Hinckley conducted 13 sessions, in addition to the cornerstone session, while President Monson conducted 10 sessions.

“People all over the world long for what you now have,” President Hinckley told the sessiongoers. “Brothers and sisters, be grateful.”

But, he cautioned, members of the Church “must never lose sight” of the purpose of temples.

“The whole purpose is to provide a place where we can worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience, exercise the priesthood that has been restored in its fullness and receive the blessings that are administered only in these holy houses.”

During the last session he conducted, President Hinckley said, “God has provided opportunities for His children to partake of something that is far sweeter than what is available in mortality.”

While presiding, President Monson encouraged the young people to prepare themselves to enter the house of the Lord and to remember how they feel when they enter. “Make the temple part of your lives. The temple can bring you the supreme feeling of peace.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “May Thy watchcare be over this, Thy holy house. Preserve it from storm and tempest, from the tremblings of the earth, and most importantly from any defiling hand of man. To the millions who will see it as they move swiftly over the adjacent highway, may it be a thing of singular beauty from which shall emanate a spiritual glow that speaks of peace and goodness.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the San Diego California Temple here.

Renovation of the San Diego California Temple

After three decades of temple ordinances, the San Diego temple closed July 31, 2023, for extensive renovations. July 29 was the last day of temple worship before the closure.

The San Diego temple is scheduled to be rededicated Aug. 23, 2026. A presiding authority has not yet been announced.

Plans to construct a house of the Lord in San Diego were announced on April 7, 1984. Four years later, President Ezra Taft Benson presided over the groundbreaking on Feb. 27, 1988.

Five years later, President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, and President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the San Diego temple on April 25, 1993.

The temple was closed in July 2023 for extensive renovations. After a public open house from June 18 to July 11, 2026, the San Diego temple will be rededicated Aug. 23, 2026. A presiding authority has not yet been announced.

Architecture and Design of the San Diego California Temple

The temple is 72,000 square feet, 85 feet wide, 190 feet long and 169 feet tall. The structure is built on a 7.2-acre site. The exterior is made of marble chips in plaster. There are two spires headed with the angel Moroni statue, surrounded by four smaller spires.

The interior includes the baptistry, the celestial room, four instruction rooms and eight sealing rooms.

The groundbreaking of the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple was presided over by President Veasna Kuonno Neang, president of the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission, on Sept. 18, 2021. President Bunhouch Eng, president of the Phnom Penh North Stake, also spoke in the ceremony. President Eng shared that when President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated Cambodia for missionary work in 1996, only half of the 450 in attendance were Latter-day Saints.

In his remarks to the congregation, President Neang said, “Today, a holy temple of God will begin its foundation, representing the faithfulness, love and joy of the Saints in Cambodia. We know that when we come to the temple, we can feel closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be such a blessing to come to the temple as often as we can.”

The Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple is scheduled to be dedicated Aug. 30, 2026, by Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple was announced Oct. 7, 2018, by Church President Russell M. Nelson. The groundbreaking and site dedication for this house of the Lord were held on Sept. 18, 2021, and presided over by President Veasna Kuonno Neang, president of the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission.

After a public open house from Aug. 15 to Aug. 22, 2026, the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple will be dedicated Aug. 30, 2026, by Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Architecture and Design of the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple

The Phnom Penh temple will be a single-story building of approximately 10,000 square feet. Renderings show a white temple with an exterior of circle designs engraved and vertical bars around some walls. A white fence with holes in a decorative pattern will surround the edifice.

On top of the building is a tall spire in the center with four smaller spires around it. The temple will be built on a site of 3.16 acres, with various trees, yellow flowers and purple flowers decorating the grounds. An ancillary building will also reside on the site.

Groundbreaking Photos of the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple

On Jan. 22, 2026, Emmerson Mnangagwa, president of the Republic of Zimbabwe, along with other interfaith, government and civic leaders, toured the Harare Zimbabwe Temple. Other dignitaries included the vice president, ambassadors from nine nations and 11 ministers from the Zimbabwean government.

“Their experience was almost inexplicable — words can’t explain what happened and their feedback,” said Sean Donnelly, a Harare native and the Church’s area relations manager over Africa at the time of dedication. He added that “the head of state had a very spiritual experience in the temple when the [Church] leaders prayed in the temple with him.”

The Harare Zimbabwe Temple was dedicated March 1, 2026, by Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Joining the Elder Gong for the dedication weekend was his wife, Sister Susan Gong, as well as two General Authority Seventies and their wives — Elder Steven R. Bangerter, executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Susan Bangerter; and Elder Denelson Silva, first counselor in the Church’s Africa South Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Regina Silva.

Drawn to the Harare temple dedication were myriads of Latter-day Saints — from pioneer members and returned missionaries with more than a half-century of experiences and stories to the first-generation “pioneering” members of their families. “We honor pioneers, old and young,” said Elder Gong. “We honor faithful brothers and sisters and those whose tithes and offerings open the windows of heaven. We honor all who have prayed, worked and sacrificed for this day.”

With the coming of the house of the Lord in Harare and other new temples around the globe, the Lord is inviting Latter-day Saints to create “a new gospel temple culture,” said Elder Gong, mindful especially of those who previously had to travel long distances to worship in the temple. “Instead of going to the temple once in our life, or once a year on a temple trip, we can plan and come ourselves to the Lord in the house of the Lord more often,” he said.

Paul and Pamela Guveya served as co-chairs of the open house and dedication committee. Pamela Guveya said she treasures remembering the facial expressions of the open house guests — similar to attendees on the Harare temple grounds after Sunday’s dedication. “You see someone coming out from the temple — this person is filled with the Spirit of the Lord. Talking to them, asking them how they feel, with them expressing their feelings and gratitude is something very dear and special to me.”

Paul Guveya agreed: “Having a temple in Zimbabwe is a huge blessing that our Heavenly Father has opened up for us. We’re going to see so many of the young people getting married in the temple, we’re going to see many ordinances — for the baptisms for those who have passed on, our ancestors, our fathers, our children. It’s going to bring joy, and it’s going to unite so many families.”

One thing Paul Guveya said the members will appreciate is the proximity of a temple in Zimbabwe, rather than the 16- to 20-hour drives to the Johannesburg South Africa Temple and the prolonged waits at border crossings.

Sixteen-year-old Lizzie Nyasha Akili was beaming outside the Harare temple after Sunday’s service, the first time she had been inside a dedicated temple since being sealed to her parents and family at age 8 in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple. “Today has been very special,” she said.

What does having a house of the Lord in Harare mean for her? “It means to be able to be baptized for my ancestors,” she said, adding, “It also gives me joy because I will be able to complete other ordinances, such as sealings to parents and baptisms for other people as well.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Dear Father, please let Thy light and blessings from this holy house chase out darkness and bring in goodness. Please let Thy blessings contribute to peace, stability and firm foundation in our countries and communities, our stakes, wards and families.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Harare Zimbabwe Temple here.

The Harare Zimbabwe Temple was announced April 3, 2016, by Church President Thomas S. Monson. The groundbreaking and site dedication for this house of the Lord were held on Dec. 12, 2020, and presided over by Elder Edward Dube, first counselor in the Africa South Area presidency.

After a public open house from Jan. 22 to Feb. 7, 2026, the Harare Zimbabwe Temple was dedicated Jan. 19, 2026, by Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Architecture and Design of the Harare Zimbabwe Temple

A single-story building of approximately 17,250 square feet, the Harare temple draws from the architecture and Indigenous culture of Zimbabwe, including a design motif of simple triangular patterns. The geometric styles in art glass include a floral motif of the national flower, the flame lily.

Inside the building, sculpted carpet designs in neutral tones — with both geometric elements and floral motifs — complement the art glass. Floral patterns carry over to the entry rug, with Harare-native designs of the flame lily, aloe ballii, Yoruba bologi, African lettuce, terracotta gazania, aspilia mossambicensis and wentzel’s sugarbush.

Hues throughout the temple reflect local flora and fauna and the region’s landscape. These are reflected in some art pieces as well, and many of the approximately 45 paintings focus on the Savior. Adorning the 6.7-acre site are locally sourced plants, including feather duster and jacaranda trees.

Interior Photos of the Harare Zimbabwe Temple

On Oct. 29, 2022, Elder Valeri V. Cordón — a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the North America West Area presidency — presided at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple. In his dedicatory prayer, Elder Cordón said, “We acknowledge the first Saints who came to this valley to live peacefully in their humble circumstances. We are grateful for the faithful Saints who live in this area, for their sacrifice, devotion and obedience.”

Elder Cordón continued, “We pray that the temple will be a beacon of hope and peace that inspires this community to come unto Christ, even in its construction phase.”

The Willamette Valley Oregon Temple is scheduled to be dedicated June 7, 2026, by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

A temple for Eugene, Oregon, was announced April 4, 2021, by President Russell M. Nelson. Just over a year and a half later, a groundbreaking ceremony for the newly named Willamette Valley Oregon Temple was held Oct. 29, 2022. Elder Valeri V. Cordón presided over the ceremony.

After a public open house from April 23 to May 9, 2026, the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple will be dedicated June 7, 2026, by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Architecture and Design of the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple

A house of the Lord for Eugene, Oregon, is being built on a 10.5-acre site. The structure will be located at the intersection of International Boulevard and Corporate Way in Springfield — a suburb of Eugene in the Willamette Valley, where the temple gets its name.

According to building plans, the single-story structure’s area will total approximately 30,000 square feet. The exterior rendering shows a white, layered wall exterior with a large arch leading to the front doors. A single tower in the middle is topped with a four-tier spire.

Flowers and bushes line walkways near the front doors of this house of the Lord. Various trees are also found throughout the temple grounds.

Groundbreaking Photos of the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple

At a centennial celebration for Church-owned Juárez Academy in Colonia Juárez, Mexico, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley lamented that the closest temple was an eight-hour drive to Mesa, Arizona. “I would like to see the time come when all of our people throughout the world could get to a temple without too much inconvenience,” he told those in attendance in June 1997. “I think you are about as far away as anybody.”

Afterward, while heading to the El Paso International Airport, President Hinckley “reflected on what we could do to help these people in the Church colonies of Mexico. ... They’ve been the very epitome of faithfulness.”

On the subsequent plane ride, and with spiritual guidance, the Prophet sketched a floor plan with only the essentials of a house of the Lord. The laundry facility, the cafeteria and other areas of the temple not necessary for temple ordinances were omitted from the plan, allowing the temples to be smaller and constructed more quickly.

The second of the smaller temples using this plan was announced for Colonia Juárez, Mexico — with a temple site adjacent to Juárez Academy.

Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Ciudad Juárez Mexico Temple in four sessions March 6-7, 1999. He was joined by President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; and Elder Eran A. Call, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Mexico North Area.

President Meredith I. Romney — former stake president and the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua temple’s first president — observed: “When we went on a temple excursion to the Arizona Temple in Mesa, we could just feel the unity of the people for several months after they came back. ... Now that we have a temple here, we can do that as often as we’d like.”

S. Keith Bowman, a 78-year-old patriarch in the area, noted that even before the temple was announced, many patriarchal blessings he gave mentioned the house of the Lord. Some were told their ancestors were waiting anxiously to receive the blessings of the temple, and other members were told they would be called to work in the temple. “Now,” said Bowman, “they will have that opportunity that they couldn’t have had before.”

Also at the dedication was President Lester Johnson, who had started service as president of the Colonia Juárez Mexico Stake only a week prior. “We are going to have to put in our total effort to move the work along,” he said. “That is the only way we can express our appreciation.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “It was here in Northern Mexico that Thou didst reveal the idea and the plan of a smaller temple, complete in every necessary detail, but suited in size to the needs and circumstances of the Church membership in this area of Thy vineyard. That revelation came of a desire and a prayer to help Thy people of these colonies who have been true and loyal during the century and more that they have lived here. They are deserving of this sacred edifice in which to labor for themselves and their forebears.”

​​Read the dedicatory prayer of the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple here.

The Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple was announced Oct. 4, 1997, by President Gordon B. Hinckley. A groundbreaking ceremony was held March 7, 1998, with Elder Eran A. Call dedicating the site.

After a public open house from Feb. 25 to Feb. 27, 1999, President Hinckley dedicated the temple March 6-7, 1999.

Architecture and Design of the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple

The Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple is a 6,800-square-foot building with an exterior finish of white marble. Atop the single-story building is a center spire with a statue of the angel Moroni. In addition to the baptistry and celestial room, the temple has one instruction room and one sealing room.

This house of the Lord overlooks Church-owned Juárez Academy, which celebrated its centennial the same year the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua temple was announced.

Latter-day Saints in New Mexico performed service at the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple grounds even before it was dedicated. H. Vern Payne, vice chairman of the local temple committee, recounted at the 2000 temple dedication that Church members across the state gave countless hours of service at the site of this house of the Lord. Saints cleaned the grounds prior to the building’s 1998 groundbreaking and again before the open house and dedication. Some crews worked past midnight.

Several members from outlying areas drove up to five hours to work a few hours at the temple site, with another five-hour trip back home. The day before the dedication, Payne even found a hundred Saints cleaning a chapel that would show a broadcast of the dedication. The chapel, he said, had not glistened like that since it was brand new.

“The spirit of the temple is growing and brooding over this whole area,” said Payne. “Its influence spiritually will be significant.”

The Albuquerque New Mexico Temple was dedicated in four sessions by President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church, on March 5, 2000. He was joined by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Neil L. Andersen, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the North America Southwest Area presidency.

During a week-and-a-half-long public open house the preceding month, many noticed the fine craftsmanship and unique temple design. Members of other churches commented on the spiritual nature of the edifice. And one visitor described the building in just one word: powerful.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Let it be a sanctuary of peace, a refuge from the noise of the world. May it be a house of quiet contemplation concerning the eternal nature of life and of Thy divine plan for Thy sons and daughters as they walk the road of immortality and eternal life. ... May the light of the gospel that emanates from this holy temple be felt throughout the community.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple here.

The Albuquerque New Mexico Temple was announced April 4, 1997, by the First Presidency. A groundbreaking ceremony was held almost 15 months later, on June 20, 1998, with Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen presiding.

After a public open house from Feb. 17 to Feb. 26, 2000, the Albuquerque temple was dedicated March 5, 2000, by President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Architecture and Design of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple

With an area of 34,000 square feet, the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple stands near the towering Sandia Mountain Range to the east. The building’s exterior is made of Deseret Rose precast concrete, with Texas Pearl granite at the base, making the structure look pink in the sunset to match the nearby mountain scene at dusk.

The house of the Lord has a baptistry, a celestial room, two ordinance rooms and three sealing rooms. Grass, native plants and a fountain adorn the grounds, and a distribution center also stands on the 8.5-acre site.

The Ogden Utah Temple was dedicated from Jan. 18 to Jan. 20, 1972, by President Joseph Fielding Smith, during six sessions. He was President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from early 1970 to mid-1972, and this was the first temple he dedicated. He presided at all six sessions and offered the dedicatory prayer in the first, then his prayer was read in later sessions.

The Ogden temple cost around $4.5 million to build, a total of more than $32 million today. It was the first house of the Lord dedicated after the Oakland California Temple, which was dedicated in November 1964. This created a gap of over seven years without a temple dedication, but a gap this long has not happened since.

The dedicatory service in Ogden was held inside the temple’s celestial room, and around 50 television sets were placed in additional rooms of the temple and the Ogden Tabernacle to view the service. A different 50-person choir sang at each dedicatory session.

Before offering the dedicatory prayer, President Smith told those in attendance, “May I remind you that when we dedicate a house to the Lord, what we really do is dedicate ourselves to the Lord’s service, with a covenant that we shall use the house in the way He intends that it shall be used.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “It has been our privilege, as guided by the whisperings of Thy Spirit, to build unto Thee this temple, which we now present unto Thee as another of Thy holy houses.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Ogden Utah Temple here.

2014 Rededication of the Ogden Utah Temple

On Feb. 17, 2010, the Church announced that the Ogden temple would be closed on April 2, 2011, for an entire remodel of the exterior. The temple was not demolished; rather, the exterior was removed and replaced with new stone and more glass, keeping the interior structure largely the same. Other renovations included new landscaping, new underground parking, and new electrical, heating and plumbing systems.

The Ogden Utah Temple was then rededicated on Sept. 21, 2014, by President Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ. He offered the dedicatory prayer in the first of three sessions, then President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, gave the prayer in the last two sessions. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other general authorities were also in attendance.

Hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints attended the rededication ceremony for this house of the Lord, either in person or in a meetinghouse across Utah or Wyoming. Nine-year-old Conrad Gerber awoke at 5:30 a.m. so he could be first in line at the ceremony.

President Monson said during the ceremony that the Ogden temple “stands as a beacon of righteousness to all who will follow its light — the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” The motif of light was also prevalent in the cultural celebration the night before, the theme being “Share the Light.” The performances even used a lantern prop traveling from scene to scene, emphasizing the youth’s role to shine the light of Christ on a dark world.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “This beautiful temple has been a haven of peace. It has served well. Showing the effects of such service, it became necessary to renovate and improve it. We are grateful for this long-awaited day of rededication, when the renovations have been completed.”

Read the rededication prayer of the Ogden Utah Temple here.

A temple was announced for Ogden, Utah, on Aug. 14, 1967, by the First Presidency. After construction was finished, the Ogden Utah Temple was dedicated during six sessions from Jan. 18 to Jan. 20, 1972, with Church President Joseph Fielding Smith offering the first dedicatory prayer.

After extensive remodeling, which started in April 2011, Church President Thomas S. Monson rededicated the temple on Sept. 21, 2014.

Original Architecture and Design of the Ogden Utah Temple

The Ogden Utah Temple was first built in a similar style as the Provo Utah Temple’s original style. It had a flat, round base with a spire in the center, and around the curved exterior were white, rectangular panels. In the center of the building was a white spire with a design that slightly branched outward.

On May 7, 2013, a gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni, made of fiberglass, was placed atop the spire.

It had a floor area of over 130,000 square feet. Inside the temple were a baptistry, a celestial room and 11 sealing rooms. The Ogden temple was the first built with six ordinance rooms, allowing an endowment session to begin every 20 minutes.

Remodeled Architecture and Design of the Ogden Utah Temple

The temple’s current structure was completed in 2014, almost 43 years after its first dedication. However, this remodel did not entirely demolish the existing edifice, so the temple kept a similar bone-like structure.

It currently has a floor area of 112,232 square feet and a height of around 189 feet, including the 13-foot-tall statue of the angel Moroni. The building has several blocky layers that get smaller with height. Tall, rectangular windows surround the temple, with larger windows above the entrance. A multilevel tower sits above the building, with a spire that leads up to a point.

Inside the temple is a consistent theme of white stone, dark brown wood and gold-leaf detail, like in the walls and furniture. The image of a rose is prevalent throughout the edifice, such as in the art glass windows, designs in the carpet, and carvings and fabric in the furniture. Around the baptistry are large murals depicting rivers and mountains, and above the celestial room is a dome in the ceiling.

The temple stands on a site of 9.96 acres, with grassy areas and sidewalks across the grounds. This plot of land has been owned by the Church of Jesus Christ since pioneer times.

Interior Photos of the Ogden Utah Temple

Ground was broken for the Fairview Texas Temple on Feb. 21, 2026, presided over by Elder Jonathan S. Schmitt, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the United States Southwest Area presidency. In his dedicatory prayer on the site, Elder Schmitt pleaded, “We pray this will be a place where all Thy children may come to feel a unique outpouring of Thy divine presence, power and peace.”

He asked for blessings to be “poured out upon this community” during and after the temple’s construction. “We pray a blessing to be upon all Thy children in this beautiful community of Fairview, Texas, and surrounding municipalities. We pray that hearts will be softened and that all Thy children will feel of Thy light, grace and goodness that will emanate from this holy place.”

The Fairview Texas Temple was announced by Church President Russell M. Nelson on Oct. 2, 2022. Ground was broken for the temple on Feb. 21, 2026, with Elder Jonathan S. Schmitt presiding.

Architecture and Design of the Fairview Texas Temple

According to site plans released by the Church on Dec. 4, 2023, the Fairview Texas Temple will be a single-story building of approximately 30,000 square feet on an 8.16-acre site in Fairview, a suburb north of Dallas and south of McKinney, and will be adjacent to an existing meetinghouse.