TOOELE, Utah — On a mild autumn evening, the Lord’s Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, dedicated the Deseret Peak Utah Temple — the 200th house of the Lord for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“This is the Lord’s house. It is filled with His power,” President Nelson said of the Church’s newest temple, which he dedicated Sunday, Nov. 10 in Tooele, Utah. The Prophet promised that those who live God’s higher law will have access to that power. “God’s power helps us to withstand the trials and temptations of life — with joy in our hearts,” he said.
The new Deseret Peak Utah Temple is about 30 miles from Salt Lake City in the Tooele Valley, located along the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, and to the east are the Oquirrh Mountains. To the west are the Stansbury Mountains and the imposing Deseret Peak, the fourth most important peak in the state of Utah, and the temple’s namesake.
During the day, the temple’s copper-plated central spire reflects the sunlight. At night, the lights of the temple stand out against the dark backdrop of the mountains.
But it wasn’t the temple’s scenic location or impressive architecture that the Prophet emphasized on the day he dedicated the edifice as a “beacon of hope to all who see it.” It was its sacred purpose.
“I hope that our members in the Deseret Peak temple district will not just treasure the addition of a beautiful building to their community but will arrange their lives so that they worship and serve in the house of the Lord as regularly as possible,” President Nelson told the Church News, promising, “The temple is a place of peace and power, and spending time there will literally change a person’s life.”
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who accompanied President Nelson to Tooele, called attention to two “unprecedented, historic” facts associated with the day’s event. First, that the Church has a 100-year-old Prophet in this dispensation. Second, that “our beloved Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson,” was dedicating the Church’s 200th temple.
“We think of moments when we can say, ‘Hallelujah!’ and for us this is one of those moments. This is a moment — the 200th in this dispensation now — that allows us to look heavenward and recognize the Lord’s love for each one of us,” Elder Stevenson said.
Roughly 300 individuals gathered within the walls of the temple on Sunday, Nov. 10, for the single 4 p.m. session that was broadcast throughout the 12 stakes in western Utah that make up the temple district.
Also participating in Sunday’s dedication were Sister Wendy Nelson and Sister Lesa Stevenson as well as Elder Brian K. Taylor, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Utah Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Jill Taylor; Elder Brook P. Hales, a General Authority Seventy, and his wife, Sister Denise Hales; and Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Nancy Duncan.
The 200th temple in the Church
When President Nelson was a child, there were six dedicated temples in the world. Now there are 200.
As he contemplated that fact, President Nelson said, “I am filled with awe at all the Lord is doing for His people.”
President Nelson noted that it took the Church until the year 2000 to dedicate the first 100 temples. But now, just 24 years later, it has dedicated the second 100. “The Lord is truly hastening His work. I am filled with gratitude for the Lord’s mercy in guiding us to bring temples closer to members of the Church throughout the world.”
The Deseret Peak Utah Temple becomes the 23rd dedicated house of the Lord in the state. The Orem, Red Cliffs, Taylorsville and Layton temples were also dedicated this year.
Utah has 31 total temples — dedicated, under construction, under renovation or announced and in planning.
Two temples in Utah are currently being renovated — the Salt Lake and Provo Rock Canyon. Five others are under construction — Syracuse, Lindon, Smithfield, Ephraim and Heber Valley.
Two more were announced in April 2024 general conference — in Lehi and West Jordan, with a third announced in October 2024 general conference for Price.
The Church’s 199th temple, the Salvador Brazil Temple, was dedicated just three weeks ago by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
It took the Church 104 years to dedicate the first 20 operating temples — from the St. George Utah Temple in 1877 to the Jordan River Utah Temple in 1981. In contrast, the latest 20 houses of the Lord have been dedicated in a span of about 15 months.
Elder Stevenson noted the total number of temples announced, under construction or in operation is 367.
Just last month in October general conference, President Nelson announced 17 more temple locations, saying: “My dear brothers and sisters, do you see what is happening right before our eyes? I pray that we will not miss the majesty of this moment. The Lord is indeed hastening His work.”
Why is the Church building temples at such an unprecedented pace? “Because the Lord has instructed us to do so. The blessings of the temple help to gather Israel on both sides of the veil. These blessings also help to prepare a people who will help prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord,” President Nelson declared.
History of the Church in the Tooele Valley
Just a few days after President Brigham Young and the vanguard company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in July of 1847, he and other Church leaders rode out to explore the area near the Great Salt Lake. The Apostle Elder Orson Pratt rode into what is now the Tooele Valley and climbed Adobe Rock, a prominent rock outcropping and landmark, to view the valley.
The area soon began attracting settlers for a variety of reasons, explained Matt Lawrence, a longtime resident of Tooele County who served as the Deseret Peak temple historian. First was the availability of water. While the Great Salt Lake is not potable, both Tooele City and nearby Grantsville have artesian wells that flow all year.
Next, the valley was full of tall, green grass. “I read a history of this valley that said that the grass was ‘high up on a cow.’ There was thick grass and tall grass, so it was very fertile and green and a great place for agriculture,” said Lawrence. Pioneer settlers in Salt Lake City soon began bringing their animals to the Tooele Valley to graze.
Also, while scenic, the valley’s surrounding mountains have provided significant yields of minerals through the years — gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and more. Mining operations in areas like Ophir and Stockton brought miners from other countries to settle in the valley and work in the smelters.
The Apostle Elder Ezra T. Benson, the great-grandfather and namesake of Church President Ezra Taft Benson, built the first sawmill and gristmill in the valley.
The first ward there was organized in the spring of 1850. By 1860, Tooele County had 416 people, according to the census. More settlements, including Grantsville, were established, and in June of 1877, Latter-day Saints in the various settlements were organized into the Tooele Stake.
The early settlement of the area could be grueling. The official history of Tooele County records the experience of several of the pioneer women, including Anna Erickson Stromberg, whose husband, Charles Stromberg, was called on a mission in 1884.
A year after he left, a diphtheria epidemic took the lives of their three sons within two days. A week later, their daughter also died. Anna Stromberg “was in a state of shock, so much so that her sanity was in question,” the Tooele County history states. She received a priesthood blessing from Church patriarch John Smith, however, promising her that she would have a larger family than the one she lost. She bore seven more children.
Another pioneer woman, Hilda Anderson Erickson, owned a mine, did legal work for farmers and ranchers in the Grantsville area and delivered more than 200 babies. She and her husband, John A. Erickson, served a mission to the local Native Americans in 1882. She also was a professional tailor of suits and uniforms, established a general merchandise store, practiced as a dentist and served as an officer of a bank. At the time of her death in 1968, she was Utah’s oldest resident at age 108.
Today, Tooele County has a mix of longtime residents with roots to those hardy pioneer settlers and transplants who feel led to the area, said Erda Utah Stake President Shawn Johnson.
But the traits exhibited by those early pioneer settlers — hard work, thrift, faith, grit, service, concern for one’s neighbor — have percolated through the generations. “The people here are the salt of the earth,” President Johnson said. “They are kind to one another. They’re hardworking and faithful people that love the Lord, and they care about each other. It’s in the DNA of the community, this hard work and the desire to help each other out.”
The area has remained mostly rural but has seen tremendous growth over the past few years. When Stansbury Park Utah Stake President Michael Kjar and his wife moved to the area in 2004, there were no stakes in Stansbury Park and no meetinghouses. Now, there are two stakes and many meetinghouses.
“It’s grown significantly, and it’s going to continue to grow,” President Kjar said.
‘A grateful valley’
Richard and Becky Droubay, the temple open house and dedication coordinators, said they experienced “many miracles” during the open house.
People came from all over, from countries around the world, from states throughout the country, all kinds of different cities and from all over Utah.
At one point, a woman from the Iraqi government came through for a tour. Things fell into place that they were able to find an Arabic translator.
Any need that arose, “people would just step up,” Richard Droubay said.
The temple hosted more than 130,000 people during the four-week open house, which excluded one Saturday — Saturdays are the busiest days — due to being closed for general conference.
The Deseret Peak temple district comprises 12 stakes, whereas other temples of comparable size draw from 20 or more stakes. There was some worry going into the open-house period whether the temple district would be able to provide the needed number of volunteers for the open house or have enough temple workers.
Not only were they able to fill the slots for the needed 11,000 volunteers, but there is now a waiting list for members to serve as temple workers.
“It’s been amazing to see it all come together,” Becky Droubay said.
For many decades, large numbers of Latter-day Saints from the Tooele Valley have served faithfully in the Salt Lake Temple. Now they will have even greater access and opportunities to serve, said President Jeffrey B England, president of the Tooele Utah Stake, noting that the new temple is just down the street from a junior high and the area’s newly constructed high school.
Said Lawrence, with emotion: “I think Heavenly Father knows the willingness of the people of this valley to serve in the temple.”
During the open house, all — from the parking attendants to the cleaners to those leading tours — “were just filled with joy,” Becky Droubay said.
President Johnson said he heard many members describe the feeling of being in the temple like coming home. “What better thing could you say about the house of the Lord than it feels like home?”
President Johnson, President England and President Kjar all reported that the construction of the temple has created a renewed focus on temple worship and covenants, with more members seeking temple recommends.
Having a temple in their valley will be a blessing to many people who have sacrificed to serve in other temples. “It’s such a gift,” said Becky Droubay. “We live in a grateful valley.”
Richard Droubay said he hopes the enthusiasm never wears off for people. “The way we show our gratitude to the Lord and to the Prophet for building a temple in this valley is to fill that temple every day.”
The purpose of the temple is to bring individuals closer to the Savior, he continued. “And that doesn’t happen all at once or in six months or a year. It’s a process, and we have to grow in that process. And we hope that our people will continue to engage in the process of coming to the Savior through the temple.”
Deseret Peak Utah Temple facts
Address: 2400 N. 400 West, Tooele, UT 84074
Announced: April 7, 2019, by President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: May 15, 2021, presided over by Elder Brook P. Hales, a General Authority Seventy
Open house: Thursday, Sept. 26, through Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, excluding Sundays and Saturday, Oct. 5, for general conference
Dedicated: Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, one session, by President Nelson
Property size: 15.5 acres
Building size: 71,998 square feet
Building height: 182.7 feet to top of spire
