In November 1985, Nevada held a groundbreaking for its first house of the Lord, the Las Vegas Nevada Temple. And now two months shy of 40 years later, ground has been broken for the city’s second temple.
The Thursday, Sept. 25, groundbreaking of the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple was presided over by Elder Michael A. Dunn, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the United States Southwest Area presidency.
After construction, this will become the state’s fourth house of the Lord for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Information about the groundbreaking was released in a Sept. 25 news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
In his prayer dedicating the site and construction process, Elder Dunn pleaded with the Lord to bless the people who will soon begin constructing the temple — the workers, craftspeople and artisans.
“Guide the hands that will shape stone, wood, glass and steel, that the beauty and craftsmanship of this temple may reflect the divine truths that will be taught within its walls,” he said.
Elder Dunn also asked for a parallel blessing of spiritual preparation upon those who will enter this new house of the Lord. He said, “Help us, as a covenant people, to continue to stand on holy ground, to reach toward heaven even as heaven reaches down to us through this magnificent house of the Lord.”
Elder Thomas A. Thomas, an Area Seventy, testified at the event of how attending the temple has strengthened his relationship with Jesus Christ.
“When I enter a temple, it is a reminder of my love for the Savior and His teachings,” said Elder Thomas. “It is an opportunity for me to ask if I am striving to be a peacemaker [and] to mourn with those who mourn. Am I trying to love my neighbor? Am I showing gratitude for my blessings and striving to lift the hands that hang down?”
Also speaking at the groundbreaking was Avrie Stephens, a youth speaker from the area. She shared how preparing to enter the temple has strengthened her understanding of God’s plan for her life and brought her peace.
The Lone Mountain temple is planned as a three-story building on a nearly 20-acre site. It will be constructed southwest of Hickam Avenue between North Grand Canyon Drive and Tee Pee Lane in Lone Mountain, Las Vegas, Nevada.
This groundbreaking came just 17 days before the Elko Nevada Temple’s Oct. 12 dedication by Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
About the Church in Nevada
On Oct. 2, 2022, President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Lone Mountain, Nevada. It was one of 18 locations he identified in that general conference.
This is one of four houses of the Lord in the state, with Nevada also having two operating temples and one awaiting dedication.
The Las Vegas Nevada Temple was dedicated Dec. 16, 1989. President Gordon B. Hinckley — then first counselor in the First Presidency — gave the dedicatory prayer, and then-Church President Ezra Taft Benson presided over the meeting.
Nevada’s second house of the Lord, the Reno Nevada Temple, was dedicated April 23, 2000, by President Thomas S. Monson, then first counselor in the First Presidency.
Third, the Elko Nevada Temple concluded its open house on Sept. 13 and is scheduled to be dedicated Oct. 12, 2025, by Elder Stevenson.
Many Latter-day Saints moved from Utah to Nevada in the late 1920s in search of better economic conditions. Early Church congregations in northeastern Nevada began in White Pine County, in the communities of Lund, Preston and Georgetown.
Today, Nevada is home to nearly 200,000 Latter-day Saints in almost 350 congregations.
