As Elder Hutch U. Fale dedicated the site of the Coeur d’Alene Idaho Temple, in preparation for its construction, he acknowledged the future purpose of the sacred edifice.
“Please allow this holy temple to help further Thy work and provide access for all who seek Thy Son and His holy ordinances on both sides of the veil,” said Elder Fale — a General Authority Seventy and member of the Church’s United States West Area presidency — in his prayer.
He added: “Please bless this community, even the surrounding areas, that all may see and witness that Thy Son and His holy house are a symbol and source of peace, the true peace that is only available through Him.”
Ground was broken for northern Idaho’s first temple on Saturday, Aug. 29. It was the sixth temple groundbreaking held this month.
Photos and information of the livestreamed ceremony were published Aug. 29 on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
In his remarks to groundbreaking attendees, Elder Fale said God cares how His children treat one another. He added that covenants help them to remember to love their neighbor and to love God.
“As we do that, we come just a little closer to being who the Lord knows we can be, to being Zion, to being united behind our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
He read Matthew 25:31-40, which in part says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (verse 40).
In his dedicatory prayer on the site, Elder Fale pleaded that God would hallow and sanctify the grounds, with all aspects of construction according to His will.
“May all who assist or participate in any effort leading toward the dedication and subsequent use and filling of this holy house be given access to divine guidance and inspiration to accomplish their assigned responsibilities,” he said. “May all who have any part in the construction be touched by Thy Spirit, and may the peace of Thy Son be upon them.”
Elder Fale prayed that as local believers prepare for this temple and making temple covenants, “may the commencement of this work, even the softening of this soil this day, lead to the softening of many hearts.”
About this temple and the Church in Idaho
The Coeur d’Alene temple will be a single story of approximately 29,630 square feet on a 10.9-acre site at the corner of Hanley Avenue and Coeur Terre Boulevard. A meetinghouse and accompanying ancillary building are also anticipated for the grounds.
On Oct. 6, 2024, then-Church President Russell M. Nelson announced this house of the Lord for Coeur d’Alene. It was one of 17 temples he announced in October 2024 general conference.
Idaho is home to 11 temples in various stages of operation, construction and planning.
Seven of those temples are operating: Idaho Falls, Boise, Rexburg, Twin Falls, Meridian, Pocatello and Burley.
The Montpelier Idaho Temple will soon follow, with an Oct. 18 dedication date set. The Teton River Idaho Temple, to be Rexburg’s second temple, has been under construction since June 2024.
With the Coeur d’Alene temple now in its construction phase, the Caldwell Idaho Temple — announced April 2025 — is the only Idaho temple currently in planning stages.
In 1855, early pioneers of the Church first settled in Idaho at Fort Lemhi, then part of the Oregon Territory and near present-day Salmon, Idaho. Fourteen years later, the Bear Lake Stake — Idaho’s first — was organized in 1869.
Church Presidents Harold B. Lee, Ezra Taft Benson and Howard W. Hunter were born in Idaho. Current Church President Dallin H. Oaks lived in Twin Falls, Idaho, for about five years as a child, and earlier this year he dedicated the Burley temple.
Today, more than 482,000 Latter-day Saints meet in over 1,300 wards and branches in Idaho.
