Recent Temple News

We've posted many stories on Elliot's blog about temples, including, most recently. the open house at the new Kansas City Temple. In the past couple of weeks there have been several stories on the Church website about the development of new temples, so I thought it would be fun to compile those stories here. Click on the links to the titles of each story to read more, and enjoy the photos and videos embedded below.

• “Stately and Magnificent” Mormon Kansas City Missouri Temple Dedicated

On Sunday, May 6, President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the Kansas City Temple. He said this “stately and magnificent temple in the lovely part of the country, really the heartland of America, ... will shine as a beacon of righteousness to all who will follow its light — the light of the gospel, the light of the Savior.”

The Kansas City Missouri Temple is the Church's 137th temple worldwide, 67th in the United States and second in Missouri. The temple will serve some 45,000 Latter-day Saints in 126 congregations throughout Kansas, Missouri and small portions of Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Video: Kansas City Missouri Temple Dedication



Video: Kansas City Missouri Temple Cultural Celebration

• Ground Broken for Provo, Utah’s Second Temple

The Church broke ground for the new temple in Provo on May 12. The temple will be built on the site of the Provo Tabernacle, which burned in December 2010. The building was originally constructed from 1883 to 1898 at a cost of $100,000 and was a historic treasure for the Church. It was also a community gathering place for meetings and cultural events. One such popular event was Handel's Messiah sung each year at Christmastime in the tabernacle.

President Jeffrey R. Holland spoke at the groundbreaking:

What an absolute stunning site! It is a picture-perfect day in Utah County. The temple site is filled with faithful people making history. . . . You can tell people Elder Holland was downright giddy today about the temple groundbreaking.

• Connecticut and Indiana Mormon Temple Renderings Released

The Church recently released renderings for two new temples first announced at the October 2010 General Conference. The proposed plans call for the Hartford Connecticut Temple to be built at 1024 Farmington Avenue in Farmington, Connecticut (map). The Indianapolis Indiana Temple site (in the city of Carmel on the southwest corner of the intersection of W116th and Spring Mill Road (map)) was announced in January 2011. Renderings of both temples are below.

Hartford Connecticut Temple

Indianapolis Indiana Temple

• Manaus Brazil Temple Opens To the Public

The new temple in Manaus Brazil opened to the public on May 18 for an open house, following a media tour on May 16. It will remain open to the public until June 2. The temple will be formally dedicated on June 10 in three sessions. The dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to congregations of the Church within the temple district.In conjunction with the dedication of the temple, there will also be a cultural celebration featuring music and dance on June 9.

• Star Valley Wyoming Temple Site Announced

The Star Valley Wyoming temple, first announced at the October 2011 General Conference, will be constructed east of U.S. Highway 89 on the Haderlie Farm property south of Afton, Wyoming. It is the first temple in Wyoming and will serve members living in the western part of the state, who now travel approximately 1.5 hours to Idaho Falls and Rexburg, Idaho, for temple services.

“We truly believe this new temple will be a great asset not only to members of the Church but also to the people of the surrounding community, who will benefit from the peace and beauty a temple brings,” said Jerry Hansen, local spokesman for the Church. “Temples are where members participate in the highest sacraments of our faith — where we make and renew promises to God and to our families.”

Once construction of the new temple begins, it is expected to take approximately two years to complete.

• Mormon Beliefs Explained at Washington D.C. Temple Visitors’ Center Exhibit

What do Mormons believe? Are they Christian? How do they worship? Those are a sampling of questions answered by a new exhibit in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ (Mormons) visitors’ center in Washington, D.C. The visitors’ center, which draws thousands of people each year, is adjacent to the Washington D.C. Temple.

“If people are going to ask questions, we need to do everything we can to give them the answers,” said Elder Don Olsen, visitors’ center director. “The Church has many resources to provide people with answers to their questions. We have a beautiful exhibit space and decided we should use it to help in that effort.”

The exhibit, entitled “We Follow Jesus Christ,” will be on display at the visitors’ center through the end of August. It provides answers to 24 questions about the Church that seem to have captured most people’s interest.