Ogden, Utah Mormon Temple Under Construction

The Ogden Utah Temple which is located at 350 22^nd Street in Ogden, Utah, was the fifth temple built in Utah and the second built along the Wasatch Front. The first Utah temple was completed in St. George in 1877, followed by Logan in 1884, Manti in 1888, Salt Lake City in 1893 and Ogden in 1972. The Ogden Utah Temple is the first temple dedicated in the state of Utah, and serves members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called the Mormon Church by the media and others) in northeastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming.

The announcement was made on 24 August 1967 that the Temple would be constructed. The site for the new House of the Lord was dedicated on 8 September 1969 by Joseph Fielding Smith, then serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, and a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, Alvin R. Dryer. The hallowed ground was then broken by Hugh B. Brown, who was at that time serving as the First Counselor in the First Presidency. The date of the site dedication and groundbreaking marked the 96th birthday of the 9^th President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, David O. McKay. President McKay passed away four months later.

The public was invited to have a look inside the Temple from 16 to 30 December 1971, and on 18 January 1972, the second anniversary of the passing of President David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, President McKay’s successor, dedicated the new edifice.

On 4 January 2011, the First Presidency announced by letter the official closing date of the Temple as Saturday, 2 April 2011 due to scheduled renovations. The new construction on the Temple is expected to last approximately 2 to 3 years.

Once complete, the temple’s entire exterior will be reshaped with new stone and art glass and the temple entrance will be moved from the west side to the east side, where it will face Washington Boulevard. Inside the temple, some rooms will be reconfigured, but the core building design will remain the same. As has been the case in renovations of other temples, old electrical, heating and plumbing systems will be replaced with modern, energy-saving equipment. Other notable improvements include underground parking and a complete re-landscaping of the temple block with a major water feature. [1]

According to the LDS Church Temples.com site:

As of March 2013, much of the granite and window installation has been completed on the main level of the temple. Plastic sheeting is wrapped around the upper levels to control the temperature where black waterproofing is being applied to green insulating blocks prior to the attachment of exterior granite slabs. Framing is proceeding in both the temple and the adjacent tabernacle. A new parapet wall has been framed on top of the tabernacle. Much of the underground parking facility is completed, and re-bar is being laid for the ceiling of the structure. [2]

Below are some pictures of the ongoing construction.

Addition Resources:

More About the Ogden Utah Mormon Temple

LDS Church Temples

Payson, Utah Mormon Temple Under Construction

President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Thomas S. Monson, announced on 25 January 2010 that a new Temple was to be constructed in Payson, Utah. The 96,630 square foot edifice which will rest on 10.63 acres, will be located at the corner of 930 West and 1550 South in Payson, Utah.  The groundbreaking ceremony was held on 8 October 2011, and Church leader, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, presided over the ceremonial occasion and dedicated the site. In the course of his remarks, he noted, “Standing adjacent to I-15, the major north-south artery in Utah, the Payson Utah Temple will be a dominant and visible influence on the millions who pass by here by day and by night.” (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, “Groundbreaking Held for Payson Utah Temple,” 8 Oct. 2011.)

The Payson Utah Temple will be the fifteenth temple built in Utah and the third temple built in Utah County. According to the LDS Church Temples.com site, “As of late February 2013, precast concrete panels are arriving at the site of the Payson Utah Temple for attachment to the exterior of the building.  Work is well underway on the interior of the building including electrical, plumbing, HVAC, framing, and drywall.” Below are a few pictures of the ongoing construction work. The pictures were obtained from Payson Temple Construction – April by Mark Johnston.

Additional Resource:

LDS Church Temples

Payson Utah Temple

High and Lifted Up – The Mormon Provo City Center Temple

Imagine that you are walking through the center of your town when your eyes suddenly behold something that seems not only amazing, but also almost completely unimaginable. That is perhaps precisely the impression that residents of Provo, Utah have had as they have watched the ongoing construction of the new Provo City Center Temple during these past few months.

A Community Landmark Gutted and Refined by Fire

In December 2010, the historic Provo Tabernacle in Provo, Utah was gutted by what was described as a four-alarm fire. It was reported that the fire had supposedly started in the second floor of the building. Although there was rapid response from firefighting officials, the intensity of the fire prevented them from being able to battle the flames from inside the building.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement regarding the fire:

The fire at the Provo Tabernacle is tragic. The building not only serves our members and the community, but is a reminder of the pioneering spirit that built Utah. The damage appears severe, and until we make a structural assessment we won’t know whether this historic treasure will be able to be saved. [2] Read more

First LDS Temple in Honduras is Dedicated

On Sunday, 17 March 2013, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (mistakenly referred to as the Mormon Church by people of other faiths) dedicated its first temple in Honduras. The Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple is the 141st operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ, and the sixth temple to be built and dedicated in Central America.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the LDS Church, dedicated the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple in three sessions that were broadcast to meetinghouses throughout the temple district to include Nicaragua. Other General and Area Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ present at the dedication included: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer of the Seventy, and Elders James B. Martino, Carlos H. Amado and Kevin R. Duncan of the Central America area presidency. Temple President and Matron, Roberto Ocampo and Argentina de Ocampo, also participated in the dedication. Choirs comprised of Latter-day Saints from within the temple district sang hymns for both the dedication and cornerstone ceremony.

The other five LDS temples in Central America are located in Guatemala City, Guatemala (dedicated in 1984); San José, Costa Rica (2000); Panama City, Panama (2008); San Salvador, El Salvador (2011); and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (2011). The new Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple will serve approximately 233,000 members of the LDS Church in Honduras and Nicaragua. As members remain worthy to enter the sacred House of the Lord their lives will be richly blessed as they actively participate in the sacred ordinances that are performed in the temple.

Speaking of the blessings of the temple, Thomas S. Monson, President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has said:

In addition to the closeness we feel to the Lord when we are in the temple, we can continue to receive blessings even after we have returned to our everyday lives. Attending the temple gives us a clearer perspective and a sense of purpose and peace. [1]

President Monson further described the blessings of the temple as follows:

As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation. The temple provides purpose for our lives. It brings peace to our souls—not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God when He said, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. [1]

President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has described additional blessings of attending the temple:

Sometimes our minds are so beset with problems, and there are so many things clamoring for attention at once that we just cannot think clearly and see clearly. At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can ‘see’ things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known. [1]

The Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple measures 28,254-square-feet. The edifice stands 41.2 meters tall and the exterior features gray granite from China. The temple is crowned with the statue of the angel Moroni, significant to Latter-day Saints for his role in the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

More than 210,000 people to include such special guests as Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa, First Lady Rosa Elena de Lobo, and a large government delegation, including 10 cabinet ministers, attended a three-week open house to view each room of the newly constructed temple and to receive an explanation of the purpose of temples.

On Saturday, 16 March 2013, the night prior to the dedication services, 4,100 Latter-day Saints participated in a cultural celebration at the Hector Chochi Sosa Stadium in Tegucigalpa in which ancestral song and dance showing the beauty and culture of Honduras, as well as the building of the new temple were presented. Approximately 15,000 people attended the evening performance to include President Uchtdorf, other leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ, and the President and First Lady of Honduras.

President Thomas S. Monson has said, “I think there is no place in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of His holy temples.” And it is a surety that the Saints of Honduras and Nicaragua echo the feelings of the Prophet as they regularly attend the temple.

References:

Blessings of the Temple

Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple Dedicated

Additional Resource:

Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple Dedicatory Prayer

The Lord Jesus Christ in Mormonism

What Mormons Believe – An Informative Exhibit

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as the “Mormon Church” by friends of other faiths) has an open-book policy. Mormons want others to have the opportunity to learn about what the beliefs of the Church are. The Washington D.C. Temple Visitors’ Center is giving just that opportunity in a very unique way.

The Washington D.C. Mormon Temple, which is quite the landmark for those in this area, has a beautiful visitors’ center where others can learn about Mormon beliefs. Right now, until the end of August, there is a unique exhibit at this Mormon temple visitors’ center titled, “We Follow Jesus Christ”. In this exhibit, which is adjacent to the Mormon sanctuary, there are on display the answers to 24 questions that have piqued most people’s interest. It includes answers to questions concerning the basic beliefs of the LDS Church, such as Mormons’ belief in God, if Mormons are Christian, etc.; the exhibit also includes popular questions now concerning political neutrality, Mormons’ stand on marriage, etc.  “‘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” (From Mormon Newsroom.)

This exhibit at the Mormon temple is gaining the attention of many residents and tourists. And the volunteer missionaries who are serving at this sanctuary love this opportunity to help share the answers to questions that so many have. There are many who believe that there are Mormon “secrets” that members do not share—this is just not so. In fact, members of the LDS Church desire for every living soul to learn about the beliefs of the Church. Some things are considered sacred, but most certainly not secret. Members do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching that we should not “… cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6). But those who enter into the grounds of this Mormon Temple can feel the gentle and touching spirit that is there and learn according to their own desire.

Additional Resources:

Please go to the Washington DC Temple Events page to learn of other upcoming events

Request Mormon missionaries to come visit you and answer the questions you might have

Mormon beliefs concerning Jesus Christ