Governor tours new temple in Elko

On Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 9:30 a.m., The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened the gates to the new Elko temple and hosted the governor, the mayor of Elko, other dignitaries and the media in touring the building, which will be officially dedicated Oct. 12 at 10 a.m. by Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 

The new temple will serve the Eureka branch of the church, along with congregations in Elko, Ely, Wendover and Winnemucca. Nevada is home to nearly 183,000 Latter-Day Saints and 362 congregations. 

In April 2021, President Russell M. Nelson announced the Elko Temple during the church’s General Conference, marking the third Nevada temple, following Las Vegas and Reno. A fourth temple, Lone Mountain, is also underway. 

Terry Clark, director of communications for the region, welcomed Gov. Joe Lombardo, who expressed his honor at being in Elko. 

“We had the great opportunity to take a tour of the temple today, and it was very enlightening and very educational. This temple is not only a sacred space for the thousands of Latter-day Saints who call Northeastern Nevada home, but also a symbol of the values that bind our communities together: faith, family and service.” 

He added, “For generations, members of the church have contributed to building stronger communities, supporting their neighbors and sharing their faith in ways that inspire and uplift people of our great state.”

The governor continued, “While government plays a role in providing opportunity and safety, it is families, churches and civic organizations that sustain our moral foundation.” 

He thanked the church leadership “and all those who worked so hard to bring this project to completion. The Elko Nevada Temple will stand as a beacon, a place of peace and devotion and a source of pride for the community and for our state.”

Lombardo noted that as they were driving in, “You could see the temple from several miles away, and it is truly a beacon.” He concluded, “Thank you, and congratulations for this historic occasion.”

Elko mayor Reece Keener said, “What a great day it is for the Elko community, church members, region, entire state of Nevada.” 

He noted it was 18 months doing all the site work, frequent visits with the Elko Building Department, “about a thousand pages of blueprints and then thousands of pages of supporting documents for the construction.” 

He thanked the church for locating in Elko. “It does fill a big geographic gap in the West.” 

He agreed with the governor that the building is a masterpiece and said the Building Department categorized the building as a Level 5 finish, which means no imperfections. 

Keener said, “Everything is remarkable,” and he has “no doubt there will never be another structure in this area that is more expensive on a per square foot basis, and I’ll take any bets on that.” 

Calling it an “honor and privilege to stand here on the temple grounds,” 18-year-old Jacey Lindquist, the youngest of four, grew up making “secret little hideouts” to “escape from my brothers” to “find peace, comfort and pray to Heavenly Father” and “her place of refuge became the temple, the House of the Lord.” 

“I love doing service in the temple for my ancestors, and it made me want to serve others and spread the Gospel,” she said. 

Lindquist recently chose to go on mission rather than directly to college, and she will travel to Chile in January. 

She said, “Having a temple only 20 minutes away from me is going to be such an amazing blessing in my life,” as she used to have to drive three or four hours. She urged everyone to “come and see the House of the Lord.” 

Elder Steven R. Bangerter, executive director of the Temple Department, thanked the governor and mayor and said, “We are honored at your presence. It’s humbling and a tender feeling to see faith leaders from this beautiful community and to see others from media and government and our neighbors here.” 

He thanked everyone for “taking time” to “see what is significant to us” and “to better understand what a temple is to us.” 

Bangerter invited everyone to come and walk through the temple. 

“We are very grateful to be able to have 208 [temples] operating around the world, with many more under construction.” He explained that prior to entering the temple, “We’ll have white slippers placed on our shoes to help protect the flooring…and there we’ll begin a room-by-room tour…Our intent is to share with you in an unbridled fashion an explanation and description of what occurs there,” with questions welcomed.

With that, the elder and Terry Clark led some 30 visitors through the temple. They first put on shoe coverings to protect the flooring and then started in the entry room/recommend desk area and then heading into the baptistry room. The tour gathered around the baptismal pool while Bangerter explained how baptism begins at age eight, considered the “age of accountability,” and also about the process of baptism for those deceased. The visitors were shown the white clothing that members change into upon entering the temple, and Bangerter and Clark led them into the Instruction, Celestial and Sealing Rooms, explaining the purpose of each. 

Speaking to the press after the tour, Elder Michael Dunn of the General Authority Seventy stated, “This is a treasure, we hope, for all of this part of Nevada and for Elko” in “its beauty and simplicity.”

Dunn foresaw the temple not only “serving the people of this community, but I think you’ll see patrons coming from all over Nevada, parts of Utah, Arizona and maybe regions beyond.” He noted the temple “was designed specifically around Nevada elements, the indigenous peoples, the flora, the fauna: it’s designed to be Nevada’s temple.”

He sees the temple as a “reminder there’s God” and hopes “the people will be elevated” by “a symbol of our highest aspirations” and will “raise everyone’s hopes just a little bit.”

Dunn explained to the Sentinel, “Here’s the great irony: this is our most sacred edifice and yet, it’s not used on Sunday. How’s that for a contradiction? So, our Meeting Houses are used on Sunday, but during the week…it’s really based on the number of members and their utilization of it because it’s an all-volunteer staff that does it. So, you’ll see some temples that are operating six days a week, from five in the morning until nine at night. Given the number of members here, and the demand, it might start with more limited hours, but it will expand as membership needs increase.”

Robert Howard, president at RH Construction services, said, “Economically for the community, it’s been a quite a boon over the last couple of years: the revenue coming in here, the out-of-town contractors coming in here, city building fees. The church has been there and a good partner to work with with the community.”

Sally Merill, helping with parking, said, “We love to go to the temple” and had “to drive three hours to go, so we’re thankful Heavenly Father gave us this temple.” 

Generally, other than during open houses, the temples are not open to anyone other than church members with current temple recommends.

Public Open House at the new temple will run from Aug. 30 to Sept. 13, excluding Sundays. Details are available at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/featured/elko-nevada-open-house.