The Church

REXBURG, Idaho — Despite record snowfall, fog, and customary winds, the Rexburg Temple was dedicated Sunday, February 10, and the heavens smiled.

It is the Church’s 125th operating temple, and the third in Idaho. A fourth one is under construction in Twin Falls.

The Rexburg Temple, viewed from the front the night before the dedication. Notice the snow on the ground. (All photos in this article are by Laurie Williams Sowby.)

The temple entrance at night.

The northeast corner of the temple.

The southwest corner of the temple at night.

The rear of the temple by night.

The colonnade at the front entrance of the temple.

President Thomas S. Monson, in his first official event since being named LDS Church president a few days earlier, presided at all four sessions. He was accompanied by Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Claudio R. M.Costa of the Seventy. All three also participated in the dedicatory sessions.

In addition to the dedication in Celestial Room, members were seated in many other rooms inside the temple and watched the proceedings on screens. Still others attended satellite broadcasts of the services at stake centers in the temple district, which serves 47,000 LDS members.

The planned events, including the cultural celebration the evening before, had been postponed a week to allow for the funeral of President Gordon B. Hinckley, who passed away Jan. 27, the day after the month-long Rexburg Temple open house ended.

The morning fog forced a change in flight plans for President Monson’s group, with a landing at more distant Pocatello airport; the extra time required to drive from there had a domino effect in pushing scheduled events back at least a half-hour.

President Thomas S. Monson arrives with his wife, Frances, and daughter Ann Monson Dibb after a flight was delayed because of the fog Sunday morning.

Hannah and Carson Brewer of the Rexburg North Stake hold flowers they brought to give Sister Monson.

President Monson talks with reporters prior to his first official event a few days after he was announced as the 16th president of the Church.

But when members emerged after the first dedicatory session, they were greeted by blue skies that remained for a while. People in line for the second session waited cheerfully under the same sunny skies — the first they’d seen in many days.

Members who went into the temple for the first dedicatory session during a foggy, cold morning in Rexburg emerged to sunlight and blue skies.

The Kathrine and Alan Holyoak family, who live just a couple of blocks from the temple site and walked to the services, watched the temple rise over the past two years. “We’ve been doing before, during, and after pictures,” said Grant Holyoak, 15. “I feel like it’s my temple.”

The Holyoak family walked two blocks up the hill from their Rexburg home to attend the second session. Earlier Sunday morning, they had read D&C 109, which describes the Kirtland Temple dedication, as part of their preparation for the dedication.

“I feel the same way,” said sister Emily, 8, whose recent baptism qualified her to witness the dedication. It was the first one the family had attended, although they had witnessed the Nauvoo Temple dedication via satellite broadcast. “We’ve been waiting a couple of years for this,” said Lindsey, 17.

Mom Kathrine mentioned how the kids had willingly given up a trip to California the year before in order to donate instead to the Rexburg Temple fund. Matt, 13, told how they had read about the Kirtland Temple dedication in D&C 109 that morning in preparation for the day’s sacred events.

Down the line, BYU-Idaho roommates Blake McBride, a returned missionary from Layton, Utah, who served in Jackson, Mississippi, and Robert Sears, a Fontana, California, resident who is preparing to serve a mission soon, stood with scriptures in hand.

Roommates Blake McBride and Robert Sears wait in line, scriptures in hand. The two BYU-Idaho students were excited to enter the temple they can see from the front door of their apartment.

“When students stress out, it’s good to have a temple close,” said McBride. (The temple is adjacent to the university campus on the north side, with fields on the east and south.) Sears, who can only do baptisms in the temple until he receives his mission call, was nevertheless excited to be able to enter the temple they can see from their apartment’s front door.

Indeed, the glistening 57,504-square-foot temple on the hill is visible for miles around the Snake River Valley, rain or shine. “It’s a good a reminder,” said Sears, “of where we need to be.”

The temple on a hill can be seen from miles away in the Snake River Valley.

Earlier that morning, long before the sun came out, President Monson and accompanying elders emerged from the temple doors wearing dark coats over their white suits so they could seal the cornerstone during the first session.

President Monson, Elder Nelson, and Elder Bednar emerge from the temple with coats on during the first dedicatory session to seal the cornerstone.

Inside the cornerstone box were the usual: news articles about the temple, books authored by the current prophet, a hymnbook, compilation of local history, an open house press kit, and a program from the cultural celebration. In a nod to the local climate, there was also something a bit unusual: a sealed bag containing Rexburg wind.

President Monson scooped a little mortar onto a silver trowel and placed it in the crack surrounding the cornerstone. Lights flashed as TV and news cameras recorded the moment.

President Monson applies mortar to seal the cornerstone as part of the first dedicatory session.

President Monson invites children to assist with the mortar.

Then the Prophet invited others — including Elders Nelson, Bednar, and Costa; temple president Val Christensen and his wife; and a handful of children to add a little mortar themselves. A youth choir shivered at the other side of the covered walkway as they sang “High on the Mountain Top” and “Turn the Hearts.”

Seven-year-old Camille Richardson, whose dad Chad Richardson served as general contractor for the project, was one of the children who got to help seal the cornerstone.

She had been inside the temple during its construction and was amazed at how good it looked, finished and furnished for the open house.

“I’m going to get married here someday,” she said — a goal it is hoped will be shared by all who view and serve in the new Rexburg Temple.

The temple spire under blue skies.