The following is excerpted from the Church Newsroom. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Ground has been broken in Cleveland, Ohio, and in Rexburg, Idaho, for two new temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Church President Russell M. Nelson announced the Cleveland Ohio Temple in April 2022 and the Teton River Idaho Temple in October 2021.
Cleveland Ohio Temple
Elder Vaiangina Sikahema, First Counselor in the North America Northeast Area Presidency, presided at the event on June 1, 2024.
“So many of you are pioneers in this area and have made this day possible, and we thank you,” Elder Sikahema said to gathered community leaders and Church members.
During the dedicatory prayer, Elder Sikahema expressed gratitude for the early Latter-day Saints who gathered in Kirtland, Ohio, when the Church of Jesus Christ was “in its fledgling infancy” and “not yet a year old.”
“Holy Father, we stand here now nearly two centuries from those difficult days, blessed because Thy people followed the Prophet Joseph to this great land of Ohio.”
Early Latter-day Saints gathered in Ohio and built the Kirtland Temple, which is now a State Historical Site that is open for public tours.
Referring to Ohio as “a special place in the history of Thy restored gospel,” Elder Sikahema prayed for members of the Cleveland Ohio Temple district, to be blessed and “endowed with power from on high.”
“We ask Thee to bless the rising generation of this great area,” he said, expressing gratitude for the participation of the youth in the program. “May they be equal to what is expected of them at Thy hands.”
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.