Open house begins for Pocatello Idaho Temple
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - Final touches have been added to the Pocatello Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the open house gets underway this week.
You can watch a briefing about the temple below.
“This is an opportunity for all of the Saints here to be great neighbors in normal and natural ways to just reach out and love those around them and invite them to help them understand what the temple is all about,” said Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, who is serving as the president of the North America Central Area.
Elder Nielsen is in Pocatello with other Church leaders, including Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, for a media day and to help host tours for invited guests that will be held throughout the week. The public is invited to tour the new temple, located in southeastern Idaho, beginning on Saturday, September 18, 2021.
“This is really a special opportunity for me to come home to my birthplace, on my birthday, and to celebrate this beautiful new temple in these majestic foothills of Pocatello,” said Sister Camille N. Johnson, Primary general president and a native of Pocatello. “I’m delighted for the dear Saints here that will have the blessing of the temple here on their hillside.”
The Pocatello Idaho Temple is ready for a public open house in Pocatello, Idaho. This image was taken on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021. 
The recommend desk is in the entry of the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
A waiting room in the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
The chapel in the Pocatello Idaho Temple. The image shows pews in the chapel and stained glass depicting the Savior. 
The baptistry in the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
An instruction room in the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
Wood details and embellishments inside the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
Photo of wood details and embellishments inside the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
The bride's room in the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
A sealing room in the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
Details in the iron and metal work inside the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
The celestial room in the Pocatello Idaho Temple. 
The final touches have been added to the Pocatello Idaho Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the open house gets underway. This photo was taken on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021.
Also participating in the media day are Elder Gary B. Sabin, assistant executive director of the Temple Department, and other members of the North America Central Area Presidency.
The temple open house runs through Saturday, October 23, except for Sundays, including September 19, 26, October 2–3 (general conference), 10 and 17.
Reservations are available online for complimentary tickets to the open house.
The Pocatello temple will be dedicated on Sunday, November 7, 2021, in three sessions, by President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The dedicatory sessions will be held at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m.
A youth devotional will be held on Saturday, November 6. The dedicatory sessions and youth devotional will be broadcast to all congregations in the Pocatello Idaho Temple District.
“[The temple] brings light, and it brings the love of Jesus Christ to the people,” added Elder Nielsen. “It gives everybody an opportunity to find light and love in their lives. So, it’s going to be a beautiful thing for this community.”
“I think Pocatello is going to receive generous blessings because of their faithfulness and the consecrated nature of the Saints here,” said Sister Johnson.
Temple Features
The temple sits high on the eastern foothills of Pocatello. The exterior is a light gray granite. The sacred structure is a streamlined classical architecture design and is patterned after other temples as well as other buildings in Pocatello.
The art glass features wildflowers of the Idaho mountain desert, including the syringa, which is the Idaho state flower, and the bitterroot. The colors in the art glass are sage, representing the sagebrush of the region; gold, representing the wild grasses that turn gold in the summer; and pink and coral, representing the sunset, the bitterroot flower and Red Hill above Pocatello.
Ground was broken for the Gem State’s new temple in the spring of 2019. The temple was announced in April 2017 by Church President Thomas S. Monson.
This will be Idaho’s sixth operating temple. Temples are in Boise, Idaho Falls, Meridian, Rexburg and Twin Falls. A seventh temple has been announced in Burley.
Idaho is home to more than 460,000 Latter-day Saints. The Pocatello Idaho Temple will serve about 61,000 members from the area.
Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints differ from meetinghouses or chapels where members meet for Sunday worship services. Each temple is considered a “house of the Lord,” where Jesus Christ’s teachings are reaffirmed through baptism and other ordinances that unite families for eternity.
