Pocatello Temple dedicated on Sunday

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - Idaho’s newest temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been dedicated. 

President M. Russell Ballard, acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, presided over the dedication of the Pocatello Idaho temple in three sessions.

"A temple is a place where members can come and participate in sacred ordinances, personal ordinances and family ordinances," Ballard said.

Sunday was a moment that the Pocatello community has been anticipating for a long time.

"The first little unit of the church I believe was established here in 1888, and so that's a long wait," Elder Gary Sabin said. "They've gone to Idaho Falls and now they have their own temple with 61,000 members here in the temple district."

The Pocatello Temple has already brought in people from all over.

More than 250,000 people visited the temple during public open houses back in September and October, including many in the local community. 

"We had many people from different faiths come through and just say this is our temple," Sabin said. "It wasn't the Latter-Day Saints temple. This is our community temple. They were very proud of it."

"From start to finish, this has been just a magnificent project to bring the house of the Lord to this wonderful community," Elder Gifford Nielsen said.

Believers say the temple will allow them to serve their God in a sacred space, both in the present and for the future.

"It's family-centered and it's eternal in its nature," Ballard said. "It's not just for this world, but it's preparatory for this world and the great world yet to come."

Members hope the temple will be a shining light in the city.

"We hope what everybody in Pocatello will do is come and feel that here is a very special place where our heavenly father loves his children," Ballard said.

The Pocatello Idaho Temple is the sixth temple in Idaho and the 170th operating temple in the Church. es are expected to go up in Burley and Rexburg North as well.

More than 460,000 Latter-day Saints reside in Idaho.