House of the Lord in Taylorsville Opens for Tours

The public open house for the Taylorsville Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints begins this week in Taylorsville, Utah.

Media attended a news conference and tour of the house of the Lord on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Those participating in the event included Elder Kevin W. Pearson, Utah Area President; Elder James R. Rasband, assistant executive director, Temple Department; and Sister Tracy Y. Browning, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency.

Downloadable SOTs & B-roll

“I hope that it really can just be a great beacon of light and hope in the area,” said Elder Rasband. “What is similar about temples [is] that they all stand as a testament of our faith in Jesus Christ and His Resurrection, the ability to live again and to live with our families.”

Invited guests will tour the temple through Friday, April 12. The public open house will run from Saturday, April 13, through Saturday, May 18, 2024, excluding Sundays.

“I hope that members and friends will take advantage of this open house while everyone is able to come in and see the temple, to feel the peace that I think they’ll feel here, to have an experience,” Elder Rasband added, “I hope, where they’ll be able to pause for a minute and think about God or Heavenly Father or the God of this universe and His Son, Jesus Christ.”

“We hold the temple to be the single most sacred place,” said Elder Pearson. “It’s really the symbol of our worship. Everything about the temple represents the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“It’s a time for people who are of other faiths and other religions to learn a little bit more about the Latter-day Saints who live around them,” Elder Pearson said.

“We come to the temples because we love the Lord and we’re looking for direction in our lives from our Savior Jesus Christ and we’re seeking to connect ourselves to God,” explained Sister Browning. “We serve others in the temple, and we serve our ancestors. And we come and make personal connections as well.”

Sister Browning serves the children of the global faith in her capacity as a member of the Primary General Presidency.

“I would particularly say to the youth who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this place is for you to come and learn,” she said. “Learn more about your Savior and the work that you will do in performing sacred ordinances for your ancestors.”

Neeraphaa Myers was at the Taylorsville temple on Tuesday with her young son. She attends a Thai/Laotian Latter-day Saint congregation in the area. Myers is looking forward to serving her ancestors in the house of the Lord.

“It’s motivating to me because it’s something that I always have on my mind and it’s always just a good reminder for me to start doing family history work and getting those names in and doing that for my family and past and present and future,” said Myers.

Admission to the public open house is free. Online reservations are recommended.

“As the Church grows, more temples will be built so that more families can have access to that greatest of all blessings, that of eternal life,” said President Russell M. Nelson, as he announced the Taylorsville temple in the October 2019 general conference. “We regard a temple as the most sacred structure in the Church. Whenever plans are announced to construct a new temple, it becomes an important part of our history.”

The Taylorsville Utah Temple will be dedicated by Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in two sessions (10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. MDT) on Sunday, June 2, 2024. The dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to all congregations in the Taylorsville Utah Temple district.

A small crowd gathered at the site of the Taylorsville temple for a groundbreaking ceremony on October 31, 2020, amid local COVID-19 restrictions.

About the Taylorsville Utah Temple

The Taylorsville Utah Temple is on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley at 2603 West 4700 South, once the location of a Church meetinghouse and recreational field. The sacred structure is visible to motorists traveling on Interstate 215, the Belt Route.

The new temple’s architectural style is known as pioneer era Gothic, inspired by local pioneer tabernacles. It was constructed with structural steel and stone cladding. Flowers in the exterior art glass are stylized versions of local wildflowers. The deep burgundy, lavender and gold color palette used in the temple was also inspired by Gothic architecture but stays true to the colors found in the west side of the valley.

The landscaping includes drought-tolerant plant material, limited turf areas and an efficient, smart-controlled drip irrigation system used to be waterwise and maintenance friendly.

The Taylorsville Utah Temple is one of the Church’s 30 houses of the Lord dedicated, under construction or renovation or announced in Utah.

Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ are different from meetinghouses or chapels where members gather for Sunday worship services. A temple is considered a house of the Lord, where the teachings of Jesus Christ are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other sacred agreements that unite families for eternity.