Elder David A. Bednar Dedicates Layton Utah Temple

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Layton Utah Temple on Sunday, June 16.

Elder Bednar encouraged those who will worship and serve in this house of the Lord to build a “covenant connection” with Heavenly Father and His Son through what they learn there.

Worshipping in the house of the Lord or in chapels is a means to an end, not an end unto itself. “The end of all our worship should be evident in our homes and in our individual lives and homes,” he said. “As we observe, as we listen and as we learn in those sacred settings, we should reflect what we learn in how we treat other people.”

Elder Bednar has encouraged members of the Church to refer to the temple as a “house of the Lord” to helps us focus upon the Savior and His redemptive mission.

“We do not come to the house of the Lord simply to enjoy the beauty of the structure. We come here to learn about the Father’s plan, the Savior’s Atonement, and to establish and strengthen a covenant connection with the Father and the Son,” he said.

The house of the Lord is a special place of unique peace and stillness, but it is not meant to be an escape from the world. Rather, in the house of the Lord we can receive the instruction and edification needed “to overcome the world.”

“Based on what we can learn in those sacred settings and places and times, we are better able to receive spiritual strength and fortify our homes,” he said.

Elder Bednar said many individuals rightfully go to the house of the Lord with a question they seek to have answered. He suggested individuals could sometimes benefit from reversing the sequence.

“We can and should come away from our worship in the house of the Lord with additional questions that we need to pursue,” he said. “Sometimes the answer is not a solution. Sometimes the answer to our concern is an additional question. And when we come out of the house of the Lord, we take that new question into our homes, into our scripture study, into our prayers, into our conversation with other family members.”

Church News Read Elder Bednar's prayer to dedicate the Layton Utah Temple

The Apostle was accompanied at the dedication by his wife, Susan; Elder Brian K. Taylor, General Authority Seventy and Second Counselor in the Utah Area Presidency, and his wife, Jill; and Elder Kevin R. Duncan, General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Nancy.

The Layton Utah Temple is the 22nd of what will be 30 houses of the Lord in Utah. The three-story, 93,539-square-foot building sits on 11.8 acres on a hillside between two main traffic arteries north of Salt Lake City — Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 89. The temple is visible day and night to those who travel through the area.

The temple was one of two temples dedicated on Sunday. Fellow Apostle Elder D. Todd Christofferson dedicated the Salta Argentina Temple three hours before the Layton Temple dedication.

“We want to bring temples closer to the expanding membership of the Church,” said President Russell M. Nelson when he announced the Layton Temple in the October 2018 general conference.

The groundbreaking on May 23, 2020, was limited in size because of COVID-19 precautions at the time.

At the beginning of the public open house on April 15, 2024, Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director, Temple Department called the Layton Temple a “house of hope” and “a place of peace.” He said the Church builds these temples so more people can access to the wonderful things that occur inside the temple.

“My friends, I hope that as you’re inside this temple, you’ll really feel that it is a place of refuge from the storms of life for all of us,” Elder Duncan said. 

Church News See photos from the Layton Utah Temple dedication

Newsroom Layton Utah Temple Open House