Members and friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Fairbanks Alaska Temple on Saturday, September 27, 2025. Elder Peter M. Johnson, First Counselor in the North America West Area Presidency, presided at the event.
“We pray that this site will be a place of protection and spiritual safety,” Elder Johnson said in his dedicatory prayer.
He went on to ask for a blessing on the youth of the Church in the area as they welcome this new house of the Lord.
“We ask Thee, Father, to bless the rising generation, even the youth, with an enhanced testimony of Jesus Christ and to take more responsibility for their spiritual conversion as they worship, serve and work in the house of the Lord.” he said. “We pray that they will be prepared to receive the sacred experiences and revelatory guidance from Thee, Father, through the Holy Spirit.”
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| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Lydia Miner, a young girl from the Fairbanks Alaska Stake, spoke about how the temple can be a place of peace and spiritual protection.
“When life feels like a storm,” she said, “if we fix our eyes on the Savior, He can lift us and guide us through it.”
Alaska is home to nearly 34,000 Latter-day Saints, who meet in over 80 congregations. This will be the second house of the Lord in the state, joining the temple in Anchorage.
The temple in Fairbanks will be built on seven acres located along Geist Road. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 10,000 square feet, a meetinghouse and an accompanying ancillary building.
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Elder Peter M. Johnson, First Counselor in the North America West Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shakes hands with members of the children's choir that sang at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Fairbanks Alaska Temple on Saturday, September 27, 2025. 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Church President Russell M. Nelson originally announced the Fairbanks temple in the October 2023 general conference.
“The temple is a place of revelation,” President Nelson taught on that occasion. “There you are drawn closer to the Savior and given greater access to His power. There you are guided in solving the problems in your life, even your most perplexing problems.”
Latter-day Saints worship in temples for several reasons: to feel God’s love and peace, to learn more about God’s plan for His children and the gospel of Jesus Christ, to make promises with God and with one’s husband or wife, and to unite families in this life and the next through sacred ordinances.
