Ground Broken for Burley Idaho Temple

Ground has been broken for the Burley Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Presidency of the Seventy presided at the groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, June 4, 2022.

“As we symbolically turn this ground today to begin the construction of this temple, may each of us symbolically turn our hearts to our Father in Heaven and let Him know of our gratitude that a temple is coming to this community,” Elder Nielson said in his opening remarks.

Elder Nielson also commented on the privilege of dedicating a temple in the town where he was born and raised.

“It was just a few hundred yards from here where I learned to . . . love and enjoy life and the wonderful abundance that the Lord has blessed all who reside in this beautiful Magic Valley,” he said.

The Burley Idaho Temple was announced in April 2021 by Church President Russell M. Nelson.

Plans call for a two-story temple of approximately 38,600 square feet. It will be built on a 10.1-acre site located at 40 South and 150 East.

“When soil is turned and seeds are sown, a bountiful harvest is always expected,” said Elder Nielson in the dedicatory prayer. “As we turn this soil, we pray for an eternal harvest as a house of the Lord, a holy temple, rises out of the ground in this place.”

“In the Church of Jesus Christ, all roads lead to the temple. Once there, all signs point to Jesus Christ,” said Elder Nielson.

Attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony was by invitation only, while others in the temple district viewed a broadcast. Newsroom will add the broadcast in the coming days. Idaho is home to more than 470,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 1,200 congregations. The Burley Idaho Temple will join eight other temples in operation, under construction or announced in the state of Idaho. Those temples are in Boise, Idaho Falls, Meridian, Montpelier, Pocatello, Rexburg (Rexburg Idaho Temple and Rexburg Idaho North Temple) and Twin Falls.

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. In the temple, Church members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants to follow Jesus Christ and serve their fellow man.