How Divine Guidance and Prophetic Direction Have Guided Salt Lake Temple Renovations

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This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.

By Joel Randall, Church News

In his 1893 dedicatory prayer on the Salt Lake Temple, Church President Wilford Woodruff noted how this house of the Lord fulfills ancient scripture: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2).

In an effort to reflect the pioneer legacy of this historic edifice 130 years later, large-scale reconstruction — which started in 2019 — aims to preserve pioneer craftsmanship, increase capacity and strengthen the temple’s foundation to endure through the Millennium.

“It has been an epic project, one to be involved in that hopefully my kids and grandkids will be appreciative of,” said Brent Roberts, managing director of the Church’s Special Projects Department. “But for me, it’s been more than personal satisfaction; it’s a testimony to the future and a testimony of the past all in one.”

And to further fulfill prophecy that “all nations shall flow unto it,” these renovations include the installation of high-quality audiovisual systems to allow the endowment to be presented in more than 90 languages.

Andy Kirby, director of historic temple renovations, said: “Many people around the world who are members of the Church, one of their goals in life is to come to Salt Lake and attend conference and go to the Salt Lake Temple. Now they will be able to participate in their native language.”

Roberts and Kirby spoke with the Church News on how guidance from the Spirit and from the Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, have made the mountainous task of Salt Lake Temple renovation possible.

Why Renovate the Salt Lake Temple?

When Roberts read his first seismic report of the Salt Lake Temple in 2001, he and others felt obligated to propose renovations to strengthen its foundation. “The timing just wasn’t right yet,” and the existing technology was unable to perform such a massive endeavor.

The plan was proposed a handful of times to Church leaders since then, until President Nelson agreed the project would be necessary and moved forward with a sustaining vote from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

A stronger foundation for the temple, said Roberts, meant “building a new foundation around it and transferring the weight over from the existing one to the new one.”

Kirby said, “It’s humbling to be considered partners with those pioneer builders.”

In addition to the temple’s significant seismic upgrade, the renovation project aims to, second, preserve the pioneer craftsmanship, and third, to double the capacity of the temple, said Roberts.

Similar to the craftsmanship of recent St. George and Manti Utah temple renovations, care has been taken to preserve the historicity of the Salt Lake Temple. “It won’t look like a modern temple,” said Roberts. “It’ll look like a Victorian Age-type temple, and it’ll be beautiful.”

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Preservation efforts inside the edifice span from repairing plaster to replacing old carpet to producing millwork and decorative painting. Each art piece that could be refurbished and restored was, and hundreds of new art-glass works were added or moved from less-visited areas of the temple.

Efforts to expand the temple’s capacity have included doubling the one baptistry to two, increasing 13 sealing rooms to 22, and using five instruction rooms to present the endowment separately, rather than progressing through each room. The temple even gains 100,000 square feet with an underground north addition.

Renovations are also making the temple more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Greater accessibility has included installing new elevators and leveling uneven flooring, as well as adding new audio systems in instruction rooms for those hard of hearing.

Yet aside from it all, renovations will allow more ordinances to be performed more effectively. “We’re constantly reminded that it’s about the ordinances in the temple,” Kirby said. “The architecture is important, but what’s most important to the function of the temple is the ordinances that are received there.”

Listen to this related podcast from the Church News Episode 189: Salt Lake Temple renovation update with Brent Roberts and Andy Kirby

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Led by the Spirit to Solve Problems

“I have seen inspiration to solve difficult problems constantly,” said Kirby. “Some people would say it’s brilliance or ingenuity. No, I know we’re being led by the Spirit.”

For example, since renovations in the 1960s painted over the walls, the original paint colors were not certain. Workers sanded down the paint, took paint samples from the bare plaster of the temple walls and proposed possible ranges of colors and color schemes originally used.

They then took black-and-white photos in Elder James E. Talmage’s book “The House of the Lord,” published in 1912, and overlaid colors from the paint studies onto the photos. These were presented to the First Presidency, which chose the final colors for the renovation.

Said Roberts of the colors, “We prayed over them, we looked at them, we made changes to them, we tried to match everything so that the renderings that we presented to be approved by the Brethren were what the temple would look like.”

Kirby and Roberts have also been guided by direction from the Prophet, President Nelson. When they’ve sought the direction of Church leaders in making decisions, the two have left with a strong confirmation of the Spirit that their counsel was right.

“To be given direction by a Prophet of God is rare and special,” said Kirby. “And I know his direction and guidance, while maybe difficult to do, is the right thing, and I’ve seen it turn into the right thing as we’ve figured out how to do it.”

Heavenly guidance from recent Salt Lake Temple efforts have also aided in the renovations of the St. George and Manti Utah temples, rededicated in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The Salt Lake Temple’s engineers, said Roberts, “were facing unforeseen circumstances and had to develop solutions for those to accomplish our end goal. So, in the future, we are more adept and prepared to do renovations if need be in many historical structures.”

He added, “I believe our engineers, many of them who are not Latter-day Saints, were inspired to do that.”

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‘We Want It to Be Acceptable to Him’

Roberts and Kirby applaud the valiance of early pioneers in heeding a prophetic call to build the house of the Lord. Drawing a parallel between past and current efforts on the Salt Lake Temple, Roberts said, “We followed the direction of the Prophet, who followed the direction of the Lord, and we hope that [the pioneers] would be happy with it.”

They also praised the modern-day workers, artisans and craftspeople on the project, some with experience working around the world.

“I’m so impressed with the craftsmanship of the people that are working on this,” Kirby said. He continued, “To lead a group of brilliant and skilled people to do very difficult things and to see it come to fruition is very special and rewarding.”

Just as pioneers gave their all to build the Salt Lake Temple, Roberts added, “we believe we got as close as we could, within reason, of what would’ve been in there during the high time of the pioneers.”

Kirby and Roberts are grateful and humbled to lead such a historic project through its estimated completion in 2026. But more than a paint display or seismic strengthening, these renovations are a strengthening of testimony and a display of their love for the Savior.

“I’m very proud of the work we’re doing,” Kirby said, “and I hope the Lord will accept it, because in our hearts, we want it to be acceptable to Him.”

Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company.