Elder John H. Groberg, of the Presidency of the Seventy, will preside at groundbreaking services for the Rexburg Idaho Temple, to be held on Saturday, 30 July 2005, at 10:30 a.m. This will formally initiate construction of the temple, which was announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley on 12 December 2003.
Many are expected to attend this much-anticipated event to be held on the southwest corner of 700 South and 200 East on the Brigham Young University-Idaho campus. Following a brief program, Elder Groberg will pronounce a prayer of dedication on the site. Church leaders and other local dignitaries will then join Elder Groberg in turning the first shovelfuls of earth.
The Rexburg Temple will be the third temple in Idaho and will serve Church members from some 17 stakes in the surrounding area. The Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, the first temple in Idaho, was completed in 1945 as the eighth temple of the modern Church, and in 1984, the Boise Idaho Temple was dedicated. A fourth temple was announced for Twin Falls in October 2004.
Elder Groberg, a native of Idaho Falls, has been serving in the First Quorum of the Seventy since April 1976. He was sustained to the Presidency of the Seventy in April 2004. In June of this year it was announced that Elder Groberg and his wife, Jean, will serve as president and matron of the Idaho Falls Temple beginning in November. Elder Groberg’s father also presided as president of the Idaho Falls Temple from 1975 to 1980.
For some 12 million Latter-day Saints in the world today, the Rexburg Temple will be a sacred “house of the Lord” where families can be united for eternity. It will also stand as a constant reminder of the sacrifice and example set by early members of the Church who first settled eastern Idaho, wrested a living from the fertile soil and established the LDS Academy that later became Ricks College, and in 2000 became BYU-Idaho.
Once construction is complete, a public open house will be scheduled and announced. Following the public open house, the temple will be formally dedicated and thereafter used by faithful members of the Church for marriages, baptisms and other sacred ordinances intended to provide eternal family relationships.
The Rexburg Idaho Temple was the 129th temple announced by the Church. Worldwide, a total of 131 temples have been announced, with 120 dedicated and operating. Dedications of the Aba Nigeria and Newport Beach California Temples are scheduled for August 2005.