Temple Engineers Meet in Seminar

The first-ever seminar for temple engineers, held in Salt Lake City October 26 to November 6, was attended by engineers from all of the Church’s forty-one operating temples.

Elder James E. Faust, of the Council of the Twelve, and Elder Robert L. Simpson, of the First Quorum of the Seventy and a Managing Director of the Temple Department, were among those who spoke at the seminar.

Elder Faust told the engineers that they were engaged in a spiritual, as well as a mechanical, ministry. Noting that the great temples of ancient times required very simple maintenance, he said, “You brethren have to deal with computers and technology and understand how the technology works.”

He added that since today’s temple maintenance work is so complex, “If you have a problem … you can fix it better if you have the companionship of the Holy Spirit; I am sure of that.”

Elder Simpson told the temple engineers that to be “the caretakers of the house of the Lord, to see that things are in proper order, is a rare privilege. It is a sacred calling.”

Temple engineers are responsible for the heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems in the temples and for landscaping and grooming the grounds.