Monticello Temple

There is no small dimension to what occurs here and what will occur within the walls of the temple,” said Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the Seventy, First Counselor in the Utah South Area Presidency, at the temple groundbreaking held on 17 November in Monticello, Utah, where the first of the new smaller temples announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley in October 1997 general conference will be built. “All the essential ordinances for the salvation of God’s children that are performed in the largest of the temples will be performed also in the smallest of temples.”

Also participating in the ceremony were Elder Ben B. Banks of the Seventy, President of the Utah South Area, who offered the dedicatory prayer on the site, and Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Seventy, Second Counselor in the Utah South Area Presidency. About 2,500 members from the five stakes in the temple district—Blanding Utah, Blanding Utah West, Durango Colorado, Moab Utah, and Monticello Utah—attended. A multistake youth choir sang, and young people were invited to turn the earth after leaders had done so.

“It will be a real blessing to us to be so close to a temple,” commented James Englebright, president of the Moab Utah Stake. “Even though we live in Utah, we’re all remote. It’s really wonderful that it’s happening at this speed. We’re impressed with President Hinckley and his dedication to move forward so quickly. I was thinking when they announced it that it might be a year or two down the road, but the groundbreaking was only six weeks after the announcement at general conference, and they plan to finish it by July 1998.”

“We have the opportunity to live in the greatest day in the history of the Church in building temples to our Father in Heaven,” Elder Banks said. “I pray that all may prepare to qualify to come to the house of the Lord.”

Members of the Utah South Area Presidency break ground at the Monticello temple site. (Photo by Ron Drake.)