Rexburg Idaho Temple

Dedication of the Rexburg Idaho Temple

Three years after a temple was announced for Rexburg, Idaho, on Dec. 12, 2003, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited the town’s Brigham Young University–Idaho.

In an end-of-semester convocation address given Dec. 20, 2006, Elder Holland said: “When the Prophet Joseph Smith drew the plans for the ideal city of Zion, ... he conceived such a city as being anchored by two great symbolic structures: a temple and a university — a house of covenant and a house of learning, two institutions dedicated to the exalting of the human soul.”

The Apostle continued, “BYU–Idaho and its host environment here in southeastern Idaho becomes the newest of the Lord’s experiments in attempting to create yet again a kind of Zion, or at least the newest opportunity to show how the whole soul is edified when a temple and a university join hands to bless a very fortunate student community.”

This “house of covenant” was welcomed openly by residents and students — including 13,000 international students — in the college town, at the time with a Latter-day Saint population of 95%. More hours were even scheduled for each day of the public open house of the temple due to an unexpected turnout of more than 10,000 visitors on the first day.

Amid nearby snow fields and temperatures in the 30s, the Rexburg Idaho Temple was dedicated in four sessions by President Thomas S. Monson on Feb. 10, 2008. Once dedicated, the temple served approximately 47,000 Latter-day Saints in southeastern Idaho, including the cities of Rexburg, Sugar City, St. Anthony, Ashton and Driggs.

President Monson, who was ordained as Church President seven days prior, was joined at the ceremony by then-Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Bednar had previously served as president of BYU–Idaho from 1997 to 2004, including when the temple was announced in 2003.

Darlene French of the Ashton 3rd Ward, Ashton Idaho Stake, said construction of a house of the Lord was the “most wonderful thing that could’ve happened to this valley.” She and her husband, Douglas, began serving as temple workers in the Rexburg temple in April 2008.

Kathy Webb of Rexburg, whose home faced the temple’s south side, said, “We love the feeling we get when we see it out our window. In the middle of the night when it's still and quiet, it stands as a beacon on the hill.”

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Many not of our faith have previously visited this building. May they reflect on their experience with reverence and appreciation. May they be led, as Thou hast promised, to acknowledge that this is indeed Thy house. ... May Thy faithful Saints of this and future generations look to this temple as a sanctuary and a place of service to Thee and to Thy children.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Rexburg Idaho Temple here.

The Rexburg Idaho Temple was announced Dec. 12, 2003, by the First Presidency. A groundbreaking ceremony was held a year and a half later, on July 30, 2005, with Elder John H. Groberg presiding.

After a public open house from Dec. 29, 2007, to Jan. 26, 2008, the Rexburg temple was dedicated on Feb. 10, 2008, by President Thomas S. Monson.

Architecture and Design of the Rexburg Idaho Temple

With an area of 57,504 square feet, the Rexburg Idaho Temple stands atop a hill on the south side of Brigham Young University–Idaho. The precast-concrete structure has a white quartz rock finish, with a towering spire above the front entrance. Interior materials include wood trim from Africa, as well as stone and tile from Israel.

Around 700 art-glass windowpanes by Utah artist Tom Holdman can be found throughout the temple, many with a depiction of a wheat stock. Murals by Rexburg native Leon Parson also decorate the interior of the house of the Lord. Standing on a 10-acre site, the structure contains the baptistry, the celestial room, four instruction rooms and five sealing rooms.