LAYTON, Utah — A cool spring rain welcomed media and other guests to the Layton Utah Temple on Monday, April 15, ahead of the official opening of the temple’s public open house Friday.
Prior to entering the house of the Lord for a tour, media representatives heard welcome messages from Elder Christophe G. Giraud-Carrier, a General Authority Seventy and an assistant in the Utah Area presidency; Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy and the executive director of the Temple Department; and Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency. Elder Giraud-Carrier was accompanied by his wife, Sister Isabelle Giraud-Carrier. Elder Duncan was accompanied by his wife, Sister Nancy Duncan.
Elder Duncan grew up not far away, in West Point, Utah, where he helped take care of his family’s cattle while growing up. He said seeing a temple in Layton makes him feel excited for those who have never seen the inside of a temple to come and feel the unique feeling of being in a house of the Lord during the open house period.
“We really hope as many people as possible over the coming weeks will come through this temple,” he said. “And when this one is dedicated, we hope they will go to Syracuse and Smithfield and every other temple and little by little feel of and enjoy that peace, because it is a place of peace.”
Even after the dedication of a temple, Elder Duncan said, it isn’t uncommon for friends of the Church to want to be close to it.
“There’s an elevation of everything around the temple, and we have found that even those not of our faith will sometimes just want to come park in the parking lot because they feel something different,” he said.
While Utah has 30 temples in operation, under construction or announced, Elder Giraud-Carrier said their construction comes out of a need.
“We always build temples where there is need, where the Church is strong, where the members are going to use it,” he said.
Having grown up in France when the nearest temple was 12 hours away, Elder Giraud-Carrier said he can understand when people ask why there are so many in such a small area.
“People might think: ‘Thirty? Do we really need 30 temples?’ Well, it turns out that they are all busy,” he said.
The focus, however, is not on the buildings themselves, Elder Duncan said. The focus is on what God can do with those who worship and covenant in them.
“When we go to the temple, we focus on what God has made and not what man has made,” he said. “What takes place in temples cannot take place anywhere else in the world. It connects families for eternity with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.”
Elder Giraud-Carrier said that connection and learning about the Savior transfers into how temple patrons live outside the temple once they leave the house of the Lord.
“Most of what we learn about in the temple is how we should act ourselves, the kind of citizens we should be, the kinds of people we should be, how we should treat one another. These are things that are universal, and we hope that the temple becomes a beacon of that.”
‘Joy and gratitude’
Sister Wright’s son Eli was serving in the Church’s Denmark Copenhagen Mission when the Layton Utah Temple was announced in April 2018. The following day he wrote an email to his parents with the declaration: “Mom, Dad, I am not getting married until the Layton Utah Temple is finished.”
As Sister Wright was preparing for the first tours of the Layton Utah Temple on the morning of April 15, she sent the following text message to her son, who is attending law school on the East Coast: “Eli, the Layton Utah Temple is finished …”
“I don’t know if I have heard back from him yet, but hopefully that means there may be a wedding in the not-too-distant future for our family,” she said with a warm, motherly smile.
The Wrights are not originally from Layton, but they raised their three sons here over the course of more than 20 years. Sister Wright said they can see the tops of the temple spires from the balcony in the backyard of their home. Witnessing the construction of the house of the Lord in Layton has been a tender experience for their family.
“Whenever a temple is announced, your heart is just filled with so much joy and gratitude,” she said. “It’s a powerful reminder that God loves His children and that He wants a relationship with them. That relationship is a divine relationship. He also wants us to have a holy relationship with one another, to connect and unite families throughout eternity. His greatest desire is to bless all of His children. What a wonderful opportunity to do that in the house of the Lord.”
All are invited to “come and see” the new house of the Lord, Sister Wright said, but this invitation is about much more than seeing the architecture, paintings and decorations.
“It is our hope that you will also ‘come and feel’ and ‘come and know,’” she said. “Come and feel and know of the love that God has for each and every one of you, and the love that our Savior Jesus Christ has for each and every one of you.”
‘What it means to be a celestial family’
Another Latter-day Saint family in the Layton area with tender feelings about the new temple is that of Elder Thomas K. Checketts, an Area Seventy, and his wife, Sister Lynette Checketts.
In fall 2006, Sister Checketts was expecting twin boys. When the pregnancy became complicated, the Checkettses gave the boys names so they could pray for them.
“We named them Joshua and Caleb, after the spies in the Old Testament who had come back and given the faithful report to Moses and the people,” Elder Checketts said. “From that moment forward, we prayed for our Joshua and Caleb.”
The twins were born prematurely at 29 weeks. Caleb only lived three days. The family found solace, comfort and strength during that difficult time in the teachings of the gospel and knowing they had been sealed together in the temple.
“We gathered as a family and had a chance to give Caleb all the love of a lifetime … and tell him goodbye,” Sister Checketts said. “Then we had a moment with our children to teach them what it means to be a celestial family and what the promises and covenants that we make in a holy house of God will do for our house and our family.”
While devastating, the heart-wrenching life experience brought the family closer together and strengthened their faith as they lived in Layton, a short distance from the new temple. While it was being constructed, the family, which now includes eight children, five daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren, would walk around the temple and talk about Caleb and eternal families.
“There are things that can happen in the temple that can happen nowhere else,” said Elder Checketts, who served as a stake president and bishop in the area. “We have the sacred responsibility to be involved in this greatest work, this greatest challenge, to help bring families together eternally, and it’s taken what was a really difficult life experience and has made it a very poignant and, over time, even a sweet, experience. We hope that others can come to the temple and feel those same things and receive those same blessings.”
Joshua Checketts, who weighed 3 pounds when born 10 weeks early, is now a towering 6-foot-8 high school junior. He has at times felt a close spiritual connection with his twin brother while serving in the temple, and “it’s a great feeling,” he said.
Foundation of faith in Christ
During construction, an invitation was extended to children and youth in the Layton area to each choose a rock provided at the temple grounds, take it home and decorate it with something meaningful.
Many painted illustrations of God’s creations, the Savior Jesus Christ, names, families or a scripture verse. The rocks were then mixed into the foundation of the house of the Lord.
The symbolism was not lost on Sister Wright.
“When you think about the fact that our children and youth in this community literally are part of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and that foundation is built upon their faith in Jesus Christ,” she said, “to me, this speaks volumes of our faith in the future and, most specifically, our faith in the rising generation, and the significant role that they play in helping to gather and build the kingdom of God.”
The children of Spencer and Sarah Tarma were thrilled to participate in the decorating of foundation rocks. Helaman Tarma, 17, painted the scripture reference “Helaman 5:12″ on his rock. His sister, Eva Tarma, 12, painted their family. Eight-year-old Isabella Tarma painted a pink flower because she was excited to see all the plants and landscaping around the temple grounds.
“Decorating the rocks was really fun,” Helaman Tarma said. “It kind of gives me a sense that I helped build this temple, in a way.”
The Tarma family also provided meals and treats for temple workers.
“(Serving) has helped us to be involved in the construction and feel the blessings of the temple,” said their mother, Sarah Tarma. “It’s going to be a very special temple for us, and it’s so wonderful that it’s so close to our home.”
