Pres. Russell M. Nelson, President & Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints was a surprise guest at the Ephraim Utah Temple Groundbreaking Service Saturday, Aug. 27th. A group of about 500 special guests attended the “by invitation only” event including Elder Walter F. Gonzalez, Elder Kevin R. Duncan, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Ephraim City Mayor John Scott and many other guests from the Sanpete, Carbon & Emery County Temple District.

Pres. Nelson spoke at the ceremony and gave the dedicatory prayer in which he petitioned that ” the building of this Ephraim Utah Temple be a wonderful time of preparation in the lives of all who live within these precincts and that they literally become Thy covenant people.” During his remarks, he recalled that shortly after the April 2021 General Conference of the Church, he received very clear instruction from the Lord that the pioneer craftsmanship of the Manti Utah Temple, currently being renovated by the Church, should be preserved and that a new temple should be built in Ephraim.

Pres. Nelson has announced 100 new temples since he became president of the Church in January of 2018. The Church now has 282 total temples in operation, under construction or renovation, or announced, including 28 temples in Utah. The Ephraim Temple will serve more than 31,000 Latter-Day Saints in Sanpete, Carbon & Emery Counties, including students who attend the adjacent Snow College. The temple will be built on the 9 acres site located at the intersection of 200 North & 400 East in Ephraim. The three story temple will be approximately 39,000 square feet in size.

A president of the Church has not broken ground for a temple since President Monson dedicated the site for the Rome Italy Temple in 2010 and the Hartford Connecticut Temple in 2013. The Ephraim Utah Temple was the first temple that President Nelson has broken ground for since being called as President & Prophet of the Church in 2018.