In a special online meeting held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on May 1, president of the Church Russel M. Nelson announced that a new temple was to be built in the city of Ephraim.

In the meeting the prophet shared that the pioneers sacrificed greatly to build the Manti Temple and therefore it wasn’t right to get rid of the craftsmanship, art work and murals inside. So the decision was made to build a temple in Ephraim to preserve the pioneer heritage of the Manti Temple.

Executive director of the Temple Department, Kevin R. Duncan, shared that it was important to them that Snow College Ephraim students had a temple within walking distance of campus. This will give students easier access, and with sessions set to run every half hour, more opportunities to visit.

The new temple will be similar in size to the Brigham City Temple with four endowment rooms that will hold 30 people each, three sealing rooms and a baptismal font. It will take two years to build once land is purchased and design and permitting is finished.

It was shared that the Manti Temple will be “a project of preservation, restoration and installation of new equipment.”