July 30th start set for Rexburg temple

LDS Church officials have announced a July 30 ground-breaking ceremony for the Rexburg, Idaho LDS Temple.

Elder John H. Groberg, of the Presidency of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will preside at the 10:30 a.m. service on the southwest corner of 700 South and 200 East in Rexburg on the Brigham Young University-Idaho campus.

The service will formally initiate construction of the temple, which was announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley in December 2003.

The Rexburg Temple — the 129th temple announced by the church — will be the third such edifice in Idaho and will serve church members from some 17 stakes in the surrounding area. Other temples are located in Idaho Falls and Boise, and a fourth temple for the state was announced in October 2004, to be built in Twin Falls.

At present, the church has 120 dedicated and operating temples worldwide and another 11 either under construction or nearing completion. Dedications of the Aba, Nigeria and Newport Beach, Calif. temples are scheduled for next month.