FLDS temple appears complete

Gleaming white against the backdrop of the Texas prairie, the first-ever temple of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints appears to be nearing completion, if it isn't finished already, say observers near Eldorado, Texas.

The polygamous sect itself remains silent, as it has been since construction started.

"They're not making a lot of comments on it," Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said. "They said, 'Yeah, the structure's completed on the exterior,' but they didn't elaborate."

On a dirt road just a few miles outside of the tiny town of Eldorado, the temple stands out amid the surrounding ranchland. It has a limestone facade. Arched windows around the building lead up to turrets, which surround the roof. Atop it all is a short-domed steeple, reminiscent of the Nauvoo, Ill., temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Above the doorway is the "all seeing eye" and an inscription that reportedly includes the phrase, "Holiness to the Lord in the House of the Lord."

"We believe it's done," Doran said. "We don't know about the interior, but the exterior looks definitely done. They've got sod down, they've got the fence out, they've got metal railing on the stairs."

News of the FLDS temple's completion has reached some in the polygamous border communities of Hildale, Washington County, and Colorado City, Ariz.

"About half the people who live here still don't even know about it," former-FLDS member Ross Chatwin said. "Warren (Jeffs) was very upset when the apostates (FLDS members who have been excommunicated) found out about it."

Anti-polygamy activists revealed the existence of the YFZ Ranch outside of Eldorado back in 2004. Originally, the Schleicher County sheriff was told the ranch was a hunting retreat. "Ranch" officials soon recanted and YFZ, it was revealed, stood for "Yearning for Zion."

Since then, construction has exploded there, with homes, buildings, a meetinghouse, gardens, a rock quarry and a grain silo appearing on the landscape. Reportedly, one of the largest homes on the compound belongs to fugitive FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.

Towering above it all has been the temple, which locals have watched with cautious interest.

"The temple, it's magnificent from the outside," said JD Doyle, a local pilot who has documented the FLDS construction from the air.

He provided the Deseret Morning News with photographs of the temple taken from his airplane. "I don't know anybody that's seen the inside. If the inside is even half as beautiful as the outside, it's going to be breathtaking."

People in Eldorado remain concerned about the temple, Doyle said.