Media get the first look at Rexburg Temple

REXBURG, Idaho — Reporters were the first to tour the newly completed temple in Rexburg that will be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 125th.

Greeting the media was Elder David A. Bednar of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was president of BYU-Idaho (formerly Ricks College) from 1997-2004. The new temple, which will be dedicated on Sunday, Feb. 3, is adjacent to the campus and will serve some 47,000 Latter-day Saints in the surrounding area, including students.

Elder Bednar said he and his wife, Susan, "delighted to be back home" while speaking to the press from a stake center adjacent to the temple.

He presented and then answered five questions about Latter-day Saint temples. "What is a temple? Why do we have temples in our church today? What happens in a temple after it is dedicated? Why do we perform vicarious ordinances for the dead? What is the significance of having a temple in Rexburg?"

Elder Bednar said there are some 22,000 church meetinghouses in 166 countries, all of which are open to the public. However, temples are exclusively devoted to sacred rites and ceremonies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "In the vocabulary of our church, we refer to these holy sacraments, these rites and these ceremonies as ordinances. For Latter-day Saints, temples are places of holiness."

After explaining that temples today serve the same purpose as temples did in ancient times, Elder Bednar said that once a temple is dedicated, it becomes "the house of the Lord." At that point, only members in good standing are allowed to enter. "It is not a matter of secrecy. It is a matter of sanctity."

Speaking of the questions natural to every human heart, including the purpose of life and what happens after death, Elder Bednar said temples are places "where these and other eternal questions are answered."

As to the significance of a temple in Rexburg, Elder Bednar referred to what has been called the "Wagon Box Prophecy." In 1884, while visiting Mormon pioneer settlers in southeastern Idaho, Wilford Woodruff, then president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and later president of the church, climbed aboard a wagon box and declared that temples would one day dot the land.

Elder William R. Walker of the Second Quorum of the Seventy accompanied Elder Bednar in leading the media tour of the new temple.

The public open house of the new temple begins Saturday. Some 180,000 are expected to tour the building.

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