Draper temple dedication is this weekend

DRAPER — After one of the most widely attended open houses for an

LDS temple, the Draper Utah Temple will be dedicated this weekend, with

President Thomas S. Monson conducting the 12 dedication sessions spread

out over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

President Monson also will conduct the Friday, March 20, cornerstone ceremony

at the temple, marking the completion of the building prior to the

first dedication session at 9 a.m. Friday. The ceremony will be at the

cornerstone on the southeast side of the temple, 14065 Canyon Vista

Lane.

Four sessions will be held on each of the three days at the Draper

temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also, a

satellite broadcast of one of the temple dedication sessions will be

broadcast Sunday afternoon to meetinghouses and stake centers

throughout Utah.

During its two-month open house from Jan. 15 to March 14, the Draper

Utah Temple drew 684,721 visitors. Other recent temples with the

highest totals of open-house visitors include the Bountiful Utah

Temple, 870,361 visitors in 1994; the San Diego California Temple,

approximately 720,000 visitors in 1993; and the Mount Timpanogos Utah

Temple, 679,217 visitors in 1996.

The announcement of a planned temple for the Draper area was made by

President Gordon B. Hinckley during the church's October 2004 general

conference. The Draper temple is the church's 129th overall and the

12th in Utah.

The new temple will serve approximately 60,000 LDS Church members in

and around Draper. It will open for temple work Monday, March 23.

E-Mail: Taylor@desnew.com