Twin Falls dedication unites Idaho

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Standing outside the newly dedicated Twin Falls Idaho Temple with her family, 11-year-old Haley Ackerman tried to summarize her feelings: "It is pretty much unexplainable. I don't have any words for it. It is just awesome."

Haley's parents — Jeffrey and Jolene Ackerman — looked at their daughter: "What do you mean you don't have words?"After all, the family has spent countless hours during recent months preparing for the new temple, the fourth in Idaho and the 128th worldwide for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Haley and younger brother Cade saved their pennies for the temple fund. They planted a tree on the temple grounds with their Primary. Older siblings Alexandria, 17, and Kyle, 14, practiced since spring for the cultural celebration. Her father, a stake president, prepared members of their stake to staff three days of the temple open house, an event that every member of the family invited friends to attend with them. Then the older children sat in the hot sun, placing plastic foot coverings on open house guests.

And that was all before the whirlwind weekend during which the temple was dedicated on Sunday, Aug. 24, by President Thomas S. Monson.

All in all, the entire process left Jolene Ackerman spiritually fortified and emotionally exhausted.

The dedication, she said, culminated the entire process, leaving the family and the 42,000 other Latter-day Saints in the temple district to feel ownership for the new building — "our temple now."

"It has been a great experience," Jeffrey Ackerman said. "I really believe that something like this really is a beacon to the community. ... It has moved the church into the forefront."

His family's experience is similar to what families in the Salt Lake Valley will experience in the future dedication of the Draper Utah Temple and the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple.

After the dedication of the 31,500 square-foot Twin Falls temple, the Ackermans took a few minutes to reflect on the weekend and the growing LDS Church presence in Twin Falls.

Jeffrey Ackerman recalled visiting Twin Falls as a small child. Back then the area where the temple now stands was identified by the beautiful Snake River Canyon and Evel Knievel's 1974 ill-fated attempt to cross it.