MONTPELIER––For nearly three years, 2.6 acres in the center of Montpelier, Idaho transformed into a House of the Lord for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder Mark D. Eddy and Elder Karl D. Hirst, General Authority Seventies of the Church guided the media through a tour of the temple.
BYU-Idaho Radio got a look inside.
The temple features artistic work highlighting the area’s beauty. The chicory flower, local to the area, is found in detailed trim and glass windows. The baptistry is covered in bright turquoise tiles that point to the color of nearby Bear Lake.
“The design team does an incredible job, really, of trying to find those local elements and make sure they are incorporated seamlessly into the architecture and the beauty and design of the temple,” Elder Eddy said.
Not only do the artistic elements make this temple personal to locals, but they’ve been waiting for a temple for generations.
Robyn and Robert Alleman live across the street and witnessed the sacred structure rise.
“We’re just so grateful and we were told we were going to have a temple someday, but when it was announced, there were a lot of people who were shocked,” Robyn Alleman said.
The temple in their backyard means more people have access to the temple.
Early Church members arrived in the area in the late 1800s. The Alleman’s ancestry is among them.
“I feel like that we built on the shoulders of the people that came before us,” Robert Alleman said.
Many Church members travel around 50 miles to Star Valley, Wyoming, or head south to Logan, Utah to attend the temple.
Now it’s in the heart of town.
“To me it’s just a beautiful symbol not only of our Heavenly Father’s love for his children, but a recognition of the deep generational faith that has existed in this region for a long time,” Elder Eddy said.
Members of the Church are eager to utilize the temple.
“We have a certain number of individuals that can volunteer and work in the temple, but we were just informed that they have too many temple workers,” said Chad Packard, communication director for Western Wyoming and Southeast Idaho.
The temple was announced on April 3, 2022, by Church President Russell M. Nelson. Ground was broken on June 17, 2023.
“They have to see it; they have to go inside to see how beautiful it is. But it’s not only just seeing, its feeling. Feeling what’s inside the temple. Feeling that peace, feeling that place of refuge, feeling that place of healing, and that place that the Savior visits,” Robyn Alleman said.
The public is invited to enter the temple starting Thursday and going through Sept. 26, excluding Sundays.
“We welcome you, come, enjoy and feel and experience it,” Robert Alleman said.
The temple will be dedicated on Oct. 18.