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PHOENIX — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will open its newest temple Sunday in Phoenix.
The new temple will be dedicated Sunday morning, and LDS teens from the area will perform as part of a cultural celebration Saturday night — highlighting the history and heritage of the LDS Church in Arizona.
At a dress rehearsal Saturday afternoon, more than 4,000 Latter-day Saint youths filled a nearby high school football field to celebrate the completion of the new Phoenix Arizona Temple.
“It’s an unreal feeling. I’m so excited we have a temple so close to us,” said Kylie Whittaker.
“I think it is a really special experience, a once in a lifetime thing. I will probably never get to do this again, so I am really excited for it,” said Spencer Jones.
The teens have been rehearsing for weeks to get ready for Saturday’s performance.
“There has been a lot of dance and singing practice. It’s been a lot of hard work. We have been working on the dances and the singing for the past three and a half months,” said Orville Carnahan.
Several scenes depict the early history of the region and the church’s presence in Arizona.
“It shows the heritage, how important the temple was to our ancestors and how that importance has carried on through generations, and it is the same for us,” Samantha Hawker said.
The youths say they have been counting the days, waiting for the celebration.
“I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to do this and I am so excited we are going to be able to see the prophet,” said London Wheeler.
The new temple will serve Latter-day Saints in the Phoenix area and through much of northern Arizona. It will shorten the travel time to the church’s first temple in Arizona, which was built in Mesa in 1927. A temple was dedicated in Gilbert in March, making the Phoenix temple now the third in the metro area.
