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SALT LAKE CITY — Residents of West Jordan and Lehi expressed shock and excitement after President Russell M. Nelson announced the new temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in their area.
The announcement came Sunday night during the very last session of the general conference when President Nelson announced 15 temples across the world, with two in Utah.
General conference special: Temples now dot the land
Utah will soon have 28 operating temples. Some are still under construction, restoration or in the Open House period. A few have recently been dedicated. In this program we will focus on the 14 newest temples in Utah by telling the stories of the people connected to them."Shock, just stunned," Debbie Evans, a West Jordan resident, said. "We are so excited and actually so surprised because we have three (temples) so close to us."
"A new temple, hooray!" Judith Rawlings, from Lehi, said. "We need one. I'm excited. We need one."
"We were just like, 'Wow, did he just say Lehi, Utah?' And my daughter said, 'I told you, I told you,'" said Amber Kindred, from Lehi.
West Jordan and Lehi are two Utah cities that are booming in housing and community development. The exact locations of the temples are not being confirmed by the church, nor the cities.
West Jordan city officials say no matter where the temple goes, they are excited.
"The city is always excited to welcome centers of faith and worship to our city. It makes a beautiful, bright, vibrant, diverse community," said Tauni Barker, West Jordan city spokeswoman.
The mayor of Lehi, Mark Johnson, released a statement saying, "We are honored that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has selected Lehi city as a location for a temple. These are beautiful structures, and I am excited for the exceptional opportunities it will offer many of our residents."
This latest announcement puts the number of temples in Utah in operation, under construction, or announced at 30. Six of those temples are within minutes of West Jordan and Lehi.
"There are two in South Jordan, Oquirrh Mountain and Jordan River, and then the brand new Taylorsville one, and they are all pretty much equal distance from my house and just minutes to get to. We are so blessed. It's so amazing," Evans said.
"At the same time I was really excited I really felt like we can now get some baptismal appointments done," said Holy McCafferty a West Jordan Resident.
"Some people think, oh, it's not needed, but really they are very, very crowded, so it's exciting," Kindred said.
