You have no items in your shopping cart.
Salt Lake City Temple
| 3 Item(s) | Show per page |
| View as: Grid List |
Sort by
|
| 3 Item(s) | Show per page |
| View as: Grid List |
Sort by
|
SALT LAKE TEMPLE
Salt Lake City, city in Utah, is the state capital, and seat of Salt Lake County. Located in the north central part of the state, it is 24 km (15 mi) east of its namesake, the Great Salt Lake, and lies along the western slope of the Wasatch Range. Salt Lake City is the contemporary center of the Mormon Church, officially The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The city’s Temple Square contains the impressive Mormon Temple. The temple was completed in 1893 after 40 years of construction. Its six towers rise about 67 m (about 220 ft) in the air.
Salt Lake City Temple holds a special place in the hearts of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called the Mormons. The Mormons had been driven out forcibly from Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. They had walked hundreds of miles across treacherous territories and seen their loved ones die. When they finally arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, they built it into a home, one far away from the dangers that had followed them for so long.
It is positioned in 50 North West Temple Street, Salt Lake City’s center block known as Temple Square, the spires of the Salt Lake Temple, which is of Gothic and classical yet symbolic design, rise amid downtown high-rises and super malls. It has four progressive-style ordinance rooms and fourteen sealing and covers a floor area of 385,000 square feet.
Furthermore, rich symbolism adorns the exterior of the Salt Lake Temple, depicting mankind's journey from mortality into the eternal realms. Perhaps Elder J. Golden Kimball expressed it best when he stated: "When I think about that building, every stone in it is a sermon to me."
The Salt Lake Temple is the largest (of more than 120 around the world) and best-known temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church overall, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois. It also is one of two temples that still employ live acting for presentation of the endowment. (The other is the Manti Utah Temple.)
The location for the temple was first marked by Brigham Young, the prophet and second president of the church, on July 28, 1847, just four days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. The temple site was dedicated on February 14, 1853. Groundbreaking ceremonies were presided over by Brigham Young, who laid the cornerstone on April 6 of that year.
Sandstone was originally used for the foundation. During the Utah War the foundation was buried and the lot made to look like a plowed field to prevent unwanted attention from federal troops. After tensions had eased in 1858 and work on the temple resumed, it was discovered that many of the foundation stones had cracked, making them unsuitable for use. The inadequate sandstone was replaced by quartz monzonite (which has the appearance of granite) from Little Cottonwood Canyon, located twenty miles (32 km) southeast of the temple site. Oxen transported the granite initially, but as the Transcontinental Railroad neared completion in 1869 the remaining stones were carried by rail at a much faster rate.
The capstone was laid on April 6, 1892 by means of an electric motor and switch operated personally by Wilford Woodruff, the church's fourth President, thus completing work on the temple's exterior which was quartz monzonite (similar to granite) quarried from Little Cottonwood Canyon 20 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. The Angel Moroni is twelve and one half feet tall which was the first temple to feature the statue created by sculptor Cyrus Dallin. It depicts both a messenger of the restoration of the gospel and a herald of the Second Coming: "for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds".
The Salt Lake Temple was completed the afternoon before the dedication on April 6, 1893. That evening, invited non-Mormon government officials, businessmen and their wives were given a complete tour of the temple. It was the first time that a temple had been opened to the public prior to its dedication.