President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rededicated the Mesa Arizona Temple following extensive renovations.
“The Nauvoo temple strengthened the saints before they had the adversity of crossing the plains and going through what they went through in the pioneer period,” said President Oaks. “The building of temples throughout the world is likely to be serving the same purpose to prepare the covenant children of the Lord with the strength they need to face what is ahead.”
About 2,400 people came to the temple on Sunday, December 12, 2021, for each of the three rededication sessions. Chairs were set up in various rooms inside the temple for Latter-day Saints invited to attend the event in person. Local worship services were not held on Sunday so that local congregations in the temple district could attend the sessions that were streamed to 29 stake centers.
President Oaks and his wife, Kristen, were able to take a tour of the temple Saturday afternoon prior to Sunday’s rededication. They were joined by Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Susan; Elder Paul B. Pieper, a General Area Seventy and President of the North America Southwest Area, and his wife, Melissa; and Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Nancy.
“We were astonished, impressed, gratified with what has been done to hold with the pioneer ancestry of this traditional great temple and house of the Lord to bring it into current technology and needs and configuration of rooms, all of which is essential for it to perform its service for decades to come,” said President Oaks.
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