Even the tower cranes are joining the Christmas festivities on Temple Square this year. Due to the ongoing renovation of the Salt Lake Temple, the yearly Christmas lights have been downsized to about 30 percent of the area normally used, but it remains a popular activity in the valley. A team of 35 gardeners begin hanging the Christmas lights in August so that the dazzling display is ready to be lit after Thanksgiving. The purpose of the lights is to place focus on Jesus Christ during the Christmas season.

Fence panels are being installed along the west (front) side of the Taylorsville Utah Temple site. Trident spear finials are secured to the top of the pickets while butterfly scrolls are attached just below. Scaffolding is being removed from the east side of the temple, beginning at the north end. The west entrance doors have been installed with temporary plywood in the window openings, and the flag pole has been anchored to its location on the grounds.

Elder Quentin L. Cook of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Ashok Mirpuri, Singapore's Ambassador to the United States, participated in the lighting ceremony held yesterday for the 45th annual Festival of Lights at the Washington D.C. Temple. The lights will come on every night from December 1 through January 2. Visitors can also see 87 nativity scenes from 64 countries inside the visitors’ center where nightly musical performances will be held in the theater. Tickets for the performances are available at dctemple.org. The temple grounds will also have vending machines for charitable giving.

A white frame for the spire of the Harare Zimbabwe Temple has been installed on top of the concrete steeple body frame. The spire will be white and capped with a slender metal finial. A meetinghouse is being constructed east of the temple. Shingles have been laid for the south wing, and wood trusses have been set for the north wing. The temple is the country's first, and it has been under construction for nearly two years.