Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Temple Reconstruction

In his concluding remarks at the Sunday Afternoon Session of the October 2021 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced that the Provo Utah Temple would be close for reconstruction following the dedication of the Orem Utah Temple. The closure date has been announced as Saturday, February 24, 2024, at the conclusion of ordinance work for the day. Members of the temple district are encouraged to attend other temples during the closure as their circumstances permit. Those desiring to receive their own ordinances should contact a temple in the surrounding area to schedule an appointment.¹

Temple Locale

Located on Provo's east bench near the mouth of magnificent Rock Canyon, the Provo Utah Temple claims a stunning backdrop of towering mountains. The extensive temple grounds are decorated with a cascading water feature and numerous flowers, shrubs, and trees. Across the street is the Missionary Training Center (MTC) where thousands of young missionaries reside year round preparing for missionary service around the world. The campus of Church-owned Brigham Young University (BYU) borders the temple to the southwest.

Temple History

The Provo Utah Temple was the sixth temple built in Utah and the first built in Utah County.

The Provo Utah Temple is one of only four temples with six instruction rooms. (The other three temples are the Ogden Utah Temple, the Jordan River Utah Temple, and the Washington D.C. Temple.)

The Provo Utah Temple and Provo City Center Temple were the second pair of temples to be built in the same city, following the Jordan River Utah Temple (1981) and Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple (2009) in South Jordan, Utah.

The Provo Utah Temple was originally named the Provo Temple.

The announcement of the Provo Utah Temple and Ogden Utah Temple was prompted by a statistic computed in the mid-1960s that 52 percent of all ordinance work was performed in three temples: the Logan Utah Temple, the Manti Utah Temple, and the Salt Lake Temple.

The original design for the Provo Utah Temple included a gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni atop a gold-colored spire. The statue was eventually eliminated from the design, though one was added over 31 years after its dedication as part of a renovation project in 2003 that also changed the spire color from gold to white.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Provo Utah Temple was held just one week after the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ogden Utah Temple, marking the first time that two groundbreaking ceremonies were held in the same month. The two buildings were built at the same time and were nearly identical in appearance until the Ogden Utah Temple was given an architectural facelift in the early 2010s.

The Provo Utah Temple stands adjacent to Church-owned Brigham Young University. The Church's other two universities; Brigham Young University–Hawaii in Laie, Hawaii, and Brigham Young University–Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho; also have adjacent temples.

President Joseph Fielding Smith presided at the dedication of the Provo Utah Temple, but at his request, the prayer he had written was offered by President Harold B. Lee, first counselor in the First Presidency.

The Provo Utah Temple was dedicated in just two sessions by seating attendees—in addition to the temple—in the Marriott Center, George Albert Smith Fieldhouse, Joseph Smith Building, Harris Fine Arts Center, and Knight-Mangum Hall (Language Training Mission) on the BYU campus. Over 70,000 attended in what was the largest temple dedication in history.

In the late 1970s, a feasibility study was prepared by the Provo Temple presidency for the establishment of a Provo Temple Visitors Center. The study included statistical compilations of responses to a survey sent to stake presidents within the temple district. However, no visitors' center was ever established.