The Orem Temple, announced in 2019 and under construction since 2020, has been completed and will be hosting an open house for students and residents alike to come and see the inside before it is dedicated for religious use in January.
Preluding the open house, officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints led reporters through the temple on Oct. 23, showing the significance of the temple and how it would affect students and residents alike.
“You have a temple [that] is very close to you,” Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella stated to The Review. “Come to the temple as often as you can because that will bless your life.”
Elder Parrella is an Area Seventy for the church (a regional leader) and led the tour of the Orem Temple. During the press conference, he expressed the importance of this temple being the 186th operating temple for the church and that 57,000 members are expected to serve within. It will be one of six operating temples in Utah Valley.
“The spiritual importance of this temple,” Parrella began. “It is a place where peoples of all nations, all nationalities, all races will come to worship God and his son Jesus Christ. It is literally the house of the Lord. So, we do invite everyone, each person, to come and see.”
The tour began with Elder Parrella guiding the reporters to the front of the temple, where reporters were asked to cover their shoes with foot coverings. From there, reporters were guided through each of the sacred rooms where members of the faith perform rituals on behalf of their deceased relatives.
Reporters were shown the baptistry, the bridal room, the dressing rooms, the chapel, the grand staircase, instruction rooms, sealing rooms, and the celestial room, which represented heaven. With the baptistry and instructions rooms, Elder Parrella explained how these rooms were to perform rituals on behalf of deceased ancestors.
Throughout the tour, it was clear that local inspirations were worked into the temple’s architecture. Bright cherry blossoms were fitted into the baptismal font, the walls, carpet, and ceilings. This also included the stained-glass windows, with each floor displaying a more bloomed flower than the previous floors. There were many elements of inspiration from Utah Lake, with paintings of it and lake vegetation present in the carpets, chandeliers and fixtures.
“I am so excited for [the temple] to open up,” student body president Zac Whitlock stated to The Review. “It will be very impactful for a lot of the UVU students. I think a lot of our students are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and so it’s nice that we can have a temple so close for in between classes or after a long day to go to a temple that is really close.”
The Orem Temple is scheduled to open to the public for its open house on Oct. 27. The church will usually host open houses for the community to tour the temple and see what members will do inside.
“There has been so much anticipation about this temple, especially right next to the university,” Grace Miller, a UVU student studying finance, told The Review. “To see it come to life, and to feel the peace and light and the hope was absolutely insane.”
The Orem Temple will host its open house from Oct. 27 to Dec. 16. Afterward, it will be dedicated for religious use in January. To book a tour time, visit the Orem Temple website.
