Marble imported from Turkey and stained glass from Germany outfit the LDS Church's first small temple located in the rugged landscape of southeastern Utah and now open to the public.
At 7,000 square feet, the Monticello Temple is the church's smallest and the prototype for 30 more such edifices church leaders have said will be built in areas of the world where membership is sparse and traditional temples are a great distance.The public began touring the temple Thursday morning, bringing what officials here hope is the biggest crowd of the year to a town that relies on tourism. More than 30,000 people are expected to tour the temple through Saturday.
Though it is more than 10 times smaller than recently built temples in Bountiful or American Fork, the church's 53rd operating temple has all the rooms necessary for marriages, baptisms and other ordinances sacred to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It may be small but it was built with precision and perfection, said Elder Ben B. Banks, president of the Utah South Area of the church, who led media tours of the building Wednesday. Banks said he has never seen excitement for a temple like that of the people of the Four Corners area, who have had to travel more than four hours to the nearest LDS temple, in Manti.
"It's been a big topic of conversation here," said Clarence Pehrson, 66. "That's the understatement of the year."
For Monticello, the building of a temple has put a town of 2,500 on the map, especially for travelers passing the junction of U.S. 191 and U.S. 666 at night, when the temple glows bright in the darkness of rural San Juan County.
The expected crowd of 30,00 not only dwarfs the population of the whole county but it also would be the biggest weekend of the year for area business. The Monticello Days Inn is already full and has a waiting list through the weekend, said manager Dena Hunter.
At the MD Ranch Cookhouse, the owner ordered more food, and Tracy Hawkins is ready to work extra shifts. "We hope it's busy," said a waitress at the Juniper Tree Restaurant. "It's been a long, slow winter."
Mayor Dale Black said he expects the temple will also have a long-term effect on area businesses. And developers are also calling with customers who want to live in a city with a temple.
"It's going to have a relatively big impact," Black said. "I personally haven't heard one negative comment about it, and that's a fact."
Latter-day Saints believe sacred rites performed in temples affect their eternal status, including being able to live as families after death.
Sitting next to a church meetinghouse, Utah's 11th temple has one sealing room, where faithful LDS couples are married for eternity, and one ordinance room with a seating capacity of 50. Unlike traditional temples, small temples will only be open on an as-needed basis, Banks said. The Monticello Temple will be open for two sessions a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and for five sessions on both Fridays and Saturdays.
Because of limited seating, those attending a temple session will have to make appointments in advance with the temple presidency. Temple patrons must also bring their own white clothing, as the temple doesn't have facilities for clothing rentals. Members in Monticello, Blanding, Moab and Durango, Colo., will also be responsible for the care of the building, including the daily cleaning and groundskeeping. There is no visitors center.
The floor plan used in Monticello will remain largely the same in the other 30 small temples announced by the church, said church architect David May. However, different materials may be used on the outside of the buildings, and after the Alaska and northern Mexico temples are completed the remaining small temples will be expanded to contain two sealing rooms and two ordinance rooms each.
After the open houses end this weekend, the temple will be closed for cleaning and dedicated in seven separate services July 26 and 27 presided over by church President Gordon B. Hinckley. Open houses are a tradition when new temples are completed. Once dedicated, temples are open only to members of the church in good standing.
President Hinckley visited the temple Tuesday afternoon and set apart the temple presidency. Rancher and long-time Monticello businessman Lisle Adams, who was called to be the temple president, said he thought he'd never live to see a temple so near his home.
"I didn't believe it would happen in my day, but we're very happy that it has," Adams said. "I just can hardly believe it's true."
Banks called it a "historic" time for church members in places that would never be eligible for a traditional temple. People like Gary and Beverly Adair, a Monticello couple who drive more than 200 miles to the Manti Temple once a month. Once there, the retired teachers stay in a hotel for a week to do temple work.
But theirs is the house closest to the new temple, just across the street from the church meetinghouse where temple-goers will park.
"They're taking it easy on an old man," Adair, 62, says with a laugh. "Even walking I won't get much exercise."