ELKO, NEVADA — The Elko Nevada Temple dedication on Sunday, Oct. 12, will be remembered by many for the unique timing of its dedication.
With President Dallin H. Oaks leading The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, this temple dedication marks the first time a house of the Lord has been dedicated during a period of apostolic interregnum since 1888. At that time, President Wilford Woodruff was president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the dedication of the Manti Utah Temple.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who dedicated the Elko temple, said that even in the midst of violence and tragedy that has put the world in commotion, he has “witnessed the divine process of the passing of keys.”
“Following protocol, we look forward to sustaining a new prophet, seer and revelator for the 18th time in this dispensation, who will be the only person on earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys,” he said.
Elder Stevenson said he had the opportunity to visit directly with President Oaks before Sunday’s dedication.
“These proceedings all take place under his direction,” Elder Stevenson said. “How reassuring it was to see this in real time as I was able to discuss the Elko Nevada Temple dedication with him and receive presiding direction.”
The late President Russell M. Nelson announced a house of the Lord for Elko, Nevada, on April 4, 2021, during April 2021 general conference. It was one of 20 temples announced at the conference, including temples in four of Nevada’s five neighboring states.
The Sunday dedication makes a total of 209 dedicated temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world. This is now the third operating temple in Nevada, joining those in Las Vegas (dedicated in 1989) and Reno (2000). A fourth house of the Lord in the state, the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple, had its groundbreaking on Sept. 25.
Covenants and blessings of the temple
Elder Stevenson pointed to President Oaks’ teachings on the covenants made and blessings promised to those who worship and serve in the house of the Lord.
Said President Oaks in the April 2022 general conference: “God desires all of us to strive for his highest possible blessings by keeping his highest commandments, covenants and ordinances, all of which culminate in his holy temples being built throughout the world.”
Elder Stevenson also said one of the main reasons for temples on the earth today is to bless families. And he testified that those who make covenants in temples and do temple work will draw closer to their families.
“Temples are blessing the lives of millions of Heavenly Father’s children on both sides of the veil,” he said.
Elder Stevenson was accompanied by his wife, Sister Lesa Stevenson, at the dedication. They were joined by Elder Michael A. Dunn, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the church’s United States Southwest Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Linda P. Dunn; Elder James R. Rasband, a General Authority Seventy and assistant executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Mary Rasband; and Bishop L. Todd Budge of the Presiding Bishopric and his wife, Sister Lori Capener Budge.
Elder Stevenson said this beautiful temple was “designed to provide space for the Lord’s beautiful sacred ordinances that take place here.”
Suzanne Welch, a member of the Elko 2nd Ward, Elko Nevada West Stake, said the temple “feels like ours.” She said the greatest blessings in her life have come from the covenants she’s made in the temple.
“Those covenants have shaped my marriage, my family and my relationship with the Savior,” she said. “Worshipping in the temple has brought clarity and peace during life’s challenges. It’s where I’ve felt the Spirit most strongly and received answers to prayers.”
A testament to the early Saints in this remote area
Elder Stevenson said this temple dedication serves as a testament to the Saints in this remote region of Nevada. Many in the newly formed temple district have traveled long distances — to temples in Idaho, Nevada, California and Utah — for years to worship in the house of the Lord.
“The small group of Latter-day Saints who participated in the organization of the first branch in Elko likely never imagined 100 years later a temple would be announced and dedicated,” he said.
Looking back 100 years ago, the first Latter-day Saints hadn’t even established the church in northeastern Nevada the last time there was a temple dedication during a period of apostolic interregnum. The first church leaders traveled to the area to build up early settlers and establish the church in the area in 1898.
The area was first settled by Shoshone tribes. Many Latter-day Saints moved from Utah to Nevada in the late 1920s in search of better economic conditions. Early church congregations in northeastern Nevada began in White Pine County, in the communities of Lund, Preston and Georgetown.
Helping the church grow in their communities, Latter-day Saints found places where they could meet and worship, like people’s homes, an opera house, a mortuary, an amusement hall, a community church, an Elks hall and a Knights of Pythias hall.
Thanks to the faith and dedicated service of those early Saints, the church has continued to see steady growth in this area. There are now nearly 12,000 members and 36 wards in the Elko area.
Much of this growth has come despite long distances between wards, stakes and temples. The Elko temple’s district will include towns and communities in six of Nevada’s counties, covering approximately 46.5% of the state’s area, or 51,389 square miles.
Kenneth Lords, the first stake president of the Winnemucca Nevada Stake — created on Oct. 11, 1981 — said members of the church in the area have a “traveling mentality.”
“They’re willing to go and willing to do,” he said. “Living a ways from the temple — and for a lot of our lives, living a long ways from the stake center — it really makes it so you have to plan a little better.”
Lords said he is excited to be an ordinance worker in the newly dedicated house of the Lord.
“The building is the instrument, but that’s not the work,” he said. “To be an ordinance worker, it refines you.”
A blessing for the youth and for families
Shawn and Beth Jones, who serve as co-chairs for the Elko temple open house and dedication committee, said the rising generation in the area have been excited for the temple and played a big role in the open house tours.
“They really took ownership of it,” she said, adding “They really felt like ‘This is ours.’”
Said Shawn Jones: “They brought friends and sometimes came back a few times. The youth and the young single adults both — they did just a lovely job of coming prepared and enjoying the experience, but bringing people with them.”
The open house ran Saturday, Aug. 30, through Saturday, Sept. 13, excluding Sundays.
After a tour with youth, Beth Jones, who is a seminary teacher, would remind them that they now have an opportunity to attend the temple as often as possible.
She said the youth are already making plans, they told her: “Our ward is going to be coming once a month, and we have plans to come after school.”
Shawn Jones said members of the church in different parts of this area have previously made it “an event” when they have had to drive long distances to other temples.
“In some ways, I think people have felt like the sacrifice of it has magnified the blessings in many ways,” he said. Now he hopes to see “a continual flow of gratitude and recognition that we can go to the temple so easily now and to not let the ease of it become a stumbling block.”
Hope for the youth is common among church leaders in the new temple district.
Elko Nevada East Stake President Mathew N. Spieth said there are Latter-day Saints in the area with long family histories of great ancestors who “paved the way of faith and allowed for the Lord to bless us with his holy house.”
Looking forward, he said, the new temple will mean the rising generation — and future generations — will be able to make temple attendance a way of life.
“We are especially excited that the rising generation will be able to make the house of the Lord their own personal sanctuary,” he said. “It already feels like home.”
Elko Nevada West Stake President Alberto Jimenez said he’s already seen the community around the temple change with “an increased sense of unity.”
“Families have volunteered to host members who will be traveling long distances to attend sessions at the temple or to provide babysitting for their neighbors,” he said. “The influence felt by the presence of the house of the Lord has already produced and will continue to generate profound and inspiring experiences.”
Elko Nevada Temple facts
Address: 2100 Ruby Vista Drive Elko, Nevada 89801
Announced: April 4, 2021, by President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: May 7, 2022, presided over by Elder Paul B. Pieper, General Authority Seventy
Public open house: Saturday, Aug. 30 through Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025 (excluding Sundays)
Dedicated: Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, by Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Property size: 5.2 acres
Building size: 12,901 square feet
Building height: 108 feet, 10.5 inches
