Tours of the Lindon Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially began Monday with tours for the media.
Public tours of the temple — to be the 25th Latter-day Saint temple dedicated in the Beehive State — will begin Thursday, March 12, and run through Saturday, April 11, excluding Sundays and Saturday, April 4, for general conference.
Following the temple’s public open house period, the Lindon temple will be dedicated Sunday, May 3.
Here are five facts about the Lindon temple, its design and its purpose.
1. The Lindon Utah Temple has a rare 2 baptistries
One of nine temples in various stages of construction across Utah County, the Lindon temple is the only one that has officially been announced to have two temple baptistries.
Three other temples across Utah — the Syracuse, Smithfield and Salt Lake temples — currently have or are planned to have two temple baptistries, as well.
The number of youths who desire to perform proxy baptisms and confirmations for deceased ancestors has been great, said Elder James R. Rasband, an assistant executive director in the church’s temple department, as he explained the decision to include two baptistries in the Lindon temple.
He and his wife, Sister Mary Rasband, led media representatives through a tour of the temple and said the two baptistries will provide greater opportunities for youth in the area to attend.
For Isabella Bezzant, a Latter-day Saint youth in the area, knowing the Lindon temple will have two baptismal fonts is exciting.
She told the Deseret News that worshipping in the temple is grounding for her, but that she has often found it hard to go because of the great number of youths and other members in the area who also attend.
“You have to go at like 4 in the morning” or attend as a walk-in to find spots available, she said.
She is hopeful that having another temple nearby and with two baptismal fonts will enable her and others to worship in the temple more frequently.
Longtime Lindon resident Dana Daly said the temple’s two baptismal fonts demonstrate the “quality of youth” in the valley.
They are “a testament to how the youth are being righteous and growing in their testimonies,” she said.
Located on opposite sides of the same hallway, the two baptismal fonts in the Lindon temple are mirror images of each other and will bump the number of operating baptismal fonts in Utah County from five to seven once the temple is dedicated.
2. Design motifs tie the temple to Lindon city’s namesake and history
Featured throughout the Lindon temple’s interior are design motifs of the linden tree and flower.
They appear, artistically represented, on the temple’s woodwork, stained glass, interior stonework, carpets, railings, chandeliers and decorative paint — tying the temple to Lindon city’s namesake, the linden tree.
In temples all throughout the world, design motifs will reflect something of their areas, Elder Rasband said at the temple’s media event.
“Here in Lindon, you have the beautiful linden tree,” he said.
Reflecting aspects of the temple’s surrounding area is representative of God’s love for all of his children around the world, Elder Rasband said.
Every temple is constructed to the “highest standard” because each is a house of the Lord, he also said.
“Jesus Christ is at the very center of everything in the temple.”
A linden seed was first brought to Utah by a Latter-day Saint from England. He planted the seed and the tree became a landmark for the town. The city was later named after the large and aged linden tree.
The linden flower is more prominently represented in the form of buds in the entrance and first floor of the temple.
As one moves through the temple’s other levels, the linden flower is then more prominently represented as a bloomed flower.
3. The temple’s celestial room stands tall
Measuring approximately two-thirds the height of the east wall of the temple, the Lindon Utah Temple’s celestial room stands out due to its height.
The wall on the far end of the celestial room is nearly all stained glass, and a large center chandelier draws the eye upward as one steps into the room.
Smaller versions of the same chandelier design are also seen in the temple’s four sealing rooms.
The largest sealing room in the Lindon temple seats 75 people, and each of the temple’s four instruction rooms seats 50.
Also seen throughout the temple are paintings depicting landscapes, scripture stories and scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. One of the temple’s original paintings depicts Christ’s empty tomb, while another depicts people coming unto the Savior much like the large “Come Unto Jesus” painting in the church’s Conference Center in Salt Lake City.
4. Light shines through the temple at sunrise and sunset
Located at the foot of Utah’s Mount Timpanogos, the Lindon temple’s positioning allows sunlight to filter through its large stained glass windows.
Sunlight is brightest in the temple’s celestial room, which faces eastward, in the morning hours.
It is then brightest on the westside stained glass windows along the temple’s main staircase during the sunset evening hours.
“The temple is very much a place of light,” said Elder Jorge T. Becerra of the church’s Utah Area Presidency.
It is “a place of learning” and a “place where you put your life in order, in order to increase the light in your life,” Elder Becerra said.
5. The temple’s location is expected to facilitate youth attendance
Already near homes and an established community, the Lindon Utah Temple’s location is also expected to facilitate youth attendance.
Bike racks on temple grounds provide a space where youths and others, including those riding the Murdock Canal Trail that wraps around the east side of the temple, can park.
Latter-day Saint stakes assigned to the Lindon Utah Temple district include stakes in Lindon, Orem and Pleasant Grove.
The Lindon Utah Temple will be a blessing to its surrounding community, Elder Becerra told the Deseret News.
“Wherever we build a temple, worldwide and in Utah, the community around it is blessed — economically or temporally, but mostly spiritually.”
He expressed hope that Latter-day Saints in the area and surrounding communities will “redouble” their efforts to worship in the temple.
“When the Lord blesses people, his invitation is to redouble their efforts to gather Israel, to seek after the one, and that one might be themselves or somebody else who’s not participating in the full blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ,” he said.
Read more about the Lindon temple and others around the world on the Church News’ temple almanac.
