On January 27th, we were grateful to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Knoxville Tennessee Temple. We were really looking forward to participating in this event, but we were surprised by the overwhelming feeling of gratitude we felt as we entered the chapel and joined together with these amazing members of the church in East Tennessee who have looked forward to this day for so long.
Temples are central to our worship in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These sacred buildings are different than the church meetinghouses where we gather each Sunday for worship services and everyone is welcome to join us there. Temples are different in that they are set apart for sacred ceremonies. In fact, they are only places where some of our most important priesthood ordinances are performed. Everything in the temple points us to Jesus Christ and helps us to strengthen our relationship with Him.
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If you haven’t been to a temple before, you might enjoy this video tour of the Washington D.C. Temple:
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I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people.
Doctrine and Covenants 45:9
As construction on a new temple begins, we have a groundbreaking ceremony. This ceremony formally marks the commencement of the construction of the temple. A limited number of people were invited to attend the ceremony in person, and the meeting was live-streamed to anyone who wanted to attend virtually. In this meeting, a person assigned by our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, dedicates the ground where the temple will be built. Elder Shayne M. Bowen, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the North America Southeast Area presidency presided at the meeting and gave the dedicatory prayer.
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The Church Newsroom released a video of the groundbreaking ceremony that you can watch here.
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President Nelson announced a temple for Knoxville on April 3, 2022. It will take 2-3 years for the temple construction to be completed. Once completed, there will be a Temple Open House, where anyone can tour the temple before it is dedicated. After the open house, the temple will be dedicated. Once it has been dedicated, only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are allowed to enter the temple.
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The church has a great web site that teaches all about temples. Visit here if you would like to learn more.
All of us missionaries here in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission feel lucky to be here at this time and to have a role in helping to prepare a place for a temple of God. It’s a wonderful time in the TKM!
Barlows in TKM 