Ephraim temple open house: Second in Sanpete County a tribute to service-oriented saints

EPHRAIM — The Ephraim Utah Temple is almost dedicated and will be Utah's 27th temple. Kaystan Larsen, a Snow College student who grew up in Ephraim, said it will be a "blessing and privilege" to their community.

He said the temple announcement generated excitement during a press conference in Manti in May 2021, and it grew as the location was announced and ground was broken.

"What an exciting time to be alive and be a resident here in Ephraim," he said. Noting he "couldn't ask for a better community to grow up in and to be a part of."

Open House

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints invited media to tour the temple on Monday ahead of its public open house, which begins Wednesday and runs through Sept. 19.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate it on Oct. 11. The dedication will be at 10 a.m. and will also be rebroadcast to local chapels at 2 p.m.

Larsen said it seems like everywhere you go, people are talking about going to the open house, and friends are setting up times to go to both the open house and the temple once it is dedicated.

Elder John A. McCune, first counselor in the church's Utah Area presidency, said temple open houses are exciting for the church. Elder McCune said the pioneers came to Utah to gather in a group large enough to build temples so they could participate in temple ordinances.

He said the temple so close to the Manti temple is a tribute to all of the local members who are willing to come regularly, particularly to be temple workers and staff running the temple. He said between the two temples they need almost 2,500 people to run them.

"That's remarkable, and really reflects the faith and the hard work of, and legacy really, of these pioneers," he said.

Inside the Temple

The Ephraim temple has four motifs scattered throughout the stained glass, carpet, light fixtures and wood carvings — forget-me-not flowers, lilies, wheat and water, representing Christ's living water. White forget-me-nots and blue and pink lilies accent the stained glass, along with wheat that is gradually gathered into tares the further into the temple you go.

Kaystan Larsen said the symbolism in the blue colors referencing living water was especially meaningful to him; as a farming community without a reservoir, he said they are very reliant on God to provide the community and farms with water.

The temple also displays multiple paintings, some original, that show landscapes familiar to residents of Sanpete County: Horseshoe Mountain, a waterfall in Manti Canyon, a historical baptism at the San Pitch River, and Mount Nebo from the east side.

Larsen's mom, Marci Larsen, enjoyed seeing the symbolism in the wheat and references to the area's agriculture in the temple. She said the paintings throughout the temple were beautiful.

She said she is excited to have a temple about four blocks from their home. She can see the top of the temple from inside a room in their home, and hopes nothing is put up that will block it, saying it's a reminder of peace for her.

Second temple in Sanpete County

Elder K. Brett Nattress, assistant executive director in the church's temple department, said the temple in Ephraim, just seven miles from the Manti temple, is a tribute to both the pioneer saints who settled the area and the saints who live there now.

He said youth need the opportunity to serve and baptisteries around Utah are filling up with youth eager to serve, and he expects this one to be busy very soon.

Elder Nattress said the temple's placement right near student housing is "perfect," giving the students just a short walk to a "higher and holier place of learning."

"To receive the blessings of the temple, to serve in the temple, and then to establish service as a key component of their lives for the rest of their lives — it doesn't get much better than that," Elder Nattress said.

Kaystan Larsen said sometimes the things that are the best use of time can fall to the back of the priority list, and having the temple close by can help him and his peers remember to make it a priority.

"It really does just keep it top of mind, which I think is super important for students my age ... obviously there's no better place to find that direction and really align your will with God's than in the temple," he said.

He said the temple has "already been a blessing" to his community, and it seems that with it in their sight, people are holding themselves to a higher standard, planning to participate in the temple with their friends.

Marci Larsen said it will be much easier for some of her younger children to arrange going to the temple to do baptisms — it is so close they can walk. She said each of her kids has made going to the temple a social outing, and now that will be an easier option.

As someone who works with young women in her stake, she said the temple helps teach youth about service.

Larsen said people in the area are hardworking and full of faith, and the temple gives them an opportunity.

"When I was sitting in that celestial room, I just thought how very blessed are we to be trusted to do this important work here," she said.

Sharing the joy of the temple

Elder Nattress said church members love to show what is sacred to them in the temple to community members at open houses.

"Everything we do, everything that we see in the temple draws our attention to the Savior, Jesus Christ, and it has a refining effect, a sanctifying effect on those who enter the temple," he said.

He said each temple blesses the community around it, in part through church members who come to the temple to learn and serve, and leave with a larger desire to serve their family and community.

"I've always felt like imperfect people can have perfect moments, and it will be a perfect moment on Oct. 11 when this temple is dedicated. Perfect moments come in the temple as we worship in the environment the Savior has planned for each of us," he said.

His wife, Shawna Nattress, said the celestial room in the temple feels like "a little piece of heaven on earth," and is a place she can feel Jesus Christ's love and peace.

She said being sealed in the Salt Lake Temple to her husband was the most important event in her life.

While she and her husband were mission leaders in Gilbert, Arizona, Sister Nattress said she was diagnosed with stage four cancer, but that knowing her family would be together forever helped her know it was all going to be okay.

"For me, it just brought me so much hope and joy to my heart … I'm so grateful for those covenants that we made," she said.

Sister Nattress said it brings her so much joy to come to the temple with their children and their grandchildren and see the "beautiful blessings" it brings to their lives.

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