Orem Utah Temple open house begins

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened its newest temple to the public. This weekend, people took the first free public tours at the Orem Utah temple.

The Orem Utah temple is the 28th temple in the state. The 70,000-square-foot building is right off Interstate 15 in Orem. People who live in the area have watched the temple take shape during the past three years.

Glen Mella serves as the coordinator for the Orem temple open house. He expects large crowds of visitors during the six-week event. He said people are helping in many different ways around the temple.

“I’m coordinating the efforts of the volunteers, but we have people helping with ushering throughout the temple. and even here on the grounds, we have people helping with parking, with security, even with first aid,” Mella said.

Mella said the weather was beautiful for the first weekend of the open house and the people arrived with smiles on their faces.

Laura Thompson is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said her uncle is an artist and several of his paintings hang in the temple.

“So it’s kind of neat for me to be able to come and see my uncle’s eight hours of paintings in the temple. And so it’s just another connection to that because of his talent and also with Christ and the gifts that he was given,” Thompson said.

Thompson said it is neat to see all of the youth helping and serving at the temple because it shows their dedication to the Church.

“They’re a great example to me and I’m sure many others,” Thompson said.

Public tours of the Orem Utah temple run Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Dec. 16. You can reserve free tickets online at Churchofjesuschrist.org.