Dedication of the Gilbert Arizona Temple
Church President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the Gilbert Arizona Temple on March 2, 2014, alternating who said the dedicatory prayer at the ceremony’s three sessions with his first counselor, President Henry B. Eyring, who has family ties to the Gilbert, Arizona, area.
“Let us open our hearts and open our minds and open our souls to the Spirit here today,” President Monson said at the ceremony. “I would hope that we would all remember not just what is said, but also, and perhaps more importantly, let us remember how we feel. I think it important that we feel close to our Heavenly Father on this special day.”
President Eyring also added his sentiments: “When the decision was made to build those temples [in Arizona], I had a feeling of gratitude for the righteous people, the wonderful pioneers of the Church in this area.”
A local member, Willa Dean Lamb, had been serving in the Mesa Arizona Temple prior to the dedication of the Gilbert temple. "I'm 84," she said. "I thought they would turn me out to pasture, that they would want younger people to serve in the new temple. I was thrilled to receive the call to serve here." Her late husband, John Clyde Lamb, was a descendant of the pioneers who colonized Mesa. "I am so grateful for those pioneers," Lamb said of her husband's ancestors. "I'm sure they are rejoicing today."
Also in attendance at the dedication were Elder William R. Walker, executive director of the Temple Department; Elder Tad R. Callister of the Presidency of the Seventy; Elder Kent F. Richards, a General Authority Seventy; and the then-newly called Gilbert Arizona Temple presidency — President David E. LeSueur, President Robert H Hicken and President Darl J. Andersen.
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Our Beloved Eternal Father, we bow before Thee this blessed and historic day with reverence and love. Our gratitude for the completion of this sacred and holy house fills our hearts to overflowing. ... This magnificent temple has come of our love for Thee and for Thy Son, that the great work of salvation may go forward, not only for the living but also for unnumbered generations of those who have gone before us, as well as for those who will come after us.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Gilbert Arizona Temple here.
Timeline of the Gilbert Arizona Temple
President Thomas S. Monson announced a temple for Gilbert, Arizona, on April 26, 2008. Just over two and a half years later, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the temple on Nov. 13, 2010, and Elder Claudio R.M. Costa of the Presidency of the Seventy presided over the ceremony. An open house was held just over three years later, from Jan. 18 to Feb. 15, 2014.
Prior to the temple’s dedication, a cultural celebration was held at a nearby park. President Monson dedicated the new Gilbert Arizona Temple on March 2, 2014.
Architecture and Design of the Gilbert Arizona Temple
The Gilbert Arizona Temple is located in the East Valley of Arizona, near Phoenix. Built at 85,326 square feet, it stands on 15.4 acres with a 2,820-square-foot ancillary building also on site. The temple’s exterior was made with precast concrete and white quartz, giving it a light exterior.
Motifs of the agave plant and its flower, native to the southwestern United States, are found throughout the temple. Some local leaders say that the way the interlinked agave leaf patterned motifs could represent the eternal nature of marriage and family.
A blue, green and earth-tone color scheme is used through the temple’s interior. Stone used within the temple includes honey gold light limestone and tiberias gold limestone; types of wood found in the temple include eucalyptus and white oak.
Interior Photos of the Gilbert Arizona Temple
