Open House Commences for Red Cliffs Utah Temple

The open house for the new Red Cliffs Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is underway in St. George, Utah.

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Journalists gathered at the house of the Lord for a news conference and tour on Monday, January 29, 2024. Participants included Elder Hugo E. Martinez, General Authority Seventy and First Counselor, Utah Area Presidency; Elder Jonathan S. Schmitt, General Authority Seventy and assistant executive director, Priesthood and Family Department and the Temple Department; and Sister Tamara W. Runia, First Counselor, Young Women General Presidency. 

“We talked about Jesus Christ and the purpose of temples, and as we toured with the wonderful media that accompanied us today, the Holy Spirit could be felt,” said Elder Martinez.

“That was the first thing I felt that was true when the missionaries were teaching us. So having that feeling that that was true, that's what I wanted. I always wanted an eternal family, and I knew that I could only get it at the temple,” added Nuria Martinez, wife of Elder Martinez.

“These open houses are so important. When we talk about reaching out to our friends, to our family, to our coworkers, and inviting them to come and experience what we already know, they can come and feel the love of God, the love of Jesus Christ. They can come and feel peace," said Elder Schmitt.

“It's more than just touring a building because this is a home, this is the house of the Lord, and that's what makes it unique. And I really felt like that spirit, that truth, was taught and felt inside the temple today,” shared Sister Runia.

Invited guests will walk through the new sacred structure for the next few days before the public open house begins on Thursday, February 1. The open house runs through Saturday, March 2, excluding Sundays. Free reservations can be scheduled online.

About the Red Cliffs Utah Temple

The 96,000-square-foot house of the Lord sits on more than 15 acres of land in southwestern Utah. Once dedicated, this will be the second temple in St. George. The pioneer-era St. George Utah Temple was rededicated in December following extensive renovation.

“This certainly will bless Washington County and down into Arizona, but this temple will add light to the world,” said Elder Schmitt.

The Red Cliffs Utah Temple sits at the end of a welcoming palm-tree-lined entrance boulevard that runs north and south.

The temple’s interior and exterior motifs were pulled from the environment that surrounds the St. George area. The motifs designed in the precast concrete exterior were inspired by Southern Utah’s grand cottonwood trees and its numerous mountains and canyons.

The main motif inside the house of the Lord is the dwarf bearclaw poppy. The other motifs in the temple include succulents, Indian paintbrush, cottonwood leaves and pomegranates. The succulent motif is also used throughout all window designs in the temple.

“This is my temple,” explained Alexa Zurcher who participated in the news conference. “I have driven by this for the last couple of years. I live four minutes away and it has been very exciting to see it go from farmland to dirt and then watch it just little by little grow into what it has become.”

Temple Dedication

President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, will dedicate the temple in two sessions on Sunday, March 24, 2024. The dedicatory sessions at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. MDT will be broadcast to all units in the Red Cliffs Utah Temple district.

Church President Russell M. Nelson announced the Red Cliffs Utah Temple on October 7, 2018. The groundbreaking was held on November 7, 2020.

The Red Cliffs Utah Temple is one of the Church’s 28 houses of the Lord dedicated or under construction or renovation in Utah.