LDS Church held ground breaking ceremony for new temple on Yonezawa Blvd.

Photo from ceremony by LDS

-Moses Lake, WA

Latter-day Saint leaders gathered to break ground for the new Moses Lake Temple and the state’s 4th temple Saturday afternoon. The Moses Lake Washington Temple will sit on a 17-acre site located on Yonezawa Boulevard, next to Division Street. The event marked the beginning of the construction of a single-story building, approximately 20,000 square feet. A 17,000-square-foot meetinghouse will be built alongside the temple.

Elder David L. Stapleton, an Area Seventy, presided over the ceremony and offered the dedicatory prayer. “Please help us as we not only dedicate this ground but also rededicate our lives to Thee and Thy purposes when this new temple will be completed in all its beauty,” he said.

Elder Stapleton was joined by his wife, Barb, along with groundbreaking coordinators Steve and Barbara Jorgensen. The Jorgensen's gave remarks at the ceremony.

Russell M. Nelson announced the Moses Lake Temple during the April 2019 general conference in Utah. During his remarks, Steve Jorgensen said,

"We were quite astonished and humbled by the announcement of a temple to be built here in Moses Lake. What a wonderful blessing."

Photo By: LDS

He continued to say

"We are recipients of this blessing [the temple] because of the pioneer heritage of those who came. Many of us today are children or grandchildren of the early pioneers."

Because of Washington’s COVID social distancing guidelines, attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony was limited.