Layton Mayor Bob Stevenson holds his tickets from the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference, where he sat in the second row for the announcement that his city is getting a new LDS temple.
LAYTON – Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Layton had no idea their church was planning to build a new temple for them in their city.
Jennifer Bailey is thrilled.
“Just having a temple within 10 or 15 minutes of us makes us feel like we’re spoiled,” she said.
Rebecca Wilhelmsen feels the same way.
“I think it’s very exciting,” she said. “I think it’s a surprise since we have another temple that’s not too far away.”
Wilhelmsen referred to the LDS temples in Ogden and Bountiful. But these members welcome the future Layton Temple.
Mayor Bob Stevenson hopes it will bring more people to his city, and more planes from Hill Air Force Base.
“I was just thinking about how cool it will be for those F-35 pilots to be taking off from that base, and coming back and landing, and seeing that glow of that temple,” he said.
Stevenson kept quiet for a week. A church official approached him with the news.
After the church’s public announcement, he got 70 texts in seven minutes expressing excitement.
Stevenson says the Layton temple will match the large sizes of Ogden’s and Jordan River’s temples.
The LDS Church has not announced an exact location or timeframe for the new Layton temple.