EPHRAIM, Utah – Long time and new residents of Ephraim Utah say they are excited about a new temple that was announced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Abby King and Jacob Semadani serve on the Institute Council at Snow College and were sitting on the stand for the special broadcast and news event.
“We were talking to Sheri Dew, and she was like, ‘Tell everybody that the temple will help you in your life,’ and I just think it is such a blessing that we get to have that,” said King.
They say college students away from home the first time are sometimes choosing for themselves whether to keep attending church. Having a temple within walking distance will help those who choose to stay faithful and receive those blessings.
“I’m just excited. Now we get to have a temple that we can walk to in between Institute and Business Law class,” said Semadani.
Michael and Dawn Patton were coaching a youth soccer game on Saturday when they got notifications on their phones.
“I thought they were talking about the Manti Temple,” said Dawn. “And then it was like, oh my goodness, this is real. We are excited.”
Michael, Ephraim’s city’s recreation director said, “It’s a shocker, but really exciting about the temple,” he continued. “Ephraim is a growing town, and this is one of those things that will help Ephraim, but also members of the church here.”
The Pattons recently moved to Ephraim, and haven’t been able to attend the Manti Temple yet because of Covid restrictions. But they do like to walk around it.
“It will be nice to be able to go walk with our family on Sundays around the Ephraim temple grounds, too, when it is built,” said Dawn.
The Church announced on Saturday that the Manti Temple will close on October first and the renovations will last between 18 and 24 months. The addition of the Ephraim Temple will mean that the Manti temple won’t need to be closed as long to completely change on the inside to accommodate more people at one time. And that in turn also means the pioneer-era murals can stay on the walls.
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