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Orem Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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The celestial room in the Orem Utah Temple.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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The baptistry in the Orem Utah Temple, featuring hand-painted decoration on the font and sitting on the backs of a dozen oxen symbolizing the 12 tribes of Israel.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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The grand staircase in the Orem Utah Temple that leads three stories up.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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A sealing room in the Orem Utah Temple.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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The waiting room in the Orem Utah Temple.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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A chandelier hangs in the celestial room in the Orem Utah Temple.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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The brides room in the Orem Utah Temple. Down the hallway are individual rooms to put on makeup, do hair and dress.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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When Zac Whitlock, Utah Valley University student body president, leaves for school each morning, he can see the new Orem Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near the UVU campus.

“I am overjoyed and excited for the temple,” Whitlock said. “The suspense has been building watching the construction. It’s a fantastic opportunity for UVU students. You can’t see the university without seeing the temple.”

Whitlock is a returned missionary from the Knoxville Tennessee Mission and is a junior studying personal financial planning. Grace Miller, also studying financial planning and a returned missionary from the Yakima Washington Mission, said she is touched by the outpouring of God and Christ’s love she feels at the temple.

“The first thought I had when I saw inside was, ‘I’ve got to get married here,'” Miller said. “This solidifies how God feels an infinite value for all his children, struggles or not.”

The two UVU Wolverines believe the temple is meant particularly for younger adults. The younger-looking décor and the opportunity for both men and women to serve — for instance, as marriage (sealing) witnesses — shows the Lord loves his children, they said.

“I love that the Lord continues to unify men and women,” Miller said.

The Orem temple will open for free public tours this week. Media and invited guests walked through the structure Monday. Public open houses will begin Friday and run through Dec. 16, excluding Sundays and Thanksgiving.

The Orem temple was first announced at the October 2019 general conference and will be dedicated on Jan. 21, 2024. The 70,000-square-foot building sits on a 15.39-acre site at 1471 S. Geneva Road, just west of Interstate 15 and near UVU.

Doug Anderson, director of church media communications and an Orem resident, noted the temple should be in the minds and hearts of all young people.

Chad Lewis, a stake president helping to host VIP and media tours, is a former member of the NFL and calls the temple a “Super Bowl” for the city. “I grew up in this city,” he said. “I really didn’t think they would build a temple in Orem with two in Provo. Every person who lives in Orem should see this.”

Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella, a General Authority Seventy and assistant director of the Temple Executive Committee, noted that he had studied to be a journalist in college and wondered what kind of message would be newsworthy.

Parrella threw out a few statistics, like that Orem’s is the 186th completed temple in the church; there are 57,000 people in the temple district that takes in southwest Orem, Vineyard and northwest Provo; and there are six temples in Utah County, the highest concentration of temples in Utah. But it is the importance of learning about life and Christ that should bring members to the temple, he said.

“The spiritual importance is for all nations,” Parrella said. “This is literally a house of the Lord. Come and feel what the temple is.”

Unique to the Orem temple is the brides room that not only features a gathering place with floor-length mirrors and artwork of women but has individual dressing rooms and makeup tables for a more personal experience — the only temple to have these individual rooms.

Sister Elaine Parrella said if she were single, she would feel how much love God has for her, that she is valued and has individual care. She also said the Orem temple has the most beautiful brides room.

Also unique to the temple are the lifelike paintings of Bridal Veil Falls and surrounding meadows in the lobby of the temple.

With the number of temples announced and in various stages of construction, Elder Parrella said the temple committee, while busy, never feels overwhelmed.

“Obviously we work hard, but each temple has a singular city connectivity,” Parrella said.

Parrella added that President Russell M. Nelson wants church members to “think celestial,” and what better place, he said, than in a temple.

“He’s again teaching us to enlarge our vision and our long-term vision and enjoy the journey. This is what the Orem temple is about; it is finding the joy,” Parella said.

Located between the Wasatch Mountains and Utah Lake, the temple sits on a site settled by Norwegian immigrants who arrived in Utah in 1864.

Once known as Lake View, the area was home to fruit orchards. For that reason, the cherry blossom is the main design element of the interior finishes in the temple’s art glass, wood panels and metal handrails, according to church information.

“Similar to the exterior, the interior is simple, with natural materials,” the church stated in a press release. “The design and finishes complement the ordinances and the significant patron areas. The use of marble wainscots and wood columns is common throughout the temple. The detail of the columns, coffered ceilings, and marble wainscot is more articulated as one moves through the ordinance rooms, culminating in the celestial room. The woodwork is painted, and the wall coverings are subtle, allowing the attention to remain on what takes place in the various rooms. The secondary spaces are simpler yet lovely.”

The numerous stained glass windows were done by Tom Holdman, who grew up in Orem.

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