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President Jeffrey R. Holland, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dedicated the Grand Junction Colorado Temple on Sunday, October 19, 2025. During his remarks at the ceremony, President Holland spoke about the significance of temples for members and their role as places of peace and instruction.
He addressed those gathered by emphasizing that temples are places set apart from a world he described as divided and noisy. “A world as close to God’s world as we can find in mortality,” said President Holland, referring to the temple's environment. He explained his evolving understanding of the phrase displayed on every temple: “House of the Lord.” According to him, this means that a temple is literally God's house. “It is one of the ties on earth that He has with His children that are here,” he stated. “It is the obvious place to which God could come if He had family business on the earth. And ultimately, all of His business on earth is family business.”
President Holland also reflected on another phrase common to Latter-day Saint temples: “holiness to the Lord.” He noted how this idea contrasts with what he called an increasingly unclean and distracting world. “How wonderful to have ‘holiness’ be the watchword of our day, our Latter-day Saint day, where we make covenants from our service here that counter the distractions and the noise and the destruction of the world out there,” he said.
The dedication was attended by other church leaders including Elder Steven R. Bangerter (General Authority Seventy and Executive Director of the Temple Department), Elder Karl D. Hirst (General Authority Seventy and Second Counselor in the United States Central Area), Bishop W. Christopher Waddell (First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric), along with their spouses.
Adeline Belle from Canyon View Ward served as youth speaker during services at Sunday's event. She shared her anticipation about having a temple nearby for her community: “God cares about His children everywhere, and this is a home that was made ... for people everywhere, but made and designed for Grand Junction,” Belle said.
The announcement for constructing a temple in Grand Junction was first made by President Russell M. Nelson during April 2021 general conference; its groundbreaking took place April 16, 2022. A public open house occurred from September 11–27, 2025.
This new facility is notable as it becomes western Colorado's first operating temple joining existing locations in Denver (dedicated in 1986) and Fort Collins (dedicated in 2016). Another site—Colorado Springs—was announced in 2023 and remains under planning.
With its completion, nearly 150,000 Latter-day Saints across approximately 310 congregations will now be served by this new house of worship.
