BURLEY, Idaho — For several years, Susan Young and others would show up once a week at the Twin Falls Idaho Temple at 3:30 a.m. to open the gates for youth standing outside waiting to do baptisms for the dead in the early morning hours.
Those youth would wait for the temple workers to get dressed in their temple clothes then make their way to the baptismal font.
“The whole baptistry was filled with youth sitting in white,” said Young, who was the Twin Falls temple matron from 2016 to 2019. “There was no talking; it was so reverent you could hear a pin drop.”
Young said many of those young men and young women came from Burley, Idaho, and other small towns in the area that will be in the new Burley Idaho Temple district. Young and her husband, Paul Young, both live in Burley.
“I’m not surprised we got a temple; there are some very, very valiant people,” Susan Young said.
The Burley Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, during the temple media day in Burley, Idaho. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
The Burley Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will become the 212th operating temple of the Church when it’s dedicated on Sunday, Jan. 11. For people living in the area, it will shorten their travel time to a temple from 45 minutes to about five.
The Church announced that President Dallin H. Oaks will dedicate the temple. This will be the first temple he dedicates as Church President and the first temple dedication in 2026.
Speaking at the start of the public open house, Elder Steven R. Bangerter, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department, praised the members of the Church in the area who have prayed for a temple.
“They’ve knelt on their knees and prayed for a temple of God in their midst,” he said. “And now this temple will be filled with the youth of Zion.”
The exterior of the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The temple stands amid farms plowed by families who settled in Idaho’s Magic Valley. Leroy Funk and his siblings donated the land they grew up on and farmed for decades. He credits the efforts of early Latter-day Saints in the area for laying the groundwork.
“It is here because of the faithful ones who came before,” Funk said. “The Lord’s in charge, and He puts people where they need to be.”
Design motifs throughout the temple draw from the local landscapes, including the sugar beet and potato fields that Magic Valley is known for. Art-glass patterns inside the temple highlight the blossoms and leaves of the potato plant. The color palette ties to the local farmland and open skies, with hues of blue, gold, amber, cream, orange, peach and green.
An art-glass window inside the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Located along the historic Oregon Trail, the Burley area has a long history of Latter-day Saint pioneers and settlers.
In 1879, William C. Martindale led a company from Tooele County, Utah, to the Goose Creek Valley. They found one Latter-day Saint family who had already claimed the land and built cabins along with other non-Latter-day Saint families. The first branch of 14 people met in May 1880 in a log cabin.
Open house brought many miracles
Burley is often cold and windy during November, but the public open house began with a sunny, unseasonably warm day on Monday, Nov. 3. And that continued throughout the month, especially on the three Saturdays during the open house when most people could attend.
The recommend desk inside the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Dee and Bonnie Jones, who serve as coordinators of the Burley temple open house and dedication committee, joked that it was so warm they were offering sunscreen for those standing outside.
Other logistical challenges were also resolved as the Joneses prepared. Bonnie Jones said it was beautiful to sit back and see everything come together.
“Because it’s His work and His house,” she said.
Dee Jones said, “It was very evident through the whole process that we were being guided by the Spirit.”
The Joneses said they saw friends of the Church visit the temple and feel the Lord’s Spirit there.
The Burley Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, during the temple media day in Burley, Idaho. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
“I think it just confirms that abiding testimony that we already have of the Savior and that this is His work and the temple is His holy house,” Dee Jones said.
Tours included 143 tours in Spanish, nine in American Sign Language and one tactile tour for people with disabilities.
Stefanie Smith Saltern, from Meridian, Idaho, said the celestial room “felt like heaven” during her tour.
“I love how the hosts emphasized Heavenly Father’s love,” she said.
Elder Bangerter said the beauty of the temple “demonstrates our love for God and our devotion to God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Media representatives begin their tour of the Burley Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, during the temple media day in Burley, Idaho. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Temples in Idaho
On April 4, 2021, then-Church President Russell M. Nelson announced a house of the Lord for Burley, Idaho. It was one of 20 locations he identified in the April 2021 general conference, including temples for five neighboring states.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held June 4, 2022, to commence the Burley temple’s construction phase. The event was presided over by Elder Brent H. Nielson — a Burley native and then of the Presidency of the Seventy — who later received emeritus status in 2024.
“Soon the temple will be your home,” he said at the groundbreaking, “and I hope that as you feel that and understand that, this will become a wonderful place for you to find solace and peace and joy and happiness.”
Elder Brent H. Nielson — a Burley native and then of the Presidency of the Seventy, who later received emeritus status in 2024 — and his wife, Sister Marcia Nielson, look out at the crowd as Burley, Idaho, and surrounding area residents gather to take part in the groundbreaking of the Burley Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, June 4, 2022. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
The Burley temple is one of Idaho’s 11 houses of the Lord in various stages of operation, construction or planning.
Six of those temples are operating — in Idaho Falls (dedicated in 1945), Boise (1984), Rexburg (2008), Twin Falls (2008), Meridian (2017) and Pocatello (2021).
Two houses of the Lord are under construction in Idaho: the Montpelier Idaho Temple, since June 2023, and the Teton River Idaho Temple, since June 2024. The latter will be Rexburg’s second temple.
Two temples are in planning stages: the Coeur d’Alene Idaho Temple, announced in October 2024, and the Caldwell Idaho Temple, announced in April 2025.
In 1855, early pioneers of the Church first settled in Idaho at Fort Lemhi, then part of the Oregon Territory. Fourteen years later, the Bear Lake Stake — Idaho’s first — was organized in 1869. Church Presidents Harold B. Lee, Ezra Taft Benson and Howard W. Hunter were born in Idaho.
Today, Idaho is home to almost 500,000 Latter-day Saints in around 1,300 congregations.
The Burley Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, during the temple media day in Burley, Idaho. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Burley Idaho Temple
Address: 40 S. 150 East, Burley, Idaho 83318
Announced: April 4, 2021, by President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: June 4, 2022, presided over by Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Presidency of the Seventy
Public open house: Nov. 6 through Nov. 22, 2025, excluding Sundays
To be dedicated: Jan. 11, 2026, by President Dallin H. Oaks
Property size: 10.12 acres
Building size: 45,300 square feet
Building height: 172 feet (including the spire)
The exterior of the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The brides’ room inside the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The entryway of the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The celestial room inside the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints A hallway inside the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints A waiting area inside the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints A sealing room inside the Burley Idaho Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
