'Marvelous blessings:' LDS officials break ground for Missoula temple

Construction for a Missoula temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints broke ground with a ceremony in Lower Miller Creek on Saturday morning, featuring national and local LDS church officials.

The temple, the first in western Montana, holds a higher spiritual meaning to church members than meeting houses that already exist across Missoula and nearby towns.

Elder José A. Teixeira, the president of the United States central area and a top official for the LDS Church, told a crowd of people gathered at the temple site the new location will strengthen the faith of its members.

"I can't help but wake up with a smile this morning because of this lovely settling, here in this valley surrounded by these beautiful mountains," Teixeira said. "And in this beautiful valley, we are gathering together to see the beginning of the construction of one more temple of the lord."

Hundreds of members of the church attended the ceremony at the new temple site, where church members gave prayer, played songs and turned the dirt on the site using golden shovels.

Montana has two other temples: one in Helena and the other in Billings. For years beforehand, Teixeira told the Missoulian that members of the church traveled as far as Canada, and then Spokane, to attend temple services.

Craig Bell, a member of the Missoula LDS stake, told the audience that when the Billings temple opened in 1999, top church leaders said there were already talks to add a location in Missoula.

He said unlike a meeting house, temples offer members of the LDS church a direct connection with God through special ceremonies.

"A temple of God is the most sacred place of worship in the world, a place where heaven touches the earth," Bell said, "a place where marvelous blessings are bestowed."

When the temple is built, there is an opportunity for the public to tour the inside of the building, but eventually access is restricted only to members of the church.

The LDS church, also known as Mormon church, has 17 million members worldwide, according to church data. About 52,000 members of the church reside in Montana.

The Missoulian previously reported census data that showed 5,036 Missoula County residents identify as members of the church, or 4.27% of all county residents.

Ward 5 Missoula City Councilor Bob Campbell, who represents the neighborhood where the new church will be constructed, attended the ceremony and held one of the shovels in the groundbreaking.

He told the Missoulian that a temple has been sought after in Missoula for "decades," and it was a special day for the church.

"Representing the Ward here, it was definitely an honor to come here and be a part of their celebration," Campbell told the Missoulian. "This is a huge celebration, a huge day."

The Missoula City Council first approved the church as a part of a larger subdivision on the corner of Lower Miller Creek Road and Old Bitterroot Road in December 2022.

The new temple is planned to occupy 19,000 square feet and reach one story in height, which is capped at 35 feet by the neighborhood's zoning. A steeple for the temple is allowed to reach over that height.

Church officials said the temple is planned to open in approximately two years.

Teixeira thanked members of the church, other religious congregations and local leaders in Missoula's government for making the groundbreaking possible.

"We love this place, we love the people here, and we have felt their love and their acceptance of us as well," Teixeira said in an interview.