It's amazing just stepping on the temple grounds.
You get emotional.
Because I love this temple.
Sacred and serene, an oasis in a harsh desert climate.
It means everything to be able to return to the Mesa Temple.
And a spiritual refuge from the harshness of the world.
The feeling you get in there is probably
the same feeling you get when you go to heaven.
The Mesa Arizona Temple of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be
rededicated after more than three years of extensive renovation.
I look forward to it all. I get to go.
Larry Frost remembers witnessing the original dedication in 1927
as a 10-year-old boy.
It took us two days to come down here on a very rough road.
Now, at an energetic 104 years old,
Larry looks forward to witnessing
the rededication of his beloved temple,
which has blessed his family for generations, and
where he worked as a volunteer for 20 years.
My time at the temple is a very choice time.
The Mesa Temple holds deep connections to thousands of
families that have passed through its doors for nearly a century.
The reason why this is special to me is because it’s
the temple that we were sealed as a family.
Elizabeth recalls selling everything her family owned to
make the costly journey from El Salvador to Arizona to be joined
together as a family forever.
Over the years, large groups of Latinos have done the same,
made possible by a significant event that took place in 1945 in
Mesa that forever changed temple worship—
the first temple ceremony offered in Spanish—that now enables
millions of families to participate in their native
languages across the globe.
The connection to the Mesa Temple runs deep with
the local community as well.
Its grounds are open to all, regardless of belief or faith.
The Church’s invitation to invite the community in
for Christmas lights and Easter pageants has created
a tremendous amount of goodwill.
Improvements were made during
the renovation to further enrich those traditions, with upgraded
lighting and seating for an enhanced guest experience.
Also new to the temple grounds:
the relocation of the visitors’ center and
the larger reflection pool for
an unobstructed view that directs the focus toward the temple.
A fresh landscaping design with conservation in mind.
We saved over 300 plants and trees that are back
on this site that we had to carefully work around.
And to conserve a precious resource in this arid environment,
a new irrigation system collects and reuses water.
The nearly 75,000-square-foot structure is
the seventh temple of the Church and the first to be built in
the Grand Canyon State.
Its design: a departure from previous temple architecture.
The Church was coming out of this era of immense persecution
and wanted to build temples that fit in with
the landscape, that weren’t making too bold of a statement.
So here in Mesa, they chose a temple without a steeple,
without a Moroni, in a Colonial Revival style.
With its terracotta cladding,
the Colonial Revival–style structure includes classical
design cues, such as an entablature festooned with
cartouches, resting on faux columns called pilasters, and
a bas-relief on the frieze that depicts the gathering of Israel.
You have scenes of America, of South America,
of the Pacific Islands, of Europe coming to the temple, and
as you get closer to the west entrance,
so the main entrance of the building,
the figures on those panels become more animated,
more lively. They’re in a bigger rush to get to the door and
enter the building.
The exterior improvement’s only half the transformation.
Significant changes occurred on the interior as well.
We had to work with historic structures
and new structures and blend them together to make them look like
they're unified and part of the same system.
Updating with more efficient utility systems,
especially air conditioning, were at the top of the list.
I grew up in Mesa, and my parents, I can remember them saying,
“Oh wow, it was really hot in the temple today.”
And that has been a constant concern: that
the patrons are comfortable.
Utility improvements required removing some instruction-room
walls, a few with mural sections that couldn’t be safely restored.
Remnants of the original pieces now grace other areas of
the temple. An artist was commissioned to create new
murals to completely cover the walls of each instruction room,
similar to how they looked in 1927.
The new paintings pay homage to the original artists.
Became very connected to feeling akin to them.
I felt a harmony and
a resonance with their intent in what I was portraying.
Precise alignment was key to hanging the canvases
and fitting the rooms’ challenging radius corners
and chamfered window enclosures.
After it’s been painted
and blended together,
it looks like one piece of canvas that covers the entire wall,
but it’s really 48 pieces. [Laughs]
I came to really love the painters that originally did this work.
One of the most extensive restoration projects in
the temple: the grand hall murals depicting
the Church’s first President, Joseph Smith, and his brother,
Hyrum, sharing the message of the gospel to
the Native American nations.
And the baptistery mural, portraying John the Baptist
conferring the Aaronic priesthood.
Conservators removed layers of paint from years of modifications
to reveal the truest version of the original artists.
One of my favorite modifications that was removed was
the halo of light is back around John the Baptist.
Other original oil paintings from
a variety of artists are hung throughout the temple, while
images of the Savior fill the halls of this sacred structure,
reminding guests this is the house of the Lord.
Cartouches, rosettes, and urns,
design cues popular in 1920s America, are ever present.
They, along with meticulously handcrafted furnishings,
emote a sense of nostalgia.
Guests will notice fluted pilasters
and marble flooring from Turkey and Spain featured in
the redesigned front entrance, a new guest waiting area.
The marble flooring from the entrance carries through to
the grand foyer. Here, illustrations of the colors based
on the temple's original 1920s color palette can be observed.
More than 50 different decorative paints were used to restore
rooms to their previous luster of nearly a century ago.
Patrons are going to be able to still recognize their temple
because of a lot of the design that we used and added.
Calvin says it took painstaking effort and prayer to replicate
and match the materials used in the temple. One example:
original marble for wainscot and base was traced to
a quarry in a small town in Utah.
Everything that we had matched exactly what was here
in the historic time.
A new waiting area for wedding parties off
the grand foyer spans nearly the entire north end of the temple.
In the hottest part of the summer, when they’re still having
weddings, they would be outside on the steps
or whatever shade they could find.
The grand hall of gray granite,
one of the least changed spaces of the temple.
Refreshed, it now appears as it did in the newly completed temple.
The bride's room features a crystal chandelier and sconces,
walnut millwork, and decorative friezes.
The baptistry: its purpose to follow
the Savior’s commandment that all must be baptized. Here,
temple patrons can act on behalf of those who did not have
the chance in this life.
Notable are the rare terracotta mosaic tiles that decorate the
font, supported by terracotta-clad oxen that represent
the twelve tribes of Israel, and restored paintings depicting the
Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery performing baptisms.
Unique to the Mesa Temple, above the doorways:
scriptural passages that invite introspection
as patrons progress through the sacred space.
Sealing rooms where families are joined together
for time and eternity.
In the Mesa Temple, patrons advance room to room.
Each instruction room is elevated slightly above
the previous one, symbolizing progression toward heaven.
This is where devout members learn about God’s Creation
and purpose of life.
We come to the temple to make covenants
or promises with God. It’s where everything we say, we see, we do
points us to the Savior, to strive to become more like Him.
Lustrous crystalline chandeliers highlight
a finely appointed celestial room,
exquisitely detailed furnishings and decor
designed to uplift the spirit and inspire the soul.
We used the finest materials
and highest-quality processes to build a house of the Lord.
Entering this sacred space represents
the ultimate progression one can achieve toward heaven itself.
The Mesa Arizona Temple,
with its rich heritage, stands majestic and new,
ready to once again serve as a heavenly refuge to families
and the community.
The entire temple, in reality, is just stunning.
The Lord will be very pleased.
This is the temple where I grew up. It’s everything. This is home.
It's home.