San Diego California Temple
The San Diego California Temple, the 47th constructed and 45th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was announced on 7 April 1984.
The 72,000 square foot sacred edifice consisting of four ordinance rooms and eight sealing rooms, located on seven acres near the La Jolla community of San Diego, adjacent to the main thoroughfare between San Diego and Los Angeles, reaches 190 feet in the air. Every day, tens of thousands of cars travel the freeway and see the temple with its gleaming white exterior.[1]. The temple was built with two main spires, but unique to this temple are four smaller spires at the base of each main spire. The East spire is topped with a gold-leafed statue of the Angel Moroni.
Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons), have lived in San Diego for nearly 166 years. On January 29, 1847, the soldiers of the Mormon Battalion entered San Diego, completing the longest infantry march in the history of the United States Army. Recruited to help secure California in the Mexican War, these pioneers left their wives and children and marched more than 2,000 miles from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to the Presidio of San Diego. After the Mexican War, some members of the Mormon Battalion settled in California.
President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the San Diego California Temple on April 25, 1993. President Hinckley cautioned the members to never lose sight of the purpose of temples, "the whole purpose is to provide a place where we can worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience, exercise the priesthood that has been restored in its fullness and receive the blessings that are administered only in these holy houses." [2]
The San Diego California Temple has a total of 72,000 square feet, four ordinance rooms, and eight sealing rooms.
Notes
- "45th Temple Dedicated: Dream becomes reality as temple is dedicated", LDS Church News, May 1993
- "The First 100 Temples", by Chad Hawkins, 2001, p 123-125
- In spring of 2010 the Church began to refurbish the exterior of the temple. Crews are cleaning the exterior with a special liquid, repairing the roof and towers, recaulking seams on the white aggregate-stone and stucco of the temple, and coating it with a sealant. The temple will remain open during the maintenance project, which is to be completed in mid- to late July, 2010.
Temples in California
- Bakersfield California Temple
- Feather River California Temple
- Fresno California Temple
- Los Angeles California Temple
- Modesto California Temple
- Newport Beach California Temple
- Oakland California Temple
- Redlands California Temple
- Sacramento California Temple
- San Diego California Temple
- San Jose California Temple
- Yorba Linda California Temple
