EPHRAIM, Utah-Saturday, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for a new temple to be constructed in Ephraim.

Pres. Nelson stated, during the dedicatory prayer, that members of the Church are grateful for their ancestors as they have laid a foundation for spiritual strength.

Pres. Nelson was accompanied by his wife, Wendy, and Elder Walter F. Gonzalez, a General Authority Seventy, as well as Elder Kevin R. Duncan, the Executive Director of the Church’s Temple Department and their wives.

Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox, a native of Fairview, Utah and a graduate of nearby North Sanpete High School, and other government leaders, also attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

The Ephraim Temple is to be constructed on a 9.16-acre site at the intersection of 200 North and 400 East in Ephraim. This is to be a three-story temple of approximately 39,000 square feet.

This temple is to serve 31,000 Latter-day Saints in Sanpete, Emery and Carbon counties.