BURLEY — The newly constructed Burley Temple opened its doors this week to offer public tours to both members and nonmembers alike, four years after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans for the building.

Guests can tour the interior and learn more about what takes place inside its walls during the temple open house, which began Thursday and will continue until Nov. 22, excluding Sundays. The church will formally dedicate the temple in January, after which only actively engaged members of the faith can attend.

“Temples are central to the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” said Elder Steven R. Bangerter, executive director of the temple department. “To us, it is a place of holiness where sacred ordinances occur for the purpose of drawing us nearer to our Redeemer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the purpose of the temple.”

Each temple contains rooms that give members the opportunity to receive sacred ordinances that are “necessary for the children of God to enable them to return to dwell with Him,” according to the church’s website.

Among these is the baptismal font room, where members perform proxy baptisms; instruction rooms, where members learn about God’s plan for mankind; and a room members consider the most sacred room, the celestial room. Members perform no ordinances in this room, but individuals have the opportunity to sit within its walls to pray and reflect on life and God’s purpose for them.

Another room the public can tour is the sealing room, where the church marries and seals couples together as a family not just for this life but for eternity as long as they honor the covenants they make with their spouse and God.

For many members, this promise of being together with family after death offers peace and comfort, and the sealing room holds a special place in many hearts. For Elder Karl D. Hirst, a general area seventy with the church’s United States Central Area, the room holds a striking memory for him.

His parents originally were not members of the church, and joining the gospel was a personal journey for each of them. Over the course of eight years, they became converts, with his father joining first and Hirst following suit when he was 10 years old. His mother was last to join, and he recalls standing in a sealing room with his family when he was 14 years old as the London temple sealed them together.

“When I was a boy, my family didn’t all join the church at the same time. So my first memory of being in the temple is being in the sealing room with my parents and my sister and just receiving that blessing of being together again,” Hirst said.

Another special place Hirst hopes everyone — not just those who can attend the temple ceremonies — takes advantage of are the temple grounds. Among the tended-to flowers, shrubbery and trees are benches anyone can use to rest from the chaos of life and the outside world.

“Obviously we perform no ordinances on the grounds, but for me they are sacred, and I think that for local communities, just as a place of stillness and peace, there’s something remarkable about being around the temple in these grounds,” he said. “(It’s) almost a celestial room experience without (being in) the celestial room. Things can slow down here in a way they can’t anywhere else.”

Artwork and interior designs of the new temple reflect the agricultural and outdoor heritage of the Burley area. The stained-glass windows display potato plant blossoms beneath blue skies, and artwork by award-winning wildlife artist Leon Parson hangs in many rooms and halls throughout the temple among other works from other artists.

Idaho has 11 temples, with others scattered throughout the state, including Boise, Idaho Falls, Meridian, Pocatello, Rexburg and Twin Falls.

Almost half a million members of the church live in Idaho, accounting for about a quarter of the state’s population.

“Temples are a vital part of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness,” said President Nelson in April 2021. “Ordinances of the temple fill our lives with power and strength available in no other way. We thank God for those blessings.”

The open house runs 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except Sundays, and tours will start every 10 minutes. Church officials expect the busiest times to be in the evenings and weekends and will have a tent with chairs available for those waiting.

For more information about the open house, visit churchofjesuschrist.org/featured/burley-idaho-open-house.