{"id":4032,"date":"2026-05-11T04:31:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T04:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4032"},"modified":"2026-05-11T04:31:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T04:31:45","slug":"new-latter-day-saints-temple-in-yorba-linda-opens-doors-for-tours-before-final-dedication-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4032","title":{"rendered":"New Latter-day Saints temple in Yorba Linda opens doors for tours before final dedication"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSacred, not secret.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the next month or so, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is welcoming visitors to the 30,000-square-foot temple recently completed in Yorba Linda \u2014 only the ninth to be built in California \u2014 before a dedication ceremony declares it a \u201chouse of the Lord\u201d and it becomes exclusive to members for special ceremonies and worship.<\/p>

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\u201cThe idea is to keep this space as sacred as possible. Only members who have prepared themselves will be able to enter,\u201d Elder Mathias Held said during a Monday, April 27, temple tour, one of many that will be offered through June 7. \u201cBut before the temple is dedicated, we want as many people as possible to come here and see everything so that they understand what happens in these temples.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 185,000 people reserved tours in 2005 when the church\u2019s first temple in Orange County opened in Newport Beach, marveling at its architecture and workmanship, according to news reports at the time.<\/p>\n

The temples are not sanctuaries for regular Sunday services, but instead a sacred space for ceremonies such as sealing a marriage for eternity, performing proxy baptisms and teaching the Mormon faith.<\/p>\n

As Elder Takashi Wada put it: \u201cLife outside of the temple is busy, full of decisions, competition. People in here, we\u2019re all equal.\u201d<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t one large sanctuary in the temple, but instead a labyrinth of rooms, each about the size of a large living room, and each with a dedicated function.<\/p>\n

The baptistry \u2014 superlatives such as \u201cgrand\u201d and \u201cornate\u201d don\u2019t capture its magnitude \u2014 is one of the temple\u2019s core rooms, where members can get baptized, sometimes on behalf of their ancestors who died without undergoing the sacred ritual.<\/p>

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A full-immersion baptismal font sits in the center of the room, raised at least 15 feet in the air and resting on the backs of 12 golden oxen, a scene \u201cas described in the Old Testament, representing the 12 tribes of Israel,\u201d Held said. Sunlight flooding through the room\u2019s towering glass windows illuminates the scene.<\/p>\n

Chrissy McClintock, a church member and Yorba Linda resident who toured last week with her family, called the new temple \u201cstriking\u201d \u2014 an impression made quickly upon \u201cjust first coming in the front door and seeing the grand painting of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>

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That\u2019s by design, Held said. The painting looms in the center of the entrance, encased in a gold frame mounted on a wooden arch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing that you will notice is Jesus Christ,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause he stands really at the center of everything that happens here.\u201d<\/p>

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