Albuquerque New Mexico Temple
The Albuquerque New Mexico Temple is the 73rd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Albuquerque New Mexico Temple was the first temple built in the state of New Mexico. When problems were encountered in obtaining approval from the city for the temple plans, youth members in the area fasted and prayed for a resolution. Once approval was granted, they fasted and prayed again—this time for the construction workers.
Prayers were answered as ground for the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple was broken in a special ceremony on 20 June 1998. About 6,500 members attended the event. During the ceremony, a 600-voice youth choir provided the music. Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen, of the Seventy and president of the North America Southwest Area, presided over the groundbreaking ceremony. He said, “It is during these special moments that we can feel and see the hand of the Lord moving in the work. You might not remember everything that was said this warm and glorious morning, but you will remember the feeling. What you feel today will help you in your search for happiness throughout your lives.” [1]
During the ceremony Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Seventy said, “The temple is a place where people can step outside the worldliness and refresh, regroup, and reorient themselves as to what really matters. It is a place to gain strength and gain fresh perspectives. The temple is the house of God. It is a house of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, and order.” [1]
During the 10-day open house, about 70,000 people toured the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the temple on 5 March 2000. During the dedicatory prayer President Hinckley talked about the return of the prophet Elijah to Joseph Smith and the return of the sealing keys. He prayed, "May Thy people with greater diligence search for their kindred dead. May the hearts of the children turn to their fathers, and when they have identified them may they perform a great and wondrous vicarious service in their behalf in this Thy sacred house." [2]
The Albuquerque New Mexico Temple serves about 55,000 members in New Mexico and bordering parts of Arizona and Colorado. It sits on 8.5 acres northeast of Albuquerque. The exterior is finished with desert rose pre-cast concrete and trimmed with Texas pearl granite. A gold statue of the angel Moroni tops the single-spire. The temple has a total of 34,245 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and three sealing rooms.
The original entrance doors of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple were hinged doors that were opened by hand. However, because of the near-constant mountain winds that made closing the doors difficult, they were replaced with glass sliding doors. In October 2019, the former kitchen and cafeteria area on the ground level was renovated into additional office space.[1]
In 1831, one year after the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church leader Oliver Cowdery preached to Native Americans in Missouri. Part of the Mormon Battalion, a group of Latter-day Saints preparing to fight in the Mexican-American War, crossed New Mexico in 1846.
Missionary work among Native Americans began as early as the 1860s. Two elders found success while laboring among the Zuni Indians on the Little Colorado River in New Mexico. They baptized more than 100 converts. Many Church settlements in New Mexico absorbed refugees from the Latter-day Saint colonies in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution in 1912.
A second temple in New Mexico is under construction in Farmington.
Notes
- “News of the Church,” Ensign, Sept. 1998, 78
- "Dedicatory prayer: 'Open the hands of Thy bounty,'" Church News, 11 Mar. 2000, 25 Jun. 2005
