Idaho

Ground broken for second house of the Lord in Rexburg, Idaho

Published

2 years ago

June 1, 2024

Ground broken for second house of the Lord in Rexburg, Idaho

REXBURG, Idaho — With Rexburg to become Idaho’s first city with two temples, the Gem State isn’t losing its luster anytime soon.

Hundreds gathered for the groundbreaking of the Teton River Idaho Temple on Saturday, June 1, with clear skies and warm weather to contrast hail and rain in recent weeks. “The Lord is smiling down,” said one attendee.

Elder Ricardo P. Giménez, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the North America Central Area presidency, presided over the ceremony, joined by his wife, Sister Catherine Giménez.

Others in attendance included Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, a General Authority Seventy and president of nearby BYU–Idaho, and his wife, Sister Jennifer Meredith; Idaho Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke and his wife, Sarah Bedke; Rexburg Mayor Jerry Merrill and his wife, Marianne Merrill; and Sugar City Mayor Steven Adams and his wife, Michelle Adams.

In a prayer to dedicate the site for temple construction, Elder Giménez said: “Help us, O Father, to secure our foundation upon Jesus Christ, to be able to stand strong and secure because our spiritual foundation is solid and immovable. Because of this, we ask Thee, Father, for Thy help in our efforts to build ourselves and be prepared to partake of the eternal blessings available in Thy holy houses.”

Elder Ricardo P. Giménez, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the North America Central Area presidency, speaks at the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking ceremony in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

Guidance back to a heavenly home

Noting the beauty of the groundbreaking event’s sunny climate, Elder Giménez shared that “we can see the hand of the Lord in the things that are important to Him.” He testified to those in attendance that the reason they were all there was because of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

“He’s behind everything in our lives,” said Elder Giménez. “He is the reason why we can receive strength, guidance, forgiveness, is because of His infinite love and His infinite sacrifice for us.”

In the temple, Saints can learn about the plan of salvation and make covenants that can strengthen them in their journey back to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Elder Giménez said, “Heavenly Father wants all of us to return home and to have joy and comfort in our lives. He will never, ever leave us alone. That’s why He has created the plan for us — so we can return home.”

The house of the Lord, he said, is a tool Saints have in these latter days to be guided in their mortal journey and receive strength to move forward.

“And yes, sometimes it’s going to be challenging,” he said, “but we trust, we love, and we keep moving forward. And one day, we will look back, and we will connect the dots, and we will understand — and every promise will be fulfilled.”

A group of attendees in formal attire listening to Elder Ricardo P. Giménez speaking from a pulpit outside. — Elder Ricardo P. Giménez, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the North America Central Area presidency, speaks at the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking ceremony in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

‘The cleanliness and beauty of this place’

A young woman in a black-and-pink dress speaking from a pulpit outside. — Trixie Smith of the Terreton Idaho Stake speaks at the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking ceremony in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

Trixie Smith, a young woman from the Terreton Idaho Stake, shared with those at the groundbreaking that when she attends the temple to do baptisms for the dead, she seeks wisdom and guidance for hard decisions.

“I don’t always receive an answer,” she said, “but I never leave the temple feeling worse about the situation.” She continued, “You will never leave the temple and think, ‘Wow, I wish I didn’t do that today.’”

Although Rexburg will soon have two temples within 5 miles of each other, she said, “I can almost guarantee you that they will constantly be busy with faithful members of the Church coming to serve and participate in the gathering of Israel.”

A young woman in a black-and-white dress speaking from a pulpit outside. — Rebekah Russell of the Rexburg Idaho YSA 1st Stake speaks at the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking ceremony in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

Rebekah Russell of the Rexburg Idaho YSA 1st Stake shared that in 1855, Brigham Young sent a party of early Latter-day Saint pioneers to Idaho’s Upper Snake River Valley to see if it could be settled.

They returned and recounted the region’s harsh winters that seemed to take up most of the year. Yet Brigham Young told them: “That’s all right, perfectly all right. When we need that country it will be all right and we will settle it.”

Russell said, “And so pioneers continued to establish the city of Rexburg, bent on following the direction of a Prophet of God and bent on permanency.”

She invited listeners to draw closer to the Lord and make the temple a permanent addition to their lives, especially through frequent attendance and keeping temple covenants.

“I know that it is worth every ounce of our effort to be in the house of the Lord, even if it requires you to endure a bitter winter.”

A man with suit, tie and glasses speaking from a pulpit outside. — Brent Kinghorn, patriarch of the Sugar City Idaho Stake, speaks at the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking ceremony in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

Brent Kinghorn, patriarch of the Sugar City Idaho Stake, has called Sugar City home for over 80 years of his life. “To one who never thought there would be a temple in Rexburg, I’m overwhelmed to think we’re going to get one even closer to where we live.”

The collapse of the Teton Dam in 1976, he pointed out, sent a mighty wave of water from the Teton River Canyon and engulfed the region, including the temple site.

“I wonder … if perhaps that flood cleansed this location for a future temple,” said Kinghorn, “and that the work here that will be accomplished can do so because of the cleanliness and beauty of this place.”

A group of attendees in formal attire listening outside. — Attendees listen at the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking ceremony in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

How attendees were taught by the Spirit

Kassandra Mackley of the Rexburg Idaho YSA 4th Stake has been to the temple site several times before the groundbreaking, but she said it feels different now that the grounds have been dedicated.

“Knowing in just a few short years what this place is going to be is so beautiful,” she told the Church News. “Where are all of us going to be in a few years? If we can turn this place into a beautiful temple, what can the Savior do with us?”

Randy Lords, superintendent of the Madison School District in Rexburg, said he is excited that students will have more opportunities to serve in the house of the Lord.

“It’s fun to go to our schools and see students who have come from the temple before school to start their day,” he said. “So I think that we’re seeing a great push by the rising generation to be in the temple, to make covenants and to serve their ancestors.”

A group of men and women in formal attire singing outside. — Members of the Driggs Idaho Stake sing “Now Let Us Rejoice” at the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking ceremony in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

President Greg Venema, president of the Rexburg Idaho YSA 11th Stake, felt peace and comfort at the groundbreaking as he recognized the individual strength a temple will bring.

“This is the way the Lord is blessing us in this difficult time to be able to have temples close to remind us of the permanence of our covenants, to help us to get through whatever is coming.”

President Venema’s wife, Sister Bonnie Venema, felt the Spirit’s powerful witness that this was sacred ground preserved for a purpose.

“I love the idea of being still,” she said. “Attending the temple allows us probably one of the fewest places to just be still, and I think people can reverence this site by coming here and being still.”

A close-up of golded-colored shovels. — Shovels used to break ground for the Teton River Idaho Temple in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

History of the Teton River Idaho Temple

Church President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Rexburg North, Idaho, on Oct. 3, 2021. Rexburg had a population of approximately 39,500, making it the smallest city in the world to have a second temple announced.

The Teton River temple will be the sixth house of the Lord to be built in the same city as another operating temple. It will also be built on the same street as the Rexburg Idaho Temple.

Located on a 16.6-acre site northwest of Second East and 2000 North in Rexburg, Idaho, the Teton River temple will have approximately 100,000 square feet.

This will be the ninth temple built in Idaho, which is currently home to more than 470,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A line of people in formal attire holding shovels into the dirt. — Local leaders and members break ground for the Teton River Idaho Temple in north Rexburg, Idaho, on June 1, 2024. | Michael Lewis, BYU–Idaho

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Idaho

‘Unrelenting’: Statehouse reporters recap 2026 legislative session in Idaho Falls – East Idaho News

Published

10 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

‘Unrelenting’: Statehouse reporters recap 2026 legislative session in Idaho Falls – East Idaho News

IDAHO FALLS — Two prominent Idaho Statehouse reporters say this past legislative session was “unrelenting,” chaotic, largely driven by budget cuts, and they see the Legislature getting more powerful.

Kevin Richert and Clark Corbin recapped this past legislative session at a forum on the ISU Idaho Falls Campus on Thursday.

Richert is a senior reporter at Idaho Education News, with more than 30 years of experience covering education policy and politics. Corbin is a senior reporter at the Idaho Capital Sun who has covered every Idaho legislative session, gavel to gavel, since 2011.

The event was hosted by the City Club of Idaho Falls, which “exists to sponsor and promote civil dialogue and discourse on all matters of public interest” and strives to be “nonpartisan and nonsectarian,” according to its website.

Budget cuts

Both Richert and Corbin said this session was driven by budget cuts. Corbin said this was due to a lack of revenue stemming from past income tax and the adoption of new federal tax cuts.

“Cuts for almost every state agency and state department dominated the legislative session,” Corbin said. “We’re talking about 4% budget cuts for most state agencies and departments in the current fiscal year, and we’re talking about an additional 5% budget cuts for almost all state agencies and departments starting next year — fiscal year ’27 — and continuing permanently.”

RELATED | Gov. Little signs so-called ‘crappy bill’ to cut state budget

Richert said he thought higher education was taking the brunt of budget cuts. “It’s not a question of whether tuition fees are going to go up at the universities; it’s a question of how much,” he said.

When asked what the future would hold, Corbin said the budget cuts aren’t likely to go away, and their effects will be felt over time.

“There could always be a change of leadership in the House, but they do expect the budget crunch to continue in the next year’s legislative session,” Corbin said.

‘Radiator capping’

Richert said he has one word to describe this year’s legislative session: “unrelenting.”

One thing that made it feel that way was that some bills were recycled over and over, he said. For example, Richert said the Legislature saw five different versions of a bill that proposed cuts to the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance.

“We had multiple bills that came from the dead,” he said.

The journalists said this is partly due to a tactic called “radiator capping.” The term means to replace the entire car — the bill’s text, in political terms — while only keeping the radiator cap: the bill number. By rewriting a bill on the House or Senate floor while maintaining its number, failed bills can effectively bypass the committee process.

“Those are the changes they tried to make on immigration bills, on union bills this year,” Corbin said. “It made it extremely difficult for the public to have any idea what was going on, to have any opportunity to participate in the legislative process and share their opinions.

A more powerful, more chaotic Legislature

Richert said Idaho’s annual legislative sessions are trending longer, commonly going into the early part of April, and producing a record number of bills.

“There are rumblings that this Legislature, as a body, is wanting to expand its reach over more and have even more power over the other branches of government to the point of — are we trending towards more of a full-time professional legislature?” Richert said. “We’re a long way from there.”

“The legislative branch of government, particularly the Idaho House of Representatives, is the most powerful I’ve seen it in 16 years of covering state government,” Corbin said.

He added that this year’s legislative session was unlike any he’s experienced.

“The overall temperature in the building was bad,” Corbin said. “It was divisive. It was chaotic. People were not hiding their feelings of disgust for each other. These traditional ideas of decorum and respect very much fell by the wayside.”

Richert said Gov. Brad Little vetoed very few bills that came across his desk, and the ones he did weren’t high-profile.

RELATED | Idaho Gov. Brad Little issues 5 vetoes. Here are the bills affected

“I think the governor behaved like he was very concerned about the supermajority-controlled Legislature, and I think that that Legislature, in turn, asserted itself and took control of the agenda this year,” Corbin said.

Are legislators representing Idaho?

Corbin said some bills this year also focused on the LGBTQ+ community, such as a bathroom restriction for transgender individuals, and a bill that banned the City of Boise from waving a Pride flag.

RELATED | Idaho governor signs bill to criminalize trans people using bathrooms that align with their identity

RELATED | Boise removes LGBTQ+ pride flag as Idaho governor signs bill to fine city for its display

When asked if these were what Idahoans wanted, Corbin said it doesn’t necessarily appear so to him, based on his review of Boise State University’s annual public policy survey.

“For years and years, I’ve heard concerns about affordability of housing, access to housing, managing the growth of the state of Idaho, having quality public schools available for our young people — that also generates a workforce pipeline for some of our businesses,” Corbin said. “I’ve heard about paying for wildfires. I’ve heard about having good roads, supporting access to public lands, public recreation, those are the concerns I hear from Idahoans.”

“But the Legislature spent a significant amount of time over the last two, three, four years placing additional restrictions on LGBTQ communities, placing restrictions on what teachers can and cannot teach in their classrooms, what school boards can and cannot do,” Corbin continued. “They talked about requiring a moment of silence every day to begin the public school day, where children could pray or read the Bible.”

RELATED | Gov. Brad Little signs public school ‘moment of silence’ bill into law

Corbin said it may be his own opinion, but perhaps it is easier to “make a bunch of noise about what’s going wrong and (distract) people with social issues” rather than focus on harder issues that Idaho faces.

“I think what you saw on the policy space is a reflection of the fact that you had legislators thinking about reelection, and legislators with time on their hands — and that’s not always a good combination,” Richert said.

Accountability

When asked how people can keep legislators accountable, Corbin said it can be done by following the state Legislature through trusted news sources, going to community events and voting.

“This is a great year to practice accountability, because all 105 state legislators and all statewide elected officials are up for election this year,” he said.