SOUTHERN UTAH -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints broke ground Saturday on their temple in Cedar City, and members of the LDS Church in the area said the moment marks the arrival of something they've been praying for for years.
The LDS Church announced plans to build a temple in Cedar City back in 2013, and now, two years later, LDS Church leaders and local dignitaries gathered at the construction site for a ceremonial groundbreaking.
"It's a day that brings families together, that brings the communities together--everyone is rejoicing, there's a spirit of celebration here," said Elder L. Whitney Clayton, a member of presidency in the LDS Church's Quorum of the Seventy.
In addition to the formal groundbreaking with shovels, a backhoe was also used to get construction on the structure going. Hundreds of LDS Church members and others from the community attended. Speakers at the event referenced the early pioneers who settled the area and said temples are a testament to what those pioneers stood for.
LDS Church members in Iron, Beaver and Garfield counties currently travel to St. George to visit a LDS Temple, but that will change once the Cedar City Temple is finished. The structure will be the 17th LDS Church temple in Utah.
FOX 13 News' Zach Whitney was present for the groundbreaking, see the video above for his report. For more about the purpose of temples in the LDS Church, visit their website.
