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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Idaho

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Idaho
The Idaho Falls Idaho Temple as seen from an overlook
Area	NA Central
Members	473,894 (2022)[1]
Stakes	137
Wards	1,162
Branches	51
Total Congregations	1,213
Missions	3
Temples	6 Operating 3 Under Construction 9 Total
Family History Centers	70[2]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Idaho refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Idaho. Rexburg, Idaho is home to Brigham Young University–Idaho. Idaho has the third most church members of any U.S. state (after Utah and California), and the second-highest percentage of members (after Utah).^[3] The LDS Church is the largest denomination in Idaho, with the largest presence in Eastern Idaho.^[4]

History[edit]

The LDS Church first came to Idaho in 1855 when Brigham Young sent pioneers to settle the area. Early settlements were in Franklin, Bear Lake Valley, and south central Idaho. Idaho became a state in 1890 and Latter-day Saints comprised one-fifth of the population.^[1] Church presidents Harold B. Lee, Ezra Taft Benson, and Howard W. Hunter were all natives of the state.

County statistics[edit]

List of LDS Church adherents in each county as of 2010 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives:^[6] Note: Each county adherent count reflects meetinghouse location of congregation and not location of residence. Census count reflects location of residence, which may skew percent of population where adherents reside in a different county than their congregational meetinghouse.

Stakes[edit]

As of August 2023, Idaho had the following stakes:

Missions[edit]

In addition to these, the Utah Ogden Mission covers parts of southeastern Idaho, and the Washington Spokane Mission covers northern Idaho.

• In 2016, all four missions in the state had drastic changes made to their boundaries.^[7] Before the boundary changes the four missions were as listed: the Boise, Nampa, Pocatello, and Twin Falls missions. As a result of the boundary changes the Twin Falls mission was renamed to the Idaho Falls mission. The Boise mission was effectively cut in half, with the stakes in Eagle, Star, and Meridian transferred to the Nampa mission. The Boise mission lost a lot of territory on the west, but gained much more on the east by taking in the stakes that cover the Twin Falls, Burley and Rupert regions. The Nampa mission did not lose any ground, but gained a lot from the Boise mission, with the Meridian Idaho Temple within the mission's boundaries. The Twin Falls mission no longer exists. The Twin Falls, Rupert, and Burley regions were taken into the Boise mission, and the north east regions near Salmon were taken into the new Idaho Falls mission. The new Idaho Falls mission is headquartered in Idaho Falls. It will take in the Salmon region of the old Twin Falls mission, and take in the Rexburg and Idaho Falls regions of the Pocatello mission. The Pocatello mission was basically cut in half. The Rexburg, and Idaho Falls regions were taken into the new Idaho Falls mission. The changes were made in an attempt to make it easier for the full-time missionaries to work effectively with local church members. These changes were made as of July 1, 2016.^[7]

The Idaho Nampa and Idaho Twin Falls missions, which were created on July 1, 2013, were discontinued in 2019.

Temples[edit]

Temples in Idaho (edit) Idaho Falls Montpelier Pocatello Rexburg Teton River Twin Falls Burley Star Valley Smithfield Temples in Eastern Idaho (edit) Boise Meridian Temples in Boise (edit) = Operating = Under construction = Announced = Temporarily Closed

Following the dedication of the Pocatello Temple in 2021, there are six LDS temples in Idaho. On April 4, 2021, Russell M. Nelson announced that a new temple will be built in Burley. In October of that year, Nelson announced the intent to build a second temple in Rexburg.

	8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Rededicated: Size: Style:	Idaho Falls, Idaho, United States March 3, 1937 by Heber J. Grant December 19, 1939 by David Asael Smith September 23, 1945 by George Albert Smith June 4, 2017 by Henry B. Eyring 116,250 sq ft (10,800 m2) on a 7-acre (2.8 ha) site Modern, center spire - designed by John Fetzer, Sr.
	27. Boise Idaho Temple Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Rededicated: Size: Style: Notes:	Boise, Idaho, U.S. March 31, 1982 by Spencer W. Kimball December 18, 1982 by Mark E. Petersen May 25, 1984 by Gordon B. Hinckley May 29, 1987 by James E. Faust 35,868 sq ft (3,332.2 m2) on a 4.83-acre (1.95 ha) site Modern adaptation of six-spire design - designed by Church A&E Services The rededication in 1987 was for an addition only. The Boise Idaho Temple was closed for additional renovations in July 2011 and rededicated in November 2012.
	125. Rexburg Idaho Temple Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size: Style: Notes:	Rexburg, Idaho, U.S. December 20, 2003 by Gordon B. Hinckley July 30, 2005 by John H. Groberg February 10, 2008 by Thomas S. Monson 57,504 sq ft (5,342.3 m2) on a 10-acre (4.0 ha) site Classic modern, single-spire - designed by Architectural Nexus; Bob Petroff First temple dedicated by Thomas S. Monson as President of the Church
	128. Twin Falls Idaho Temple Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size: Notes:	Twin Falls, Idaho, U.S. October 2, 2004 by Gordon B. Hinckley April 15, 2006 by Neil L. Andersen August 24, 2008 by Thomas S. Monson 31,245 sq ft (2,902.8 m2) on a 9.1-acre (3.7 ha) site - designed by MHTN Architects, Inc Fourth temple dedicated in Idaho and, during 2008, the second temple dedicated in Idaho that year.
	158. Meridian Idaho Temple Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size:	Meridian, Idaho, U.S. April 2, 2011 by Thomas S. Monson[8] August 23, 2014 by David A. Bednar[9] November 19, 2017 by Dieter F. Uchtdorf 67,331 sq ft (6,255.3 m2) on a 15.73-acre (6.37 ha) site
	170. Pocatello Idaho Temple Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size:	Pocatello, Idaho, United States April 2, 2017 by Thomas S. Monson[10] March 16, 2019 by Wilford W. Andersen[11] November 7, 2021 by M. Russell Ballard[12] 71,125 sq ft (6,607.7 m2) on a 10.94-acre (4.43 ha) site
	222. Burley Idaho Temple (Under construction) Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Size:	Burley, Idaho, United States April 4, 2021 by Russell M. Nelson[13] 4 June 2022 by Brent H. Nielson[14] 38,600 sq ft (3,590 m2) on a 10.1-acre (4.1 ha) site
	243. Teton River Idaho Temple (Under construction) Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Size:	Rexburg, Idaho, U.S. 3 October 2021 by Russell M. Nelson[15][16] 1 June 2024 by Ricardo P. Giménez[17] 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) on a 16.6-acre (6.7 ha) site
	236. Montpelier Idaho Temple (Under construction) Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Size:	Montpelier, Idaho 3 April 2022 by Russell M. Nelson[18][19] 17 June 2023 by Ryan K. Olsen[20] 27,000 sq ft (2,500 m2) on a 2.6-acre (1.1 ha) site

Communities[edit]

Latter-day Saints have had a significant role in establishing and settling communities within the "Mormon Corridor", including the following in Idaho:

See also[edit]

• Religion in Idaho
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics (United States)
• Davis v. Beason

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Marcum, Robert D. (1992), "Idaho, Pioneer Settlements in", in Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan Publishing, pp. 671–672, ISBN 0-02-879602-0, OCLC 24502140.

External links[edit]

• Newsroom (Idaho)
• ComeUntoChrist.org Latter-day Saints visitor site
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints official site