The First Presidency has announced that a new temple will be built in Rexburg, Idaho — home to more than 10,000 students attending BYU-Idaho.

In a Dec. 12 letter to local priesthood leaders in Idaho, President Gordon B. Hinckley and his counselors in the First Presidency, President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust, stated: "We are pleased to announce that a temple will be constructed in Rexburg, Idaho. This temple is being made possible by a generous donation from faithful members of the Church." (Please see full text of First Presidency letter on this page.)

No timetable has been established on the building of this new temple, nor has the style or size of the edifice been determined, said Paul E. Koelliker, managing director of the Church's Temple Department.

Members in the Rexburg area and students of BYU-Idaho now travel to the Idaho Falls Temple. The Idaho Falls temple was dedicated in 1945. The other temple in Idaho is in Boise, which was dedicated in 1984.

"The best measurement of student involvement (at a temple) is Provo, which is one of the busiest temples in the Church," Brother Koelliker said.

Members in Rexburg and area stakes were informed of plans to build a new temple during regular Sunday meetings Dec. 21. Serving as president of the Rexburg Idaho Stake only a month and a half, President Philip C. Wightman said he is thrilled and "a little overwhelmed" at the news of a new temple. "My personal reaction as a new stake president was this deep sense of responsibility to not let the Brethren down when they demonstrated this kind of faith."

He added that he and his counselors, before hearing of the new temple, had already been discussing the importance of temple attendance.

In fact, in preparation for January ward conferences, the stake presidency had already planned a session at the Idaho Falls Temple for endowed members. "We'd planned to have a personal invitation to every endowed member of the stake to attend a session where, as a stake presidency, we could give them counsel relating to their temple responsibilities.

"Now we can just build on this whole idea of a new temple for us."

There are more than 360,000 members of the Church in Idaho. Rexburg, in southeastern Idaho, was established in 1883 under the direction of Thomas E. Ricks, who served as the president of the Bannock Stake upon its creation in 1884. In 1888, the Bannock Stake Academy was founded, which later became Ricks College, named after President Ricks. In August 2001, Ricks College became Brigham Young University-Idaho.

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