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Beyond the rich interior beauty of the Moses Lake Washington Temple, Lisa Christensen — who joined her husband, Michael, as a dedication coordinator for the temple — reveled in seeing one easily missed detail of the edifice: fingerprints.
“One of the things I will really miss is coming in the mornings of the open house and seeing all of those little fingerprints on the glass of the baptistry,” Lisa Christensen said. “The members in the distant area felt like it was important for their little children to come and see the temple.”
Ten-year-old Maia Dahlin of Selah, Washington, was seated in the baptistry during the dedication. She said of the ceremony, “I felt that Heavenly Father knows that I’m here.” The girl could perform baptisms for the dead starting in January 2024.
The Moses Lake temple was dedicated by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Sept. 17, 2023. Elder Cook had previously served as president of the Church’s North America Northwest Area, which included Washington state and was later merged into the North America West Area.
“The temple is a blessing and a gift and prepares us to rejoice in what the Savior has done for us,” Elder Cook said at the ceremony. He was joined by his wife, Sister Mary Cook; and Elder Mark A. Bragg, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s North America West Area.
Wenatchee Washington Stake President Brandon Child told the Church News that “having a temple within a two-hour radius is a first for many members in our stake. A closer temple means more time spent there and also serves as a prominent symbol for those in our community to learn more about our faith. It has provided us with many opportunities to share our beliefs.”
Jen Ruiz, a 27-year-old Saint from Moses Lake, attended the dedication the day before the two-year anniversary of her baptism. For her, attending the dedication felt like a “spiritual birthday present.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “May this beautiful temple be a refuge from the evil and turmoil of the world and be an inspiration to the entire community to seek after those things which are ‘virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy’ (Articles of Faith 1:13).”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Moses Lake Washington Temple here.
I was exceptionally pleased today to fulfill the assignment from President Russell M. Nelson to dedicate the Moses Lake Washington Temple. It was especially sweet to know that this was the third temple dedicated today (the other two were in Brasilia, Brazil, and Bentonville,… pic.twitter.com/VPIsjabADq
— Quentin L. Cook (@CookQuentinL) September 18, 2023
President Russell M. Nelson announced a house of the Lord for Moses Lake, Washington, on April 7, 2019, during April 2019 general conference.
The temple’s groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 10, 2020, with Elder David L. Stapleton, an Area Seventy, presiding. Due to COVID-19 health restrictions at the time, attendance was limited and by invitation only.
A public open house for the Moses Lake Washington Temple was held from Aug. 4 to Aug. 19, 2023, and approximately 63,000 people toured the temple during this time. A media day was also held July 31, and invited guests toured the building from Aug. 1 to Aug. 3, 2023.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the temple on Sept. 17, 2023, during two sessions. This was the same day as the Bentonville Arkansas Temple and the Brasília Brazil Temple dedications.
The Moses Lake temple was announced April 7, 2019, by President Russell M. Nelson. The groundbreaking and site dedication were held on Oct. 10, 2020, and presided over by Elder David L. Stapleton, an Area Seventy.
After a public open house from Aug. 4 to Aug. 19, 2023, the Moses Lake Washington Temple was dedicated on Sept. 17, 2023, by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
The Moses Lake temple is a single-story building with an area of 28,933 square feet. A rectangular cupola and spire sit above the temple’s center, and exterior walls are made of Branco Cristal granite, quarried in Portugal. This house of the Lord stands on a site of 17.2 acres, containing also a 17,000-square-foot meetinghouse.
Inside the temple are prevalent patterns of crops in the region, such as designs of potato blossoms, alfalfa blossoms, apple blossoms and cherry blossoms. Border patterns in the temple’s art-glass windows show a prairie-style design, which reflects the Native Americans who inhabited the area long before Moses Lakes’ first farms were settled.
Stained cherry wood millwork can be seen around the interior, as well as flooring of marble, carpet and porcelain tile. Light fixtures in the bride’s room are made of blown glass from Venice, Italy.
7 April 2019
17 September 2023
401 E. Yonezawa Blvd.
Moses Lake, Washington 98837
United States
View schedule and book online
(1) 509-350-8120
This was the fourth Latter-day Saint temple in Washington state.
To prepare for the open house, seminary students helped connect 4,939 names of individuals in the immediate area to FamilySearch. These records came from the U.S. census for Grant County and other county records in the early 20th century.
Before the Moses Lake temple was dedicated, Latter-day Saints in the city would travel around an hour and a half to attend the Columbia River Washington Temple, dedicated in 2001.
The Moses Lake Washington Temple dedication marked the first time in Church history that three temples were dedicated on the same day. The other two temples dedicated were the Brasília Brazil and Bentonville Arkansas temples.
This was the fourth Latter-day Saint temple in Washington state.
To prepare for the open house, seminary students helped connect 4,939 names of individuals in the immediate area to FamilySearch. These records came from the U.S. census for Grant County and other county records in the early 20th century.
Before the Moses Lake temple was dedicated, Latter-day Saints in the city would travel around an hour and a half to attend the Columbia River Washington Temple, dedicated in 2001.
The Moses Lake Washington Temple dedication marked the first time in Church history that three temples were dedicated on the same day. The other two temples dedicated were the Brasília Brazil and Bentonville Arkansas temples.
