Gila Valley Temple

I just got an email today that announced two new temples in AZ. Sara and I are so excited, one of them will be in our hometowns.

"In his first temple announcement since becoming presidentof the Church, President Thomas S. Monson has announcedthe construction of two new temples in Arizona: one in theGila Valley and the other in Gilbert.

"The adjoining communities of Thatcher and Safford, located inthe Gila Valley, are best known to members of the Church asthe home of President Spencer W. Kimball, 12th President ofThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though bornin Salt Lake City, President Kimball was reared in Thatcherfrom the age of 3. After returning home from a mission andmarrying Camilla Eyring in the Salt Lake Temple, the Kimballssettled in Safford to raise their children and run an insurancebusiness. In the 1980s, President Kimball initiated anunprecedented worldwide temple-building program. A templein the Gila Valley is a tremendous honor to his memory.

"Located in the southeastern section of the Phoenix metropolitanarea, just south of Mesa, Gilbert and its surrounding communitiesenjoy a high concentration of Church members, who currentlyattend the Mesa Arizona Temple. A temple in Gilbert will helprelieve demands currently placed on the Mesa temple, whichserves 74 stakes throughout southern Arizona."