After nearly three years of construction, the dedication of the Bentonville Arkansas Temple will take place later this year on September 17, 2023! The temple was originally announced in October 2019 by President Nelson during the Women’s Session of General Conference. The groundbreaking was held just over a year later in November 2020. This is the first temple in Arkansas, so the Latter-day Saints in the area are surely very excited for the new temple to be finished and dedicated!

The Bentonville Temple will be dedicated in two sessions. Elder David A. Bednar, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who lived in Arkansas for about 14 years in the 1980s and 1990s, will preside over and offer the dedication. The dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to all units in the Bentonville Arkansas Temple district.

Prior to the dedication, the Bentonville Temple open house will begin on Saturday, June 17, and continue through Saturday, July 1, except for Sundays. If you’d like to tour the temple before it’s dedicated, free reservations will be made available to the public through www.churchofjesuschrist.org as the dates get closer – probably a few weeks before the open house begins.

Arkansas is home to more than 34,000 Latter-day Saints in over 70 congregations. Currently, the closest temples to these Church members are the Memphis Temple, Kansas City Temple, and Oklahoma City Temple. As we mentioned earlier, the new temple will be a wonderful blessing for the Latter-day Saints in Arkansas!