LDS Church will dissolve its Temple Square Mission in Salt Lake City
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SALT LAKE CITY – After more than 30 years, the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being dissolved.
In a Friday news release, the Church says the mission will be discontinued in July to “enhance the Temple Square guest experience and increase missionary opportunities.”
Sister missionaries have traditionally served on Temple Square through the years. Over the next six months, current missionaries will be reassigned to a surrounding mission and divide their time between a teaching area and Temple Square.
As part of this adjustment, a limited number of returned missionaries will be hired as part-time guides to work with the sister missionaries in enhancing the guest experience.
This change follows the same model used at other temple visitor centers worldwide.
Temple Square is a popular landmark that draws millions of visitors every year. Renovations on the Salt Lake Temple in the heart of Temple Square got underway in 2020. It’s slated for completion later this year.
The Church will host public walkthroughs of the building in 2027 during an open house that’s expected to last six months. Church leaders anticipate it will bring a surge of people to the area, and with it, a demand for more guides and volunteers.
“With missionaries coming from multiple missions to serve on Temple Square, more can be available during major events and peak visitor periods. And during times of lower visitor traffic, missionaries can spend more time ministering to others in their assigned teaching areas,” Church officials say in the news release.
Although the Temple Square mission was officially organized in 1995, volunteers and missionaries have served at the site for more than a century.
From the beginning, missionaries at Temple Square and worldwide have been assigned under the direction of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Temple Square was initially staffed and organized by volunteers in 1922. Full-time missionaries began assisting with tours in the 1980s.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband, a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, served as a part-time guide on Temple Square as a college student in the 1970s.
In the news release, Rasband says missionaries at Temple Square “play an important role in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.” He expresses gratitude for the “faithful sisters” who have served over the years.
“Moving forward, the dedicated service of sister missionaries will continue to be a blessing and allow Temple Square to be a place of inspiration for people of all faiths and backgrounds,” Rasband says.