Salt Lake City, USA - The Mormon church is planning a new temple in Payson.
It will be the fifteenth Utah temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple will serve about 78,000 church members.
President Thomas S. Monson made the announcement Monday.
Temples are sacred to Latter-day Saints and are used for religious rituals including proxy baptisms, marriage ceremonies and other rites designed to strengthen church teachings.
Temples such as the one in Manhattan are reserved only for members certified by their bishops.
The denomination's meetinghouses are open to all for Sunday services and other functions.
The first Mormon temple opened in 1836 in Kirtland, Ohio. Utah's first temple opened in St. George in 1893.
The denomination has purchased a site in Payson, but construction plans are not yet complete. Once built, the Payson temple will bring the total number of LDS temples operating or planned worldwide to 152. Payson is about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City.