Ground Broken for California's 8th Temple Amid COVID-19 Restrictions

Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a small groundbreaking ceremony for the Feather River California Temple in Yuba City, California, on Saturday, July 18, 2020. Attendance at the ceremony was limited because of current COVID-19 social guidelines.

Elder Paul H. Watkins, an Area Seventy, presided at the ceremony and offered the dedicatory prayer.

The Feather River California Temple will be 38,000 square feet and built at 1470 Butte House Road in Yuba City, California. The temple, which will stand on the same ground as the recently razed Yuba City California Stake Center, will have a new meetinghouse and distribution center next to it.

“Only months ago, a stake center held its last meeting on this site,” said Elder Watkins as he opened the groundbreaking service, “and since then, the Yuba City stake members and many leaders and the groundbreaking committee have worked very hard to prepare this ground for this event today.”

In the dedicatory prayer, Elder Watkins prayed, “for the surrounding community that they will see and know that this temple is a blessing to them.” Elder Watkins asked for a blessing, stating that “ancestors of those who are not . . . members . . . in this area will have an increased influence upon their families here on earth.”

“As the temple foundation is poured, and the walls are placed, and the roof is formed, let us all revitalize our foundational faith in apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ being our chief cornerstone,” prayed Elder Watkins.