California’s first Mormon temple in 17 years opens in Yuba City. Here’s what’s inside

California’s newest Mormon temple, the state’s first to open in 17 years, hosted an open house Tuesday in Yuba City, offering a rare public glimpse for those outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

While non-members of the church cannot normally see inside of a temple, the Feather River California Temple located at 1470 Butte House Road will be open for public tours this Saturday, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and on Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 9 a.m. from Aug. 21 through Sept. 9, according to the temple’s website.

Tours start with teens strapping dispensable shoe covers to the feet of attendees. Visitors are then brought into the foyer decorated with a thick rug with a poppy design. There is original artwork throughout the temple, most of it is of fields and other agricultural settings that church officials say pay homage to California.

Stained glass at the Yuba City temple, for example, displayed an almond blossom.

There is a large baptism chamber complete with oxen statues that Elder Jonathan Schmitt, an ordained minister within the church, said was designed accurately from scripture.

Normally, in order to enter a Latter-day Saints temple, a member must be baptized for at least one year, after which they may seek a temple recommend, which authorizes admission to the temple.

Proxy baptisms are the only in the church to be performed in a temple. The proxy baptisms are to bring ancestors and deceased loved ones into the church, according to Schmitt; living members are baptized on behalf of those who have died.

Baptisms of the living are carried out in separate church institutions, he said.

There are also sealing rooms for marriage or other unities that church members want carried out; a bride’s room solely for the bride and other women to prepare for a wedding; and a celestial room that connects to four other instruction rooms.

The celestial room is a place of reverence, intended for members to speak with God. During his tour, Schmitt and his 20 tour guests stayed silent.

“My wife and I have teenagers, so I go in there a lot,” Schmitt said upon exiting.

California state Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, R-Redlands, teared up during the couple of minutes of silence in the celestial room. She said she converted to the church when she was 22, and her marriage to her husband was sealed in a temple.

“It was a wonderful experience, a feeling of great deep love,” she said.

She said she is particularly fond of the idea that marriages can be sealed for life in the temple.

“As a member of the state Legislature, more than ever families need to have a faith-based foundation,” Ochoa Bogh said. “Many of the issues I see in the state Legislature stem from broken families and a lack of faith.”

The Feather River California Temple is California’s eighth to open, joining operating temples in Sacramento, Fresno, Oakland, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Redlands and San Diego. Four others are planned or under construction: in Bakersfield, Modesto, San Jose and Yorba Linda.

Yuba City community leaders welcome LDS temple

Several local politicians also attended the open house, including Yuba City Mayor Wade Kirchner and Sutter County’s District 4 Supervisor Karm Bains.

“What many of you know now is that our community is very accepting, diverse and welcome,” Kirchner said. “The temple happens to be right across the street from city hall and is also on our parade route for our annual Sikh parade that happens the first of every November.”

Bains, who is the first Sikh American to serve on a U.S. county board of supervisors, said Sutter County, in his experience, has been one of the most tolerant and accepting communities when it comes to expressing individual beliefs.

“Our places of worship are also places of building community,” Bains said.