With news of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building a temple in Lehi, members of the church and others took to the social media sharing their reaction to the announcement.

President Russell M. Nelson revealed the news during the Sunday afternoon session of general conference, proclaiming that the church would be building 15 new temples around the globe.

The overarching question on the minds of residents posting on a Lehi social media community page since the news broke is where the new temple will be built.

An exact location has yet to be announced.

A press release from the church states the new temple will be built in northern Utah County and will be the 30th temple in Utah. In 1850, pioneers originally settled in Lehi, where presently the population has eclipsed 80,000 residents.

For Ashley McKinnon, a lifelong resident of Lehi, she and her family were stoked when Nelson announced the new temple locations.

“All of us jumped out of our chairs and started screaming,” McKinnon said. “My children … all of us, we’re very excited.”

She also wondered which area of the growing city a new temple will be built in.

Others have wondered about what impacts to traffic a temple might bring. But without knowing where the church’s plans to build are, any potential traffic concerns are tough to predict at this point.

“I feel like the initial part (of a new opening a new temple) with the open house and things like that, it’ll bring a lot of traffic. But then, as far as once it’s dedicated and open — I just don’t know that it’ll add a ton of traffic,” McKinnon told the Daily Herald.

During several sessions throughout conference weekend, speakers relayed messages about the importance of temples and their place in the lives of church members.

“Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit,” Nelson said Sunday in a recorded message.

McKinnon said getting to the temple as frequently as she’d like for her and her family can prove to be difficult due to backlogged appointments. “I’m sitting there thinking, gosh, I need to start planning ahead, like months in advance of when I can go, because appointments are so difficult to get,” she explained. “But then he announced Lehi and I was like, there we go, we can go more often.”

McKinnon did add that she and her family usually go to the Draper temple because it’s not as busy as the Mount Timpanogos (American Fork) or Saratoga Springs temples.

However, there are different feelings regarding Lehi’s soon-to-be-built temple. “Why do we need another one in this valley? There are already so many,” said Summer Wager.

A resident of the city for five years and former member of the church, she fears with an incoming temple, housing prices may skyrocket.

“With each temple I have seen built in the valley … city prices have gone up so fast. I worry that my next house will not be able to be (in) Lehi,” she said.

Meanwhile, city officials say they are honored Lehi was selected for a temple.

“These are beautiful structures and I am excited for the exceptional opportunities it will offer many of our residents,” said Lehi Mayor Mark Johnson in a statement provided to the Daily Herald.

Once built, it will mark the eighth LDS temple in Utah County.

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