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The public will get its first glimpse this week inside the new Mormon temple rising east of Interstate 15 in Payson.

News media toured the edifice Tuesday, and the LDS Church provided photographs of the exterior and interior.

Free public tours will run every day, except Sundays, from Friday through May 23. Reservations are required and can be made here or by calling 1-800-537-6214. Spots are filling up fast.

Area youths will perform a cultural celebration June 6 at 7 p.m. in Brigham Young University's LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo.

The next day, LDS leaders will dedicate the temple in three sessions — at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Afterward, the building will be open only to Mormons with a "recommend," attesting to their adherence to LDS beliefs and practices.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints see temples as houses of God, where they take part in their religion's highest sacraments, including eternal marriage.

The new temple, located on a 10.6-acre parcel in southwest Payson at 1494 S. 930 West, will serve more than 78,000 members from Mapleton to Delta, according to a news release. It will be the 15th Mormon temple in Utah. Two more are scheduled for the Beehive State: the Provo City Center Temple is under construction (in the restored historic Provo Tabernacle), and the Cedar City Temple has been announced.

LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson announced the Payson Temple in January 2010.

The Utah-based faith also recently announced a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday at 2 p.m. for a temple in Star Valley, Wyo. The structure will be built at 885 S. Washington St. in south Afton east of U.S. 89. It will be the first Mormon temple in Wyoming. —

Utah LDS temples and dedication dates

St. George, 1877.

Logan, 1884.

Manti, 1888.

Salt Lake, 1893.

Ogden, 1972, rededicated 2014.

Provo, 1972.

Jordan River (South Jordan), 1981.

Bountiful, 1995.

Mount Timpanogos (American Fork), 1996.

Vernal, 1997.

Monticello, 1998.

Draper, 2009.

Oquirrh Mountain (South Jordan), 2009.

Brigham City, 2012.

Payson, scheduled for June 7.

Provo City Center (formerly the Provo Tabernacle), under construction.

Cedar City, announced.