Connecticut's 1st Mormon temple to serve growing church By --- Published: 21:46 BST, 28 September 2016 | Updated: 21:47 BST, 28 September 2016 --- --- FARMINGTON, Conn. (AP) — The first Mormon temple in Connecticut opens to the public this week and will soon host services for thousands of the faithful from a four-state area. --- --- The new temple in Farmington reflects growing membership for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the East Coast. --- --- --- --- --- --- Another recently constructed temple opened in Philadelphia on Aug. 10. --- --- "Out here on the East Coast, it is a unique challenge to be a member of the church because we are so few and far between. This Hartford temple is going to be a huge beacon of hope and pillar of faith," said Randy LaRose, a church member who moved from Utah to Connecticut to serve as a chaplain at Yale University. --- image class="left" url="" In this Sept. --- --- --- --- --- --- 22, 2016 photo, construction crews continue work on a Mormon temple in Farmington, Lacquer painting Conn. The first Mormon temple in Connecticut opens to the public this week and will soon host services for thousands of the faithful from a four-state area. The new temple in Farmington reflects growing membership for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the East Coast. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb) --- --- An estimated 27,000 congregants from Connecticut, Rhode Island, western Massachusetts and eastern New York are to be served by the temple in Farmington, a Hartford suburb that also was the birthplace of the church's fourth president, Wilford Woodruff. --- --- The 32,000-square-foot structure will be the 155th temple of the LDS church but only the second in New England. --- --- --- --- --- --- The building is steeped in the history of the church and the local area, with [[http://www.caravax.com/tranh-tho-cuu-huyen-that-to-tranh-son-mai-tphcm/ Paintings to worship the dead ancestors]] depicting Connecticut landscapes, mahogany wood surfaces and an acorn and leaf motif repeated throughout the building. --- --- The temple opens Friday for public tours that will be [[https://www.travelwitheaseblog.com/?s=offered offered]] until Oct. 22. The temple is [[https://www.healthynewage.com/?s=scheduled scheduled]] for dedication on Nov. 20, after which only church members in good standing will be welcomed. --- --- In Mormonism, temples are dedicated to the religion's highest forms of worship and are less common than meetinghouses, where weekly church services are offered. --- --- --- --- --- --- The Hartford temple has eight rooms related to special ceremonies known as ordinances, including a baptismal room, a sealing room where marriages are performed and the celestial room, a space for Binh Duong lacquer paintings contemplation that features a large crystal chandelier. --- --- "In a temple the focus is on individual worship, not group worship. That's why there are many smaller rooms rather than one large hall," elder Larry Wilson said. --- --- Drucila Maldonado, a member of the church who lives in Bridgeport, said the new temple will increase the local presence of the LDS church.