Gila Valley, Arizona, USA Temple

History

Central, Arizona, a small town located between Thatcher and Pima, Arizona, lies just south of the Gila River. Towering mountain ranges dominate the skyline, but below you can find The Gila Valley (the proper name includes a capitalized “The”). President Brigham Young sent settlers to the valley in 1879. Records as early as 1882 note the promise of a temple. However, a temple requires people to serve in it and there simply were not many people in the area. The Saints continued to have faith and hope. January 30, 1898, during a conference held in the area, Apostle John W. Taylor made the Saints an unforgettable promise, “One of the most beautiful temples that was ever built among the Saints in the Rocky Mountains will be built in this valley.”* Decades passed and Church leaders failed to announce a temple. The Saints continued to believe, however; donating funds to build a temple that had not been announced. The earliest recorded donation was January 24, 1887, $5.00 from Mrs. Helena Roseberry.* A letter from President Spencer W. Kimball, May 1, 1973, let the Saints know the promise had not been forgotten. “About 80 years ago approximately, one of the conference visitors from Salt Lake predicted that there would be a temple in The Gila Valley. In the many years that the stake has carried on but has not grown greatly and with the realization that one could hardly see any future that would bring a great population to The Gila Valley, yet if that prophecy was made by inspiration, then the Lord will find a way to do it.”* At long last, the faith of the Saints was rewarded when President Thomas S. Monson announced on April 26, 2008, that a temple would be built in The Gila Valley. Donations quickly flowed in and The Gila Valley temple was dedicated on May 23, 2010. The Saints in the temple district proved that the Lord’s faith in them was not misplaced, they may be few in number, but are willing to serve, performing roughly two million ordinances in the temple in the first two years. The Gila Valley temple is one that reminds us to always stand strong in the faith, even if it seems that, for the moment, we stand alone and we may feel forgotten.

How Temple Coins are Made

Dave started creating jewelry using metals in 1992, ten years later he had worked with nearly every metal in the jewelry industry! Moving to Thailand, he spent the next nine years perfecting his skills with various metals, 3D models and 3D printers. He dreamed of producing something that would bring delight to purchasers and carry with it positive feelings that would touch the souls of those who owned them. In 2014 he was able to realize his dream. Returning to the US, he uses Lost-wax casting to create a metal master from brass alloy for each temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, depicting, in the highest degree of definition possible, a coin with a 3D image of a temple. The reverse of each coin is cast with the words “Stand ye in holy places.”

Purchase one or two of the temples that hold special meaning to you. Commemorate your visit to a temple by picking up the corresponding coin. Celebrate a milestone in a loved one’s life by gifting them a temple coin to inspire them. Collect them all or just a few. Some are cast in precious metals, making each coin an investment that will be a treasure in every sense of the word.

Additional Information

• Free Shipping on orders over $35.
• All coins are 1 1/4 in.
• Pewter Coins are cast from lead free alloys.
• Brass Coins cast from a silicone, brass alloy.  Giving our brass coins a rich yellow gold color for a fraction of the cost of gold coins.
• Silver Coins are cast from an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper.
• Gold Coins cast in 14K Gold are 58.5% pure gold.  The remaining alloy consists of a copper and silver mix.
• All of our coins are developed, cast, and finished locally in our facility in Logan, UT, U.S.A.

*Source note: Hawkins, “Temples of the New Millennium”