Gilbert, Arizona, USA Temple

History

In 1902, the Arizona Eastern Railway established a rail siding serving the rail line between Phoenix and Florence. A town grew around it, taking on the name of Gilbert after William “Bobby” Gilbert, owner of the land. Dennis A. Call grew up in the area and was in charge of creating the water features for the temple. “My [childhood] memories of the Gilbert hay fields being irrigated influenced my design of the Gilbert Temple water features. The flat, green, marble water tables of the fountains at the temple with their raised, light-colored dividers are reminiscent of the Gilbert alfalfa fields being irrigated. The fountain springs at the head of each fountain are reminiscent of the water coming from the wells that fed the canals and ditches.”* Local Saints followed the building of the temple closely. So many came to visit the site during construction that a viewing platform was built to accommodate them. The temple was a difficult one to build, from requiring a huge underground storage system to collect storm water runoff to walls built seven inches thick with insulation to provide soundproofing from the busy intersection to an extremely complex, curving and graceful staircase, the engineers were dealing with complex problems at every turn. To help keep everything on track and spot problems before they became reality, every aspect of the temple was designed digitally and printed in 3-D. Everything came together and the Gilbert temple was dedicated on March 2, 2014. The agave plant was selected to be a recurring theme throughout the temple. Head architect, Greg Lambright, explains, “Besides the beauty, color, and rich texture of these plants, at the end of the life cycle, many of the agave plant species willingly and beautifully give up their life for those who will follow, in a like manner as what the Savior did for  us.”* The Gilbert temple reminds us of Doctrine and Covenants 63: 23, “But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.”

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”