Public to Tour New Temple in Reno, Nevada Open House Scheduled April 8-15; Dedicatory Services April 23 The public is invited to tour the newly completed Reno Nevada Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The First Presidency of the Church has announced that public tours will begin on Saturday, April 8, 2000 and run through Saturday, April 15, 2000, excluding Sunday, April 9, 2000. Latter-day Saint temples are considered "houses of the Lord" where the Savior's teachings are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism, and other sacred ordinances that unite families for eternity. Following the public open house, the temple will be formally dedicated on Sunday, April 23, 2000, making it the 81st Church temple worldwide. Four separate sessions will be held to accommodate as many as possible of the Latter-day Saints in the temple district. A public cornerstone ceremony will be at 9:00 A.M. on Sunday, April 23, 2000, prior to the first dedicatory session. The temple district includes the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission and the Carson City, Fallon, Fallon South, Reno, Reno North, Sparks, Winnemucca Nevada, and Quincy California stakes of the Church. Previously, Church members from this area traveled to the Oakland California Temple or Las Vegas Nevada Temple. The temple will serve approximately 26,500 members of the Church. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley has expressed his desire to make the blessings of the temple more accessible to Latter-day Saints, many of whom must currently travel considerable distances. In announcing the concept of building many smaller temples, President Hinckley explained that these temples will be open "according to local demand, maybe only one or two days a week." It is anticipated that 100 temples will be operating by the end of next year. Currently, nearly 11 million people belong to the worldwide Church in 162 countries and territories. Church members first arrived in Nevada in 1851.