Newport Beach Temple Dedicated By Nicole Seymour, Church Magazines President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Newport Beach California Temple on Sunday, August 28. The new house of the Lord is the 122nd operating temple in the Church. For the cornerstone ceremony, President Hinckley invited two delighted children to assist him with the final touches on the sacred building. Both the boy and girl helped to cement in the cornerstone. Later in the dedicatory services, President Hinckley offered the dedicatory prayer, which recognized the Lord's hand in the significant progress of the Church in its spread of the gospel and temples across the earth. “We thank Thee that Thy Church has come out of obscurity and darkness and now shines forth before the world, ‘fair as the moon, and clear as the sun’ [D&C 109:73], as the Prophet prayed in dedicating the temple in Kirtland,” President Hinckley prayed. “May it continue to roll forth in majesty and power to fill the whole earth.” He also prayed that the temple and its grounds would be an acceptable offering to the Lord, where His Spirit may dwell. “Wilt Thou accept it, dear Father, and let Thy divine presence be felt here,” President Hinckley prayed. “May Thy Holy Spirit abide in these premises at all times. Sanctify and hallow it as the house of the Lord.” President Hinckley then prayed for blessings upon all who would come to the temple: “May a spirit of love be manifest in all of their activities.” President Hinckley asked a special blessing on the youth in the temple district, that they might rejoice and build their testimonies in the work for their predecessors. While prior to the dedication, about 175,000 people attended the monthlong open house, and during the dedication, President Hinckley prayed that the temple might continue as a beacon of light amongst its surroundings. “May the presence of this beautiful structure lead to interest and desire on the part of those who are not members of Thy Church, that they may be led to inquire and learn the truths of the everlasting gospel,” he prayed. The dedication brings the number of operating temples for California to six (the Sacramento California Temple is still under construction); California has the second-largest number of temples in the United States, next to Utah, which has 11. The temple, which will serve the 50,000 members in Orange County, is situated on an 8.8-acre (3.5-ha) lot near the University of California— Irvine. Although the temple has become a significant landmark, local zoning ordinances required that the 18,000 square-foot (1,672 sq-m) building use a unique-from-other-temples, earth-toned, pink granite in order to blend into the community. The height of the temple' s steeple also had to be lowered. Groundbreaking to completion of construction took just over two years for the Newport Beach temple. This is the second temple President Hinckley dedicated this month, having dedicated the Aba Nigeria Temple three weeks ago. He will rededicate the Apia Samoa Temple next week.