The Boise Idaho Temple

My 19th Temple

The Boise Temple is located at 1211 S Cole Rd in Boise. It was dedicated in 1984, and then rededicated twice -- in 1987 and again in 2012 after extensive remodeling.

My daughter and I went on an Idaho Temple Tour in 2025 and the Boise Temple was one of the temples that we attended. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, which is actually very close to the Meridian Temple. We ate at the Olive Garden, which is only 4 minutes away from the Meridian Temple.

My daughter and I noticed that the inside of the Boise Temple reminds us a great deal of Pemberley from Pride & Prejudice. It is very regal, with deep wood and in a lot of ways reminded me of the Provo City Center Temple inside. My favorite part about the temple is the painting of Hannah, which is inside the female initiatory office. It was painted by Jenedy Paige. I haven't been able to find the painting online, but it is beautiful. Hannah is kneeling in front of Eli and looking up at him. A temple worker told me that Jenedy's father was the model for Eli, and that he was not active in the Church at the temple. She wanted very much for her family to be eternal. She attended a church event where Elder Holland was in attendance. When she met him, he said that she could have anything she wanted. A few years later her dad was a temple worker in the Ogden Temple, and worked there until the day he died, and her dreams of an eternal family had come true. This same painting of Hannah is in the Fort Collins Temple. Jenedy had lost a little boy at the age of three in a drowning accident. She would have felt a special kinship with Hannah in her longing for a child. The temple worker who told me about the painting said she'd asked if it was all right to share these stories with others, and she encouraged her to do so.

The first time I attended the Boise Temple was in 2009. My roommates from my days at Ricks College and I decided to have a roommate reunion in Boise where my roommate April lived. So I drove from Wyoming, picked Amy up in Idaho Falls, and we all met in Boise. Mary drove from Oregon to meet us. We had a great time together! We ate dinner at the Olive Garden and we stayed in a hotel together. We also attended the Boise Temple together. Boise was my 19th temple.

My daughter and I attended the temple again in 2016 when we were in Idaho for a Suzuki violin camp. That was the first time I had seen the remodeled temple. Below are photos of the before and after - some from 2009, some from 2016, and some from 2025.