The WEALTH of Mormon Temple Builders

Who builds Mormon Temples? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has over a hundred billion dollars of wealth. One of the places they choose to spend this wealth, is the building of temples. Unlike regular meetinghouses, mormon temples are extravagant and are multi-million dollar buildings. There are several construction firms who build them, and in this video we are exploring the connections between these companies and the LDS church.

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Zwick Construction

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[howieroarke]

As an architect, I have to say that $2, 500/sf for mechanical and plumbing systems for a house of worship is patently absurd and sounds more like money laundering. Even the $300-$400/sf "base" number quoted by the subcontractor is grossly inflated. Think about it. That's $153 million for mechanical/plumbing systems for a 61, 466 sf building (about half the size of your average Walmart). For reference, the average cost for art museums (that have very sophisticated HVAC/fire suppression systems and from where we get the term "museum quality" to denote the highest standard of construction) is reported to be around $1, 272/sf (Source: Cummings US Construction Per Square Foot Data 2023).

[knz]

I live near Layton, UT and the church keeps asking (desperately) each Sunday for volunteers to fill canning assignments at the LDS cannery near us as well as volunteers to clean the temple and church building. In addition to a members calling (and more and more people are starting to have 2 to meet growing needs as less people participate or attend the ward). This is all such a joke to me. Once I learned the church is a $100 billion organization and has more funds than even the catholic church I am dumbfounded they even ask for volunteers for these things. Especially when the cannery assignments are from midnight to 4am on WEEKDAYS and the temple cleaning shifts are from 10 or 11PM for a few hours. Who can do that!! For the love! Hire someone who needs the job and money!

[kaijusushi]

a massive redistribution of wealth from the tithe-paying members, to ensign peak fund, to LDS owned contracting firms all run on the church's massive real estate development and temple building operations

[UtahGmaw]

I had a friend that cut her hand badly when at the cannery doing peaches. They slaped a bandaid on it and sent her to the emergancy room for her father to pay for the injury. It was a very bad cut. The function of her hand was permently effecterd. The church offered nothing except to advise her to pray and have faith.

[chispitablanca]

The church built a whole slew of little temples in the eastern part of the US during the Hinkley era. I even went to the dedication for the one in Ohio. Fast forward 20-25 years and almost every single one of those temples has had to be stripped down to the studs and rebuilt because whoever chose the materials didn’t understand how humid it gets in this part of the country and they had rampant mold issues.

[justus]

My ex FIL, who was bishop at the time in PA, was overseeing a new chapel for his ward. He found a curtain installer, the large ones that separate the chapel and gym, for a fraction of the cost. It was denied saying that the church already uses a particular contractor. That cracked his shelf. Btw, he is no longer a member.

[MarijnvdSterre]

"Nobody is getting rich"
That is almost an admission that it is happening.

[Maryfs]

My brother did some wood work for a temple. He said it cost THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS for, get this, a BOOKSHELF! It's genuinely disgusting.

[TEAM__POSEIDN]

"Nobody is getting rich". Translation: Some people with connections and inside information are getting rich. Reminds me of that scene where Bonnie Cordon and Holland are yucking it up about how poor they are. I guess it depends on what the definition of "rich" is. Gordon B. Hinckley liked to compare his "modest stipend" to the salaries of Fortune 500 CEOs. Why, shucks, with such a modest six-figure stipend, i'm practically working for free...for free housing, transportation, expense accounts, tuition for kids, jobs for kids...I'm working for free!

[sgee-vchz]

The Brethren and their families get rich while the faithful, committed members are taken for granted and treated like fools.

[jessicamasonsonneborn]

I live in Layton and active in the Syracuse stake and understand the craziness here. Two new temples in the area and they are having a difficult time finding enough volunteers to staff either one of them

[TEAM__POSEIDN]

Don't know whether to laugh or cry, when considering that the temple "ordinances" (such as they are) could actually all be done in a priesthood-dedicated circus tent or in large converted buses. Less comically, the temple facilities could very practically be built at reasonable cost as annexes of Stake Center buildings. The focus on decoration and ostentation in materials and furnishings just looks like an effort to compensate for the lack of substance and beauty in the actual rituals and ordinances. Sorry to say, but no amount of Italian marble and fine crystal chandeliers can make up for how ridiculous a group of temple-goers look when chanting around an altar, dressed up in those creepy costumes.

As it is, they started failing to reach the optimal utilization rate for the temples quite a while ago. Most of the new ones are pointless redundancy on stilts, a fact that just fuels suspicions of money laundering and diverting church money into private pockets through a veil of contracts. "What's that? A contract. Has it a name? It's the contract for the new temple in Peoria. Will you give it to me? I will through the veil upon the five points of cronyism and nepotism...if you'll give my nephew a position on your board of directors and let my fly to Tahiti on your corporate jet."

[Governmentasfiction]

Thank you for all the research and work you do! Your videos are an invaluable resource for those seeking truth, wherever it takes them.

[MrEnjoivolcom]

Speaking as a life-long member (not active now) ever since watching the Netflix documentary on Warren Jeffs, seeing the construction mafia they held, I said "I bet the church does the exact same. I mean, obviously, where would he get the idea from?"

[debbiebuttars]

The LDS church has well over $200 Billion Dollars! And they are tight as a drum when it comes to cleaning their buildings, yard work, orchards, canning facilities and other necessities. Ensign Peak must be advising them on how to save money! Oh, except this special members who are overpaid as architects, construction companies, investment advisers, etc.

[juresichj]

Zwick's father was my husband's mission president, more than 40 years ago. When Zwick moved into leadership, he came to our stake conference in Michigan. My husband was thrilled to have the connection. Now, husband is dead, and I have been in Portland for a long time. The roof of the Portland temple leaked for years and years. I do not know if they finally fixed it the last time they tried, or if it is still leaking. We have been hearing stories about high level church leaders giving contracts to family members for temples for a long time. Not just the building of it, but the furnishings, carpet and everything else that goes into the building - all the subcontracting stuff. Just saying that the Mormon world is a very small place. Thanks for your time and research, Nemo.

[daverichards]

I heard a story about one of the architects building the temples. He's Irish and apparently does (did?) a good job. He's not a member but knew some of the GAs. No idea when this happened, but he was invited to the GA Christmas dinner in Salt Lake City. They served pork roast and he asked if they had any other options as he didn't eat pork. M Russell Ballard was sitting there and joking laughed and said to him, "You aren't Jewish are you?" "Well yes I am, " the man answered. Then Ballard said to him you are from Ireland and you don't look Jewish. So the man responded, "What are Irish Jews supposed to look like?"

[TimeeJustin]

I started hearing about this almost 10 years ago before I fully left the church. So happy to finally see actual information collected and displayed like this. Keep up the good work.

[elizabethgrogan]

Well done for exposing this shocking misuse of funds. When the number of members are falling drastically, why are more temples being built? I suppose it convinces members that there is growth. The owners of companies building them are Mormon and enriching themselves. I wonder what the workers are paid. It's a win win for the Church, collecting major tithing, which they've factured into the payments. Nepotism is alive and well in the LDS community.

[johnb]

A real estate corporate empire posing as a religious institution. Thank you for exposing these criminals, Nemo.