Los Angeles California Temple, temple of the LDS church

The Los Angeles California Temple is a Modernist building on a small hill above Santa Monica and Overland in Westwood, its cream-colored Mo-Sai pre-cast concrete facing patterned after Mayan architecture. It measures 369 feet long, 269 feet wide and 257 feet high, with a 16-foot angel Moroni statue on top. Inside are a baptistry, celestial room, four ordinance rooms, ten sealing rooms and an assembly room running the length of the building.

Announced in 1937 after the church bought 24.23 acres from the Harold Lloyd Motion Picture Company, the temple was delayed by the Great Depression, World War II and Korean War steel shortages. Groundbreaking came in 1951, and dedication in 1956. It was the first temple with an angel Moroni statue since the Salt Lake Temple.

The name comes from the angel Moroni statue, which was first placed facing southeast with the temple and later turned due east at the request of church president David O. McKay. The grounds hold family-themed statues, and in December thousands of multi-colored lights are switched on for Christmas.

The grounds and visitors' center are open to the public, while the temple itself is reserved for church members with a recommend. The site sits on a hill above Overland Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, with parking larger than any earlier temple and no direct pedestrian path from the front doors to the boulevard. The visitors' center was renovated in 2010.

The angel Moroni statue atop the temple is 16 feet (5 m) tall and was first installed facing southeast, aligned with the building; church president David O. McKay later had it turned to face due east. The celestial room has murals, a feature shared only with the Idaho Falls Idaho and New Zealand temples.