Draper Utah Temple

We just got home from the dedication of the Draper Utah Temple.  We went to our stake center and watched it by satellite.  One of the many statements that impressed me was that in troubled times we need the temple.  It will be the one thing that will bring peace into our lives.  Regular temple workshop draws us closer to our Father and our Savior.  As we attend the temple we have a greater desire to become like Him.

It took me back to the dedication of the Vernal Temple.  I remember President Hinckley saying that it took 40 years to build the Salt Lake Temple and it took 90 years to build the Vernal Temple.  After the dedication of the Vernal Temple I asked the kids what impressed them the most.  

David: He was impressed that he didn't fall asleep.  

Melanie:  Seeing the prophet and her favorite apostle Elder Oaks.  

Carolyn:  It was so cool that even though we were not in the same room as the prophet you could still feel the spirit so strongly.  

Daniel:  It was all cool.  

Mary:  It took President Joseph F. Smith 3 days to get to Vernal to dedicate the Vernal Tabernacle in 1907.  He traveled by train to Colorado, then by stagecoach and buggy to Vernal.  In President Smith said he would not be surprised if a temple would be built in your midst.  President Hinckley said that was the same as saying a temple would be there.  (Side note: It took President Hinckley 20 minutes to fly to Vernal for the 1997 dedication of the temple.)

A New Thought... at least for me

I was reading about the Prophet Joseph Smith's account of the Prophet Elijah restoring the sealing powers to the earth, when I came across an article by Robert L Millet.  Do you know what was happening on April 6, 1836 in other parts of the world while Elijah was in the Kirtland temple with the Prophet of God?  Well this article tells the rest of the story.

"The Prophet Joseph Smith’s account continues: 'After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said: Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse' (D&C 110:13–15). Precisely on that day in 1836 when Elijah’s appearance took place, Jews throughout the world were engaged in the celebration of the Passover. Since the time of Malachi, four centuries before Christ’s mortal birth, Jews worldwide have awaited Elijah’s coming at Passover with anxious anticipation. Elijah came, but not to Jewish homes; he came rather to a temple of the Saints and to his legal administrator on earth, a descendant of Joseph and Ephraim. There Elijah bestowed keys of inestimable worth."  (Robert L. Millet, "The Ancient Covenant Restored," Ensign, Mar 1998, 36)