An
article on a temple dedication could be very short. We could
give you the bare facts — on 3 Sept 2006 the 19,500 square foot,
Sacramento temple was dedicated in four sessions by President
Gordon B. Hinckley and will serve approximately 85,000 Church
members in 21 stakes.
Yet, when Scot and I go to a temple
dedication, we are looking not just for the facts, but for far
more. Knowing that we are the eyes and ears of so many Latter-day
Saints — Meridian readers — who would like to feel the spirit
of a temple dedication, we begin a quest from the moment we arrive
on the temple grounds.
We want to understand the invisible
forces at work that have moved and stirred people to accomplish
such great work, to feel the sense of unity and oneness that suddenly
enlivens the Saints when they are getting ready to dedicate a
temple.
It is as if for a few days, all the
bands and shackles of mortality have been thrown off, and we are
all in touch with a flood of light from the heavens.
We once read in a talk from Elder
David Bednar, that his wife, Susan, prays before she goes to Church
on Sunday to know who she might serve or help in the congregation.
That thought resonated with me because we have also felt reliant
on the Spirit for guidance.
We come to a temple dedication with
the names of some contacts we should interview, but more than
that we want to delve into the heart of what really happened.
Scot prays for eyes to see and capture the best photography.
I pray for a heart to feel, and for people to cross our path who
can tell us the story behind the story. We want to see more than
readily meets the eye.
Like Elisha’s servant who needed
to have his eyes opened to see the heavenly army who was round
about him, we seek to have open eyes to see what makes a temple
dedication such a heavenly event.
Two Days before Dedication
We arrived at the 47-acre, golden
temple lot, two days before the dedication, caught our first glimpse
of the temple and saw a hive of activity. The rising hill where
the road takes you to the temple grounds is golden. I call it
golden euphemistically with eyes of love. The grass was blasted
with heat from the soaring August temperatures, but true to form,
as we drove further onto the temple grounds, there it stood with
cooling, picture perfect surroundings, living a different law
from our telestial world.
A fountain played before the gray,
granite temple, the flowerbeds were laid out in lush variety and
the grass was verdant.
Around the world, everywhere it is
the same. In Africa, where moist tropical heat ages and dilapidates
buildings, the temple stands out as a jewel. In The Hague, in
the Netherlands, the temple is a portrait of meticulous grooming
and care.
Here is why. With the dedication
two days away, many are working on the temple. The 168,000 people
who came through the open house, including the many wheelchairs
that passed through the temple, left a nick here or a mark there.
But a temple that is being dedicated has to be perfect. That’s
the unspoken standard.
So today, long after the open house
and just a few hours before the prophet will be here, some people
are power washing the sidewalks. Another group is touching up
the fence. A punch list has been created so that every last possible
detail can be superior in workmanship and function.
I came around the temple to an open
back door where a painter was applying a second coat of paint
— for the second time. He had been working on the temple for
three days until late at night to get finished, saying, “I just
didn’t like the way this second coat looked, so I’m taking it
off and starting again. I know the prophet will probably never
notice this door, but this is work for the Lord and I want to
give it everything I have.”
I asked his name and he wouldn’t
tell me, pleading that he remain anonymous. He wanted to do his
work without fanfare, with an eye only to pleasing the Lord’s
all-seeing eye.
It reminded me of talking to the
painters at the Nauvoo temple, who painted the backside of every
pillar at the top of the ceiling — a place that will never be
seen again — until they shone.
“I would stay and chat,” he said,
“but already I’m four hours behind.”
How else can you express your gratitude
to God, except giving him all you’ve got? Painting the backside
of columns and repainting nearly perfect doors is a painter’s
way of saying, “I will not hold back even the smallest part.
I will not reserve my energy or store it for another day. What
I am I give.”
Elder Neal A. Maxwell spoke of our
willingness to submit wholeheartedly to the Lord, saying,
The people working on the temple
the Friday before the dedication reserved no part of themselves,
but offered every skill to the Lord. The platform that would
be used by the prophet and his party for only twenty minutes during
the cornerstone ceremony was of superb craftsmanship, created
with love by the Tongan group.
During the open house at the stake
center, a sister watched near the door for new fingerprints, and
with Windex and a cloth in hand, took opportunities between waves
of visitors to clean the windows back to sparkling.
Duane Hall
On this Friday, Duane Hall had come
over to temple just to see if they needed an extra hand because
he said “the logistics of carrying all of this off are just plain
scary.” At least 747 seats had to be set up inside the temple
for the dedication, 29 monitors working well so people could watch
the proceedings. Every volunteer team has to work together with
smooth, unruffled efficiency. “We have to quickly finish up the
work without disrupting the spirit of the temple.”
Visionary Beginnings
Just as in so many of the Lord’s orchestrations, people came
together to play small and large parts, but all very significant
in the unfolding of events. “This has always been a wonderful,
peaceful place,” said Duane. The Church has owned this 47 acres
since 1971. It was purchased from Aerojet and had originally
been the home of a large recreation center for the company.
The Church remodeled
the recreation center into the Mormon Center, a large stake house,
and the rest of the land had been used all these years for recreation.
“I remember when we’d come up here for Pioneer picnics or to hear
the American Legion brass band,” said Duane.
President Harvey Greer
Harvey Greer was the stake president
in the area when the building and land came for sale in September
of 1971. President Joseph Fielding Smith recommended that the
Church buy the land and building, but because there was so much
excess land, the members had to pay for it themselves.
President Greer said, “When I drove
to the top of the hill on the land, I could actually see a temple
standing here. I really knew that was the purpose of the land
and knowing that gave me the courage to ask the Saints to raise
the money and move forward on its purchase.
“You always worry about the cost
of operations, the security of this much land, but I was absolutely
certain what the purpose was.” Remarkably, his stake of Saints
raised the money in a month.
“How do you get a stake
to do that?” President Greer asked. “They were so wonderful,
I just had to get out of their way.” Another lesson in consecration.
Preparing the Way
President Hinckley announces temples
in General Conference, and as members, we sit back and wait for
the announcement that they are going to be built and going to
be dedicated. Yet, there are many hurdles to cross between the
announcement and the fulfillment. One of these is often the planning
commission of a city or county.
Richard Montgomery
This was not a problem in Sacramento,
again because of some steady, unspoken work. In 1998, President
Hinckley made a firm statement about how important it is to work
with people of other faiths on projects and to reach out to friends
and neighbors. Richard Montgomery, who served as the Director
of Public Affairs for the Church in the area moved on to head
up Interfaith Relations and joined the Interfaith Council. He
said, “When we have that kind of relationship, it is always easier
to get a temple built.”
There couldn’t have been a better
choice, for the best word for Richard is kindly. He has the gift
of radiating love, even to strangers — even to a reporter like
me. I thought as I was talking to him, “he cares about me. He
takes special interest and time for me.” I suspect that he makes
everyone feel that way. What a remarkable gift.
After a short time on the council,
he was elected president — for a one-year term. When it came
time to elect a president the second year, they said, “We want
you,” so he served again. Finally, on the third year, he was
drafted again, “because” said a prominent Muslim cleric, “we love
you.”
Opportunities began to abound. Bishop
of the Catholic diocese asked him to come down and offer a prayer
for peace. The Sikhs invited him to speak when Pope John Paul
died. A Jewish representative to the council asked him to pray
at their congregation when they had to let the rabbi go. He became
close friends with the imams of Sacramento. And he loved them
all.
It wasn’t surprising then what happened
when the Planning Commission met to decide whether to grant a
permit to build the temple. About 100 Latter-day Saints showed
up to the commission to plead their cause.
“They may have been concerned when
they also saw at the meeting representatives of nine other faiths
— Catholics, Jews, Presbyterians, 7th Day Adventists,
Episcopalians, and many others.” Richard said, “They came to
say we support the Mormon Church in building this temple.”
The commission members said, “In
all our time, we’ve never seen this kind of cooperation from the
Interfaith Community.”
Landscaping
The date was set and published for
the Sacramento Temple open house — July 29-August 26. That means
that everything had to be set and ready for that day, but the
weather didn’t cooperate. March brought six weeks of drenching
rain, setting back the schedule.
Sister Colleen Erickson, whose husband
Elder Boyd Erickson, was the missionary overseeing construction
said, “It seemed like whenever we needed good weather for a concrete
pour or whatever, we would pray and our prayers for the most part
were answered. Sometimes, with a delay of a day or two, but they
were answered.
Then, after the day and night rains
of early spring, “the entire temple site was deep in mud and standing
water, and none of the site work could be accomplished. We were
all praying that the rains would cease, but our prayers were not
being answered as they always had been before regarding the weather.
It really puzzled us. We felt that the Lord had been in charge
all through the construction process and for some reason now it
just wasn’t happening.
It wasn’t until two weeks before
the open house that the grounds were ready to be planted and sodded
— but the grounds contractor had moved on to another job.
The temple stood beautiful and finished,
but the lot was red clay, some of it running in rivulets down
the cement from the downpours. Muck and mud were everywhere from
the heavy equipment that had been in tearing up the earth. Many
looked at the situation and said, “We’ll never make it.” It really
appeared hopeless. But the theme of the temple committee was “We
can do it.”
Sister Erickson said, “Russ Mumford
of Okland Construction came into our office in mid-July and gave
the assignment of getting 20 volunteers each workday and 30 on
Saturday to assist with preparing the site for the planting of
trees and bushes, digging weeds and removing large cobblestones.
We were also given the assignment of finding volunteers to clean
the temple nightly up to the open house on July 29th.
“We felt somewhat overwhelmed but
began calling. One hour later, Gary Close, director of physical
facilities in the area, came into our office and said, ‘What can
I do to help with the cleaning of the temple? I have 80 people
I can call upon.’”
Sister Erickson said, “Did someone
tell you of our need?” His response was a questioning, “No.”
She said it was another little miracle.
Instead of 20 people showing, there
was an average of 325 volunteers a day, working three shifts.
Between the landscaping, youth cultural
celebration, and open house, the dedication ceremonies called
on the efforts of 10,000 volunteers.
Dick Carter
You’d think with eleven days to go
before the open house, there would be panic. Instead, Dick Carter
said, “It was fun.” Volunteers started arriving. “We looked
around for people who seemed to have any experience at all, we’d
give them a yellow tape and say, ‘You’re in charge of these 20
people.’”
The heat was intense — what the locals
call a “heat storm” with every day hitting well above 100 degrees
— and one day hitting 113. This was not for the faint of heart
or testimony.
Every
day assignments were put on a big white board on the construction
trailer—and also reminders to drink lots of water.
Candy Ward, who came often to work
on the grounds said, “When the Kirtland temple was built, the
women crushed up their china so the walls would shine. We don’t
get that opportunity today, but this time we could make a difference
and we were so glad to do it.
“Everything we could complain about
was like a blessing to us. It was the best experience of our lives
really. It was amazing to watch the people.
“When we heard we needed volunteers,
I started calling, and people would be here in 45 minutes with
picks, axes, shovels, and wheel barrows. The camaraderie was
amazing.”
Becky Fellows (Photo courtesy of Sister Colleen Erickson)
One day Sister Erickson was talking
to Becky Fellows, who was a small woman, covered in dirt, having
obviously worked hard that day. She was five months pregnant,
had just had dental surgery and had sick children at home. Sister
Erickson asked her, “Why are you here?” Becky answered, “I have
to be connected to my temple.”
It seemed that everyone who came
to volunteer felt the same way. They wanted to leave their fingerprints
on the temple so that they could tell their children and grandchildren
that they planted a particular tree or bush.
Dirt covered the workers until friends
couldn’t recognize each other. Days were endurance contests.
Half of the hydrangeas died and had to be replanted. The sod
on the south lawn was replaced three times before it survived
the punishing heat. Sister Erickson said, “It puzzled us again
why the weather was so brutal and we prayed that the elements
would be tempered, but they were not. On the 24th
of July, I was pondering this and the answer came, ‘No, toil,
nor labor fear, but with joy wend your way.’ We felt sure that
all who had volunteered were connected with the pioneers and all
they endured. There was a reason that the weather was not tempered.
“The day of the beginning of the
open house,” said Sister Erickson, the temperatures went down
under 100 and at times significantly so. The mornings were cool
with a nice breeze blowing. We had seen predictions of over 100
degrees for the day of dedication, September 3. It was so very
cool that morning that some standing outside waiting for the cornerstone
ceremony wished they had a sweater or jacket. Another little miracle.
The Lord is in charge.”
A Transformation
Temples are about transformation.
People are drawn to the temple to lift their lives. Communities
are drawn together — and even the land becomes different.
Lisa West
Lisa
West, who handled the media for the dedication, told us, “As much
as I have always loved Mormon Center, I was uneasy when it was
first announced that the temple would be built there. I was unsure
if it was a holy enough place, worthy of the house of the Lord.
Although there have been truly spiritual moments there — it has
always felt much like a 'recreation' area as that was its original
purpose when built. Over the years, little by little, the roller-skates
were given away, the pool was filled with sand and is now a volleyball
court. The barbecues and the playground equipment have been removed.
And recently the tennis courts were demolished to make way for
the temple president’s new residence.
“But when President Hinckley came
and broke ground, I knew it was consecrated by the Lord and the
feeling of Mormon Center changed completely. It is holy ground.”
During construction, “I was at the
temple jobsite nearly twice a week. Every single time I stepped
inside the gate, I could feel the Spirit. Even when it was a metal
shell with wires hanging down and it was dark and cold. Even when
tromping through mud and rocks in the hallways where there is
now beautiful blue carpet. Every time, without a doubt, the Spirit
was there.”
May all who enter feel it.
[Be sure and watch for a coming
photo essay of the day of dedication]
