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REXBURG, Idaho — Despite record
snowfall, fog, and customary winds, the Rexburg Temple was dedicated
Sunday, February 10, and the heavens smiled.
It is the Church’s 125th operating temple, and the third in
Idaho. A fourth one is under construction in Twin Falls.
Click on
photos to enlarge
The Rexburg Temple, viewed from the front the night
before the dedication. Notice the snow on the ground. (All photos
in this article are by Laurie Williams Sowby.)
The temple entrance at night.
The northeast corner of the temple.
The southwest corner
of the temple at night.
The rear of the temple by night.
The colonnade at the front entrance of the temple.
President Thomas S. Monson, in his
first official event since being named LDS Church president a few
days earlier, presided at all four sessions. He was accompanied
by Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum
of the Twelve and Elder Claudio R. M.Costa of the Seventy. All three
also participated in the dedicatory sessions.
In addition to the dedication in Celestial Room, members were seated
in many other rooms inside the temple and watched the proceedings
on screens. Still others attended satellite broadcasts of the services
at stake centers in the temple district, which serves 47,000 LDS
members.
The planned events, including the cultural celebration the evening
before, had been postponed a week to allow for the funeral of President
Gordon B. Hinckley, who passed away Jan. 27, the day after the month-long
Rexburg Temple open house ended.
The morning fog forced a change in flight plans for President Monson’s
group, with a landing at more distant Pocatello airport; the extra
time required to drive from there had a domino effect in pushing
scheduled events back at least a half-hour.
President Thomas S. Monson arrives with his wife,
Frances, and daughter Ann Monson Dibb after a flight was delayed
because of the fog Sunday morning.
Hannah and Carson Brewer of the Rexburg North Stake
hold flowers they brought to give Sister Monson.
President Monson talks with reporters prior to his
first official event a few days after he was announced as the 16th
president of the Church.
But when members emerged
after the first dedicatory session, they were greeted by blue skies
that remained for a while. People in line for the second session
waited cheerfully under the same sunny skies — the first they’d
seen in many days.
Members who went into the temple for the first dedicatory
session during a foggy, cold morning in Rexburg emerged to sunlight
and blue skies.
The Kathrine and Alan Holyoak family,
who live just a couple of blocks from the temple site and walked
to the services, watched the temple rise over the past two years.
"We’ve been doing before, during, and after pictures,"
said Grant Holyoak, 15. "I feel like it’s my temple."
The Holyoak family walked two blocks up the hill
from their Rexburg home to attend the second session. Earlier Sunday
morning, they had read D&C 109, which describes the Kirtland
Temple dedication, as part of their preparation for the dedication.
"I feel the same
way," said sister Emily, 8, whose recent baptism qualified
her to witness the dedication. It was the first one the family had
attended, although they had witnessed the Nauvoo Temple dedication
via satellite broadcast. "We’ve been waiting a couple
of years for this," said Lindsey, 17.
Mom Kathrine mentioned how the kids had willingly given up a trip
to California the year before in order to donate instead to the
Rexburg Temple fund. Matt, 13, told how they had read about the
Kirtland Temple dedication in D&C 109 that morning in preparation
for the day’s sacred events.
Down the line, BYU-Idaho roommates Blake McBride, a returned missionary
from Layton, Utah, who served in Jackson, Mississippi, and Robert
Sears, a Fontana, California, resident who is preparing to serve
a mission soon, stood with scriptures in hand.
Roommates Blake McBride and Robert Sears wait in
line, scriptures in hand. The two BYU-Idaho students were excited
to enter the temple they can see from the front door of their apartment.
"When students stress out, it’s
good to have a temple close," said McBride. (The temple is
adjacent to the university campus on the north side, with fields
on the east and south.) Sears, who can only do baptisms in the temple
until he receives his mission call, was nevertheless excited to
be able to enter the temple they can see from their apartment’s
front door.
Indeed, the glistening 57,504-square-foot temple on the hill is
visible for miles around the Snake River Valley, rain or shine.
"It’s a good a reminder," said Sears, "of where
we need to be."
The temple on a hill can be seen from miles away
in the Snake River Valley.
Earlier that morning,
long before the sun came out, President Monson and accompanying
elders emerged from the temple doors wearing dark coats over their
white suits so they could seal the cornerstone during the first
session.
President Monson, Elder Nelson, and Elder Bednar
emerge from the temple with coats on during the first dedicatory
session to seal the cornerstone.
Inside the cornerstone
box were the usual: news articles about the temple, books authored
by the current prophet, a hymnbook, compilation of local history,
an open house press kit, and a program from the cultural celebration.
In a nod to the local climate, there was also something a bit unusual:
a sealed bag containing Rexburg wind.
President Monson scooped a little mortar onto a silver trowel and
placed it in the crack surrounding the cornerstone. Lights flashed
as TV and news cameras recorded the moment.
President Monson applies mortar to seal the cornerstone
as part of the first dedicatory session.
President Monson invites children to assist with
the mortar.
Then the Prophet invited
others — including Elders Nelson, Bednar, and Costa; temple
president Val Christensen and his wife; and a handful of children
to add a little mortar themselves. A youth choir shivered at the
other side of the covered walkway as they sang "High on the
Mountain Top" and "Turn the Hearts."
A youth choir braves the cold to sing "High
on the Mountain Top" and "Turn the Hearts" to begin
and conclude the cornerstone ceremony.
Bundled up against the cold, members wait in line
under briefly sunny skies before the second dedicatory session begins.
Seven-year-old Camille
Richardson, whose dad Chad Richardson served as general contractor
for the project, was one of the children who got to help seal the
cornerstone. She had been inside the temple during its construction
and was amazed at how good it looked, finished and furnished for
the open house.
"I’m going to get married here someday," she said
— a goal it is hoped will be shared by all who view and serve
in the new Rexburg Temple.
The temple spire under blue skies.
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