Before any temple is dedicated, an open house is held for the public to enter and walk through the beautiful rooms. Every temple has unique furnishings and decorations, even if it might have a similar architectural design to some other temple. What is most memorable, however, is feeling the spirit of the Lord.
Recently, Bill and I went with our son and his family, to the open house of the Brigham City Utah Temple. This temple includes imagery of an important locally grown fruit, peach blossoms. People come from all around to purchase boxes of peaches from the miles of orchards along the foot of the mountains. Also within the temple, are four new original paintings in the baptistry, "one of the middle eastern Jordan River, one of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, another of a pioneer baptism in the Box Elder County and a fourth of two brethren confirming an American Indian after his baptism." Later, while sharing our visit to the temple with our daughter, she mentioned there is an interesting story about the painting depicting the Shoshone Indians. Here is a little information I found:
In the 1860's and 70's, following the Bear River massacre of the Shoshone Tribe, by government troops, some Indian's told about being visited by spiritual messengers, who told them to get baptized. Elder George Washington Hill and his companion taught and baptized many. The following is a quote from Elder Hill's account.
"At least five different Indians claimed supernatural visitations telling them to join the Mormons. The experience of one Indian in Skull Valley in the summer of 1872 was typical. He claimed that while he was sitting in his lodge, three strangers who looked like Indians visited him and said the Mormons' God was the true God and the father of the Indians. Find the Mormons and have them baptize you, these strangers said, for "the time was at hand for the Indians to gather, and stop their Indian life, and learn to cultivate the earth and build houses, and live in them." Then the stranger showed him a vision of all the "northern country and Bear River and Malad" where many Indians were growing many fine crops with a few whites showing the Indians how (Hill 1877, 11).
Several hundred Indians accepted these messages as divine and subsequently joined the Mormon faith. Apostle Orson Pratt believed the holy messengers were the Three Nephites mentioned in the Book of Mormon. "We have heard of some fourteen hundred Indians who have been baptized ask them why they have come so many hundred miles to find Elders of the Church and they will reply - 'Such a person came to us, he spoke in our language, instructed us and told us what to do, and we have come in order to comply with his requirements'"
In early August, this year, some of the Shoshone descendants attended a special open house of the temple.
Amos Wright wrote an interesting missionary account about his service among the Shoshone Indians in the Wind River Mountains during the 1880's. You can read it by entering the following link:
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=166&sourceId=9f06aeca0ea6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Next, I witnessed the strength of a brave young man that stepped into a cold water font because the hot water pipes had frozen the night before. He was baptized by his father who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood and has been given authority by God to baptize someone into the church and kingdom of Jesus Christ. And just as the Savior was baptized by immersion, which means being lowered completely under the water, my grandson was completely immersed and washed clean from sin. He came up with a broad smile, shaking the cold water off like a puppy shakes water from it's fur. It made us all smile with an unforgettable memory.
